'No Good': Fangio Critiques Drew Lock for 'Bad Play' on RPO Fumble vs. Bengals

In one breath, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio was complimentary of Drew Lock for coming on in relief of Teddy Bridgewater during Sunday's game versus Cincinnati.

In the next, Fangio derided the mistake-prone quarterback over his costly fourth-quarter fumble amid Denver's playoff-crushing 15-10 defeat.

“I thought he came in, and for a guy that doesn’t get hardly any reps in practice during the week, I thought he did good early," Fangio said in his postgame press conference, before adding, "Obviously, the fumble is no good. We had the ball inside the 10-[yard line], and all of a sudden, it’s their ball. The turnovers are huge, and that was bad play there.”

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Lock entered the Week 15 contest at the 5:16 mark of the third quarter after Bridgewater was stretchered off the field with what's since been diagnosed as a concussion. He immediately engineered a scoring drive, hitting wide receiver Tim Patrick on a 25-yard touchdown pass that gave the Broncos a short-lived 10-9 lead.

Disaster struck on the ensuing series, however. Facing 2nd-and-goal at Cincinnati's nine-yard line, the Broncos dialed up a run-pass option which Lock opted to keep — and fumbled. A potential seven-point swing in a five-point loss.

"I’m a professional thrower, not necessarily a professional runner," Lock conceded following the game. "I should have handed that thing off to [RB] Javonte [Williams] looking back at it, but also if I run that thing into the end zone, make the defensive end miss, who knows what is being said right now.”

Checking in on Drew Lock… pic.twitter.com/AaS0oJs7e9
— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladdtv) December 19, 2021

Fangio justified offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's decision to call the RPO, claiming “that’s a play that Drew has been good at since he’s been here." As for whether Lock was reckless with the ball or merely victimized by good play on Cincinnati's part? "Probably both."

"He decided to keep it and didn’t get it tucked away, and the guy took it from him which is a good play on that guy’s part," Fangio said. "We have to get it tucked away.”

The ever-embattled Lock, who's likely to draw a Week 16 start in Bridgewater's stead, did not disagree with his coach's brutally honest assessment.

"My No. 1 thing is just taking care of the football," he said. "I think I put the ball on the ground twice, and it’s way too many for me personally. I just got to play a little better. I got to hold onto the ball."

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