As impressive as the Denver Broncos’ win over the Dallas Cowboys was last weekend, Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills was equally unimpressive.

Make no mistake, however; the Broncos are a better football team than the Bills. They were before the game and they are now. And when the season is over, the Broncos will prove to be better than the Bills then, too. Wherever you wanted to look on New Era Field yesterday, the Broncos were superior.

But, Sunday, they were just plain dumber.

Regarding the loss, it’s pointless to dissect the personnel, the matchups, the schemes or the stats. Over the course of the next six days, that will be done – but remember, it’s an exercise in futility. The only thing that mattered, the only factor that determined who won or lost yesterday, was a handful of dumb decisions made by the Broncos.

The Bills played well; give them credit. But there’s absolutely no excuse for losing the way Denver did. Earlier in the week head coach Vance Joseph said there were no such things as “trap games” in the NFL. To be fair, it didn’t look as if his team didn’t play hard – they did. It didn’t look as though the Broncos “overlooked” the Bills, either. The effort, and even execution in some instances, was all there. The gray matter was not.

The Broncos were just “more dumb” – dumberer, if you will.

Denver had two more penalties for 10 more yards, but it was the timing of their penalties that really hurt. Otherwise, the Broncos were better in most key statistical areas. Denver had five more first downs and converted third down more efficiently than the Bills (42 percent compared to 37). The Broncos had more rushing yards and more passing yards. Yet, somehow, they managed to lose.

Through two games, Trevor Siemian looked like the Northwestern alum that he is. Smart. Precise. Calculated.

With two just two throws Sunday, Siemian’s previous brilliance will be questioned for at least a week. Against the Bills, Siemian was just 24-of-40 for 259 yards – passable, had it not been for two key interceptions (and zero touchdowns). These were not tough luck picks; they were gross miscalculations, costly plays that the likes of Tom Brady, Russell Wilson or Philip Rivers just don’t make. The Broncos dodged a bullet on Siemian’s first interception, an ill-advised play that started from the Denver 12-yard line. Somehow, the Denver defense forced a punt.

But the second interception was extremely costly, a minimum swing of three points, potentially as many as 10. Marching and finding themselves on the Buffalo 24, Siemian, amidst a play that had been disrupted, attempted (?) to float a pass out of bounds. Problem was he didn’t get enough “oomph” on it. The ball never made it; instead, it was plucked from the air by a Bills defensive back. That turned into a 53-yard drive that ended in a field goal.

As bad as those plays were, arguably worse was Vance Joseph’s decision to fake a punt and go for it from the Denver 31-yard line with only 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Maybe in a moment of desperation, the call would be viewed differently, but that wasn’t the case. While the call was questionable, the execution was even worse. Perhaps the “fake” punt didn’t work because the Broncos’ normal offensive line personnel was in the game, not their special teamers. (Surprise!)

It was, as was the theme of the day, a dumb, dumb play. Down by just four points, this was not the time to get tricky – especially considering the fact that Denver boasts one of the league’s best defenses. What’s worse is that against that Denver D, the Bills manufactured a “drive” that actually netted a three-yard loss. It didn’t even matter; in field goal range alrady, the Bills managed to tack three more on the scoreboard.

I know what you’re thinking – the biggest play of the game was actually an official’s call, an unsportsmanlike penalty on Von Miller for “faking” a helping hand to Tyrod Taylor, whom he’d just buried into the turf. Was it a bad call? Sure. It’s lame that at that point in the game (7:43 remaining, with Denver trailing by seven) a playful exchange between Miller and Taylor can be interpreted as unsportsmanlike. Then again, it wasn’t sportsmanlike. On the playground, the game goes on, players don’t think anything of it. But in the NFL, there’s always a chance an official can “interpret” something the wrong way. Fifteen yards for a gesture that had zero impact on the game seems excessive. Then again, why risk it? To say that what Miller did was “dumb” wouldn’t be fair. However, it’s safe to say it wasn’t “smart” either.

That play, not only resulted in three more points for the Bills, but it also ate up more than four minutes and all of Denver’s timeouts.

It was probably a longshot that Siemian and Co. could cut the 10-point deficit in just three minutes, but poor clock management (see one sack, and one middle-of-the-field completion) essentially killed all hope in Buffalo.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Game. Set. Match.

The Broncos are better than Sunday’s performance.

With just a few more smart decisions, they’d have won with dumb luck.