Broncos at Ravens: The No Bull Review

Give the Denver Broncos credit… they are making it very hard for those who write about them to find any way to write anything new or meaningful about them.

They held the opponent to 10 points. I can not emphasize enough how masterful that is in today’s NFL against any team in the league. That’s phenomenal defense.

They failed to score 10 points on offense. I can not emphasize enough how pathetic that is in today’s NFL against any team in the league. That’s a disgustedly horrendous offense.

Defense

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Ejiro Evero uses chewing gum, baling wire, and duct tape to craft a defense week in and week out. We’ve lost pass rushers galore as well as defensive backs. He’s still making it work at an extraordinary level.

We’re using a guy in Jonathan Cooper that entered the season likely 5th on the depth chart and he was still creating pressure.

We’ve got an undrafted rookie in Damarri Mathis flying around at the #2 CB spot showing why he belongs in this league.

Justin Simmons is showing up making game-changing interceptions just to remind everyone that he’s still a badass safety who will make you pay.

Offense

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

And yet, the woeful, inept, and pathetic offense can’t do enough to win a game where the defense had made it as easy as it gets in the NFL.

Nathaniel Hackett, Klint Kubiak, and Russell Wilson should all feel absolutely sobbingly horrid about losing this football game. There’s blame for each and every one of them.

Let me remind you that “it starts with me,” is Nathaniel Hackett’s favorite coach-speak catch-phrase. It does start with you, Captain Can’t Hack It. Thankfully we’ll get to turn another page at the end of this season when (not if) you get fired and we get to hope on something better yet again.

Russell Wilson looks lost and I hate it. I thought we were getting a guy who knew what it's like to win and was willing to do whatever it took. Instead, we have a fading star who looks like he needs a strong-handed coach like Pete Carrol in order to drive his supposed greatness.

Highlighting the offensive line

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

The one new thing this game showed me that I hadn’t noticed was how poor our offensive line is at doing all the things you want your offensive line to do. I don’t know how they have been coached, what they have been taught this year differently, or what the hell they are thinking, but they really suck at holding up anything as a foundation for the offense to work off of.

Over and over again I noticed that when we run a run play, the blocks hold up for about 2 seconds, then most of the linemen collapse. Not like they are pancaking anyone either, but they are falling under their assignments like so much graded roadkill.

That’s not new at all. I’ve seen many teams that aren’t good at run blocking. Usually, that means they are better at pass blocking. Not this Denver Broncos line. They suck at that, too. They can’t be relied on to block the middle or the edges consistently. Something always breaks through and far quicker than you would like to see in order to give your QB time to throw the ball. This makes the passing game even harder because Wilson has to worry about the pass rush instead of giving his focus on finding the open guy.

I don’t know that this whole roster needs to be overhauled, but the only guys on the line I really think are worth keeping are Garrett Boles (if he returns at all to his form from two years ago) and Quinn Meinerz who looks like a solid guard that isn’t losing constantly at least.

Special Teams

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

So Corliss Waitman is a guy we get to talk about this week. Why were his punts so pathetic? I know why he’s wearing the uniform (cost…he was a cheap 2nd-year player). But another game like this and we’ll be looking for a new punter next year as well.

While we’re at it, is it time to bring in some competition for the place kicker? Brandon McManus who is the lone bright shining example of a Super Bowl-winning Bronco failed once again to make the big kick to win a game. I get it…63 yards is exceptionally difficult, especially at sea level. But dude…you’ve bragged about your big leg for years. ¿Dónde está?

Final Thoughts

How sad for the Broncos faithful out there that we get to look forward to playing the Kansas City Chiefs next week. Hey, on the bright side we will probably see a different story. They will likely beat this pathetic team by 20.