Three observations from the Broncos loss to the Eagles in Week 10
Nov 15, 2021, 6:29 AM
The Denver Broncos are just a bad team who got beat down by another bad team on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High. The Philadelphia Eagles came into Denver and are leaving with a 30-13 win over the Broncos. The game was somewhat close before a turnover and fumble return for a touchdown blew the doors open.
After the game, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio was dejected talking about his team.
“We couldn’t handle what they do best which is run the ball with their quarterback. In the second half, we self destructed with the blocked field goal and the fumble returned for a touchdown.” Fangio said.
Here are the top 3 observations from the Broncos v Eagles game.
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Staying Grounded
The Eagles have changed their philosophy as the 2021 season has gone on. Earlier in the year, they were not running the ball much or effectively. That’s all changed over the last few weeks.
Entering Week 10, you could see the difference. Over the first six games of the season, they only ran 132 times for 682 yards and seven touchdowns. Over the last three games, the Eagles have run the ball 117 times for 547 yards and seven touchdowns. This was before the Broncos game, and now that rushing number can grow by a whopping 214 yards.
Against the Broncos, the Eagles had no problem driving down the field on their opening possession by running the ball with quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Boston Scott. As the game went on, they utilized power back Jordan Howard and rookie Kenneth Gainwell too.
Fangio commented on why the Eagles were so difficult to stop on the ground.
“We just had a hard time stopping them in the first half. Then, they made a play deep for a big one. They’ve been running it good against most everybody they play. We’ve struggled to stop the run consistently, and I was worried about that coming into this game,” Fangio said.
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Same as it Ever Was
The Broncos don’t run the ball enough. They rarely do, but when they have this season, the team has had success on the ground. Melvin Gordon is playing good football, and he was running well against the Eagles (minus his late-game fumble) but only toted the rock nine times. Javonte Williams is busting off runs left and right as he breaks tackles with ease, but he only had eight carries against the Eagles.
They were without offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur who was placed on the COVID list last Friday. In his place, long-time coach Mike Shula was there to call plays against the Eagles. Instead of trying to stick with the ground game, Shula followed in the footsteps of Shurmur and abandoned the run way too soon.
The excuse is almost always the same; they fall behind too early to run the ball. The time of possession was heavily in favor of the Eagles because they are committed to the run and the Broncos are not.
After the game, Gordon was honest with his assessment of what went wrong.
“It sucked because it was a winnable game. It’s not over. We’re not saying ‘to hell with the season’ you know, we’ll get back on that saddle and ride,” Gordon said.
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The Better Tight End
Noah Fant is the starter for the Broncos at the tight end position, but he may not be the best tight end on the roster. Albert Okwuegbunam displayed the type of weapon he can be against the Eagles with his 64-yard catch and run. He finished with just three catches for 77 yards in Week 10.
Perhaps if the Broncos used Okwuegbunam more they would get better results from the position. He’s not the starter, but “Albert O” is larger, stronger and faster than Fant. While Fant was targeted six times, Okwuegbunam only saw three passes thrown his way – and he caught them all.
Not only can Okwuegbunam be more dangerous as a receiver, but he is also most certainly a much better blocker than Fant. While we see Fant whiff on blocks often, Okwuegbunam is strong enough to sustain his blocks when tasked with doing so.
“We hurt ourselves on offense, we didn’t give ourselves a chance. The fumble, the penalties – myself included I had a penalty in the red zone. That’s where we can easily be better,” Okwuegbunam said.
