As he danced around the story most wanted to hear, Aqib Talib stumbled on a fair point.
Three days had passed since frustrations boiled over in the Broncos’ locker room, when he and left tackle Russell Okung following Sunday’s loss to the Patriots. The post-game tiff wasn’t “too big of a deal,” Talib said, not unlike many others that have unfolded in that same locker room.
“Itap football,” . “(The media) is just doing (their) job and I respect it. You all needed a story. You didn’t want to talk about Tom (Brady) and his 180 yards and no touchdown, so you all figured you would talk about that.”
The Broncos’ defensive performance last Sunday didn’t go unnoticed, but the potential sign of a fraying locker room trumped the bigger and more concerning storyline: Brady was held 188 passing yards and no touchdowns and the Patriots scored only 16 points and yet — yet! — Denver’s offense could not score enough to win.
After leading the way to the Super Bowl in February, the defense can’t do enough to help a lagging offense. It could play savior last year, but not this year.
Since Week 1 of the 2015 season, the offense has lacked cohesion and a true identity. Coach Gary Kubiak tried to blend his system with Peyton Manning’s strengths a season ago, but that was a patchwork disaster. The five starters on the offensive line hadn’t played together even once before the season opener and it underwent numerous shifts to account for injury and inefficiency as the season progressed.
The run game arrived late and thrilled at times, but also disappointed. Tight end production was minimal and magnified in a Kubiak offense that typically thrives off multiple-tight end sets.
And in their final outing a season ago, Super Bowl 50, the Broncos set a dubious record for fewest net yards (194) by a winning team. Looking back, the Broncos’ biggest offensive weapon a season ago might have been Manning’s mind. What he couldn’t do physically he could often overcome with his knowledge of the game.
But there’s no debating the fact the defense starred.
Although first-year quarterback Trevor Siemian has performed well this season given the circumstances — averaging 300.2 passing yards in his last six games — he’s operating with no run game and a shoddy offensive line. He has weapons around him, but few will remember 2016 as the year Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders topped 1,000 yards receiving for the third consecutive season.
Most will remember that loss to Atlanta that ended with Kubiak being hospitalized, and that demoralizing loss four days later in San Diego with Joe DeCamillis as interim head coach. They’ll probably remember that crushing overtime defeat at home to Kansas City and that lousy 18-rushing-yard performance in Tennessee. They’ll probably remember the Broncos’ confounding inability to score early, their insane number of three-and-outs and that glaring problem at right tackle.
And they’ll especially remember that 16-3 loss to New England that epitomized the offense’s 2-year-old mess.
Through Week 15, Denver’s defense is holding opponents to a league-best 183 passing yards per game, nearly 17 fewer than last season when it finished as arguably one of the greatest defenses in history. It has also held opposing quarterbacks to an NFL-best 67.5 passer rating this season (78.8 last season), is tied for the league lead with 40 sacks and has the most quarterback hits, at 105.
“The way I’ve always approached it is, our defense has to play better than the other team’s defense. Itap not about our offense,” said Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. “If their defense holds our team to 10 points, then we need to hold them to nine in order to play better than the other team’s defense. Itap not what our offense does, itap what we do and what their defense does.”
But if the Broncos’ season ends with a thud on New Year’s Day, Talib will be right. Talk will be about not what the defense did but what the offense failed to do.
3 UP
New England Patriots. It wasn’t pretty, but New England overcome its early offensive struggles to (finally) beat the Broncos in Denver and clinch their eighth-consecutive AFC East title and a first-round bye.
Oakland Raiders. With a win over the Chargers last weekend, Oakland secured a playoff berth for the first time in 14 years. The Raiders are officially back. (Maybe.)
Tennessee Titans. Kicker Ryan Succop nailed a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give surging Tennessee a 19-17 come-from-behind win over his former team, the Chiefs, last weekend.
3 DOWN
Houston Texans. Houston’s $72 million man, Brock Osweiler, was benched after throwing a pair of interceptions against the Jaguars. Now Tom Savage has the reins amid a full-blown QB controversy.
Denver Broncos. The defense held Tom Brady to 188 passing yards and no passing touchdowns but it was all for naught as Denver’s offense was awful. The Broncos’ AFC West title streak is snapped at five.
Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs had a chance to secure their trip to the playoffs, but squandered a 17-7 halftime lead at home against Tennessee. Next up: A frustrated Broncos team on Christmas night.
Matthew Stafford: Spotlight on the Detroit Lions’ QB
When: Stafford has engineered a league-high eight comeback victories and eight game-winning drives this season. He has 3,720 passing yards (seventh-most through Week 15), a 66.3 completion percentage, 22 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He was snubbed in the Pro Bowl voting, but he’s got the Lions on track for something better: A playoff berth.
What’s up: The Lions’ QB dislocated his right middle finger in a win at Chicago and is now sporting a special glove on his throwing hand. He went 24-of-39 for 273 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception in a loss to the Giants last weekend, and both he and Lions coach Jim Caldwell insist his finger injury won’t be an issue going forward.
Background: The Lions (9-5) have been in the playoffs only twice in the past 16 seasons and they haven’t made it past the wild-card round since 1991. With Stafford leading the way, the Lions have won eight of their past 10 games to sit atop the NFC North, but they face a grueling final stretch against the Cowboys in Dallas on Monday night and then at home against the Packers in a game that could decide the division.
Jhabvala’s take: Stafford’s numbers are Pro Bowl-worthy and, frankly, he should have been selected. Despite the difficult start to the Lions’ season, Stafford has been the key to their turnaround, playing some of the best football of his career and deservedly joining the MVP conversation. He’s also one of only four quarterbacks to have played every regular-season game since 2011. But his biggest tests await him, at Dallas and against Green Bay.
