Discipline is key for the Broncos right now

With respect, I’m not sure the Denver Broncos could’ve played sloppier on Sunday. There was no time management. The coaching staff seemed incredibly overwhelmed. I am thankful that we won, but winning isn’t everything, especially when you take into account the opponents we have ahead of us.

Our team now leads the entire NFL in false start and delay of game penalties, but they also have a slew of other issues — facemask, unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting, etc. etc. etc. All in all, they recorded 25 penalties for 206 yards over just the last two weeks.

Predictably, several of the players were asked about about their plans to minimize these penalties going forward. [Most of] their responses were humble and resolved, but that needs to translate to the field before I get overly optimistic.

“We have to quit getting penalties as players. That’s on us. That’s discipline,” QB Russell Wilson acknowledged, “That’s making sure that we’re doing the little things right...All of those things are really critical, especially in close games. If we eliminate those, it’s not second and long. It’s second and five. It’s second and three.”

Wilson continued: “All that matters is that Win. Then, taking those wins and understanding here are the areas where we can get better. We’ll definitely take on that challenge and I’m looking forward to it.”

Regarding the false start penalties specifically, RB Melvin Gordon III gave his input for avoiding them in the future. “We just have to be sharp, man. It’s just mental focus and details at the line of scrimmage.”

Gordon explained that sometimes they get “locked” into their assignments and become impatient, hence the false starts. Basically, they get caught in their feelings.

LB Randy Gregory reflected some of Gordon’s sentiments about the need to stay sharp and not let emotions or tendencies get in the way.

“We have to cut down the pre-snap feelings. Those are probably the main ones, offsides, misalignments and things like that,” Gregory insisted, “We just have to be smarter.”

WR Kendall Hinton offered his insight on the delay of game penalties. He reminded that it’s never just one thing causing it all, but multiple issues working together. At the end of the day, it’s about learning from your mistakes and allowing those lessons to shape gameplay.

“It could be the coaches being delayed relaying information to the quarterback or receivers taking too long. It’s on everybody,” he explained, “From a receiver perspective, we have to pick up the pace when we’re getting out on the field.”

“It’s just something we can learn and grow from,” Hinton concluded.

Ultimately, the consensus is that everyone needs to clean up what they’re doing. They’re getting so many penalties because of insufficient communication, because of sloppy play, because of this, because of that.

Whatever the reasons — and I say this with the utmost love in my heart — I sincerely hope they can fix them before we face off with the San Francisco 49ers, and especially before we face off with our stacked rivals in the AFC West. I believe they can do it, but it’s going to take a lot of commitment and organization.

Next up is prime time at Empower Field. Go Broncos.