Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco certainly hasn’t been perfect since he took over as Denver’s starter, throwing six touchdown passes and five interceptions in eight games. Flacco isn’t the only one to blame for the Broncos’ offensive struggles, though.
Rich Scangarello, the team’s offensive coordinator, is a first-time play-caller in the NFL and he seems to be having some growing pains.
Facing a third-and-5 at the plus-47-yard line with a one-point lead and 2:28 remaining in Sunday’s game against the Colts, Scangarello called a run play for Phillip Lindsay. Denver failed to pick up the first down and then punted. Indianapolis went on to kick a game-winning field goal, securing a 15-13 victory.
After the game, Flacco was clearly upset about that play call and other moments in the contest when the Broncos were conservative.
“I just look at it like, we are now a 2-6 football team and we’re like afraid to go for it in a two-minute drill,” Flacco said. “Like, who cares if you give the ball back to the guys with a minute and 40 seconds left. They obviously got the field goal anyway. Once again, we’re a 2-6 football team and it just feels like we’re kind of afraid to lose a game. It’s third-and-five at the end of the game, who cares if they have a timeout there at the end or not.
“Getting in field goal range isn’t that tough. So you’re just putting your defense in these bad situations. I just felt like, what do we have to lose? Why can’t we be aggressive in some of these situations? That’s kind of how I feel about a lot of the game today.”
That’s a fair point from Flacco — it’s not like Denver is competing for a spot in the playoffs at the moment. Why not go on all? And throwing on third-and-five wouldn’t even be wildly aggressive. It would be logical.
After watching part of Flacco’s postgame press conference, former wide receiver Torrey Smith, who played with Flacco with the Ravens from 2011-2014, tweeted that the quarterback is “fed up.”
Flacco is usually the kind of guy who avoids controversy but he clearly wanted to make a point after the Broncos’ most recent defeat. “I just feel like sometimes those situations are tough and we can make it easier on ourselves by not being afraid to be aggressive,” he said.
Up next for Denver is a home game against the Browns. It’s probably safe to assume the Broncos will be more aggressive in that contest.
