Offense – D
One touchdown in a must-have game? Only 292 yards despite running 71 plays? No catches for receiver Jerry Jeudy? It was another no-rhythm, few-points game for the Broncos’ offense, which last week put up a season-high 38 points against Detroit. The Broncos started with three consecutive punts and their only touchdown was receiver Tim Patrick’s 25-yard catch from Drew Lock in which he out-maneuvered his defender. The Broncos rushed 34 times for 133 yards, but didn’t have a carry of longer than 14 yards. Receiver Courtland Sutton and tight end Albert Okwuegbunam had one drop apiece. And Lock was reckless with the football on a keeper that resulted in a red zone turnover.
Defense – B
For the second time in as many losses, the Broncos’ allowed one offensive touchdown. But as safety Justin Simmons pointed out afterward, they were unable to create a takeaway to give their laboring offense a short field. The Bengals were 4 of 13 on third down and quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked three times. But the biggest play of the game was the winning play of the game — Burrow’s 56-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tyler Boyd with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. It was the longest touchdown pass allowed by the Broncos this year. The other huge play was Burrow’s 15-yard pass to Boyd against cornerback Pat Surtain II on third-and-10 with three minutes remaining.
Special teams – C
Brandon McManus’ 54-yard field goal was his longest make of the year, but he started a six-point swing in the final seconds of the first half when he was wide right from 51 yards and Cincinnati ran one play to set up Evan McPherson’s 58-yard kick to give Cincinnati a 6-3 halftime lead. Punter Sam Martin had a 57-yard bomb, but also shanked one that was saved by a long roll. Martin also had a 63-yard punt that was a touchback (only 43-yard net). In the fourth quarter, the Broncos’ offense had to start from their 5-yard line after two special teams penalties (one enforced).
Coaching – C
Coach Vic Fangio called a great blitz with safety Justin Simmons, who doesn’t pass-rush a lot, getting the sack of Burrow unblocked in the first half. The defense did its job against Cincinnati’s offense save for no takeaways and a busted coverage/bad fundamentals on the Bengals’ only touchdown. Some nitpicks for offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur: a third-and-1 pass play call from the Bengals’ 33 late in the first half when a run play to gain the first down would have set up more touchdown shots; McManus missed the field goal. Fangio tried to save time in the final five minutes by calling timeouts at the 3:35, 3:28 and 2:36 marks.
