The Denver Broncos were out-played and out-coached by Jack Del Rio and his Oakland Raiders Sunday afternoon.
While they took the 12-0 lead, Denver couldn’t capitalize in the red zone to score touchdowns in the first half. In the second half, the offense was awful and the defense was fooled a few times as the Broncos lost 15-12 to their AFC West rivals.
“We were really poor in the red zone,” head coach Gary Kubiak said postgame. “I think we had 224 yards at halftime, I think they had negative yardage and you’re up 12-0. So, we had a chance to really do damage in the first half and didn’t do it and obviously helped them in the second half with two turnovers, I think four or five drops. We lost the line of scrimmage offensively, in my opinion.”
“We had many, many chances to get it done. Didn’t get it done,” Kubiak said.
Without a doubt, one of the biggest weaknesses of the team was the offensive line, as it has been all year long. Offensive tackle Michael Schofield was devoured by Khalil Mack, who recorded five sacks in the game. One of them came from straight bulldozing over Ryan Harris, and another was on Schofield for a safety which reversed the momentum of the game.
It wasn’t just on passing plays in which the offensive line struggled, it was obvious in the run game, too. Also adding into the offensive miscues were the drops by receivers Demaryius Thomas and Vernon Davis.
“We lost our line of scrimmage,” Kubiak explained. “I have to go back and look at it. There’s no doubt we got pushed around. We did not run the ball well at all. They’re in our backfield. I think we had 16 carries for 24 yards in the first half. In the third quarter I think we had three three-and-outs and we dropped a few balls, turned the ball over, added to the fact that we were struggling at the line of scrimmage.”
Schofield, Harris, Evan Mathis; basically the entire offensive line played atrociously as the team ran for all of 34 yards while Osweiler felt pressure all night while he was sacked five times by Mack.
Simply, if the Broncos want to win the AFC West – they now hold a two-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs – and win in the playoffs, they must have better offensive line play. And when they get into the red zone, Denver must score more touchdowns. They came into the week 26th in the NFL in red zone percentage and that number will likely continue to plummet with this 0-4 red zone performance.
Denver had enough chances all night long, but they didn’t “get it done” and get the win.
