The freefall continues. The Denver Broncos are 0-4 and have lost eight games in a row dating back to last season following a 26-24 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
In this game, the Broncos looked as good as they have all season in the first half, building a 17-3 lead, only to give it up in the latter stages.
Joe Flacco threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns and the defense finally created some sacks. In fact, the Broncos registered five sacks on the day but it wasn’t enough as Gardner Minshew led a last-minute drive and Josh Lambo kicked a game-winning 33-yard field goal as time expired.
Here are some takeaways from another crushing defeat.
1. The run defense is as bad as it gets
Wow, this was pathetic. Between the holes that Leonard Fournette was able to run through and the incredibly bad tackling on the part of the Broncos, the run defense couldn’t have been any worse.
Fournette gashed the Broncos and the yards he didn’t get, Ryquell Armstead was happy to come in and get. Jacksonville rushed for a whopping 269 yards in this game, breaking a couple of long-standing streaks.
- Fournette became the first Jaguars player to rush for over 100 yards in 23 games, and he went for over 200.
- Fournette became the first player to rush for 200 yards for the Jaguars since the year 2000.
This was a terrible display by the Broncos and one they’ll need to fix as teams they face the remainder of the season will all look to exploit them on the ground.
2. Phillip Lindsay needs more touches
This was a close game but the Broncos decided to air it out against the Jacksonville defense with Jalen Ramsey on the sideline. That’s fine, but 38 pass attempts compared to only 15 run plays is a little off.
Lindsay carried the ball just nine times and caught one pass on the only ball thrown to him in the passing game. The Broncos were able to move the ball through the air in this game, but Lindsay should be more involved in the overall gameplan as too many drives stalled out.
3. Playcalling is way too bland
In addition to calling a pass on 72 percent of the team’s offensive plays, offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello calls a very predictable game. The Broncos went three-and-out four times in this game. Let’s take a closer look at those four drives.
Drive 1: Run for four yards, incomplete pass, incomplete pass.
Drive 2: Incomplete pass, run for two yards, incomplete pass.
Drive 3: Run for no gain, pass for six yards, incomplete pass.
Drive 4: Run for two yards, incomplete pass, incomplete pass.
On each of those drives, the first down play is a killer because the team faced a 3rd-and-4 or longer, a known passing play, on each drive. It was easy for Jacksonville’s defense to sit back and force a punt on these possessions.
When you throw in the fact that the Jaguars had a drive that nearly lasted 11 minutes in the third quarter, the time of possession was way out of wack. Jacksonville held the ball for nearly 40 minutes in this game. That almost always equals a loss.
Scangarello needs to find a way to get more out of his running game so that he can open up the playbook.
4. Prediction of a top 5 pick is real
Following the Broncos’ loss to the Green Bay Packers last week, I predicted that the team will have a top-five pick in the 2020 NFL draft. While some of that may have been said in jest, it’s far from a joke after the team dropped to 0-4.
The Broncos are playing as bad as any team in the league not named the Miami Dolphins and while you can put a positive twist on all these “close losses” if you want, the fact remains that they are still losses.
Teams only play a 16-game schedule and the Broncos, at this rate, won’t win many of the 12 games they have remaining.
