With a Week 9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Denver Broncos have the 1972 Miami Dolphins that much closer to popping their celebratory champagne. Falling 27-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Denver’s perfect season is no more. Now, Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka can shift their focus to the Panthers, Patriots and Bengals who all remain unbeaten at 8-0.
Denver’s loss to the Colts was a near-complete one. Denver never led in the game, and trailed 17-0 with just moments to go before the end of the first half. Denver allowed 27 first downs, including seven by penalty and generated just 35 yards of offense on the ground. Peyton Manning was intercepted twice.
The Denver defense, which had been so dominant – allowing just 16.0 points per game entering the contest – surrendered nearly double that amount and committed several egregious penalties.
Still, there were some players who put forth solid individual efforts in the loss. We’ll try to keep our focus on those players as we catalog the a “Nobody’s Perfect” edition of “Studs and Duds.”
Honorable Mention Stud – Bradley Roby
Lost in the chaos of the Colts’ final drive was a play on the previous series that even made Indianapolis’ final possession a meaningful one.
Facing third-and-two from the Denver 37, with the game tied at 24 and 6:24 on the clock, Andrew Luck looked to deliver a knockdown blow. After trading touchdowns on their previous two possessions, Luck took a shot at the end zone with Donte Moncrief on the receiving end.
Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby stayed with him stride for stride and timed his jump perfectly to break up what could have been a go-ahead touchdown. The Colts had to settle for a 55-yard field goal. Adam Vinatieri was true on the kick, but a 55-yarder is no gimme.
The Broncos got the ball back in their hands with a chance to execute a six-minute offense and win the game with a touchdown, all thanks to Roby’s big stop. Had Peyton Manning not been picked off on the first play of the ensuing drive, this might be the game-changing play all of Denver was talking about on Monday morning.
Dud No. 3 – The Offensive Line
One yard. Three lousy, stinking feet. The entire Denver offense could only muster three feet more offense than Andrew Luck did personally register against the Broncos. That’s also the rushing total for Ronnie Hillman on seven attempts on the day.
Yes, you read that correctly. Luck ran (scrambled?) for 34 yards on the day. C.J. Anderson ran (slogged?) for 34 yards on the day. It was Hillman’s one yard on seven carries that pushed the two Broncos backs just three measly feet ahead of the Colts quarterback.
Pin this squarely on an offensive line that looked out of sync all day long. Whether you want to chalk it up to lingering injuries or the merry-go-round rotation that has a different left tackle in on every other drive (not to mention the tag-team guard scenario that’s playing out between Max Garcia and Louis Vasquez), the line was a shadow of the group that propelled Denver to 160 yards on the ground against Green Bay one week prior.
Not only did they not open up any holes for the running backs, they surrendered a sack, four tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries and eight quarterback hits according to Pro Football Focus. Official team stats had them at nine hits. Kendall Langford have five of those on his own.
The Broncos o-line was flat out “owned” in Indy and was one of the biggest reasons for the loss.
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[adrotate group=”1″]Stud No. 3 – Omar Bolden
Omar might want to drop the “en” from the end of his name, because the guy plays abandon.
The Colts had the Broncos on the ropes nearing the end of the first half and leading 17-0. Bolden boldly stepped into a punt that should have iced the half and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown that gave Denver a much needed defibrillation as time expired in the half.
Later in the game he stood firm under another punt with a Colts defender flying in his face. He didn’t hang on to the ball, but it was no matter because Winston Guy was flagged for interference. The mere threat of Bolden running another one back was a likely cause for Guy’s over-aggression.
In the kick return game, Bolden was strong as well. He took two balls back on kickoffs for a total of 69 yards. His final return of the game, following the Colts’ go-ahead field goal went for 41 yards and put the Broncos at their own 33 yard line. Bolden was stopped with just a couple defenders in front of him and nearly took the kick to the house.
All the more impressive about the performance was that Bolden was called into reserve punt return duty after Emmanuel Sanders was hobbled with an injury on the first play of the game.
Dud No. 2 – Aqib Talib
It was less than a week ago when four writers from NFL.com dubbed Aqib Talib their leading MVP candidate. There’s no word yet as to whether or not they’ve contacted their editors and asked for the post to be removed.
With one single poke of his finger, Talib went from being one of the best stories of the year to being the biggest scapegoat in what was a total collapse and meltdown of epic proportions by a defense that was being dubbed one of the best in the league, if not one of the best ever.
The “No Fly Zone” looked more like “The Three Stooges” after Talib poked Dwayne Allen in the eye and was smacked with a personal foul penalty that gave the Colts a first-and-goal instead of a third-and-seven and effectively iced the game. He was then flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct later in the series after Denver was called for a penalty on a field goal try that truly put the game in the Colts’ hands.
Talib is a veteran and a leader in the clubhouse. He’s a Pro Bowl cornerback who has made more than a handful of big plays – some of the game-changing variety – this season. But this was not the time to let emotion get the best of him. Just when Denver needed him to keep his composure the most, he failed his teammates.
Talib is resilient and you can bet we’ll see a different, focused, player in the final eight weeks. Still, he’ll be hearing about this one for quite a while.
Stud No. 2 – Malik Jackson
Very little went right for the defense against Indianapolis, as we’ve catalogued since before the final whistle even blew on the game. But one name was called frequently for making big plays, especially in the pass rush and pass defense: Malik Jackson.
Jackson had three batted passes against Andrew Luck, making him the first Broncos lineman to register such a stat since Alfred Williams did so in 1996.
He also registered a sack – Denver’s only one on the day – on Luck, plus five combined tackles, one tackle for loss and two quarterback hits, according to official team stats.
Pro Football Focus rated him a +2.5, the best rating of any Broncos defender on the day, also crediting him with two quarterback hurries and two defensive stops.
On a day when the other primary front-three players – Sylvester Williams, Derek Wolfe, Antonio Smith and Vance Walker – combined for a -4.2 rating from PFF, Jackson was the only good thing going up the middle.
Dud No. 1 – The Third Down Unit
As we’ve thoroughly documented already in this edition of “Studs and Duds,” not to mention just about every other story about the Broncos latest loss to the Colts, the defense was a big part of the reason Denver dropped its first game of 2015.
Individual failings aside, the entire unit has to be called to the carpet for their performance on third down.
Entering the game, Denver’s opponents were just 27-of-87 on third downs – a 31.03 percent conversion rate. Had the Broncos maintained that level of play against Indianapolis, they’d be ranked at the top of the league, tied with Seattle.
Instead, Denver allowed the Colts to convert 12-of-20 third down plays including two that went for touchdowns. Denver also handed the Colts seven first downs via penalty, including one on third down and one on fourth down.
All told, Denver allowed 141 yards passing, 34 yards rushing (26 net) and gave up 15 yards on penalty on third down. That’s a sum of 182 yards, nearly half of Indianapolis’ 365 yards on the day.
Lose on third down, lose the game. And the Broncos lost big on third down on Sunday.
Stud No. 1 – Owen Daniels
Apparently, Owen Daniels isn’t ready to give up his job as the Broncos No. 1 tight end. Following a good day at the office against the Packers (44 yards on three catches), Daniels saw his role as the top tight end put squarely in the crosshairs by John Elway when the executive vice president went out and made a trade for 49ers playmaker Vernon Davis.
Elway wanted a kicking and screaming mentality from his team and he got one from Daniels on Sunday, who’s apparently not ready to relinquish his job to Davis.
Daniels went wild against the Colts, catching six balls for 102 yards and a touchdown.
It was only the fifth time in his career he’s eclipsed the 100-yard mark and the first time he’s done so since December 2011.
Davis, who joined the team just this week, was targeted only once and did not make a catch.
This was the Owen Daniels fans (and fantasy owners) expected to see when he was signed as a free agent. Peyton Manning and Gary Kubiak are clearly figuring out how to best utilize Daniels and with Davis now in the picture alongside to Pro Bowl wide receivers, opposing defenses should have a hard time deciding who to cover.
Daniels needed a big breakout game and he got it Sunday, earning him our top honor.