This is one of those losses that’ll leave a sour taste in the mouths of Broncos fans, especially those in attendance.
The stadium was roaring at the start, hit a lull as the middle quarters of the game were extremely mundane, then came back to life in the final five minutes. The Broncos fell on a literal last second, 53-yard field goal by kicker Eddy Pineiro, for a final score of 16-14.
Since 2000, the Broncos have lost only one home opener (2011) and yesterdays loss doubles that total. The Denver Broncos have one of the best home-field advantages in the league with the high altitude and thin air, especially early in the season before everyone is in tip-top football shape.
The game went down to the wire, but again, the team shot themselves in the foot (with some help from the referees), and were their own worst enemy.
Let’s start with Garrett Bolles because, why not? He’s an easy target. Since he was drafted by the Broncos in 2011, he’s had issues with penalties, leading the league in holding calls a few times and seemingly showing little to no improvement. As a first-round pick, at one of the game’s most important positions, it’s extremely irritating to watch over and over again as his penalties typically mitigate big plays.
In the season opener, he was flagged for one penalty, but it wasn’t holding, so fans could take a silver lining out of it. Bolles took that hope, lit it on fire, chucked it into a barrel of gas, and tossed a grenade in after it… need I go on?
Bolles was flagged for four holding calls on Sunday and one illegal hands to the face. The biggest issue with this was that his five penalties went for -50 yards and also mitigated 61 yards of offense. One offensive lineman was responsible for net -111 yards. After the game Bolles said that he didn’t agree with some of the penalties and that he felt he was being targeted by the league, which isn’t the correct way to react, take responsibility and improve. On top of Bolles five penalties, Ronald Leary added another two holding calls to his three in Week 1, making nine holding calls between two players in two games, unreasonable.
Despite themselves, the Broncos defense held them in the game, and constantly were only on possession away, never letting the game get out of hand. With 31 seconds left, Joe Flacco found Emmanuel Sanders for a 7-yard touchdown with a PAT attempt away from tying the game. Vic Fangio elected to go for two to take the lead, but a delay of game moved them back, to which they elected for a PAT. Brandon McManus missed the try, but the Bears jumped off sides moving the ball back to the original spot. The Broncos again lined up for a 2-point conversion and converted to take a 14-13 lead on a Joe Flacco pass, again to Emmanuel Sanders.
This is where things got messy, on a first and ten yards, after Mitch Trubisky only passed for 90 yards in the game to this point, Mitch throws an incomplete pass from their own 25 yard line and only 31 seconds to drive into field goal position. The referees completely blow the most important call of the game and bail out the Bears by throwing a flag for roughing the passer on Bradley Chubb on the below play:
You can clearly see no contact to the head or neck area, no leading with the helmet, not a late hit, no excessive violence or slamming the Quarterback to the ground. Terrible call, and quite frankly, inexcusable. This penalty gave the Bears 15 free yards, a first down, and most importantly momentum. After the Broncos forced three straight incomplete passes, the Bears received a 5-yard penalty for too many men in the huddle forcing a fourth down and 15 yards, with 9 seconds on the clock to move the ball 25 yards into field goal position.
The Broncos play a deep, safe defense allowing any catch over the middle expecting it to take too much time off the clock and ending the game. Fair plan, but poor execution, as the Bears complete a 25 yard pass over the middle of the field and the player dives into Kareem Jackson’s feet with less than one second remaining on the clock, and the Bears take an immediate timeout, and kick the game winning fieldgoal.
Devastating loss, the Broncos fought so hard in the end to take the lead all to see it squandered by a Quarterback that threw for 120 total yards, as the defense was completely dominant despite zero turnovers and zero sacks again.
Room for improvement:
As mentioned, the Broncos had 10 total penalties for 81 yards. Joe Flacco threw a bad interception at the two yard line that definitely cost the team points. Von Miller and Bradley Chubb are both still without a first sack, and the defense, as a unit, has only two quarterback hits in two games (both by Chubb this game). the Bears offensive line seemingly won the trench battle, because defense gave up 153 rushing yards on 29 carries (5.3 YPC). The offense moves the ball and looks great between the 20-yard lines, then the drive stalls (penalties typically), resulting in field goals or moving out of field goal range. Finally, the Broncos defense still has generated zero turnovers after ranking fifth with 28 turnovers last season. Defense gave up 153 rushing yards on 29 carries (5.3 YPC)
Bright spots:
The Broncos offense moved the ball and generated 100 more total yards than the Bears did, against their defense, which should be one of the best in the league at the end of the season. Flacco threw for 282 yards, 70% completion percentage, a clutch touchdown, a clutch two point conversion, and looked like a serious player. The Broncos defense was suffocating the Bears, despite not holding up to end the game, not generating a sack, and not generating a turnover, they still only surrendered 16 points. Outside of the litany of penalties, the Offensive line only gave up two sacks, and our running backs had 90 yards on 24 carries (3.8 YPC). Their tight ends were limited to seven catches for 52 yards, showing improvement from last week when our tight end defense was again exposed. Finally, the Broncos showed fight and heart to take the lead late in the game and make the plays required to win the game, the refs blew a call and one second of time saved the Bears from going to 0-2. Instead the Broncos are 0-2 heading to Lambeau Field to face the Packers next week.
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