After a season-opening loss, the Denver Broncos struggles continued in Week 2 versus the Chicago Bears. Chicago kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to hand Denver their second consecutive defeat.

The Broncos offense failed to generate momentum throughout the game. Part of the reason Denver was unable to get into a flow on offense was due to the egregious amount holding penalties called on tackle Garett Bolles.

Bolles, the Broncos 2017 first-round draft choice, was called for four holding penalties throughout Sunday’s game, which were the most by a player in a single game since 2014.

Bolles has been downright awful since he made his NFL debut in 2017 and Broncos fans are losing their patience given his poor play.

Despite Bolles deficiencies on the gridiron, Broncos’ head coach Vic Fangio will continue to stick with the 2017 first-round draft choice in light of his struggles.

“The unusual part of those is when you hear one guy got called for four holdings, you’re immediate thought is passing,” Fangio said. “Three of the four were on running plays. He’s just got to be a little bit more technique-sound. I think he suffers from him thinking he’s in good position sometimes and dumps the guy at the end where he thinks it’s a legal block. We have to do a better job of explaining that to him. He’s got to do a better job of listening to the explaining, but I think he can.”

Bolles’ performance resulted in boos raining down from the stands at Empower Field at Mile High. Broncos fans in the stadium, at sports bars and on social media were all calling for Bolles to be replaced Sunday, but considering Denver’s lack of depth at the tackle position, it appears his spot is safe.

Fangio was asked by the local media Monday if he would consider pulling Bolles for a series or two to help him clear his mind. Fangio was firm in his stance about the state of his tackle.

“With our depth the way it is at this point, that’s probably not an option,” Fangio said.

Fangio’s mantra entering the season was “death by inches,” meaning he was going to instill a precise and disciplined culture within the locker room. However, the perplexing way in which Denver lost Sunday had many questioning if the loss could be accredited to that very same “death by inches.”

“I don’t know that we’re witnessing that now,” Fangio said. “It’s a valid question, though. I don’t think so. To me, death by inches is more what goes on during the week, Monday through Saturday, and I feel like we haven’t done that Monday through Saturday assuming you play on Sunday. It’s obvious, you make a valid question because of the holding penalties in particular that we’ve had. That is ‘death by inches,’ although a holding penalty is more than an inch. Valid question, but I don’t think so at this point.”

Holding calls are up around the league this season. Denver has been tagged for 16 holding calls this season, resulting in 125 yards for opponents. With the increase in holding calls from the officials, Fangio plans to make his team more aware of their tendencies.

“Yeah, we do,” Fangio said. “We have to—obviously, it hurt us yesterday at different points of the game. We had six of them. A lot of times even though we overcame a couple of them, those are drive stoppers, so we’ve got to be able to block our guy without holding.”

The Broncos have put themselves in a difficult position just two weeks into the season. Should Denver want to have a chance at turning things around this season, their offensive line needs to improve their play considerably, especially Bolles.