The Broncos lose the season opener 17-16. Sound familiar?!! Because it is!! For the second straight year, the Broncos have lost 17-16 in a game where they should have won. I really don't want to re-live this painful game but let's do it:
The Broncos kicked off this game in a crazy way going for an onside kick. They were very close to recovering it but illegal touching gave the Raiders the ball in Broncos territory. So right off the bat, the Raiders got good field position. Aided by some Broncos penalties, they matched right down the field and scored off a Jimmy G pass to Jakobi Meyers at the goaline. Meyers scored on Damarri Mathis who had a really tough day. Despite the opening score, the Broncos came out firing in all cylinders in their first drive as Russ completed passes to 7 different receivers and the last one being a laser on 2nd goal to Lil Jordan Humphries. Russ looked sharp as this was the Russ Broncos fans have been yearning for. He finished the first half with a 17/19 with 129 yards and 2 TDs. The Broncos went into half with a 13-10 lead. However we know that didn't last. I was unable to watch the second half of this game but Denver was only able to muster up 3 points in the second half going up 16-10 instead of 20-10 as they had an on goal situation. The Raiders would then match down the field and score making it 17-16. The Broncos failed to answer on their next possession and decided not to go for it in 4th and 3. Instead, they punted and the Raiders were able to drain the clock the rest of the way.
3 things that's scare me:
Wil Lutz missing his first PAT and missed a 55 yard FG both of which proved costly in this game and if he doesn't fix that the Broncos could lose a lot of games in this fashion.
Dulcichs injury leaves us no athleticism at the TE position as the next 3 TE in the depth chart and mainly blockers and this is where we could have used Albert O. With Jeudy out this team is severely lacking skill at the skill positions and now with Dulcich out the pass catching group is getting very thin.
Losing Caden Sterns absolutely sucks. He had played very well when Simmons or Jackson has missed time and without him there the safeties need to stay on the field.
Positive Takeaways:
Javonte Williams and Perine made some nice plays I only expect them to get better as the season progresses.
PS2 had his get back vs Adams holding him to 2 catches for 11 yards as the primary defender.
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