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MHR Live: Less than mediocrity in our Week 3 recap

Week 4 looks to be a much better week than Week 3 for the Denver Broncos.

Denver Broncos v Buffalo Bills Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

The Denver Broncos are off today, but that won't stop us from telling you what caused them to lose on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. We're talking progressions, regressions, Trevor Siemian, the offensive line and how Denver's defense actually got better in Week 3. All of that any we'll take any and all questions as we kick off Raiders Week! The Broncos are slight favorites this week, by the way. Get in where you fit it, because study long, study wrong. Join your host Ian Henson and the greatest group of Broncos fans on the internet live, right now.

Posted by Mile High Report: A Denver Broncos Blog on Tuesday, September 26, 2017

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The Denver Broncos are off today, but that won't stop us from telling you what caused them to lose on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

We're talking progressions, regressions, Trevor Siemian, the offensive line and how Denver's defense actually got better in Week 3.

All of that any we'll take any and all questions as we kick off Raiders Week! The Broncos are slight favorites this week, by the way.

Get in where you fit it, because study long, study wrong. Join your host Ian Henson and the greatest group of Broncos fans on the internet live, right now.

An excerpt from today’s edition of The Strongside Blitz, sign-up right here:

Less than MEDIOCRE

(the Denver Broncos aren't the best team in the NFL)

Here is less of that 13-3 talk you've been hearing here for months.

The Denver Broncos record in September with Trevor Siemian starting was 5-0 until Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills. Siemian and the Broncos under Siemian will remain 5-1 in September until next season. Post-September Siemian is 5-6.

Welcome to post-September. A time when guys with names like Von and Jamaal will take over, a time when win and loss columns can flip. There is not a 'Mr. October' in the NFL -- there never has been. And if there was it would be Tom Brady.

There is only one way to sum up the Broncos on Sunday and it isn't through blaming the refs, kneeling, not converting on 3rd downs or even red zone efficiency. The game was lost on the head coach's gamble. No, not the botched fake punt in which the Denver Broncos inexplicable kept their starting offensive line on the field for a punt (at least get the actual long snapper in there) and one player entered too late, giving the whole thing way.

No, it was the conscious effort to force Tyrod Taylor to pass. Taylor is not Tom Brady, he's not Andrew Luck, he's not Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers, he's not even Cam Newton or Ben Roethlisberger. He's not like any of the quarterbacks that the Broncos have faced, decimated and left for dead. Tyrod Taylor is a Kubiak trained quarterback manning the rudder as Rick Dennison picked apart a defense that he has spent the previous two season picking apart in practice.

Offense:

The Denver Broncos passed on 71% of their plays on Sunday in Buffalo. Trevor Siemian passed for 259 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

You'd think that Dennison gave Siemian's secrets away to Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, but Siemian's blanked in games before. Siemian has not thrown a touchdown in 29.4% of his starts. He's thrown only one touchdown in 29.4% of his starts as well. You're seeing the number that I am about to arrive at and it's 59.8% of Siemian's starts have resulted in one or less than touchdown pass from Siemian.

“The first interception, [Siemian] was trying to make a play. We’re moving the ball some. We’re adding penalties and we’re backed up. He’s trying to make a play. He thought Bennie [Fowler III] was going to sit down in the window, but Bennie kept moving. Then the [defensive back] came back. It was part him trying to make a play. The second one, he was trying to throw the ball away and it was short of the sideline. The kid picked it off,” head coach Vance Joseph offered Monday afternoon.

That wasn't all though. Demaryius Thomas had six catches for 98 yards, Emmanuel Sanders had seven catches for 75 yards. Jamaal Charles had one more carry than C.J. Anderson and 20 more yards. Charles averaged 6.2 yards-per-carry on 9 carries, while Anderson averaged 4.5 yards-per-carry on eight carries.

PFF Grades for the offensive line:Garett Bolles 69.2 (down from 77.5), Max Garcia 64 (up from 48.5), Matt Paradis 79.1 (up from 70.5), Ron Leary 83.7 (down from 87.4), and Menelik Watson 35.7 (up from 28.4).

Defense:

Von Miller had a sack, Todd Davis had a sack, Brandon Marshall had a sack, and Shelby Harris had a sack. That's four sacks in this game, Denver as a team had three sacks entering Week 3.

So, what happened?

Denver's defense was unable to get a single turnover. The special teams did not help a ton on field position either, but as you already know the defense's job is to stop scoring. Not do the offense's job for them.

Denver did not have a play inside the Bills 5 yard line. The Bills passed the ball on 54% of their plays. They had two pass plays inside the Broncos' 5 yards line. Denver's defense held Buffalo's LeSean McCoy to 21 yards on 14 carries, allowing six catches on six targets for 33 yards. McCoy did not have a touchdown and Mike Tolbert got the Bills only carry inside Denver's 5 yard line.

Buffalo's leading receiver was Jordan Matthews who had 61 yards on three catches and four targets. Bills' tight end Charles Clay had six catches on six targets for 39 yards and a touchdown. Von Miller (PFF Grade: 84.2), Aqib Talib (82.9), Todd Davis (82.9) and Domata Peko (80.4). Miller's one sack and five quarterback pressures were all unblocked on purpose, while Miller managed to be second on the team with four run stops. Davis finished the game with six defensive stops.