It cannot be put into words to describe how pathetic that Thursday Night Football game was. It is one thing to watch a defensive football game but it's another thing to straight-up watch a horrible football game. In an era where all the rules favor offensive production, the Broncos manage to muster up 9 points and have averaged 15 points a game this season. That is 31st in the league and the only team worse in that category was the team they faced on TNF. Why are the Broncos in this position?
Let's Start with Russ. I have defended Russ so far throughout the season as he is working with a new offense and head coach for the first time in a decade. However, I cannot defend him for what happened on Thursday. He threw 2 of the more head-scratching interceptions you've seen especially from a quarterback of his caliber:
The first interception he just lofted to the defender like it was a punt and the defender nearly could have taken it to the house had he not slipped.
His second interception came with 2:19 left in the game where they were in the red zone facing a 3rd and short. A first down would have iced the game but instead, he decided to challenge the former defensive player of the year Stephon Gilmore and paid the price for it.
And finally, his worst mistake of the night was on the last play of overtime where he decided to force a ball to Courtland Sutton who was well-defended by Stephon Gilmore and completely missed seeing a wide-open KJ Hamler earlier in the play.
The next thing to blame is the injuries. My goodness do the Broncos lose key players every week? Last week they lost Javonte Williams and this week they lose Garrett Bolles, who is by far their best offensive lineman, due to a broken leg and lost Ronald Darby from a torn ACL. It seems the Broncos cannot finish any game healthy and end up losing their key troops in almost every game. Baron Browning and Jose Jewel also went down in the game but thankfully their injuries are much less severe and will be monitored on a day-to-day basis. Injuries are not an excuse for why the offense has been playing poorly but it is worth noting.
And finally, I need to wonder what is going on with the play calling. For some drives, it feels like we establish the run and do play action off of that, and other times we like to drop Russ back and let him "cook". The Broncos' offense seems to have no identity. They run the ball effectively at times but then remember they paid their QB a quarter of a billion dollars so they need to make him the hero of the game which is not necessary. An example was the drive that ended in the Gilmore interception. The Broncos were gashing the colts that entire possession running the ball as Boone and Gordon had some very nice runs to drive them down the field. But for some reason, the 3rd and a short play in the red zone is a pass to the end zone. My point is they should have run at that moment. Had they picked up the first down, they would have won, and had they not, they could have kicked an FG going up 12-6 the Colts have not shown any signs that entire night of getting close to the end zone and there was no reason to believe they would have scored with 2 min to go in the game. The offense is severely lacking situational awareness along with execution.
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