The Denver Broncos have played with fire all season long, with the defense carrying the water most of the season while the offense has squeaked by. Those issues showed up on Thursday Night Football with one of the worst offensive outputs we’ve seen from this Broncos team since the Nathaniel Hackett era.
Despite that, the Broncos found a way to improve to 8-2 on the season with a 10-7 win, but the warts on offense can’t be ignored anymore. Short week or not, the Raiders defense was a bad unit, but Denver played worse offensively.
The Broncos came out flatter than a 20-year-old can of Coca-Cola, and Broncos Country spent more time booing them on Thursday night than cheering for them. At one point, the Broncos had nine penalties and three total first downs against the Raiders.
With 11:42 left in the fourth quarter, the Broncos had 11 penalties compared to just seven first downs. Seven of their first 12 drives on offense resulted in three-and-outs, two interceptions, and one missed field goal. To put it kindly, the offense was non-existent.
Luckily for the Broncos, the Raiders missed a field goal late in the fourth quarter that allowed Denver to maintain a 10-7 lead.
Bo Nix struggled most of the evening, and his confidence looked shot for the second consecutive week, which creates questions surrounding what the solution is. He threw two interceptions, with one of them being a poor decision, launching a pass deep downfield into double coverage intended for Troy Franklin.
His second interception came after a high pass hit Franklin in the hands.
The offense cannot keep playing like this, especially 10 weeks into the year, and there are plenty of dirty hands responsible — Nix, Sean Payton, personnel, penalties.
With the Chiefs coming to town next week, this can’t be the standard, or else Denver won’t make it very far when the postseason comes around.
Denver Broncos defense continues its historic pace with pass rush
Sean Payton has to thank his lucky stars for Vance Joseph and the defense.
The Denver Broncos’ defense is on a tear when it comes to getting after opposing quarterbacks. Last season, they had 63 total sacks through 17 games, which led the NFL and was a franchise record for them.
In Thursday Night’s game against the Raiders, the Broncos had five sacks in the first half alone against Geno Smith.
They finished the game with six total sacks to propel them to 46 through ten games. The team nearest them is the Detroit Lions with 28 and that gap itself is wild.
Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers, Malcolm Roach, Eyioma Uwazurike, and Talanoa Hufanga all chipped in.
Up next: the Broncos host the Kansas City Chiefs for an important matchup inside the AFC West, and the defense will need the offense to help them out.
