The Broncos’ defensive starters had plenty of positives after Friday night’s 27-24 loss to Green Bay at Invesco Field at Mile High.
The first unit allowed just 31 rushing yards — 2.6 yards per carry — and kept Green Bay out of the end zone on three consecutive possessions.
There was no disguising that the Broncos struggled to tackle the Packers, though. Coaches and players alike admitted as much.
“We have to tackle much better than we did,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “Yeah, that was not good,” linebacker Niko Koutouvides said.
The miscues helped contribute to the Packers’ gaudy passing numbers in the first half.Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 16-of-19 passes for 178 yards, mostly on short throws. Only four of those completions went for more than 15 yards.
“Their wide receivers and running backs did a good job of getting yards after the catch,” safety Marlon McCree said. “We’ll look at the film and see what we need to do better and make our corrections.”
Certainly they’ll look at one particular play in the second quarter. On first down, Rod-gers completed a short pass over the middle to running back Brandon Jackson, and each of the three Denver linebackers — D.J. Williams, Jamie Winborn and Nate Webster — missed a tackle, allowing Jackson to get outside for an 18-yard gain.
“That’s an area tonight we can improve on,” Webster said. “We left a couple of tackles out there that should have been made.”
Players said they expected the result of the poor tackling effort will be a renewed focus on fundamentals this week.
“Basically you’ve got to wrap up, tackle with your eyes,” Koutouvides said. “Any time you miss a lot of tackles like that, it can cost you a ballgame. If you want to be a good defense, you’ve got to be sound at tackling.”
Lindsay H. Jones: 303-954-1262 or ljones@denverpost.com
