The Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles squared off this afternoon. It was fast-paced game. It was a hard-fought game. It had all the ups and downs
you would expect from a great matchup. The Broncos clearly didn’t play their best, but they did enough to get the job done and secure a monumental road victory on the road in Philadelphia. Here are some instant reactions and takeaways from today’s game.It wasn’t the prettiest performance on offense, but good enough to win
The offensive performance against
the Cincinatti Bengals on Monday Night Football gave fans across Broncos Country some optimism that the unit was starting to turn the corner. Unfortunately, the Broncos had only 102 yards of offense in the first half. Their first six drives resulted in only three points. It was the absolute worst-case scenario and a stark difference from how they looked against the Bengals.
The simple drop back passing was a struggle for Bo Nix. Overthrowing targets and failing to hit receivers over the middle of the field was an issue. But at halftime, things started to change. The Broncos were a lot more effective passing the ball compared to the first half. They found their groove and continued to dictate the pace of the game by pounding the rock with J.K. Dobbins.
In the fourth quarter, they were able to net nearly 150 yards on offense, while holding the Eagles to significantly less. The Broncos possessed the ball for nearly 10 more minutes than the Eagles. They had 23 first downs compared to the 16 for Philadelphia. The big difference? Denver’s ability to run the ball with 130 yards while the Eagles struggled with just 45. As I said earlier in the week, dictating the pace of the game was essential to come away with a victory and Denver did just that.
The Broncos defense deserves a lot of credit for the big victory
While they were able to generate a few explosive plays early in in the game to DeVonta Smith and Saquon Barkley, Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph had a very good game plan against the Eagles. Jalen Hurts and their offense struggled on third down for the most part. On top of that, the Broncos were able to generate quality pressure and got five sacks on hurts, including two from All-Pro defender Nik Bonitto who came up clutch when it mattered the most.
Despite the offenses first half struggles, Denver’s defense remained strong and did a great job on key downs and in the red zone. I’m very proud of their effort today and am impressed with how they were able to come together and help stop the Eagles’ offense from taking flight. I’m looking forward to seeing them become even more dominant as the season chugs along, especially if the offense is able to hit their stride and be more efficient.
Let’s have a little chat about the officiating
I’m not one to often complain about the officiating. However, the refs seemed to be quite inconsistent in their calls today—especially when it came to coverage calls. They had no issue calling penalties on Riley Moss and Patrick Surtain II in coverage but allowed Kelee Ringo to engage in illegal contact and pass interference on Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr. toward the end of the first half.
That picked up flag on the deep throw to Mims was a headscratcher. It’s clear that Ringo pushed Mims off his route, had his hands to his facemask, and never bothered to turn around and locate the ball. I’m not sure why that happened, but it certainly kept points of the board for the Broncos. The offensive pass interference flag on Pat Bryant deep Eagles territory didn’t make much sense to me either, but at least Denver was able to overcome the bad call.
Other thoughts and musings:
- I had pegged inside linebacker Alex Singleton as a player who needed to perform well in order to help the team achieve victory. Unfortunately, the Eagles were able to exploit his deficiencies in run defense and covering running backs out of the backfield. He was responsible for the busted coverage on Barkley’s 47-yard touchdown reception. The Broncos may have gotten away with a victory, but his inconsistency at some point in time needs to be addressed.
- A tip of the hat again to veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton. He had eight catches for 99 yards and moved the chains when it mattered most. He and Nix continue to work well together and have been one of the best QB-WR duos in the NFL since the second half of last season.
- I think it’s apt to highlight Head Coach Sean Payton’s decision to go for two to give the Broncos a 18-17 lead in the fourth quarter. That was gutsy and proved to be an incredible decision. Had that not happened, the game could have turned out a lot different. Hats off to him and the players for executing that tremendously.
