The Silver Lining
If there was a silver lining from Sunday’s blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, it was that Broncos Country got at least a slight answer to the question of whether or not Brock Osweiler could come in and even adequately take snaps for Peyton Manning in the event of an injury. In four possessions, Osweiler proved he could do just that – even adding a bit of a spark to the Denver offense, as Ronnie Hillman suggested postgame.
But that wasn’t the only positive to extract from a disappointing day that saw Denver nearly shutout at home for the first time in franchise history. The defense, despite surrendering 29 points, played better than the final score would indicate. And a Broncos wide receiver quietly had a solid day while the rest of the offense struggled.
There was no shortage of nominees for “Duds” in this week’s edition of “Studs and Duds,” but Broncos fans don’t have to look too far to find a few “Studs” in Sunday’s loss, as well.
Honorable Mention Dud – Kayvon Webster
Filling in for the suspended Aqib Talib, Kayvon Webster again proved why Bradley Roby jumped him on the depth chart and why John Elway selected three corner/defensive backs in the 2015 draft.
Last week we pointed out that Webster was the most-penalized Broncos player, based on penalties per snap. Heading into Week 10, he had been flagged nearly 16 percent of the time he was on the field this year.
That number declined on Sunday, as he was on the field for 37 of Denver’s 71 defensive plays – but he was still flagged twice and beat by receivers repeatedly. His -2.9 pass coverage rating Sunday is the third-worst rating in that category by any Broncos player so far this year, according to Pro Football Focus.
The depth that Denver enjoys on defense does not extend outside the hash marks it seems, at least in the case of Webster.
Stud No. 3 – Demaryius Thomas
Peyton Manning securing the all-time NFL passing record may have been the focus of the first quarter, but it was quickly overshadowed by an otherwise miserable performance. Demaryius Thomas, meanwhile, inched himself closer to a pair of Broncos records.
Quietly, Thomas amassed seven catches for 71 yards, all but one of those coming from Brock Osweiler. While Thomas did not find the end zone Sunday, he did move into the top-five in Broncos history in both receptions and receiving yards, passing Vance Johnson and Steve Watson, respectively.
Capping off the day was the fact that his mother could finally watch him play. She was released from prison earlier in the week and saw Thomas play for the first time ever.
There wasn’t much to feel good about on Sunday, but you can bet DT felt pretty good knowing mom was finally watching, and about moving up those all-time rankings lists.
Dud(s) No. 3 – The Offensive Line
There’s no doubt that Peyton Manning – playing injured and fighting the ravages of age in a young man’s game – was downright dreadful on Sunday. But Manning shouldn’t be forced to shoulder the blame for the entire meltdown at Mile High.
Most of Denver’s offensive woes begin and end with an offensive line that has still failed to jell through 10 weeks. Just when we thought they were starting to come into form after strong performances against Cleveland and Green Bay, they were exposed against the better pass rush of Indianapolis and downright abused by a dominant KC line.
According to Pro Football Focus, they registered a terrible -14.9 overall run/screen/pass block rating on the day as a unit. Only Manning’s individual -11.7 was more startling.
The big uglies generated just 51 yards on the ground for Broncos running backs on Sunday and it seemed like every Broncos passing play ended with Greg Gumbel using phrases like, “…under pressure,” or “… hit as he throws.” That went for the time Brock Osweiler was on the field, as well.
Official team stats had Broncos QBs sacked five times and hurried nine times.
Stud No. 2 – Brock Osweiler
Paint this scenario for the fourth-year quarterback at the beginning of the season: “Hey Brock, you’re going to complete 14 passes and throw a touchdown in the same game Peyton Manning sets the all-time NFL passing record.”
Back in September, anyone in Broncos Country – Brock included – would have said that performance would have come in garbage time of a blowout win so that Manning could rest and revel. Oh, how wrong we would have been.
Credit Osweiler, though. He could not have entered the game against Kansas City in any more dire circumstances. But after a shaky first few plays – including nearly giving up two pick-sixes in his first handful of pass attempts – Osweiler rebounded and looked downright capable of leading the offense. Ronnie Hillman perhaps best summarized Osweiler’s performance:
“Brock played his ass off, so that’s a positive. He came in and played his butt off for us. Even though we were down, he could have easily came in and just tried to manage the game but he tried to change it, so you have to respect that.”
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[adrotate group=”1″]Dud No. 2 – T.J. Ward
Apparently T.J. Ward wasn’t paying attention while the replacement (Kayvon Webster) for his fellow Pro Bowl defender (Aqib Talib) was getting flagged by the refs and repeatedly beat by the Kansas City wide receivers.
Talib was absent from Sunday’s festivities because he let his temper get the best of him. His absence was noticeable and certainly avoidable.
Down 22-0 in the fourth quarter, Ward decided to take what is now the stupidest penalty of the season in a year that has been marred by stupid defensive penalties. After Charcandrick West left him grasping at air, Ward leveled a totally unnecessary blow to the head of Jeremy Maclin, who was laying a somewhat unnecessary block on Ward.
Ward was subsequently ejected and will very likely be suspended for at least one game. It would mark his second suspension of the year.
To make matters worse, Ward tried to defend his actions postgame with a “he started it” line of reasoning. What Ward needed to do was apologize to his fans and teammates. It’s a penalty that never should have happened in the first place.
Stud(s) No. 1 – Von Miller and the Defense
The Broncos surrendered their highest point total of the season on Sunday, allowing 29 points to the Chiefs. That’s one way to look at things. But its a very short-sided look.
Speaking of short-sided, that’s how the defense had to play all day, as Kansas City had an average starting field position of their own 47.5 yard line. To their credit, the Denver defense mostly kept Kansas City out of the end zone and battled a huge time of possession differential that was nearly 2.5:1 in the first half.
Via Twitter, Andrew Mason, senior digital reporter for the team, uncovered a gem of a stat and made this observation that just about summarizes the D’s performance:
“The Broncos came into Sunday allowing 27.5 net yards/possession. They gave up 19.9 vs. KC. You’re supposed to win when you do that.”
Von Miller led the pass rush stat line, logging a sack, a tackle for a loss and three quarterback hits, while Brandon Marshall, Danny Trevathan, Darian Stewart and Vance Walker combined for 26 tackles.
Dud(s) No. 1 – Everyone making medical decisions at UCHealth Training Center
There’s some sad irony in the fact that the year the Broncos renamed their Englewood headquarters (formerly known as “Dove Valley”) to UCHealth Training Center in a year that the biggest controversy brewing now centers around the organization’s ability to accurately evaluate the team’s health.
Whether it’s an explanation or an excuse, it appears the severity of Peyton Manning’s injuries have been grossly underestimated. Blame the “too tough athlete” for thinking he can play through the pain (and play at an elite level). Blame the “blind eye coaches” who couldn’t see or just outright ignored diminishing on-field results. Or blame a “look the other way medical staff” who might have a true understanding of the extent of the injuries and didn’t speak up because the player wants to play. Blame any or all of them, but it’s now clear that Manning should not have been on the field against Kansas City.
And Manning wasn’t the only one who was questionable for Sunday and whose subsequent lackluster performance hurt the team. Emmanuel Sanders was a game-time decision and his lingering ankle injury seemed to be a direct culprit in the second of Manning’s four interceptions. Sanders played just 24 of Denver’s 73 snaps Sunday.
Football most certainly requires playing through pain, and coaches absolutely must trust their players when they say they can play and the training staff has cleared them. But the players, coaches and training staff all must ask first and foremost, “By playing hurt, does it hurt the team?” In the case of both Manning and Sanders, it’s now painfully clear the answer should have been, “Yes.”