The undefeated season is over. At the moment, a first-round bye is no longer theirs. And the most dangerous team in the AFC South, a group that needed to be put out of its misery, remains alive and well heading into the second half of the NFL season.
And it’s all because the Broncos defense didn’t live up to the hype.
There’s nothing wrong with headlines proclaiming a team’s greatness; that’s praise being bestowed by other people. So it’s unfair to criticize Denver’s much-heralded group for not living up to the proclamations of “best ever” and “Orange Crush 2.0” that a shortsighted fan base and media throng heaped upon them.
But it’s another thing entirely to focus the spotlight in your direction and then fail to answer the bell at the big moments. And that’s what the Broncos defense – a group that has spent the past eight days touting their dominating performance against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Nov. 1, dubbing themselves the “No Fly Zone” and generally talking a big game – did on Sunday at Indianapolis, where they laid a colossal egg in Denver’s 27-24 loss.
The Colts entered the game in disarray, especially on offense. With a record of 3-5 for the season, they were reeling, barely holding onto the division lead in the anemic AFC South. Head coach Chuck Pagano was reportedly one more loss from being ousted, while offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton was already shown the door in a desperate attempt to jumpstart a team that had shown a penchant for falling behind early and being unable to dig out of the hole.
That’s a team ripe to be buried, a group asking to be put out of its misery. And that’s exactly what a truly great defense would have done. Instead, the Broncos let Indianapolis get off to a hot start, scoring on three straight drives in the first half on Sunday. Denver’s vaunted defense gave up an 80-yard touchdown drive, a 63-yard march that ended in a field goal and a 63-yard TD drive on successive possessions. All told, the Colts used 24 plays to march 206 yards across 13:26 seconds to build a 17-0 lead.
The ’85 Bears weren’t impressed.
But the ineptitude didn’t end there. The Broncos much-hyped defense was dismal beyond those three drives.
On the day, Denver failed to force a single turnover, allowed the Colts to control the football for nearly 39 minutes of the game and failed to provide a single boost to the Broncos offense. As a result, Denver only had 10 drives on the day, had an average starting field position of the 23.9 yard line and ran only 51 plays. That’s because Indianapolis was able to convert 12 of 20 third downs, most of which were for five-plus yards, and stay on the field.
The ’00 Ravens weren’t dazzled.
Despite those failings, however, the Broncos were still in the game. Thanks to an opportunistic special teams unit that put a touchdown on the board in the waning seconds of the first half and an offense that found a groove after intermission, Denver was in a dogfight down the stretch. But once again, the defense let them down.
After the Broncos tied the game at 17-17 with 4:57 in the third quarter, the Colts went on a 12-play, 80-yard march to retake the lead. Along the way, Andrew Luck and Company converted three third downs to keep the drive alive. When Denver answered to tie the game again at 24-24 on the ensuring drive, Wade Phillips’ crew once again didn’t step up, letting Indianapolis go 33 yards on seven plays to set up the go-ahead field goal. Two straight times, the momentum went right back to the Colts, as the Broncos failed to find a killer instinct.
The ’02 Buccaneers weren’t bowing down in praise.
But the failings didn’t end there. Trailing 27-24 with 6:00 to play, Peyton Manning threw an interception at the 49-yard line when Darius Butler outworked Demaryius Thomas for the football (there’s a familiar refrain). While a big play, it was far from a back-breaker; all the Broncos needed to do was hold the Colts to a field goal, given that they had all three timeouts remaining and a Hall of Fame quarterback on the sideline.
Somehow, Denver’s much-ballyhooed defense was unable to get the ball back, however. Through a comedy of errors, they allowed the Colts to burn six minutes and eventually take a knee for the win. Two plays were the killer.
Facing a third-and-10 with 3:28 to play at the Broncos 34-yard line, Indianapolis was staring at a 52-yard field goal to extend their lead. But Luck found Griff Whalen for an 18-yard completion that moved the chains and kept the clock ticking. And then on second-and-nine from Denver’s 15, when everyone knew that two straight runs were coming with 2:34 to play in the game, Aqib Talib was called for unnecessary roughness, one of the dumbest penalties in team history.
Six plays and two more defensive penalties later, Luck was in victory formation at the one-yard line. Would Manning have led a game-winning drive in the final minutes? No one knows for sure, but it would have fun to watch. But thanks to a bumbling group, the quarterback never got a chance. A great defense doesn’t let the opposition burn the last six minutes of the clock; a dominating unit gives their offense more than one offensive play in the final 8:54 of the game.
The ’13 Seahawks weren’t shaking in their boots.
This morning, the Broncos are no longer undefeated because their defense let them down. The big-talking group let a wounded Colts offense to find life, allowing them to hold the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game. In the process, they failed to force a turnover, only sacked Luck once and committed all eight of Denver’s penalties.
Enough with the trash talk. Check the catchy nicknames at the door. Cease the silly tweets from the defensive coordinator. And stop it with the “disrespected” rhetoric.
The best defenses of all-time don’t just have good games in Week 8 at home; they deliver when the game is on the line, on the road, in big situations. That’s what the Bears, Ravens, Bucs, Seahawks and other greats have done. And it’s what the Broncos failed to do on Sunday.
Denver had multiple opportunities to prove their greatness against the Colts. They failed every time. As a result, Sunday’s loss is on the defense, a group that apparently was too busy reading its own press clippings during the week to prepare for the game.
The ’15 Broncos should be embarrassed.
