Following two bottom feeder seasons resulting in a top-five and top 10 draft pick, the Denver Broncos continue to fall after losing to the Green Bay Packers. At 0-3, the Broncos join the likes of the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, and Pittsburgh Steelers as the only five teams yet to win or tie a football game.
The Broncos again left points on the field, made mistakes at inopportune times, and gave the opponent too many free chances. The opening drive, Aaron Rodgers drove the length of the field and found Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 40-yard touchdown score in just five plays.
The Broncos quickly gave the ball back to Rodgers with an opportunity to bury them early. Luckily, the defense held up and got the ball back, and the offense drove the length of the field in eight and a half minutes to tie the game up.
The next two possessions, the Packers kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 lead, and the Broncos answered with another long drive, only to have a touchdown run by Royce Freeman called back on a terrible holding call. This penalty was atrocious, and the Broncos now have back to back weeks with a ghost call benefiting the other team at crucial moments. The Broncos offense stalled at the goal line and they settled for a field goal to tie the game at 10 apiece.
The Broncos defense forced a three and out, and the offense had an opportunity to execute a two-minute offense before halftime, take a lead, and receive the football after halftime. But the first play of the Broncos possession was a strip-sack that should have been recovered by right tackle Elijah Wilkerson, but instead bounced free and was recovered by Green Bay at the Denver five-yard line.
Two plays later the Broncos were down 17-10, which would eventually be the halftime score. One fumble completely turned the game from manageable to completely frustrating.
The Broncos then had a chance after halftime to come out and score, and they were seemingly moving the football until another forced fumble, this time by rookie Noah Fant, gave the ball to the Packers again in scoring position. Four plays later, Rodgers and company were up 24-10.
The Broncos managed to put together another clock draining six-minute touchdown drive with big plays to Phillip Lindsay and Courtland Sutton, but Brandon McManus missed his first extra point in 91 attempts, which up to that point was the longest streak in the NFL.
The score was 16-24 and again the Broncos kept themselves in the game.
Its defense continued to hold up and forced punts from the Packers next two possessions in three and out fashion, but sandwiched between those two possessions was a Joe Flacco interception that ruined an almost-certain scoring drive after a 52-yard completion to Courtland Sutton. This turnover didn’t result in the Packers scoring, but it was raining and Flacco was trying to stop his throwing motion and the ball came out and went straight to the two Packers with no Broncos around the ball.
The Packers next possession ate up nearly eight minutes of game clock, and resulted in a field goal, putting them up 27-16 and a seemingly insurmountable two-possession lead with five minutes left to play. The Broncos laid an egg on the most important possession of the game up to this point, allowing Flacco to be sacked two times, once on fourth down, ending the game 27-16 in favor of Green Bay.
Denver’s 500th franchise win will have to wait another day, as will its first win as a franchise in Green Bay.
Positives:
– Garrett Bolles didn’t have a penalty or give up a sack, on a day when Flacco was sacked six times for negative 52 yards.
– Denver only had three penalties for 27 yards.
– Courtland Sutton, Phillip Lindsay, and Dalton Risner look like they have pride and aren’t okay with losing football games. They all had big games.
– The defense held Aaron Rodgers and company to 2/9 on third downs, getting off the field when they had the chance.
– Broncos had a huge special teams return from Diontae Spencer for 60 yards.
– Bradley Chubb was making plays in the backfield all game with three tackles for loss, one QB hit, and two QB pressures.
– De’Vante Bausby had a great game, breaking up two would-be first-down passes and looking solid in coverage.
– Joe Flacco again has a near 70 percent completion percentage, but six sacks and the interception ruined his QBR and passer rating.
– Dalton Risner willed Phillip Lindsay into the end zone on a fourth-down play, basically dragging Lindsay in with people draped all over him.
Negatives:
– Elijah Wilkerson had a devastatingly bad game, giving up 5 sacks and failing to recover the fumble when he was the first man to the ball uncontested.
– Defense still, through three games, doesn’t have a sack or a takeaway despite one of the best pass rush duos in the league.
– Denver left five points on the field with the holding call, negating a touchdown and the missed PAT, in an 11-point game. 21-27 with the ball and five minutes left to play is a much different feeling than 16-27 in that same situation.
– Broncos fans aren’t used to, or okay with, losing, so murmurings of “full rebuild” have started already.
– Turnovers hadn’t been an issue in the first two games, this game they were the only difference, a minus-three on the turnover ratio should lose every game.
– Emmanuel Sanders was seemingly not part of the offense today. He had four targets, two catches, and 10 total yards.
