The Denver Broncos offense has been a joke this season.
And, that was never more evident than on Sunday in Atlanta.
While Denver started off with a punt, the Falcons jumped out to a 10-0 lead. By the end of the first half, the Broncos trailed 20-3 and the offense had a mere five first downs with three punts.
It was much of the same in the third quarter. The Broncos had to settle for another field goal, and after a great interception, the Broncos went 3-and-out. They desperately needed a scoring drive after that possible turn of momentum, but failed miserably.
Finally, when they needed it most, the Broncos found a way to put the ball into the end zone when Lock connected with Jeudy. The rookie wideout ran a great route to get open and got Denver’s first touchdown on the board. But, it was too little, too late. Down 14 with 13:15 on the game clock, Denver couldn’t come back for a second straight week.
When the defense put together a tough stop, Lock threw off his back foot deep in his own end and threw a pick. That basically put the nail into Denver’s coffin on the day. Especially when Atlanta scored a few plays later.
To be fair, the Broncos never quit and attempted to mount a comeback, but fell 34-27 thanks to that unstable offense.
So, what are the reasons the Broncos’ youngest offense in the NFL is so bad? Outside of the fact that they lack experience and time to jell as a unit? Let’s take a look:
1. Drew Lock’s erratic play
Lock went wild in the fourth quarter last week, and some rushed to his aid saying the haters should eat crow. But, he came out sluggish again this week, going 7-of-14 for 98 yards with zero touchdowns in the first half. His second half was better, but still inconsistent as he went 18-of-34 for 131 yards, two touchdowns and the one interception. He also ran for a touchdown to bring the team within a seven late.
The good: His mobility is fantastic and he put it on display with a team-leading 47 rushing yards. His throw to Jeudy on the first touchdown was well-timed and with great accuracy, allowing the wideout to turn upfield for the score. And, Lock’s toss to Tim Patrick in the end zone, high and only where the receiver could haul it in, was brilliant.
The bad: Lock is second-worst in the NFL with 24.6 percent of his passes being considered a “bad throw” by Pro Football Reference. Those throws mean they’re uncatchable by the receiver, and there were multiple more today. One memorable such bad throw came on a deep route run by Tim Patrick, but Lock didn’t give him a chance to haul it in.
Lock is starting to do a better job of stringing multiple solid plays together, and he’s learned how to have quality fourth quarters lately. But, he needs to turn one good quarter into two, and then three and eventually, into complete games.
How far can he grow this year?
2. Conservative play-calling
Down 21, in a 3rd and 13 and Lock threw it to Noah Fant outside for a three-yard gain. Earlier in the game, with the Falcons playing soft coverage, Lock checked down to Melvin Gordon, who came nowhere near close to moving the chains.
In the game, Denver went 7-16 (43.8 percent) on third downs, which was a vast improvement compared to their 36.3 third down percentage on the season is No. 30 in the league.
The cherry on top in this particular loss was the last snap of the day for Denver’s offense. Patrick motioned across the formation and the snap hit him, resulted in a fumble (as well as an illegal shift) ending the game. With the Broncos needing a touchdown to tie it up, it was a quite a disheartening way to lose the contest.
Overall, Pat Shurmur’s offense, with it’s dink and dunk style, doesn’t fit with Lock’s play style. At least halfway through the season.
3. Banged-up, inconsistent offensive line
This one is fairly self explanatory. The Broncos started Austin Schlottmann — their backup guard — and fourth-string right tackle Jake Rodgers today.
Schlottmann was in because Graham Glasgow tested positive with COVID-19 last week and is still not cleared to play. Rodgers had to play when Demar Dotson, the third-best tackle, was injured last week.
Both of them struggled, as did rookie center Lloyd Cushenberry, especially in pass blocking.
While Lock was sacked only once, he was hurried and hit all day long. When he has time to throw, the young quarterback finds a way to process through his reads. When he’s constantly under duress, Lock makes many mistakes — like the interception off his back foot which sank the team’s hopes.
While they’ve put up more points lately, the Broncos are still in the bottom third of the league in terms of points per game at 21.8. They’re nearly the worst in the NFL in terms of third down conversion and red zone scoring percentages.
Denver’s defense has played fairly well this year, especially considering all of their injuries, but the offense (and special teams) continue to pull them down.
