Mile High Sports

It’s déjà vu all over again as Broncos offense continues to struggle early

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Denver Broncos offense struggled to get things going early. On Sunday night against the Oakland Raiders, though, they took it to an all new level. Despite one of the worst offensive performances of the half, the Broncos trailed Oakland 20-10 at halftime.

Denver went three-and-out on five of seven possessions in the half and didn’t covert a first down until the 10:34 mark of the second quarter.

Trevor Siemian and the offense generated just 97 yards before their final possession of the half, with 84 of them coming on a touchdown drive in the second quarter to cut Oakland’s lead to 13-7 at the time. Two plays accounted for 59 of those yards, including a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Norwood.

Emmanuel Sanders nearly made a spectacular catch at the goal line with under 20 seconds to play in the half, but the ball just barely touched the ground as Sanders came down in full extension. Brandon McManus connected on 55-yard field goal to halve the margin at halftime.

The Denver defense, meanwhile, continued to bend but not break, allowing field goals on Oakland’s opening two drives. The Raiders started at their 48- and 42-yard lines on those drives. They eventually gave way and yielded two rushing touchdowns to Latavius Murray. Denver struggled to contain the third-year back; Murray ended the half with 76 yards on the ground and a 13-yard reception.

It was hard to completely blame the defense, though. They were on the field by a nearly 2:1 margin in the half, 19:30 to 10:30. Oakland dominated time of possession in the first quarter 12:07 to 2:46.

Take a look at some of the observations below for just how poorly the Denver offense performed in the first half.

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/795442420162985984

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/795448408676958208

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/795448753738104833

Exit mobile version