When it Rains it Pours!
- Arjun Peroor
- Oct 3, 2022
- 3 min read
The Broncos have lost 5 straight times to the Raiders and have lost 7 of their last 9 meetings vs the silver and black. They have struggled mightily in the division basically since 2016 and those struggles continue. It was not a pretty game by any means. Russ, though, played his best game as a Bronco putting up a total of 3 touchdowns( one rushing, two passing). The offense, especially in the first half looked to have taken some steps forward putting up 16 points and scoring 2 offensive touchdowns including one in the red zone where everything has gone wrong up until that point. Hopefully, that is a sign that the offense is starting to put things together and getting more comfortable with the season progressing. Despite the early signs of promise, the offense did virtually nothing in the 3rd quarter putting up 17 yards in the 3rd quarter and punting on all of their possessions, and was shutout until the middle of the 4th quarter when the Broncos got a score in the middle of the 4th to close the gap 23-25. Unfortunately, the next time the Broncos got the ball back they were down 32-23 with just over 2 min remaining.
Speaking of the defense, they were not very good on the ground. Josh Jacobs seemingly plays his best ball vs the Broncos for some putting up 144 yards and 2 TD on 5.1 yards per carrying. The defense gave up a total of 212 yards on the ground including 40 to Derek Carr. The failure to account for Carr's mobility was devastating as he converted on a 3rd and long on that final drive in the 4th quarter that helped the Raiders ice the game 32-23. Overall it should not be cause for concern as the defense has been stout the whole year so far so they deserve the benefit of the doubt and should bounce back this Thursday against a struggling Colts offense. However, what concerns me is the injuries.
The Broncos will be losing Randy Gregory for 2-6 weeks as he took some damage to his knee. Very fortunate, though, that it was not season-ending. The Broncos will be missing his presence as he has been awesome at generating pressure and making timely plays against the run. Bradley Chubb will have to step up more in his role to make up for the absence by Gregory for the next couple of weeks. The more devastating news is the Javonte Williams injury. Reports state he tore his ACL and LCL and as a result will miss the remainder of the season. It is tremendously devastating to see a young promising player like Williams suffer such a major injury like this and hopefully, he can come back and put up similar production to what he was doing pre-injury. Consequently, what this injury does is provide new life to Melvin Gordon.
After Melvin Gordon came into the game for the first time in the second quarter and fumbled, all of Broncos Country was ready to move on from him and it was entirely possible the Broncos cut him after the game because not only did he fumble, he was ineffective running the ball just mustering up 8 total yards. With Williams's injury, it is almost guaranteed that he will be on the team and he must find a way to step up and provide the production all of Broncos country expects. Melvin is a very good running back as he put up 900+ yards in both his years as a Broncos so far but his fumbles have made Broncos fans weary of his time in Denver. I hope he can redeem himself the rest of the way this season but I have to see it to believe it. Mike Boone will also be called upon.
It certainly is not fun to be 2-2 through 4 games and one of those losses coming to a hated divisional rival. However, I do not think it is time to hit the panic button as I did predict in my early season predictions back that this team would start 2-2 through 4 games. Broncos country should still have faith that a turning point will be coming soon and hopefully, it can start this Thursday at home vs Indy.
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