After two weeks of decent football, the Denver Broncos looked like… well, the 2017 Broncos again on Sunday.
One of the reasons the Broncos fell to the Washington Redskins on Sunday — and ultimately fell to 5-10 on the season — is largely due to the poor play of their offensive line. Yes — even more than the quarterback. Again.
The Broncos’ offensive line didn’t become bad overnight; they haven’t been even average for the last few seasons. That was the reason they went out and drafted Garret Bolles with their first pick in this year’s draft, and signed Ronald Leary and Menelik Watson in free agency.
Sunday’s disappointing performance was just another example of the job the Broncos’ braintrust still has ahead of them when it comes to rebuilding their offensive line.
The Redskins, who rank 12th in the NFL in sacks with 36, tacked on four more on Sunday. Prior to Sunday, the 43 sacks the Broncos allowed placed them in a three-way tie with the Cleveland Browns and the Detroit Lions with for the fifth-most sacks allowed in 2017.
When the offensive line isn’t working as a unit, it’s tough to get anything done. But it’s tough for an offensive line to work as a unit when injuries and everything else have forced them to shuffle around as much as they’ve had to in 2017. Watson only played in seven games and Leary played in 11 games before they both headed to injured reserve.
With the offseason just one week away, finding themselves a franchise quarterback is at the top of the Broncos’ 2018 wishlist — as it should be. But as Broncos Country has seen over the past two season, whoever is taking the snap doesn’t seem to matter much when they don’t have much time to do anything with the football.
The disappointing 2017 season doesn’t fall on the shoulders of either one player or unit. The Broncos will tell you themselves that, from the top down, everyone has contributed to this mess.
It’s not all the offensive line’s fault, but they’ve certainly done their fair share of damage in 2017.