Broncos fall flat again, lose 27-11

Kirk Cousins is pretty good, eh?

That may not have been clear early in the Broncos’ 27-11 loss to the Redskins at FedExField, but it certainly was by the end of the game. Cousins finished the day with 299 yards on 19 of 37 passing with three touchdowns and an interception.

On their first three drives of the game, the Redskins totaled just four yards. Kirk Cousins completed one of his eight pass attempts and only one of the Redskins’ designed running plays gained positive yardage. But Washington flipped the script on their fourth offensive series.

With the Broncos up 3-0, the Washington QB shredded the No Fly Zone during an 11-play, 83-yard drive. Five of the plays gained at least nine yards and Cousins connected with Ryan Grant for a 32-yard gain to get inside the Broncos’ 30. The Broncos’ defense held strong in the red zone, but Dustin Hopkins converted a 26-yard field goal attempt.

Two minutes later, the Redskins found themselves in possession of the ball in Denver territory, again, after Preston Smith blew by Donald Stephenson and strip-sacked Osweiler. Former-Bronco Kapri Bibbs broke a 13-yard run and four plays later, Cousins threw a touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder for the third time this season, taking a 10-3 lead with two minutes left in the half.

The Redskins began the second half on offense and breezed 68 yards down the field in nine plays. But for the second time in the game, Denver’s defense held strong in the red zone. This time, Will Parks picked off Cousins in the end zone and kept the score at 10-3.

Ninety seconds later, Denver’s defense was back out on the field after a Ryan Kerrigan sack, an incomplete pass and a run by Booker. Cousins methodically led his offense down the field and Hopkins kicked a 29-yard field goal to extend the Redskins’ lead to 13-3.

Another Ryan Kerrigan sack put the Broncos behind schedule and Riley Dixon opened the fourth quarter with a 53-yard punt, his longest of the day.

The Redskins waltzed down the field again and Cousins found a wide, wide open Josh Doctson for a 48-yard touchdown. Cousins threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with a few minutes left in the game to extend the Washington lead to 27-3, stomping out the last bit of life left in the Broncos.

C.J. Anderson added a garbage-time touchdown to make the final score 27-11 and finished the day with 88 yards on 16 carries. Anderson, Booker and Osweiler each averaged at least 5.5 yards per carry.

Osweiler completed 22 of 38 passes for 193 yards and an interception. He was sacked four times. Demaryius Thomas was his leading receiver, followed closely by Anderson, with 52 yards on four catches.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Ryan Kerrigan dominated the Broncos’ tackles. At one point he knocked Garett Bolles on his back so hard the rookie tackle’s feet ended up 70 inches straight above his head. Then Kerrigan hit Brock Osweiler even harder.

Kerrigan finished the game with two sacks, two tackles for a loss and he hit Osweiler four more times. The 29-year-old outside linebacker ended a four-game sackless streak by absolutely embarrassing Denver’s offensive line, namely Bolles and Donald Stephenson.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Denver’s defense forced a three-and-out with the help of a Von Miller sack, to give the Broncos possession near midfield with just under a minute left in the first half. Osweiler found Jordan Taylor coming across the middle for a 22-yard gain and Denver had the ball at Washington’s 31 (a field goal attempt from here would be 48 yards) with 20 seconds on the clock.

After an incomplete pass, Osweiler got the ball into rookie receiver Isaiah McKenzie’s hands. Rather than step out of bounds after a short gain with time on the clock, McKenzie opted to cut back inside. He gained eight yards, and made several potential tacklers miss, but time expired before Denver had a chance to line up.

This type of silly mistake is what has cost Denver throughout this season. Rather than giving Brandon McManus a good chance to bring the Broncos within four points at halftime, McKenzie gave himself an opportunity to tie the game. But for that to happen, McKenzie probably would have needed to make at least six guys miss on his way to the first touchdown of his career. It was unlikely, to say the least.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

“Turnovers killed us all year and they definitely hurt us again today.” – C.J. Anderson

BY THE NUMBERS

99 – First half rushing yards for the Broncos

13 – Number of times Osweiler was hit or sacked

8 – Number of receivers who caught passes from Cousins

LASTING IMPACT

Kirk Cousins had to be impressed by Denver’s defense in the early in the game, but he totally shredded the No Fly Zone from the second quarter on. A lot has been made about this game being an opportunity for the Broncos’ brass to evaluate the 29-year-old quarterback who is likely to become a free agent this offseason. But Sunday was also the No Fly Zone’s opportunity to show Cousins why he should come to Denver. A dominating defensive performance on Sunday would have been better than any pitch Elway can make this summer.

WHAT’S NEXT

Kansas City Chiefs (8-6), 2:25 p.m. MST, Sunday, December 31; CBS