Broncos’ coach ‘s decision to not challenge a failed 2-point try in the fourth quarter against the Chargers on Sunday drew ire from those who watched television and saw quarterback crossing the football over the goal line before his knees touched the ground.
Denver won the game, 23-22, easing some scrutiny over the choice, although the topic was front and center Monday. Joseph broke down the process of challenging reviews, what he’d like to see change from the officials and his thinking against the Chargers.
“I’m talking to our staff in the press box. I can’t see the replays,” Joseph said. “Those guys give me the evidence to challenge. If itap not clear, they tell me, ‘Coach, itap not clear. We can’t tell.’ Obviously, the rules are if itap a scoring play, it goes to the league if itap a positive play. So, I would prefer if the officials are not sure if itap a positive or negative play, just call it on the positive side because itap a built-in fix for him. Once he calls it a score, itap reviewed.
“If itap not a score, I have to obviously challenge it. If my views are not clear enough to challenge it, I can’t because there are 12 minutes in that game and if I lose that challenge, it costs me something. In my opinion, it was more important to keep our timeout there without having clear evidence. If it was clear, absolutely we’d challenge that, but it wasn’t clear to our guys upstairs.”
Injury update. The health status of two Broncos injured versus the Chargers have been updated. Cornerback Bradley Roby remains in concussion protocol. Wide receiver (knee), “looks pretty good (Monday) morning,” Joseph said. The Broncos also confirmed that offensive lineman (ACL) is headed to injured reserve and the team plans to work out five players Tuesday to fill his active roster spot.
Out-gained in victory. The Broncos were out-gained 479-325 by the Chargers. The differential of minus-154 yards is the largest in a Broncos victory since 2006, when they were out-gained by 163 yards in a victory over Pittsburgh.
Sunday’s win marked the 17th time in franchise history the Broncos won despite having a yardage differential of at least minus-150 yards.
Footnotes. The Broncos’ 23-22 final over the Chargers was the 11th such score in league history (dating back to 1940) per Pro Football Reference…Chargers’ wide receiver to LA media when asked if the Broncos played well: “No, I don’t think they played well at all. We dominated the game. Turnovers, we gave them some points and that’s what happened. They suck.”
Allen had nine receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown.
