We’re a finicky bunch here in Broncos Country. Also, the media is always a fickle bunch of knee-jerk creatures with little to no nuance for this game that we love.
Let me lay some No Bull truth down for you all that can hopefully talk some of you back from the ledge into wading into the abyss about Bo Nix and the offensive woes that Fitz-ception and the rest of the talking heads are freaking out about.
Credit where it is due
The #1 thing that everyone who’s trying to dump on Bo Nix right now is forgetting is that the Seattle
Seahawks have an absolutely fierce defense that matches up VERY well against our offense. Their front is one of the best in the game. They schematically crush average run games (and let’s be honest, ours is not average: it is poor). They also make it extremely hard on the back end to complete deep passes.
Everyone wants to talk about how bad Nix is, but has absolutely no clue about what happened on the film. I do not have access to All-22, but I can tell you there were NOT people open against that defense. When the broadcast did show us the better angles, our receivers were smothered outside of one singular play.
Dial back the perspective a little wider. We just played 6 of the toughest defenses in the NFL, and our two losses came to two of the undefeated teams as it stands today: the 49ers and Chiefs.
This game was never going to be pretty offensively.
This 6-game stretch was never going to be roses and touchdowns.
Perspective is needed
Let’s be better fans and think a little deeper. We’ve seen so much of this story before.
Bo Nix struggled just as badly last season, the same way early in the season. We looked terrible in a Thursday night game last season.
This run game is a stinking hot one and a half-foot-wide cow patty, and our wide receivers are very much overrated and inconsistent.
Thinking back a little further, I saw this same story back in the 2015 season. I think a lot of you have forgotten just how pathetic the offense was under Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler that season. That team got dragged by the defense all the way to the Super Bowl.
Take a deep breath, Broncos Country. Uncle Sadaraine is here to tell you this season is not in danger…it is actually just getting started. More on that when we wrap up. For now, let’s dig into reviewing this game.
Offense
While I love to see a coach dedicated to the run game, I am getting quite uncomfortable with how much we lean into a part of the game that performs so poorly.
We ran into 8 and 9-man boxes (loosely…you could say the safety was out of the box, but he was only out by one friggin step) multiple times. I do not understand how this offense wasn’t dialing up a quick slant / out or a play-action audible more often.
Either the players aren’t capable of adjusting on the field for whatever strange reason, or Payton doesn’t trust them to execute (or both).
But we had many 2 and less yard gains because of running into stacked boxes with a back who looks completely washed and a line that is inconsistent at executing their blocks.
Yes, we made 2 drives work with a run game that churned out production. But when that dried up, they just kept hitting the same buttons hoping for it to finally work. It was absolute insanity through the 3rd and 4th quarters.
One problem I saw was a problem with design. In the 4th quarter on 3rd and 10, the play design was absolutely mind-boggling to the side Nix was reading. Both outside routes Nix was looking at were in-breaking next to each other with a safety over the top. There was no space for him to find a play to throw to. Just have those guys scissor and give your quarterback a read to throw to one-on-one. They can’t keep a safety over both if you do that.
Quarterbacks
Bo Nix is not broken. He has regressed this season at some level, but I do expect that at some level when his offseason was spent recovering from a broken ankle and 2nd surgery. I know Broncos Country is absolutely coo coo for Cocoa Puffs when it comes to quarterback play, but you all need to ease up. This is only his 3rd year, and he did NOT have a full offseason to sharpen his skill set.
I’m not saying he’s a great quarterback. I think he’s looking average at best. But when we think about how many good defenses he’s been facing, I have to think there’s a really great opportunity in front of him to start rounding into form as the season wears on.
I do get frustrated on 3rd down after 3rd down with him not producing something, but I’d love someone to show me all the opportunities he missed because they sure as hell didn’t look to me to be there when we did get coverage angles.
Line
This line had a good half with really well-executed blocks for two touchdown drives. As the game wore on, they wore down, and the play got choppy up front (especially in the run plays). They ran power a few times that were as good as you will see in the NFL this weekend.
I was rather disappointed with Luke Wattenburgh’s bad snap. At what point will he play like a long-term starting center?
Running Backs
RJ Harvey is the one guy on the offense that is playing inspired football. He’s only getting a couple of handfuls of touches each game, but he’s making them count. He executed a great screen play with a great block from Wattenburg out in space for a 16-yard gain. Later on the same drive, he pulled off another to get the ball inside the 10. He also converted a 3rd and 1 out of shotgun by shooting to the outside. He took a wild cat snap to the house for the 2nd touchdown of the game. He finished with 6 runs for 25 yards (4.2 ypc) and 3 catches on 4 targets for 31 yards.
We’re going to go way back with JK Dobbins to spit some No Bull truth this week. JK Dobbins is Lance Ball. He’s a guy we’re feeding who knows the offense but just doesn’t bring anything worthwhile to the table. His touchdown run was a credit to the line (one of their best blocked plays of the game). He had one good run for 16 yards where he actually jump-stepped to avoid a tackle for 16 yards. But he only created 41 yards on 17 carries (2.4 ypc). Without that one 16-yard run, he was 16 for 25, which is 1.57 ypc. This is honestly dog shit production from a running back. The SECOND that Jonah Coleman gets back, he should get a start over Dobbins or Tyler Badie. Dobbins is a detriment to this offense and should be treated as such. He’s supposed to be a power back who can power through tackles, and I just don’t see that in his game this year.
Let’s throw in some credit to Tyler Badie for his big conversion on 4th and 3 behind Meinerz and McGlinchey. It was a shame he got injured and was out of the game, as I think he deserves more opportunities given what we’ve seen in front of him so far this season.
Receivers
None of our receivers are worthy of anything positive this week. They got owned by and large the whole game and did not create separation to give Nix options. Cortland Sutton dropped a pass that hit him in the hands. Jaylen Waddle got dinged up and finished the game, but was only 4 out of 7 targets for 24 yards. The receivers and tight ends were smothered by the Seahawks defense and did not find a way to fight that got them openings.
Defense
Vance Joseph and this defense deserve all the credit in the world for this win. They were a salient force that does not get enough credit for how well they have been playing.
JSN is the Seahawks’ offense. He got his 134 yards on 12 receptions. I will take that all day, and I’m not even kidding. Vance had his guys play a mix of off coverage or press with a safety over the top and set things up so that JSN was never allowed to get a ton of space to work with.
Without Patrick Surtain II and with a still-recovering Riley Moss (who only played 20 snaps), we handled this offense the right way and let our young corners get help and be put in spots to play safe.
This led to a long, boring defensive struggle that absolutely is to this Denver team’s advantage. It forces Sam Darnold to need to press late to win, and our dominating pass rush was the key to sealing the win.
Front 7
Alex Singleton played an inspired game. This was easily his best game this season and might have been the best we’ve seen him play since he joined the team. He did an exceptional job attacking bubble screens in this game, stopping 2 for little or no gain. He led the team with 13 tackles (on-time tackles at that…he was largely where he needed to be). He had a tackle for loss and created 2 quarterback hits with pressure blitzing.
The NFL needs to watch out for Que Robinson. He’s reminding me of a young Shaq Barrett. This young player has all the tools and is starting to round into form. On 3rd and 10, he showed a superb speed rush as the tackle forgot to block him for a sack. He batted down a pass in the 3rd quarter. He had a tackle for loss and 2 quarterback hits.
Nik Bonitto was creating a ton of pressure this game. He ended with ½ a sack and 1 quarterback hit, but he was one of the reasons that Darnold was feeling rushed as the game wore on. Bonitto was constantly threatening pressure from the outside, and it got Darnold shook.
Jonah Ellis also got a big sack on 3rd down, chipped in a tackle for loss, and had a quarterback hit. He’s another player that’s sharpening his game as the season wears on, which is really good as our pass rush was sluggish earlier in the season.
Zach Allen has notched another game where he’s one of the core reasons our pass rush is so effective. He constantly shoots gaps to break down the pocket and create pressure (which mostly doesn’t show up on the stat sheet). He had 2 batted passes. He had the other ½ sack with Bonitto.
Secondary
Ja’Quan McMillian elevated his play for this big game on a short week. I love this guy. When the team needs a big play in a big game, he shows up. He had another sack off a corner blitz. He had a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit on a different blitz, defended two passes, and of course won the game with his interception in overtime. George Paton better frigging pay this guy this offseason. He’s a key player on this defense.
Kris Abrams-Draine needs some mad props from Broncos Country. This guy was fearless lining up multiple times against JSN and executing the game plan. It wasn’t all pretty. He gave up a 1st down to a rushed stacked formation where he played too far back. He had several snaps where he was playing off coverage on JSN and gave up some passes, but it absolutely was by design. The defense was not letting JSN have the chance to get deep. But this guy had 3 pass defenses in the game, which is exceptional. He also got a game-changing interception (it would have been the game-winning play if the offense had been able to get just one 1st down).
Jahdae Barron also accounted well for himself, playing every snap on defense (along with Singleton and Brandon Jones). He did have a 40+ yard pass on him, but he defended it well. It was a damned-near perfect throw and catch. Barron is a very talented player stuck behind more talented guys on this roster. Getting these snaps is going to pay dividends for us in the future as we’re likely going to see him need to take a starting role next season.
Special Teams
Wil Lutz sealed the game in overtime with a 53-yard field goal. He’s had some shaky kicks this season, but the ice water was flowing in his veins for this late win. I do want to say he’s got to clean up whatever is causing his kicks to shank on him. He had one kickoff that he sent out of bounds, which is just terrible, as it gave the Seahawks the ball at the 40-yard line.
While I’ve been really thrilled with Jeremy Crawshaw this season, both he and Darren Rizzi need pie in their face for constantly punting to Shaheed as the game wore on. Shaheed is a gifted returner, and us punting to him late gave them excellent field position to help them get back into the game.
Holding no-calls
One piece of this game worth mentioning is that the refs were frustratingly blind to holds by the Seahawks’ offensive line. Multiple 3rd downs were converted because guys were pulling our players down from the side or behind. If the rule is too hard to call, let’s just toss it out. This game never gets to overtime without the refs helping keep Darnold safe.
Final Thoughts
We have a mini-bye followed by a game against the struggling Arizona Cardinals. That’s plenty of time to do some serious “get right” work on offense. This defense can win us any game each and every week.
But really, Bo Nix is going to keep getting better. Let’s not forget that he’s got that clutch gene in him and elevates when the going gets tough. That’s not a skill you can teach. That’s like speed: either you have it, or you don’t.
I do not think Nix is playing with an injury. I think he’s just behind this year because of that injury and how it impacted his offseason.
While I am mildly concerned about a couple of the past games where he was not pulling the trigger on some downfield throws, they were not there in this game. I’ll start to worry if he’s still not letting it rip when he gets guys running free against some of the poorer defenses the Broncos are facing around the corner.
