Broncos 3rd & long: getting a higher draft pick for Christmas

That was hard to watch. The field was in horrible shape. The Broncos, by and large, were disinterested. The game was a foregone conclusion.

The Broncos have now lost to three teams this season who, most likely, will be drafting before us in 2019. Let that sink in. The Jets (4-11) have to play at New England so there is a 95% chance they finish 4-12. The 49ers (4-11) have to play at the Rams - which is likely a loss and the Raiders (4-11) have to play at Kansas City. Barring a minor miracle, they will all finish at 4-12. I don’t feel like researching that, but I’d wager that it doesn’t happen often (if at all) that a team with a losing record loses to three teams in the same season who all finish worse than they do.

The first down run defense was pretty good again this game. The Faiders ran for 42 yards on 13 first down carries (4.0 ypc). Only one carry went for more than 10 (11 yards) and we had four stops for no gain on first down runs. While the first down run D was stout, the defense on third and long was ok.

The Faiders had six 3rd & long situations and they converted on two of them.

For the season the Broncos have now allowed conversion on 33 of 109 3rd and long situations - 30.3% which is 22nd in the league.