The Denver Broncos have a lot of work to do to get their 2022 season on track. They face a tough test on the road in Week 6 as they play against their AFC West rival Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football.
The biggest issue so far has been offensive ineptitude in early downs. That has led to a high number of three and outs and low efficiency in the red zone. It’s the focal point Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett noted this week as well. Limiting those negative plays.
“Negative plays,” Hackett said on Tuesday. “I think that’s been one of our nemeses. We’ve been really good at some explosive passes down the field. I think we’re pretty high up there in the league and we have some really good explosive—we really feast or famine, and it’s in the red zone. and it’s in the middle of the field. The amount of ‘get back on tracks’ we have is just too difficult. We need to be way more efficient on first down. Getting positive yards, and even just getting incompletions instead of sacks or penalties. So I think those are the things that we’re focusing on, trying to narrow down the things that we want to be great at and then continually developing those.”
Predictability on early downs is the main culprit as well. Hackett and quarterback Russell Wilson need to figure out how to turn up the pressure on defenses with positive early down gains. They’ll get another chance here this week to get this ball rolling finally.
Kickoff is set for 6:20 p.m. Mile High time on Monday, October 17, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. You can watch the live stream of the game through FuboTV or on NBC.