Mile High Report - Week 10: Raiders 37, Broncos 12 - Everything we knowBy Fans, For Fans....Your Source For Denver Broncos News and Commenthttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/50905/mhr-fav.png2020-11-27T11:00:00-07:00http://www.milehighreport.com/rss/stream/213278842020-11-27T11:00:00-07:002020-11-27T11:00:00-07:00A tale of two Broncos running games, part 1: destruction in Vegas
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<img alt="Denver Broncos v Las Vegas Raiders" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ekDi8XSU4H6XxBqcyKpiE9k_S3w=/396x35:2352x1339/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67990428/1285839871.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Comparing and contrasting the performance of the Denver Broncos running game over the past two games.</p> <p id="8IDByz">The Broncos running game was fairly bad against the Raiders and then quite good against <a href="https://www.thephinsider.com/">Dolphins</a>. </p>
<p id="Ef13mr">Denver’s running backs carried the ball 18 times versus Las Vegas and 31 times versus Miami. They gained 61 yards on the ground versus the Raiders (3.39 ypc) and 166 yards on the ground versus the Dolphins (5.35 ypc). </p>
<p id="mZ0tNq">This is part one of a two-part series and will focus on what happened against the Raiders and why. Part two will discuss the Dolphin game with what and why. </p>
<p id="seW2In">On Denver’s 18 RB carries against the Raiders, the backs were hit behind the line of scrimmage on <em><strong>nine</strong></em> of them. Despite that, only two were stopped for a loss and two were stopped at the LOS. </p>
<p id="XfLKTm">Here is a chronological listing of the running back carries against the Raiders with a description of the number of defenders in the box, whether the running back got hit behind the LOS, and how many TEs were in the game for the Broncos. </p>
<p id="IKGXVP">In general, it is easier to run when you have more TEs in the game. </p>
<div id="wwiDHb"><table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Quarter</td>
<td>Time</td>
<td>Down</td>
<td>ToGo</td>
<td>Location</td>
<td>Detail</td>
<td>Yds</td>
<td>Defenders in box</td>
<td>Runner hit behind LOS</td>
<td>2TE or more?</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>14:44</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 3</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right tackle for 4 yards (tackle by Nick Kwiatkoski and Trayvon Mullen)</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>yes - 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>9:28</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>DEN 35</td>
<td>Phillip Lindsay right tackle for 2 yards (tackle by Nick Kwiatkoski)</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>7:57</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>RAI 32</td>
<td>Phillip Lindsay right guard for no gain (tackle by Arden Key)</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>5:38</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 7</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right tackle for 3 yards (tackle by Arden Key)</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>yes - 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>3:44</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 21</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon left end for 8 yards (tackle by David Irving)</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>yes - 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>3:33</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>DEN 29</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon left guard for 1 yard (tackle by Johnathan Abram)</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>2:57</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>DEN 30</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right guard for 6 yards (tackle by Nick Kwiatkoski)</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>2:18</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 36</td>
<td>Phillip Lindsay right guard for -4 yards (tackle by Maxx Crosby)</td>
<td>-4</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>yes - 2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>14:38</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 2</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon left guard for 3 yards (tackle by Maliek Collins)</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>yes - 3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>13:59</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>DEN 5</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon left tackle for 6 yards (tackle by Nicholas Morrow and Erik Harris)</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>8 (7)</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>9:48</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>RAI 23</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right guard for 7 yards (tackle by Erik Harris and Maliek Collins)</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>1:18</td>
<td>3</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>DEN 34</td>
<td>Drew Lock right guard for 2 yards (tackle by Maliek Collins)</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>0:59</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>RAI 37</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right tackle for no gain (tackle by David Irving and Maxx Crosby)</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>9:08</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 26</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon right guard for -3 yards (tackle by Clelin Ferrell)</td>
<td>-3</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>0:36</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 25</td>
<td>Phillip Lindsay left guard for 4 yards (tackle by Nick Kwiatkoski)</td>
<td>4</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>yes</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>9:03</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>RAI 42</td>
<td>Melvin Gordon left guard for 11 yards (tackle by Johnathan Abram)</td>
<td>11</td>
<td>7 (6)</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>1:54</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 25</td>
<td>Royce Freeman right guard for 9 yards (tackle by Nick Kwiatkoski)</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>7</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>1:15</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>DEN 43</td>
<td>Royce Freeman right guard for 2 yards (tackle by Lamarcus Joyner and Nick Kwiatkoski)</td>
<td>2</td>
<td>6</td>
<td>no</td>
<td>no</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p id="QBrlQ8">Melvin Gordon had a great game because of the number of tackles that he broke - many of which were behind the LOS. He was credited with six broken tackles in the game. He came into the game with seven. </p>
<p id="MnEM56">This is 2nd and 10 from the LV 32 in the first quarter. The Raiders only have six in the box so we <em>should</em> be able to run here. Graham Glasgow is supposed to pull and either blast Carl Nassib if he plays this well or turn up and block a LB or S if Nassib runs himself out of the play. Both Dalton Risner and Lloyd Cushenberry are supposed to block down. Calvin Anderson is supposed to get to the second level. Troy Fumagalli is supposed to cut block the defensive end/OLB, #94. Risner and Cushenberry both get whipped on this play and the defensive tackles blow this up both hitting Phillip Lindsay behind the LOS and stopping him for no gain. LC3 basically blocks no one on this play. </p>
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<p id="fFsrHl">On this next play Melvin Gordon gets hit behind the LOS and still gains 8 yards. There are 9 defenders in the box, or eight if you don’t count the safety who is cheating down toward the line. LC3 has a difficult task to block a front-side 3-tech. He gets beat and his defender is the first guy to hit Gordon. </p>
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</figure>
<p id="4dtfuC">This next play is first and 10 at the Denver 2. The Raiders have 10 in the box and we have three TEs in the game. By and large the line blocks this fairly well, although Calvin Anderson is unable to disengage from his double team with Nick Vannett to get up to the LB level. Gordon bends this back and ends up tucking in behind LC3 who gets a nice push on the LB. </p>
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<p id="Mr66jG">LC3 does a good job on this play of helping Glasgow on the double team and then getting off the double to get to the LB. </p>
<p id="fAIJUL">On the very next play, the Broncos hand off to Melvin Gordon again. This time Melvin Gordon makes something out of nothing. The Raiders have 8 in the box (arguably only 7) and we are in a single TE 3 WR set. This appears to be a zone stretch run to the left with two receivers moving right to sell the bootleg fake. LC3 gets beaten across his face and Gordon has to break the tackle of his defender who also ends up knocking over Drew Lock in the process so that he can’t carry out his boot fake. The lack of boot fake means that the DE can crash down and hit Gordon behind the LOS. Gordon breaks that tackle as well and gains six yards on the play. This is all Melvin Gordon. </p>
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</figure>
<p id="nrye7b">On the next play on 3rd and 1, the Broncos would try to throw off playaction instead of trying to run again. Lock would get sacked and fumble, but recover his own fumble. I would have liked to run on 3rd and 1, but I can understand Pat Shurmur’s call of a playaction fake on 3rd and 1. </p>
<p id="3u3SKx">This next play is 1st and 10 at the LV 37 with 59 seconds left to play in the first half. The Raiders have a light box (6) expecting the Broncos to throw. Noah Fant is only TE we have in the game. This play is set up nicely to gain big yardage, but Anderson gets beaten and it blows up this play as Risner has to block his man and the DE is there unblocked to tackle Gordon for no gain.</p>
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</figure>
<p id="qEPazM">Good call, good play design - poor execution from our RT. There is a reason our running game was much better vs Miami with Demar Dotson playing RT.</p>
<p id="wmPoY3">The final play that I am going to review from the LV game is below. It was 1st and 10 from the DEN 26 with 9:08 to play in the 3rd quarter. The Raiders are showing a light box with only 6 defenders. They still hit Gordon behind the LOS. Both LC3 and Anderson get pushed three yards into the backfield by their defenders. Gordon avoids both defenders, but he is tackled by the defender that beats Fant across his face. When the opposing defense is able to destroy a running play while using a light box, there is not much an offense can do to counter that. </p>
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</figure>
<p id="jbtvZQ">The stats from our rushing attach against LV are not terrible, but this mainly because Melvin Gordon was having a great game breaking tackles and making something out of nothing. With 50% of our RB runs getting hit behind the LOS. Running the ball more vs LV was not going to solve anything in this game. The Raiders front 7 was owning the LOS. Calvin Anderson was playing poorly, but he is far from the only offensive lineman who has blame for the terrible blocking in the rushing attack vs LV. </p>
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https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/27/21717665/part-1-destruction-in-vegasJoe Mahoney2020-11-18T13:14:08-07:002020-11-18T13:14:08-07:00The Drew Lock conundrum continues
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<img alt="Denver Broncos v Las Vegas Raiders" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3sY0NNm4BtqzviHPLUHeMBwsBME=/0x414:1662x1522/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67812776/1285858144.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Film analyst Ted Nguyen talks to Broncos Country Tonight about what the quarterback has to do differently.</p> <p id="ZYRFgp">Ted Nguyen of The Athletic joined Ryan Edwards and Benjamin Allbright on <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> Country Tonight for a great conversation about <span>Drew Lock</span>’s issues.</p>
<p id="F4n7ch">And they are many - some his own doing, some outside of his control.</p>
<p id="hxlFCa">But that doesn’t change the fact that currently the Broncos’ starting QB is playing terribly, and we’re all suffering.</p>
<p id="s0khg4">Nguyen, a film guru in the Bay Area, admitted he hasn’t watched all of Lock’s tape this season but in two games plus the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a>’ game, he had a pretty apt assesment:</p>
<p id="dkkXKS">“He’s a great arm talent, and I love his aggressiveness,” Nguyen said on the plus side. “But his footwork is just a mess. He drops back at angles and drops backs too far, which just makes life harder on O-line, and he throws off his back foot far too often.”</p>
<div id="cdYdFk"><iframe allow="autoplay" width="100%" height="200" src="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-broncos-country-tonight-47478560/episode/11-17-20-ted-nguyen-with-ryan-and-74047788/?embed=true" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>
<p id="7CzNyi">But the worse part was that Nguyen, who did watch every snap Lock played in the final five games of 2019, hasn’t seen much progression in Lock’s development.</p>
<p id="sdaRvU">Admittedly, a new play caller with a different kind of offense, a limited offseason and no preseason games, plus a fifth-string right tackle are not in his favor and not his fault.</p>
<p id="kDsmex">“But some of the mechanical, technical things he should have been working on in the offseason just haven’t gotten better,” Nguyen said.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="fu6LEn"><q>“He has to make concerted effort to not just throw a ball blindly up. Two of his interceptions against the Raiders were just straight up heave-ups; I’m not even sure he knew what he was looking at.” - Ted Nguyen, The Athletic</q></aside></div>
<p id="0CKkXQ">And that sparked the age-old (as in last two weeks) debate - is it Drew Lock and he’s hopeless as a future starter? Or is it partly due to a collapsing offensive line and a system not designed for his strengths that make it hard to fix the mechanical errors?</p>
<p id="DTQFVJ">Nguyen had a great answer - it’s both.</p>
<p id="VCtFv2">“Hopefully these habits that he’s developing aren’t the ones that stick,” Nguyen said. “He has to make concerted effort to not just throw a ball blindly up. Two of his interceptions against the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> were just straight up heave-ups; I’m not even sure he knew what he was looking at.”</p>
<p id="NYY0fZ">But Nguyen noted that in other cases it’s Lock not attacking where the numbers dictate. Lock’s interception at the goal line before the half was just a terrible decision. He had three targets on the right side of the field with just two defenders, but only two receivers on the left and three defenders. </p>
<p id="irMAKH">“He had trips right and a timeout where he could have had an easy completion - maybe a touchdown, maybe yards and call a timeout. Instead he forced the ball in end zone where there were three defenders over two right there,” Nguyen said, adding the fix is Lock needs to “study tape more and take more coaching.”</p>
<div id="vtlzzv">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Best of Drew Lock <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Raiders?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Raiders</a> <a href="https://t.co/H7STlJzLIT">pic.twitter.com/H7STlJzLIT</a></p>— Raider Posts (@RaiderPosts) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaiderPosts/status/1328173846411800576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p id="zAQG7g">Although Nguyen thought the Broncos’ offensive line made the Raiders’ pass rush “look like the 1985 <a href="https://www.windycitygridiron.com/">Bears</a>,” he was also disappointed that both Lock as well as Shurmur’s offense didn’t have a great answer for the blitz.</p>
<p id="4NelDy">“You have to improve the protection,” Nguyen said, admitting he’s always believed offensive line is the key to quarterback success. “Let [Lock] learn this offense and then see where he goes from there. I think upgrading offensive line has to be a massive priority.”</p>
<p id="068PDv">Edwards asked Nguyen how optimistic he would be if Broncos stuck with Lock, kept Shurmur and had <span>Courtland Sutton</span> back - but it still went back to the line.</p>
<p id="a6Yi7n">“It really depends on that offensive line. I’m big on protecting the QB,” he said. “At the same time, if you have the opportunity to draft a really good quarterback - and I think this will be a good quarterback class - I think you’ve got to take that shot.”</p>
<p id="7RAc0A">Assuming Broncos probably will be out of the Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields sweepstakes, Nguyen says his next favorite is...</p>
<p id="rvUiYq">Well, you’ll have to listen.</p>
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https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/18/21573331/the-drew-lock-conundrum-continuesLaurie Lattimore-Volkmann2020-11-18T08:35:23-07:002020-11-18T08:35:23-07:00Denver Broncos Week 10 snap counts and analysis
<figure>
<img alt="Denver Broncos v Las Vegas Raiders" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RlqkXil-dtkQbs4KktEx0tSMqSQ=/5x0:3236x2154/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67810745/1285864276.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Some odd things if you wish to view the autopsy from the Denver Broncos 37-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. </p> <p id="cMwxgu">I’m skipping the game day inactives for this game. I’m fresh out of forks to give on that. </p>
<h2 id="YKHftC">Offense</h2>
<div id="I7LpFJ"><table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Player</td>
<td>Position</td>
<td>game 1</td>
<td>game 2</td>
<td>game 3</td>
<td>game 4</td>
<td>game 5</td>
<td>game 6</td>
<td>game 7</td>
<td>game 8</td>
<td>game 9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Lloyd Cushenberry III</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Andrew Beck</td>
<td>FB/TE</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>9%</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>11%</td>
<td>17%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dalton Risner</td>
<td>G</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>50%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Graham Glasgow</td>
<td>G</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Austin Schlottmann</td>
<td>G</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>50%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jeff Driskel</td>
<td>QB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>83%</td>
<td>79%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Brett Rypien</td>
<td>QB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>21%</td>
<td>99%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Drew Lock</td>
<td>QB</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>17%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>99%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Melvin Gordon</td>
<td>RB</td>
<td>63%</td>
<td>79%</td>
<td>62%</td>
<td>80%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>60%</td>
<td>55%</td>
<td>60%</td>
<td>56%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Royce Freeman</td>
<td>RB</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>21%</td>
<td>38%</td>
<td>20%</td>
<td>39%</td>
<td>23%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>14%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Phillip Lindsay</td>
<td>RB</td>
<td>32%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>62%</td>
<td>18%</td>
<td>45%</td>
<td>38%</td>
<td>30%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>LeVante Bellamy</td>
<td>RB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jeremy Cox </td>
<td>RB/FB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>9%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>6%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Elijah Wilkinson</td>
<td>T</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Garett Bolles</td>
<td>T</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Demar Dotson</td>
<td>T</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>30%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Calvin Anderson</td>
<td>T</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jake Rodgers</td>
<td>T</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>70%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Noah Fant</td>
<td>TE</td>
<td>73%</td>
<td>79%</td>
<td>84%</td>
<td>50%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>70%</td>
<td>78%</td>
<td>78%</td>
<td>85%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jake Butt</td>
<td>TE</td>
<td>27%</td>
<td>9%</td>
<td>29%</td>
<td>49%</td>
<td>61%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nick Vannett</td>
<td>TE</td>
<td>27%</td>
<td>30%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>40%</td>
<td>45%</td>
<td>45%</td>
<td>17%</td>
<td>15%</td>
<td>14%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Albert Okwuegbunam</td>
<td>TE</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>38%</td>
<td>40%</td>
<td>25%</td>
<td>21%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Troy Fumagalli</td>
<td>TE</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>17%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>KJ Hamler</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>62%</td>
<td>92%</td>
<td>20%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>39%</td>
<td>80%</td>
<td>75%</td>
<td>87%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tim Patrick</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>85%</td>
<td>65%</td>
<td>84%</td>
<td>76%</td>
<td>92%</td>
<td>66%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>82%</td>
<td>59%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jerry Jeudy</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>75%</td>
<td>57%</td>
<td>73%</td>
<td>69%</td>
<td>73%</td>
<td>75%</td>
<td>89%</td>
<td>84%</td>
<td>86%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DaeSean Hamilton</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>80%</td>
<td>44%</td>
<td>19%</td>
<td>81%</td>
<td>59%</td>
<td>35%</td>
<td>94%</td>
<td>37%</td>
<td>44%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tyrie Cleveland</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>8%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>3%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>17%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>8%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Diontae Spencer</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>4%</td>
<td>3%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>3%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Courtland Sutton</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>40%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fred Brown</td>
<td>WR</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>8%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p id="EUVVH3">Our five starters on the offensive line played the entire game. It didn’t help much. <span>Calvin Anderson</span> was completely overmatched in his first NFL snaps and the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> routinely exploited him. There might have been one or two running plays during the game where our back was not forced to dodge a defender behind the LOS, but there can’t have been many. The scary thing here is that the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> front 7 is not that good, but our OL, even with <span>Graham Glasgow</span> back, made them look elite. </p>
<p id="som5t0">Even with their performance against us, the Raiders are currently tied for 31st in sacks with 11 on the season. They are 19th in run stopping (allowing 4.45 ypc). They are also the third worst team in the league at missing tackles with 79 on the season. Guess what. It didn’t matter against us. They held our offense to three scoring drives, “forced” five turnovers, and forced four drives where our offense went 3-and-out. Their D came into the game having forced five turnovers in eight games. They matched that season total in one game against us. </p>
<p id="eGRM9u">To make matters worse, their special teams (and <em>ours</em>) forced the Denver O to start four drives inside our own 10 (at the 3, 7, 2 and 7 yard lines). Our best starting field position for the game was our own 29. The Raiders started five drives in Denver territory. </p>
<p id="1xrTph"><a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2019/11/8/20955621/melvin-gordon-fantasy-football-injury-trade-dfs-salary-stats-2019">Melvin Gordon</a> played a decent game in his offensive snaps - he got 56 percent of them. He was credited with <em><strong>six</strong></em> broken tackles. He had seven total coming into this game. Our running backs now how 17 for the season (13 for <span>Gordon</span>, 3 for <span>Phillip Lindsay</span> and one for <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2019/9/13/20863972/royce-freeman-fantasy-football-dfs-salary-stats-2019">Royce Freeman</a>). <span>Lindsay</span> was in one 30 percent of the offensive snaps but only touched the ball four times (he was targeted on one pass). His four rushing attempts gained a total of two yards. <span>Freeman</span> was only in on 14 percent of the snaps but he touched the ball four times (2 runs for 11 yards and 2 catches for 15 yards). <span>Jeremy Cox</span> played four offensive snaps. </p>
<p id="Bp2Qpf">Our decimated tight end group had <span>Noah Fant</span> playing a career high 85 percent of the offensive snaps. Recently re-signed <span>Troy Fumagalli</span> played 17 percent of the snaps and <span>Nick Vannett</span> played 14 percent of the snaps. This means that we rarely used two TE sets this game despite being within two touchdowns for three quarters of the game. </p>
<p id="KBDgfX">Generally one way to both help a struggling QB and a struggling offensive tackle is to run the ball from two TE sets. In retrospect it would appear that if we tried that, we abandoned it pretty quickly. I don’t know that it would have worked, but <span>Melvin Gordon</span> was one of the few things that was a plus for us offensively in this game. Maybe trying to get him and <span>Lindsay</span> more involved by employing two TE sets would have been helpful, but IDK. Our TEs have been below average in run blocking this year. So maybe that is why we didn’t try this approach. </p>
<p id="oncM83">Excluding Lock’s runs, our runners carried the ball 17 times and had a total of 22 yards BEFORE contact. That means that they were getting hit one yard past the LOS on average. For comparison, the Raider running backs had 37 carries and 110 yards before contact. So on average they were three yards past the LOS before they were touched by a defender. </p>
<p id="j36VrM">Our wide receivers had <span>KJ Hamler</span> playing 87 percent of the snaps, <span>Jerry Jeudy</span> playing 86 percent, <span>Tim Patrick</span> playing 59 percent and <span>DaeSean Hamilton</span> playing 44 percent. <span>Diontae Spencer</span> played two offensive snaps. </p>
<p id="hWwRjY">Offensive players who were active but did not play on offense were <span>Brett Rypien</span>, <span>Demar Dotson</span>, <span>Austin Schlottmann</span> and <span>Quinn Bailey</span>. </p>
<h2 id="2T5eP7">Defense</h2>
<div id="HUMYjR"><table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Player</td>
<td>Position</td>
<td>game 1</td>
<td>game 2</td>
<td>game 3</td>
<td>game 4</td>
<td>game 5</td>
<td>game 6</td>
<td>game 7</td>
<td>game 8</td>
<td>game 9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bryce Callahan</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>99%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>97%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>97%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Michael Ojemudia</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>79%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>97%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>73%</td>
<td>92%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Essang Bassey</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>56%</td>
<td>72%</td>
<td>57%</td>
<td>48%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>17%</td>
<td>68%</td>
<td>60%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>A.J. Bouye</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>35%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>80%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>97%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Davontae Harris</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>76%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>De'Vante Bausby</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>51%</td>
<td>74%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Kevin Toliver</td>
<td>CB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>24%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Duke Dawson</td>
<td>CB/S</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>18%</td>
<td>8%</td>
<td>9%</td>
<td>3%</td>
<td>7%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jurrell Casey</td>
<td>DE</td>
<td>70%</td>
<td>78%</td>
<td>71%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shelby Harris</td>
<td>DE</td>
<td>56%</td>
<td>51%</td>
<td>57%</td>
<td>71%</td>
<td>67%</td>
<td>63%</td>
<td>59%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Dre'Mont Jones</td>
<td>DE</td>
<td>47%</td>
<td>31%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>61%</td>
<td>59%</td>
<td>58%</td>
<td>65%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DeMarcus Walker</td>
<td>DE</td>
<td>21%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>43%</td>
<td>30%</td>
<td>58%</td>
<td>61%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>DeShawn Williams</td>
<td>DT</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>40%</td>
<td>39%</td>
<td>63%</td>
<td>57%</td>
<td>36%</td>
<td>46%</td>
<td>54%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>McTelvin Agim</td>
<td>DT</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>13%</td>
<td>22%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>27%</td>
<td>29%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Timmy Jernigan</td>
<td>DT</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>18%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alexander Johnson</td>
<td>ILB</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>99%</td>
<td>93%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Josey Jewell</td>
<td>ILB</td>
<td>98%</td>
<td>97%</td>
<td>91%</td>
<td>95%</td>
<td>86%</td>
<td>92%</td>
<td>92%</td>
<td>96%</td>
<td>90%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Joseph Jones</td>
<td>ILB</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Austin Calitro</td>
<td>ILB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Josh Watson</td>
<td>ILB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>4%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Mike Purcell</td>
<td>NT</td>
<td>51%</td>
<td>63%</td>
<td>69%</td>
<td>62%</td>
<td>63%</td>
<td>10%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sylvester Williams</td>
<td>NT</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>12%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>28%</td>
<td>45%</td>
<td>43%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jeremiah Attaochu</td>
<td>OLB</td>
<td>74%</td>
<td>62%</td>
<td>38%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>23%</td>
<td>31%</td>
<td>40%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Bradley Chubb</td>
<td>OLB</td>
<td>73%</td>
<td>86%</td>
<td>71%</td>
<td>77%</td>
<td>84%</td>
<td>71%</td>
<td>82%</td>
<td>79%</td>
<td>72%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Malik Reed</td>
<td>OLB</td>
<td>41%</td>
<td>48%</td>
<td>43%</td>
<td>74%</td>
<td>86%</td>
<td>84%</td>
<td>77%</td>
<td>75%</td>
<td>65%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Derrek Tuszka</td>
<td>OLB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>6%</td>
<td>7%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Anthony Chickillo</td>
<td>OLB</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>49%</td>
<td>43%</td>
<td>23%</td>
<td>39%</td>
<td>18%</td>
<td>15%</td>
<td>21%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Justin Simmons</td>
<td>S</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Kareem Jackson</td>
<td>S</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>99%</td>
<td>100%</td>
<td>96%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Trey Marshall</td>
<td>S</td>
<td>1%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>3%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>3%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>P.J. Locke</td>
<td>S</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>3%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
<td>0%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p id="vm6jbX">For the first time in a long time, we only had one played on defense play every snap - Justin Simmons. We did have plenty of others play 90 percent or more though. </p>
<p id="r8EdSU">The defensive linemen Dre’Mont Jones, Demarcus Walker, <span>DeShawn Williams</span>, <span>McTelvin Agim</span> and Sylvester <span>Williams</span> playing 65, 61, 54, 29 and 43 percent respectively. For Agim this was a career high. For Walker this was a season high. This group did very little this game - combining for eleven tackles total and one QB pressure. That’s it. No passes batted down. No TFL. No QBhits. No sacks. <span>DeShawn Williams</span> was credited with the pressure. Our defense in total was only able to pressure <span>Derek Carr</span> on three (or maybe two - depending where you look) of his 25 dropbacks. </p>
<p id="WRYmJv"><span>Carr</span>’s numbers looked pedestrian, but he was hurt by two dropped TDs. According to <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/202011150rai.htm#all_player_offense">PFR</a>, <span>Carr</span> only made three “bad” throws all game. Compare that to <span>Drew Lock</span> who made 11 (although it seemed like much more to me). </p>
<p id="6Efs2N">Our outside linebackers <span>Bradley Chubb</span>, <span>Malik Reed</span>, <span>Jeremiah Attaochu</span> and <span>Anthony Chickillo</span> played 72, 65, 40 and 21 percent respectively. They combined four tackles, our lone TFL and two of our three QB pressures. In other words, our OLBs were almost invisible this game. </p>
<p id="UtQwxU">Our inside linebackers Alexander Johnson, <span>Josey Jewell</span> and <span>Josh Watson</span> played 93, 90 and 4 percent of the snaps. They combined for 25 tackles (and two missed tackles). <span>Watson</span> only played three defensive snaps and made three tackles. That is efficiency (one of those was kickoff coverage though). </p>
<p id="wd5q7E">From the cornerbacks <span>Bryce Callahan</span>, AJ Bouye, <span>Essang Bassey</span> and Duke Dawson played 97, 97, 60 and 7 percent of the snaps. <span>Michael Ojemudia</span> did not play a single defensive snap (he played on 13 not-special teams snaps). This is odd because Ojemudia played EVERY defensive snap the previous game and has played at least 73 percent in every game this season. </p>
<p id="pWZV54">According to PFR, only <span>Callahan</span> and <span>Kareem Jackson</span> were good in coverage this game. <span>Callahan</span> had our lone pass break-up. <span>Callahan</span>’s man was targeted six times and he allowed three catches for nine yards. <span>Jackson</span>’s man was targeted three times for one catch (although that catch did gain 25 yards). </p>
<p id="lm2z9u"><span>Jackson</span> played 96 percent of the defensive snaps with <span>Trey Marshall</span> giving him a rest on two plays. </p>
<p id="0Mhbjt">Defensive players who played no defensive snaps that have not been mentioned yet are PJ Locke, <span>Austin Calitro</span> and <span>Davontae Harris</span> (who was just released).</p>
<p id="XPEenM"></p>
https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/18/21573114/broncos-week-10-snap-counts-and-analysisJoe Mahoney2020-11-18T06:00:00-07:002020-11-18T06:00:00-07:00Broncos at Raiders: The No Bull Review
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<img alt="NFL: Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Pm9r-Ho8H0a4NQvBCgfFZXUZxyU=/0x0:6000x4000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67809825/usa_today_15204395.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Denver Broncos lost in shameful fashion to the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are my thoughts, opinions, and analysis on the Denver Broncos’ most recent game.</p> <p id="HGQURL">Every week it gets harder and harder to say that this team is headed in any direction, let alone the right direction. As injuries mount, the defense isn’t looking anywhere close to a core power of this football team. Our offense is absolutely broken from top to bottom. The kicking teams unit is still atrocious.</p>
<p id="Ivtyn3">THIS is the kind of loss that hurts to me as a fan. I don’t mind last minute losses by one score...at least we are in the game. No, this is far worse. I’ve talked smack on the hapless <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> for decades and I have to stand up here in front of <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> Country and share with you the No Bull truth.</p>
<p id="LVFguE">The <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> were a well prepared, professional football team ready and willing to play the game of NFL football at the highest level. They had sound coaching, good play calling in every facet of the game, and their players executed at a far higher level than our team in every possible way. Hats off to the Raiders...imagine the Raiders are the actual real NFL team who has potential to get into the playoffs while our beloved Broncos are a dumpster fire of a team who probably couldn’t beat the top 3 college football teams if they lined up today.</p>
<h1 id="TqwuuJ">Defense</h1>
<p id="3y2Crp">The story on defense was that everyone everywhere knew the Raiders were going to run the ball often. There was nothing our team could do to stop their running game. Our front 7 were not up to the task in any way. </p>
<p id="slphvE">With the offense being completely inept, the Raiders almost had a 2:1 advantage in time of possession. That wears on a defense. Now add to it that you don’t have your full complement of defensive linemen to rotate in and out. It was simply a recipe for disaster. </p>
<p id="YS1cLC"><strong>One negative note:</strong></p>
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<img alt="NFL: Denver Broncos at New England Patriots" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TYWsK4_R_-2OjH0EnxRMeMRXOJ8=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21979969/usa_today_15085287.jpg">
<cite>Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<p id="pTJUEc"><span>Bradley Chubb</span> looks absolutely pedestrian out there. And when I say that, I mean that he’s not winning battles one-on-one. He looks slow off his first step and straight up lacks power to impact plays the vast majority of the time. I watched him quite a bit in this game and was sorely bummed by what I saw. At the end of the day, I conclude that he likely has lost more than I thought from his injuries.</p>
<p id="dYW0mp"><strong>One positive note:</strong></p>
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<img alt="Denver Broncos v Las Vegas Raiders" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/20_JZgme-068dYnFwCu_PF34t1g=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22049732/1285848409.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</cite>
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<p id="u4di71"><span>Bryce Callahan</span> absolutely is killing it this season. He’s legitimately playing top shelf coverage as a cornerback and sadly will not see much recognition for it given that the rest of the defense is made up of mostly back-ups and practice squad quality players. </p>
<h1 id="O0GoZH">Offense</h1>
<p id="QyJbYt">As the season wears on, I’m not going to belabor the point that Pat Shurmur is out of his depth as a NFL play caller. It is what it is. Those of you who hated on Rich Scangarello’s play calling honestly should go watch some tape of the last 5 games of the season and what was called / designed. It wasn’t anywhere near as useless as the abysmal plays we’re seeing called this year.</p>
<h2 id="y7vYSh">Quarterbacks</h2>
<p id="0dQS08">Sorry, my dudes. I’m officially off the hope train for <span>Drew Lock</span>. He’s a scrub who doesn’t understand the first thing about reading a defense, working through pass progressions, or what to do when the defense covers your primary read. Bring me <span>Brett Rypien</span>. At least he looked like a quarterback capable of figuring out what the defense is trying to do half the time.</p>
<p id="zZn1Sr">This season has been hailed as the season for “finding out what we have in Drew Lock.” Let me sum it up for Broncos Country with one gif:</p>
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<h2 id="oqyEJk"><strong>One negative note:</strong></h2>
<p id="W5sP3o">The offensive line is a shell of what an NFL quality offensive line should be. Don’t listen to one damn word <span>Dalton Risner</span> says in his interviews about what a great game they played. No, they didn’t. Go watch the game. The Raiders brought pressure and there was NOTHING the line could do to pick up the extra blitzer. The line didn’t win up front and open holes...heck <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2019/11/8/20955621/melvin-gordon-fantasy-football-injury-trade-dfs-salary-stats-2019">Melvin Gordon</a> should get taken to dinner by each of the linemen for making them look far better than they played.</p>
<h2 id="rQInaj"><strong>One positive note:</strong></h2>
<p id="D7iGJu">The Broncos have talented players at the skill positions on the offense. <span>Jerry Jeudy</span>, <span>Phillip Lindsay</span>, K.J. Hamler, <span>Tim Patrick</span>, and <span>Noah Fant</span> are at the top of my list for guys I see real solid skill. One day they will have a functional quarterback here or elsewhere and we’ll see them shine.</p>
<h1 id="Kvgyxh">Kicking Teams</h1>
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<img alt="NFL: Chicago Bears at Denver Broncos" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CLrVIjRLQbtqKHtAxkr3qm6tm0A=/400x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22049729/usa_today_13382724.jpg">
<cite>Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports</cite>
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<p id="7g692k">The first order of business that should be taken whenever the Broncos decide to start caring once again about being a winning organization is to fire Tom McMahon. It is that simple.</p>
<h1 id="bmg9hS">Final Thoughts</h1>
<p id="uLPDx4">I’m eating ‘taters tonight, Broncos Country...but don’t bother passing me the salt. I got that part covered. The only real thing I’m looking forward to at this point is maybe getting to see <span>Von Miller</span> return at the end of the season and do Von things on the football field.</p>
<p id="15d7uQ">Scratch that...I’m looking forward to seeing Vic Fangio Bronco the hell up and bench Drew Lock. It should have been done in the 2nd half of this game without question.</p>
<p id="PDs0Dv"></p>
<p id="QwC9If"></p>
https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/18/21572760/broncos-raiders-no-bull-reviewsadaraine2020-11-16T13:54:45-07:002020-11-16T13:54:45-07:00Broncos preach ‘regrouping’ after getting steamrolled by the Raiders
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<img alt="Denver Broncos v Las Vegas Raiders" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uNM_EwazjHTwwxNy5JQbfVUM3jI=/0x0:2586x1724/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67800950/1285849613.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It’s becoming too commonplace for this team to lose big.</p> <div id="aL3uVg">
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<p id="JiGWLr">Frustration is high in <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> Country, and the Drew Lock Train is dumping passengers station after station.</p>
<p id="btfg4S">But the quarterback, speaking to the media after Sunday’s rout by the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a>, is still pushing on to the next stop as he must.</p>
<p id="ZZSZlY">“I’m definitely frustrated after a day like that. There’s a lot of stuff I need to work on and a lot of stuff I can get better at,” he said. “So, we just have to keep pushing and practicing.”</p>
<p id="PkTibx">Head coach Vic Fangio said “everyone’s footprints” were on that loss, but after a 4:1 ratio of interceptions to touchdowns, there’s perhaps a little more on the quarterback.</p>
<div id="GpB9wQ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yikes. <a href="https://t.co/n78FIgRwjF">https://t.co/n78FIgRwjF</a></p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328388711264956418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="6n6F7y">“Obviously it’s a concern,” Fangio said of the turnovers. “You can’t win turning the ball over that much. We’ve got to do a good job of evaluating why we’ve thrown these interceptions, what can we do to help him. Everybody’s fingerprint is on that performance - coaches, players - and we all have to take a good hard look at it, which we have been on a weekly basis, but we haven’t found the right formula yet to be consistent on offense.”</p>
<p id="xGrln3">Coach, we’re here to help you out with a few variables - aside from the obvious four interceptions and two fumbles - to consider as you devise that formula:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="4gZ1y6">Offense completed 7-of-15 third downs.</p>
<p id="mR1l7O">Ten of the Broncos’ third downs were “third-and-long”</p>
<p id="IX93xX">More drives ended by turnovers (6) than punts (4)</p>
<p id="KS5WJf">Time of possession completely dropped off in the third quarter when the offense was on the field just a minute and a half.</p>
<p id="YguMYQ">Red zone efficiency was 0%. </p>
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<p id="GD4e33">“Unacceptable. Unacceptable,” said <span>Dalton Risner</span> of the team’s loss and the offense’s performance in particular. “That was an unacceptable performance today and we need to know that. It’s not that we’re going to dwell on that, but I don’t care what the reasoning is. ...that was unacceptable from an offensive standpoint. And we need to be better. Plain and simple.”</p>
<p id="fHt1Be">If it were a simple solution, however, no doubt it would have happened already. </p>
<p id="II3ScK">There are plenty of excuses related to injuries and a limited offseason that are valid, but when the quarterback is completing less than 50% of his passes, and the run game has a total yardage that is barely more than half the yards gained by the opponent’s top running back ... well, there are more than simple issues to fix.</p>
<div id="LfCQKA">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drew Lock's ESPN QBR today was 27.9. That ranks 23rd of 23 QBs measured to date this week.<br><br>Previous QBRs:<br><br>2019<br>vs. LAC: 44.4<br>at HOU: 98.7<br>at KC: 14.0<br>vs. DET: 54.0<br>vs. OAK: 37.9<br><br>2020<br>vs. TEN: 62.0<br>at PIT: 4.3<br>at NE: 16.5<br>vs. KC: 17.0<br>vs. LAC: 60.6<br>at ATL: 48.6</p>— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaseDenver/status/1328198267029520385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="8CDaL6">But Lock believes he has made some strides since last season, and he’s not throwing in the towel on his ability to improve going forward.</p>
<p id="CaelYJ">“There’s a lot of areas I feel like I’m taking steps forward, but when you play in the NFL and you play quarterback, there’s a lot of areas that eventually pop up that probably weren’t talked about the week before or even the week before — there’s just a lot of stuff that goes into playing this position,” he said. “I have to keep learning and keep you balancing the good plays and the bad plays.”</p>
<p id="OF2RhH">The coach also believes there is proof of improvement in his QB, and this is just part of the growth process.</p>
<p id="SnhSOB">“We’ve got to do a good job of getting him dialed in and prepared a little better,” Fangio said. “There’s no question [Lock] has the talent to do a good job. He’s just going through the growing pains of being a young quarterback, and we’re going through the growing pains of getting him adjusted to the new offense.”</p>
<p id="FgoXhV">Lock, who could end up missing the Miami game because of the injury to his ribs, isn’t fretting over whether he’s running out of time to prove his potential as franchise QB.</p>
<div class="c-float-right"><aside id="5F1QQg"><q>“I realize that it was not very good today and it hasn’t been very good the past couple of weeks, but it doesn’t get better if you dwell on it. You can only keep moving forward and you keep looking into next week and keep coming out and playing — just keep pushing.” - Drew Lock</q></aside></div>
<p id="chbx6T">“There’s always time, if you have the mindset, that’s good and that’s positive. Obviously, I have a very real mindset. I realize that it was not very good today and it hasn’t been very good the past couple of weeks, but it doesn’t get better if you dwell on it,” he said. “You can only keep moving forward and you keep looking into next week and keep coming out and playing — just keep pushing.”</p>
<p id="hDSiBq">Defensively the Broncos kept <span>Derek Carr</span> and the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> in check the first half. But they could only overcome so many turnovers and three-and-outs before the rails would come off. As they did in the third quarter when the defense was on the field for 13:28.</p>
<p id="KQ9J0q">But the defense still showed ineptitude with the pass rush and the run D. Fangio noted that he rushed four to take away some of <span>Carr</span>’s edge in the passing game, but the Broncos weren’t stopping him on third down. And that gave <span>Josh Jacobs</span> a great opportunity to run 112 yards against the Broncos.</p>
<p id="FJEgHh">“They’re a good running team, obviously, and we just didn’t play the run well enough,” Fangio said. “Particularly if you lose your edge in a game, it’s going to show up in the run defense more so than anywhere else. I think in that fourth quarter we just weren’t as sharp as you need to be playing the run.”</p>
<p id="JXbGNW">Asked about the impact of not having Mike Purcell or Shelby Harris, Fangio noted the obvious - yes, of course, it’s harder, but the fact is that Broncos’ won’t have Purcell or Jurrell Casey the rest of the season and not Harris for another game, so the guys in there have to step up.</p>
<p id="klkI83">“There’s no doubt that Mike’s a very good player and we miss him, but he’s not coming back this year and we’re going to have to figure out a way to consistently play the run better,” he said. “I thought we at times yesterday played it pretty good but then in that fourth quarter we didn’t, obviously. ...the guys we’ve got playing in there are capable, we’ve just got to play better.”</p>
<div id="X5bUxQ">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Broncos have now allowed 30+ points in four consecutive games for the first time since surrendering 30+ in their final 6 games of the 1968 season (per <a href="https://twitter.com/pfref?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pfref</a>).</p>— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaseDenver/status/1328143518934568960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="Pzdsmy"><span>Josey Jewell</span> surmised that the defense “lost some energy.”</p>
<p id="srCyDY">“I think it was just details. I talk about details all the time, but it really is,” he said. We’ve just got to be able to stay in our gaps and be able to keep that head of steam going. We can’t run out. I think it was maybe we lost some energy in there somewhere, and I think we didn’t do our jobs specifically on every single play like we did in the first half, which was nice.”</p>
<p id="B6ISvT"><span>Jewell</span> also noted the importance of consistency. </p>
<p id="29LNm9">“We’ve seen it before, but also we know that with the guys we’ve got, we can be good. Like I keep on talking about, it’s execution and doing those small details, and being able to do them consistently,” he added. “We’ve had a couple great stops, three-and-outs. The offense had a couple good drives, and you see little momentum shifts where we can be really good. It’s just that consistency of being able to do it the whole game, and not just that second half or not just the first half and then run out of steam. We need to build it up throughout the whole game, and I think we all see that.”</p>
<p id="qiOjrS">Fangio echoed Risner in calling the fall-off in the second half “unacceptable.”</p>
<p id="mVDIob">But his main message to the team after such a crushing loss was to regroup - focus on what they have been doing well, figure out how to fix what they can, and get to studying on Miami.</p>
<p id="tHmybJ">“I think you critique from the previous game, learn from our errors, where we could do better, show how things can turn quickly on one or two plays, show the good things that we are still doing—there are some of that still going on—and just get ready and be positive,” he said Monday, adding that players have to do their homework and take it to the practice field.</p>
<p id="VvicAS">“[Miami] is a very good team right now,” Fangio added. “We have no problems with our guys efforts, their focus, their preparation. We’ve just got to, as a whole team collectively, do a little bit better and then I think we can get it turned.”</p>
<div id="NL14oC">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">"We're not giving up on each other. We're not giving up on this organization. We're not giving up on anything." - <a href="https://twitter.com/Dalton_Risner66?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Dalton_Risner66</a> <a href="https://t.co/qogGVYyCoK">pic.twitter.com/qogGVYyCoK</a></p>— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) <a href="https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/1328382573375074304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="51qbbJ"><strong> </strong></p>
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https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/16/21569869/broncos-preach-regroupingLaurie Lattimore-Volkmann2020-11-16T11:52:17-07:002020-11-16T11:52:17-07:00It’s very hard to find an above-average NFL starter at QB
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<p>That’s just the cold, hard reality.</p> <p id="bo8WkI">Right now there are 33 qualifying quarterbacks in the NFL in terms of number of passes thrown per game. </p>
<p id="LjJblX">By quarterback passer rating, <span>Drew Lock</span> is ranked 32nd. </p>
<div id="43E5td">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Among qualifying QBs only two have a passer rating below 70. <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewLock23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DrewLock23</a> (66.5) and Sam Darnold (65.9). FWIW, 2019 QB class currently by passer rating - Murray 15th, Minshew 21st, Haskins 29th, Jones 30th, Lock 32nd. 33 qualifiers.</p>— Joseph Mahoney (@ndjomo76) <a href="https://twitter.com/ndjomo76/status/1328342425929191426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="6WhtFQ">It gets worse though. </p>
<p id="XQBKga">The other QBs were are starting and that were drafted with Lock in 2019 are all playing average at best. Dwayne Haskins, <span>Daniel Jones</span> and Drew Lock are three of the worst QBs in the league at this moment. </p>
<p id="9CLOa5">For those who want (or wanted) the <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> to be bad enough to have a shot at the No. 1 overall pick (who is most likely going to be Trevor Lawrence in 2021). I’ve got news for you -that might not solve the problem. </p>
<div id="onds3y">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">There are six #1 overall draft picks starting at QB in the NFL. Kyler Murray is currently playing the best and he is 15th in passer rating among qualifiers. Stafford - 17th. Goff - 20th. Mayfield - 24th. Burrow - 25th. Newton - 28th. Winston and A. Smith are not starters crrntly</p>— Joseph Mahoney (@ndjomo76) <a href="https://twitter.com/ndjomo76/status/1328346119819104259?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="uTjFJn">Ok, so where <em>do</em> teams get elite quarterbacks in the draft? </p>
<p id="8edosT">Here are the draft spots of the top 10 current QBs in terms of passer rating.</p>
<div id="AKt3TH">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">If you look at the draft spot of the top 10 passers in the NFL by passer rating you see these numbers: 24, 10, 75, 32, 36, 12, 8, 7, 11 and 6. Herbert is the highest drafted of the top 10 and he was taken 6th overall. <a href="https://t.co/oYuArlASzP">https://t.co/oYuArlASzP</a></p>— Joseph Mahoney (@ndjomo76) <a href="https://twitter.com/ndjomo76/status/1328347797691764736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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<p id="6w3WyZ">For those who don’t click on that link to see the names, those top 10 are <span>Aaron Rodgers</span>, <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2019/8/29/20838560/patrick-mahomes-fantasy-football-dfs-salary-stats-2019">Patrick Mahomes</a>, <span>Russell Wilson</span>, <span>Drew Brees</span>, <span>Derek Carr</span>, <a href="https://dknation.draftkings.com/2019/8/30/20841565/deshaun-watson-fantasy-football-dfs-salary-stats-2019">DeShaun Watson</a>, <span>Ryan Tannehill</span>, <span>Josh Allen</span>, <span>Ben Roethlisberger</span> and <span>Justin Herbert</span>. </p>
<p id="dR0voH">They have passer ratings of 116.4 (<span>Rodgers</span>) to 102.8 (Herbert). </p>
<p id="dLQSHm">Of those guys in the top 10, only Herbert has fewer starts than Lock. <span>Josh Allen</span> is the next least-experienced and he has now started 37 regular season NFL starts at QB. </p>
<p id="2UGDkF"><span>Josh Allen</span> is the player that the Lock fans are clinging to. Why? Because like Lock, <span>Allen</span> made many of the same mistakes in his first 12 starts. </p>
<p id="GkS7qE">Lock has 12 starts. <span>Allen</span> started 11 games as a rookie in 2018 (he also played half of a game in Week 1 when <span>Nathan Peterman</span> was atrocious). <span>Allen</span>’s rookie stats {52.8% completion, QB rating of 67.9, 28 sacks taken, 10 passing TDs (8 rushing TDs), 12 INTs} are fairly comparable to what Lock has done over the same span of games (12 games). </p>
<p id="tkjhhT">The exception is the rushing TDs; Lock has two, but he probably should have a third since I think he would have scored yesterday without <span>Noah Fant</span> holding the defender. Lock has completed 58.6% of his passes, thrown 14 TDs, 12 INTs and has been sacked 16 times. </p>
<p id="j4bWcF"><a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm">Allen</a> has played much better <em>since</em> his rookie season. He improved to a passer rating of 85.3 and led the <a href="https://www.buffalorumblings.com/">Bills</a> to the playoffs in 2019. He currently has a passer rating of 103.2. After throwing 10 TDs and 12 picks as a rookie, he has thrown 41 and 16 since. </p>
<p id="EajbbT">Unfortunately, Allen is the rare exception of a quarterback who is given enough time to improve. The question comes down this: </p>
<p id="KFLbu3">Do you think that with more starts Lock will improve? </p>
<p id="Ao0v8w">Here are the things that he is currently not doing:</p>
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<p id="6hFWmA">Reading the defense pre-snap (as far as I can tell) to determine who is most likely to be open</p>
<p id="64clQz">Anticipating throws: IMO he was much better at throwing to his receivers’ anticipated spots last season than he has been this year. This might be the result of no preseason and a new OC and offensive scheme. </p>
<p id="D5pl8z">Progressing through his reads - he is still locking onto his primary target and throwing to them even if they are triple covered</p>
<p id="fWvHPH">Moving the safeties with his eyes (I’ve seen him do this three times in total in 12 starts). </p>
<p id="iFrkOU">Climbing the pocket to buy time - he bails to his right every time and defenses have adjusted for this in 2020</p>
<p id="65wQE6">Making adjustments to the play at the LOS - he may not have been given this power yet, IDK</p>
<p id="IZwoCY">Staying in a clean pocket with quiet feet - too many times in the last four games, he has bailed on a clean pocket right about the time that multiple receivers were coming open. </p>
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<p id="qCT35K">I doubt he ever fixes all of these issues. How many do you think he can fix? How many do you think he needs to fix to be an average starter? </p>
<p id="EJ5ZgQ">I don’t know about you, but I would settle for an average starter. We haven’t had one at QB in Denver since 2015 - and you could argue that we haven’t had one since before Manning hurt his foot midway through the 2014 season. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">I've been tracking this since 2016, when it was clear to all but the biggest homers that Trevor Siemian was not going to develop into even an average NFL starter. I'll drop this here and you can draw your own conclusions from the data. <a href="https://t.co/2Gbmaf5yNl">pic.twitter.com/2Gbmaf5yNl</a></p>— Joseph Mahoney (@ndjomo76) <a href="https://twitter.com/ndjomo76/status/1328366799092674563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2020</a>
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https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/16/21569825/very-hard-to-find-an-above-average-nfl-qbJoe Mahoney2020-11-16T05:00:00-07:002020-11-16T05:00:00-07:00Drew Lock and the Broncos offense failed miserably against the Raiders
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<p>This type of failure will cause many in Broncos Country to abandon Drew Lock.</p> <div id="hpHPl9">
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<p id="8NPqQ9">I’m not sure where to go with this. The <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> did the one thing you absolutely cannot do. They were humiliated by the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a>. That will cause Broncos Country to turn on you faster than the defense was getting to <span>Drew Lock</span> in Las Vegas.</p>
<p id="F80Di6">I want to be positive. I want to find an Orange and Blue lining, but that’s Ian’s job in <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/15/21566643/broncos-raiders-winners-losers-week-10">Winners and Losers</a>. Then again, I’m not sure how much you can really shine this turd. As Ian St. Clair and I discussed on the MHR Radio postgame recap, this was just an awful showing by the offense.</p>
<p id="HC7sPx">I’ve preached patience here when it comes to Lock. I completely understand if that idea has begun to fall on deaf ears. He was bad against the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a>. He was running for his life, and his jersey had more green than white by the end of the game, but he was bad. </p>
<p id="FsANHH">Four interceptions is unacceptable. Chucking and praying isn’t going to get it done in the NFL. All of his picks could have been avoided. Even the last one, which <span>Nick Kwiatkoski</span> snagged out of the air in Odell-like fashion.</p>
<p id="mYuvj1">The defense did all they could to keep Denver in the game. And I’d be lying if I didn’t think a little second half magic was on the way. If it was, it must have got lost on the strip, playing blackjack. </p>
<p id="XCC1rm">The offense is going home down an entire mortgage payment, and there is plenty of blame to go around. But it’s hard not to look at Drew Lock and wonder if he is ever going to figure it out. </p>
<p id="MJ741b">You can blame the offensive line for being terrible. They were. You can get mad about Pat Shurmur being bad at his job. He is. You can be fed up with Vic Fangio’s lack of institutional control. He has very little. You can blame injuries, and covid, and Tom McMahon, and the Easter Bunny. It still all falls to Lock.</p>
<p id="IESShh">This game, above all others, shows his regression. And I’m still not bailing on the kid. He has talent. He has the right attitude. He has the desire to get better. But I am not blaming people who <em>are</em> bailing.</p>
<p id="5VeG7E">Was there ever a play that Lock didn’t have a defender bearing down on him? Was the running game ever able to establish anything? Is Lock trying to process a brand new scheme without the benefit of a real offseason? Is the rest of the offense also struggling with that new scheme?</p>
<p id="aUJ3Zd">Does any of that matter right now? No. Not after a loss to the Raiders. </p>
<p id="FmDh6d">The problem, however, isn’t the present. The problem is the future. What the future holds. It’s time for Broncos Country to face a couple facts. <span>Peyton Manning</span> is not coming to save the day. Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are not going to be around when Denver picks in the draft. Fangio and Shurmur are probably going to get one more crack at this.</p>
<p id="ioYg5L">So, the future is the next seven games, and probably more.</p>
<p id="6axNR8">If you see an island, and want to swim for it, I don’t blame you. If you want to stick around and see if Drew Lock is the second coming of <span>Josh Allen</span>, that’s great, too. </p>
<p id="XU1cxp">What we all know, and what we were reminded of during that Week 10 debacle is that losing to the Raiders isn’t just bad, it’s unacceptable. Being humiliated by them? I’m not sure I have the words.</p>
https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/16/21566969/drew-lock-and-broncos-offense-failed-miserably-against-raidersAdam Malnati2020-11-15T17:43:21-07:002020-11-15T17:43:21-07:005 things we learned from the Denver Broncos demoralizing 37-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders
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<p>Denver Broncos lose badly in all three phases to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10.</p> <p id="pTdH78">The <a href="https://www.milehighreport.com/">Broncos</a> came into the Roomba with a good chance to throw spoiled milk on the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a>’ postseason hopes. Instead they bumbled their way through another mistake-filled day and lost 37-12. </p>
<p id="L4n8pV">Here’s what we learned.</p>
<h2 id="fm8DSV">
<span><strong>Calvin Anderson</strong></span><strong> made his first start and struggled</strong>
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<p id="kM1Zhe">If you’re active on Broncos’ Twitter, you’re surely aware that Anderson’s social media presence has been quite strong. Dating back to last season he’s been dropping hints about how he just needed his chance and he’d do the rest. Well today, he got that chance. It was ugly. </p>
<p id="fM5N5a">Just like week 17 last year, the <a href="https://www.silverandblackpride.com/">Raiders</a> lined up <span>Maxx Crosby</span> across from the Broncos’ right tackle on most passing downs in order to exploit the obvious mismatch. Anderson also combined with Lloyd Cushenberry to make the Broncos all but none dimensional when they ran the ball. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hm, I wonder why Drew Lock is throwing so much. <a href="https://t.co/kQIKTzgYCt">pic.twitter.com/kQIKTzgYCt</a></p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328112933155561477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<h2 id="aHHy07"><strong>The teams are still garbage</strong></h2>
<p id="9fgu3x">It started with a <span>Diontae Spencer</span>’s opening return to nowhere.<strong> </strong>It continued throughout the first half. The only notable highlight was <span>Josh Watson</span>’s stick on the kickoff following <span>Brandon McManus</span>’ second field goal. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fire Tom McMahon. <a href="https://t.co/2DpiR37Fv4">pic.twitter.com/2DpiR37Fv4</a></p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328088921314562048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<h2 id="DFxwMx"><strong>Vegas’ defense was bad in the first. Denver’s offense was worse. </strong></h2>
<p id="Ry2n8T">If the <a href="https://www.thefalcoholic.com/">Falcons</a> defense was a great chance to see what this young offense could do, the Raiders looked like a game they had to show something. The early going was rough. <span>Drew Lock</span> checked down in a clean pocket on the first third and five and Pat Shurmur didn’t hesitate to dial up a low percentage front zone fade on the second. The quarter ended two plays after Lock threw into triple coverage on third and very long.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jeff said "That's mine."<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DENvsLV?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DENvsLV</a> | CBS <a href="https://t.co/Nj9xcQSm6G">pic.twitter.com/Nj9xcQSm6G</a></p>— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) <a href="https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1328091807482220547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<p id="KGxqXL">There were encouraging moments sprinkled in, such as the corner route to <span>Jerry Jeudy</span> for 26. Sprinkles don’t do much good when the ice cream tastes like cyanide, however. After taking a shot from <span>Arden Key</span>, Lock gutted out the first half and completed 52% of his passes. He did a nice job hanging tough in the pocket to find K.J. Hamler on a dig route to move into field goal range before the end of the first. He also threw a backbreaking interception after a <span>Noah Fant</span> hold cancelled out a rushing touchdown. I couldn’t help but notice K.J. Hamler open on an out route on the pick, or the fact Fangio still had a timeout. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Drew Lock completes his second pass to Vegas and the Broncos red zone trip ends in ruin. <a href="https://t.co/zoL8NF7e5j">pic.twitter.com/zoL8NF7e5j</a></p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328105868395679750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<h2 id="t1a9Ln">
<span><strong>Callahan</strong></span><strong> was huge. </strong><span><strong>Bouye</strong></span><strong> wasn’t.</strong>
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<p id="3kDwa1">The change from last week to this should really hammer home how valuable <span>Bryce Callahan</span> has been this year. With him back in the lineup, the secondary kept the clamps on Henry Ruggs and the Raider passing attack. Through the first half, the Raiders had all of 72 passing yards, most of them coming on a 25-yard catch by <span>Hunter Renfrow</span> against <span>A.J. Bouye</span> and a 16-yard completion to <span>Bryan Edwards</span> against zone coverage. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">These option routes to Hunter Renfrow have been money this year. Renfrow showing why that “Third & Renfrow” moniker is so accurate. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RaiderNation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RaiderNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/GQMPYYCEjy">pic.twitter.com/GQMPYYCEjy</a></p>— Chris Reed (@ChrisReed_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisReed_NFL/status/1328085832310411266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<h2 id="GIbkXH"><strong>The run defense was a shell of itself. </strong></h2>
<p id="4RE7VC">Through the first four games of the Broncos’ season, the run defense was a constant. It’s looked like Swiss cheese since. It’s pretty obvious that losing <span>Mike Purcell</span> and <span>Jurrell Casey</span> for the season as well as <span>Shelby Harris</span> today left the line over-matched against the patchwork Raider OL. </p>
<p id="bHlYf3"><span>DeShawn Williams</span> had a few nice plays getting through the interior, but time after time <span>Josh Jacobs</span> ripped off off positive gains on cutbacks early. As the game wore on, he started to find more and more success on other concepts. In the fourth quarter it got so bad <span>Devontae Booker</span> got his revenge with two touchdown runs. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jacobs walks in and the Broncos are down two scores as we close in on the 4th. <a href="https://t.co/8lVqfuv5Nk">pic.twitter.com/8lVqfuv5Nk</a></p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328116494035787783?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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<h2 id="Ld6PoH"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></h2>
<p id="yWdFDJ">This will go down as the shortest “things we learned” post I’ve written in my three years covering the Broncos’ for Mile High Report. The thing is, we didn’t learn much today. We knew going in that the defense would have a tough day without <span>Shelby Harris</span> against the Raider running game. We also knew Jerry Jeudy, K.J. Hamler, and the Broncos’ receivers would find ways to get open against an over-matched secondary. </p>
<p id="YryerI">What we learned is that Mike Munchak made Calvin Anderson his fifth string right tackle for a reason and a quarterback who has struggled to read the field or handle pressure didn’t handle it well. Neither of these facts is surprising, even if they are disappointing. There are still seven games left, which means the clock is ticking on Lock to show tangible signs that he can grow into the guy Broncos’ Country needs him to be. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Keep in mind that even if Drew Lock fails, John Elway's plan to find out what the Broncos have in Lock is a success. <br><br>It just adds pressure on #7 to get it right in 2021.</p>— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoRo_NFL/status/1328118864526405633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2020</a>
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https://www.milehighreport.com/2020/11/15/21566399/5-things-we-learned-broncos-raidersJust_JoRo