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The Denver Broncos offense flopped again for the 11th straight game. They fell behind early and the defense was unable to hold the line against Sam Darnold and the Carolina Panthers. The 23-10 final score was much closer than it actually was. Just another day in paradise for the 2022 Broncos.
In-Game Updates
9:30 AM: The Broncos released their gameday inactives and confirmed both OLB Jacob Martin and TE/FB Andrew Beck would be active today. Some good news given they are still without two starting wide receivers and a cornerback.
11:35 AM: After a woeful first quarter, the Broncos did pick up their first first down of the game on the final play of the first quarter. This came after the Panthers drove down the field after a fake punt conversion to go up 7-0. Full first quarter recap.
11:45 AM: Despite giving up the fake punt conversion, the Broncos special teams came up with a big play on their next opportunity with this muffed punt recovery. The Broncos offense would drive inside the 10-yard line, but would ultimately settle for a field goal to cut the Panthers lead to 7-3.
11:55 AM: Since that fake punt, the Broncos defense began giving up 8 yards per play. Pat Surtain came up big on a third down pass breakup to force a field goal on the Panthers next drive, but they lead 10-3 in a game where it doesn’t look like the Broncos offense will score 10.
12:03 PM: Latavius Murray gave the Broncos their first 20+ yard run with this 52-yard scamper, but on the next play Russell Wilson had his hand hit as he threw. It was ruled a fumble and the Panthers recovered.
12:25 PM: Denver would get the ball back with just enough time to get Brandon McManus a chance to cut the lead before halftime, but he would miss a 56-yard field goal attempt. Full second quarter recap.
1:17 PM: This game has become horribly painful to watch as the Broncos offense continues to bring misery to the fanbase. The Panthers added another touchdowns and are up big heading into the fourth quarter, 17-3. Fire Hackett anyone? Full third quarter recap.
1:23 PM: Carolina found a big play against Pat Surtain with DJ Moore catching a 52-yard bomb from Sam Darnold to set the Panthers up inside the Broncos’ 10-yard line. The Broncos’ defense would hold from there to force a field goal, but Carolina is up 20-3.
1:27 PM: Jalen Virgil fielded the kickoff return and ended up fumbling where the Panthers recovered. The ugliness in this game is about to get uglier.
1:32 PM: With Mike Purcell chewing out Russell Wilson on the sideline after that fumble, the Panthers calmly put up another field goal to increase their lead to 23-3.
1:54 PM: It took twenty drives between touchdowns, but Denver finally got one late in the fourth quarter on a Wilson pass to Brandon Johnson to cut the Panthers lead to 23-10. It was Wilson 300th TD of his career, tying him with Broncos’ legend John Elway on the all-time touchdown list. Denver needed nine goal-to-go opportunities to get that touchdown. Panthers 23, Broncos 10.
1:55 PM: The Broncos P.J. Locke actually recovered the onside kick with just over three minutes to go in the game.
2:01 PM: Denver’s drive went nowhere with Wilson under pressure all four pass attempts. Sometimes even as the snap reached him. Game over.
Game Preview
The Denver Broncos (3-7) will be on the road today to take on the Carolina Panthers (3-8). Both teams have not been able to figure out how to win games this year. Denver can’t win a divisional game and Carolina can’t win a non-divisional one, so maybe that tips the scales in the Broncos favor a bit here in Week 12.
For the Broncos, this has to come down to Klint Kubiak and Russell Wilson working together to generate some sustained offensive production. The offense hasn’t done that throughout a game a single time this season, but there were aspects of their first game together last week that suggests we could see things turned around a bit offensively in the coming weeks.
The more worrisome issue is how the defense seemingly folded late against the Las Vegas Raiders. The defense hadn’t folded like that all season long, so it’ll be important to see how they fare against the Panthers early in this game. A strong defense is going to be needed even if the offense begins to turn things around.
Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. Mile High time on Sunday, November 27, 2022 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can watch the live stream of the game through FuboTV or on FOX.
My Prediction
In partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook, I am covering all my picks this year on TallySight. The Broncos are the better team, but they are not performing like one at all this year. Given that fact, it could go either way here, but I’m going to stick with our Broncos on this one.
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