That certainly was not pretty. The Broncos outlast the Texans 16-9 in a very sloppy game especially by the Broncos. Here's what transpired:
Hackett's struggles continue
After last week, I said I was not too worried about Hackett and his struggles especially since that was his first game ever as a head coach in a hostile environment. However, I am beginning to get a little concerned because he somehow was worse this week than he was last week. I don't care how much he initially struggles but I want to see improvement week to week and week 1 to week 2 was certainly a step backward. The first issue is the play-calling. The Broncos did not seem to commit to the run even though it was working as they rushed for 149 yards on the ground. Javonte Williams finished with 75 yards averaging 5 yards per carry and Melvin Gordon finished with 47 yards on 4.7 yards per carry. Both runners were very effective and they should have been handed the ball more especially down in the red zone (more on that later). Another issue is the indecision on 4th down on whether or not to go for it. Regardless of whether it is smart or not to go for it in that situation, Hackett needs to be more decisive because on each 4th down he and Russ ponder whether they should go for it or not each time it is 4th and manageable and they burn a timeout. On Sunday, the Broncos blew through all 3 of their second-half timeouts by the midway point of the 4th quarter. They must clean that up before their Sunday Night showdown vs the 49ers next week. Here's a play that sums up Hackett and his decision-making so far: The Broncos on 3rd and 1 in the 3rd quarter decide to hand the ball off to their FB Andrew Beck on a fullback option play rather than just handing the ball off to Williams and fail to pick up the first down. Then, the Broncos wonder if they should go for it on 4th and 1 and take up almost the entire clock. Then they elect to kick a 52-yard field goal at the last second and they end up getting the delay of game which pushes them back 5 yards and had to punt. I still have faith in Hackett as he is still learning on the job but I need to see improvement in next week's game in all phases.
2. Red Zone Struggles
The Broncos have yet to score a touchdown in the red zone so far this season. It seems like the team overreacted to what happened last week in Seattle on Monday Night. After seeing both of their running backs on the goalline it seemed as if they decided that they would throw more in goal-to-go situations which was not the smart thing to do. Yes, the fumbles proved costly last week but Hackett and Russ must continue to show confidence in their 1-2 punch. Play-calling is not just to blame as Russ missed a wide-open Javonte Williams in the endzone on 3rd down and once he saw Williams it was too late and the ball got deflected up in the air and Kendal Hinton made his best effort to make the catch in the back of the endzone. This also must be cleaned up before the SNF game next week.
3. Court & Defense Stout
The Broncos defense recorded 3 Sacks and forced 2 forced fumbles. The free agency signing of Randy Gregory has been paying dividends as he is the first Broncos pass rusher since Von Miller in 2018 to force 2 forced fumbles in the first 2 weeks. He also recorded a sack. Dre' mont Jones continues to be a force up the middle making good plays and stopping the run recording 2 sacks of his own as well. The Broncos have held their opponents out of the endzone for the 3 straight halves. So after that head-scratching first half vs Geno and the Hawks, they have seemed to figure things out. Let's hope the offense can catch up. Feels like I have been saying that for 6 years in a row. Despite the offensive struggles, Courtland Sutton was sensational putting up 122 yards on 7 catches. He looks like the beast that we saw back in '19 when had his 1,000 yard season.
The Broncos, most importantly, did get the win. Onto San Francisco. Go Broncos!
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