You could say that Justin Forsett’s first-half fumble was the difference in a 13-10 Broncos loss to the Tennessee Titans. After all, Denver did lose by three points and Forsett’s fumble on his first touch with his new team led almost directly to those points. But Forsett also did some important things to help Denver even have a chance to win a game in which the offense failed to score a point through the first three quarters of the game.

Signed mid-week and thrust into the offense after a season-ending injury to Kapri Bibbs, Forsett – a veteran with experience in Gary Kubiak’s system – got off to a rocky start. On his first touch in orange and blue, Forsett broke through the offensive line for a gain of nine, but coughed up the football at his own 29-yard line. Four plays later, the Titans had extended their lead to 10-0.

Adding insult to injury was the fact that Tennessee had not forced or recovered a fumble through their first 13 games. It was his first fumble in 950 touches – a streak going back to 2009.

Kubiak benched Forsett for the next few series, but rookie Devontae Booker’s ineffectiveness on the ground and his inability to pick up blocks forced Kubiak to go back to his veteran back. On the ground, the results weren’t much better.

Booker produced just 11 yards of offense on five touches, but 10 of those yards came through the air. Forsett was only marginally better in the run game, rushing for 17 on six tries and a long of nine. Forsett did have a 33-yard run negated by a Matt Paradis holding penalty, although the hold helped spring the big gain.

Forsett did contribute 18 yards on three receptions, hauling in all of his targets. But his biggest impact in the game had to be in helping keep Trevor Siemian (mostly) upright on a day in which the quarterback attempted a career-high 51 passes. Siemian did go down three times, although Forsett will not likely be credited with having surrendered any of them. Booker, however, will take the blame for two.

The veteran back was a stalwart protecting Siemian during a 10-point fourth quarter, but another fumble (by A.J. Derby) on Denver’s final drive cut short the chance for a game-tying field goal.

Forsett has been long known for his ball security (he has just six total in his 8-year career) and pass blocking. One of those two things held up on Sunday against Tennessee. Unfortunately, the other helped cost Denver a win.

Here’s what the MHS team and some of our favorite follows in the Denver media had to say about Forsett’s Broncos debut…

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