Editor’s note: NFL reporter Jeff Legwold analyzes the Broncos’ 17-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and looks ahead:
There was a moment before Sunday’s game when former Titans and Eagles safety Blaine Bishop attempted to say hello to former teammate Brian Dawkins.
Bishop’s locker, in his season with the Eagles, was next to Dawkins’ locker, so touching base was in order, Bishop later said, smiling. He knew how Dawkins would react.
“Not before a game,” was Dawkins’ reply. “Not before a game.”
Dawkins wants to win right now. That is always clear in the hours leading up to kickoff.
And after Sunday’s loss at Nashville, the Broncos’ second three-point loss in the past three games, Dawkins said, “I hope everybody is as disappointed as I am.”
The Broncos are 1-2, with their three games decided by a total of eight points. So, they are either eight or so points from 0-3 or 3-0, depending how you look at it.
And only three weeks in, they already have arrived at the spot where all rebuilding teams get at some point. Things can go either way.
Over the next five games, they face the 3-0 Packers, who also happen to be the defending Super Bowl champions, the 2-1 Chargers, the 3-0 Lions and the 2-1 Raiders, who already rushed for 190 yards against them.
In that stretch, only the Dolphins (0-3) have not jumped from the gate.
The Broncos’ desire to win is real. It’s palpable. Their ability to win is in question, especially late in a game with the result on the line.
But the cavalry isn’t coming, which means the players they have will have to find a way to be better than they’ve been in the opening three weeks.
Key matchup
As if the Packers couldn’t do enough things well on offense, they now have the ability to win matchups with the big guys in the pass pattern.
They’ve made no secret — just turn on the video from last February’s Super Bowl — that they’ll spread wide receivers all over the field to slow down a defense.
But now they can pressure a defense’s linebackers and safeties far more.
Jermichael Finley, a 247-pound tight end who missed last year’s playoff run because of surgery to repair meniscus in his knee, is second on the team in receptions and receiving yardage, and he leads the team in receiving touchdowns with three.
He’s a brutal matchup for defenses, especially when cocooned in a offense that can stress defenders with impact players in the short, intermediate and deep areas of the field.
The Packers also use 250-pound fullback John Kuhn as a receiver in the scoring zone. He has 14 rushing and receiving touchdowns in his limited snaps in his career. And they play 249-pound tight end Tom Crabtree at times.
It was two catches by tight ends — a 58-yarder by Craig Stevens, just his third reception of the year, and a 4-yard touchdown catch by Daniel Graham, his first catch of the year — that pushed the Titans to the game-winning score Sunday.
The Packers figure to take their shot as well.
Comparison shopping
After three weeks of the season, there are six teams with at least 10 sacks.
The Broncos have played one of them — Oakland (10 sacks) — and will play another Sunday in Green Bay. The Packers also have 10 sacks. The Eagles (12 sacks) and Browns (11) rank 1-2. Defensive end Jarius Wynn leads the way for the Packers with three sacks.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
