After loss to the Steelers, the Broncos ship is taking on water
Oct 12, 2021, 6:27 AM
• Another game, another loss after which Teddy Bridgewater says the Broncos didn’t come out with the proper energy. Huh? Anyone else having a difficult time hearing that? You guys are pros. You work all week to be able to go out and have fun and play a child’s game and you lack the requisite energy? Who’s fault is that?
• I don’t put that on the coaches. This isn’t high school or college with “rah rah” speeches. This needs to come from the players. This needs to come from the leaders, if you have any. That is the biggest issue it would appear. Not enough leadership to make sure this team is ready to play.
• Early on the, Broncos come out in a defense that was favorable for the Steelers to run against. Which they did. Fine. Make an adjustment, Vic Fangio. Instead, the Broncos keep doing what they were doing and the Steelers, who were last in the NFL in rushing, start running the rock like these were the 1970s-style Steelers and get into a nice rhythm offensively, with Big Ben suddenly looking five years younger.
• No other way to put it. Fangio and this defense have been exposed the last two weeks. They look overrated. Especially the secondary. Guys are losing individual battles all over the field. Safeties like Justin Simmons are a step or two too late.
• Alexander Johnson may indeed have a head made of rock. Apparently, he has hands to match.
• Another week, another special teams blunder. This time, Dre’mont Jones thinks he’s an Olympic hurdler who can leap buildings in a single bound. No. Jones is 6-foot-3, 280 pounds. He’s not capable of that. Something I don’t know, his special teams coach, should tell him!
• The worst part of the play calling down by the goal line at the end of the game? Three corner routes and one dump down to a running back. That is the area where a game-changing tight end makes his money and establishes his greatness. That is when and where Noah Fant – a former first round pick – should shine. Instead, he remains invisible. And don’t give me “Teddy isn’t looking for him.” What QB wouldn’t want to use a weapon like that if he trusted him? Ah, yes, trust being the operative word.
• Interesting take on the whole Teddy vs. Drew thing from former NFL QB Brock Huard who was sitting in for Stink on Monday. Brock said George Paton is using this season to sit back and evaluate what he has and doesn’t have. Huard says Bridgewater isn’t special but he’s the type of QB who will give the offensive personnel the best chance to show what they can do which is what Paton is most interested in. A fresh take I hadn’t heard before.
• I continue to be impressed by Tim Patrick. Don’t know how he fits in all the grand plans involving the offensive personnel, but he looks like a keeper to me.
• Nice game for Courtland Sutton in his comeback to Pittsburgh where last year he shredded his knee. That always has to be an emotional moment for any athlete returning to the so called scene of the crime.
• The view from 38,000 feet remains the same. I thought this was an 8-9 win team before the season began. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change until the Broncos pull off a couple of wins against teams they aren’t supposed to beat.
• Good news is the Raiders may be leaking more right now than the Broncos. Next Sunday has become a must-win.
