Inside the AFC West: Oakland Raiders offense awakens
Los Angeles Chargers 21, Denver Broncos 0
Broncos offense lays egg in shutout
The Denver Broncos were unable to score a single point against the Chargers. In fact, the Broncos didn’t even attempt a field goal throughout the game. A lot of things need to go wrong in order for that to happen. For the Broncos, it all started with the offensive line. The running game was shut down early due to the offensive line being unable to open up any holes. The Broncos had 19 carries for a total of 69 yards, far less than 4 yards per carry.
This put the Broncos into many passing situations, where the offensive line once again had issues. Trevor Siemian was sacked 5 times, and was hurried on numerous other occasions. One of these hurries led to an ugly interception, all but sealing the game. Siemian also fumbled twice during the game, losing one. The Broncos were also terrible on 3rd down, converting just 3 of 14 attempts.
The offense wasn’t the only issue for the Broncos. The Broncos had issues on the coverage team as well. Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin scored the first touchdown of the day on a 65-yard punt return where the Broncos coverage unit left the middle of the field completely undefended. Benjamin had another long return later in the game which gave the Chargers good field position as well.
The Broncos defense was pretty good. The Chargers could only gain 242 total yards, which was actually less than the Broncos’ 251 yards gained. Philip Rivers was held to just 183 yards passing and was sacked 3 times. The Broncos run defense was again very good, allowing just 80 yards on 26 attempts. Unfortunately mistakes on offense and special teams make the defensive performance irrelevant. The Broncos will win games by playing mistake free on offense and letting the defense do the rest. However, the offensive line has been far too porous and Trevor Siemian has been very bad under pressure. Do you hear that Bob Sutton? The Broncos will face the Chiefs next week on Monday Night Football.
Quick Notes
Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders did not play. He was sidelined with an ankle injury. His status is now day to day and it is possible that he will play against the Chiefs next week.