OFFENSE: Back-breaking turnover
For the better part of two quarters, the Broncos’ offense was at their 2019 best. They scored on three of their first six drives to build a 17-3 lead. But then came the turning point. In Jaguars territory late in the second quarter, ’s overthrow was intercepted. The Jaguars kicked a field goal to gain momentum. As their lead was disappearing, the Broncos’ offense did nothing to turn the tide. They went three, three and four plays (all punts) on their first three second-half possessions. Flacco wasn’t sacked and the running game averaged 4.3 yards per attempt, but the inconsistencies continue to be major.
DEFENSE: Steam-rolled
Leave it to nose tackle Shelby Harris to sum up the Broncos’ second-half rush defense: “We got our (butt) whipped.” Leonard Fournette gained 225 yards on 29 attempts, highlighted by an 81-yard carry. When Fournette gets his legs churning and has some creases to run, tacklers begin to bounce off of him. He was a big reason why the Jaguars ran 22 more offensive plays than the Broncos. The pass rush awoke with five sacks, but the takeaway drought has reached four games. And there were too more key penalties: ’s illegal hands to the face extended a Jaguars drive and ’s roughing-the-passer kicked off the Jaguars’ final drive.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Booker sighting
is not a part of the offensive game plan, but he finally got a chance on special teams, returning three kickoffs for a 23-yard average. Punter Colby Wadman had a solid day, averaging 44.3 yards net and landing four of his six attempts inside the 20-yard line. There wasn’t much going on with the special teams, which can be good (no long returns allowed and no big penalties) and not-so-good (no splash plays).
COACHING: Historically inept
The Broncos are 0-4 for only the fourth time in their 60-year history. Chew on that for a minute. How does the defense not know how to finish? How did the defense forget how to tackle all of a sudden? Why couldn’t the offense put together a sustained drive to give the defense a break? On and on and on we could go. Coach Vic Fangio knew this was going to be a challenge when he was hired by general manager , but an 0-4 type of challenge? Unlikely.
