Denver Broncos: Quick Reaction to the Ravens Loss
The Denver Broncos lost to the Ravens for the sixth time in seven visits to Baltimore. The loss drops Denver to 2-1.
It’s a habit of the Broncos and as a friend pointed out, Denver on the road, in the Eastern time zone with a morning start? No way. Not under any circumstances does Denver win this game. Not historically, not now, not ever.
I understand, as a lifetime Denver resident, I’m very familiar with what we perceive as absolutes for our sports teams. The Broncos don’t win in December at KC. The Nuggets will never get the top pick in the NBA draft. The Rockies……that’s one to ponder. What, exactly is the Rockies reputation in Denver?
The thing is, even though we know this game was unwinnable for the Broncos, we still expected them to win. Complicated, isn’t it?
There were good things to come out of the game, Courtland Sutton made a great grab for a first down on third and long. Demaryius Thomas catches the ball very well, thank you.
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There were intermediate things as well. Marquette King dropped 3 punts inside the 20 and had a long of 55. The trouble is, he punted seven times and averaged only 39 yards. Phillip Lindsay had a couple of solid carries before committing a dumb personal foul and being ejected from the game.
Then, there were the awful things. The linebackers, including Von Miller and Bradley Chubb were beaten in every conceivable way on Sunday. They couldn’t pressure the Ravens Joe Flacco, they couldn’t cover, couldn’t stop the run. It was a dismal performance from the Denver squad.
Bradley Roby struggled in coverage and in three games has put a spotlight on the decision to trade Aqib Talib. Like last season’s decision to part ways with veteran leader T.J. Ward, the departure of Talib has rippled through the Broncos secondary.
The Broncos top two tacklers were safeties Darian Stewart and Justin Simmons, another black mark for the linebackers.
The game showcased the difference between a veteran, prepared head coach and a fledgling coach trying to find his way. Ravens coach John Harbaugh’s gameplan for the Broncos defense was simple, get rid of the ball before the edge rushers could make an impact.
It felt like the Ravens ran the same three plays over and over and Denver could never adjust.
We’ll look more closely at the results next, for now Broncos Nation will have to lick the wounds of a sure loss we knew we could win.