Now there’s the Drew Lock everyone needs to see.
For the first time all year and the first time in his career, the Broncos quarterback played a complete game.
Well, outside of the early fumble which nearly resulted in a touchdown.
Let’s take a look at Lock’s impressive numbers today:
Completion Percentage
Besides that massive miscue, Lock was basically perfect all day long. Pat Shurmur smartly designed an offense which focused on running the ball and throwing short passes in the first half. Lock, the least-accurate quarterback in the league, completed a stellar 12-16 passes in the first half which was 75 percent.
That was nearly 20 percentage points better than his average season (55.4). Simply, he looked not only like he belonged in the NFL in that first half, but he looked like a star.
Really, that star-level play blossomed in the second half.
Lock did a great job multiple times rolling to his right, completing a pass to Jerry Jeudy and another to Tony Fumagalli just before the QB was hit for a first down. He continued to show he’s great when rolling out of the pocket, and did so again late when he rolled left and found Tim Patrick for the game-winning score.
When it was all said and done, Lock finished 21-27 for 280 yards and four touchdowns. The 77.8 completion percentage was the second-best of his career and it was elite-level play.
Explosive Plays
But what Lock did the best today was create explosive plays.
The second-year quarterback connected with open receivers on the deep ball perfectly on Sunday afternoon. He went 3-3 for 117 yards and two touchdowns on throws over 20 yards.
Twice, Lock hooked up with rookie, speedster wideout K.J. Hamler for deep touchdowns. On the first, Hamler came open down the right sideline and Lock floated it beautifully to lead the receiver into the end zone. The second flew 50 yards in the air up the seam for the game-winning score.
And the third explosive play came to Jerry Jeudy on a deep corner route for 31 yards. That was a good sign because Jeudy was seemingly upset last week with the zero catch performance last week, tweeting after the game about getting his cardio in.
If Lock wants to become that Broncos QB of the future, he’ll have to be best friends with Jeudy, not having the wideout call him out on social media.
Overall, it was exactly the kind of production the Broncos need from Lock on a weekly basis. When it was all said and done, Lock played under control and with precision, going 21-27 for 280 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions.
In fact, Lock was so special today it’s tough to say which stat was more impressive, the completion percentage (77.8) or the zero picks. Also flashy was his 10.4 yards per attempt; he was 28th in the league at 6.5 Y/A coming into today.
Passer Rating
While Lock has struggled mightily in terms of accuracy in his career, he has enjoyed one game with a better completion percentage (Houston ’19, 81.5%) but this was the best passer rating in Lock’s short, 15-game career.
That passer rating? A near-perfect 149.5.
Those who watched the game know Lock wasn’t perfect. He had a short pass behind the line of scrimmage hit the turf and skip to Jeudy. He also threw too high to Tim Patrick over the middle twice.
But what Lock did outside of completing an extremely high number of his passes was most of the small stuff correctly. He limited throws off his back foot and he didn’t force passes into coverage. Again, he didn’t throw a pick, which was the first time in eight games. Over that seven-game span, he turned the ball over 14 times and his 13 INTs on the season are second-most in the NFL.
Simply, Lock played a near-perfect game today. He manufactured explosives, helping lead the offense to 26 points. That’s a touchdown more than they average (18.8).
He played with confidence and competence, checking down when he should and keeping his feet underneath himself on those deep balls. And on those big plays, he hyped up his teammates, too.
Altogether, the way Lock played today was exactly what everyone has been looking for, desiring and expecting out of him. He’s shown flashes of brilliance for a quarter or even a half, but this was the first time he’s played a complete game without also throwing an interception.
With three games to go this season, getting another performance like today’s would go a long way in terms of confidence around the quarterback going into the offseason.