Running down the significant stats and notable numbers following the Denver Broncos’ not-as-close-as-it-appears 23-16 Week 5 loss to the visiting Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Since the start of the 2004 season, Denver is 12-4 against NFC South division opponents – 1-3 vs. Falcons and 11-1 against the other three teams (Panthers, Buccaneers and Saints).
Rookie first-round pick Paxton Lynch completed 23-of-35 passes Sunday for 223 yards, a touchdown and an interception in starting debut. Only Brian Griese completed more passes (24) among Broncos QBs making their inaugural starts, but quarterbacks drafted by Denver are now 6-10 in their debut starts.
In a bad combination of a porous offensive line and a rookie holding on the ball too long, Lynch was sacked six times in the game – 3.5 coming from linebacker/edge rusher Vic Beasley. Entering the game, the Broncos had allowed nine sacks and the Falcons had four sacks in the season’s first four games while Beasley, a 2015 first-round pick, had all of five career sacks in 20 games.
Of Lynch’s 34 passes, only two were directed at tight ends, but neither John Phillips nor Jeff Heuerman caught a pass. Since Virgil Green caught seven of his eight targets over the first two games, Phillips and Heuerman have caught four of eight targets for 57 yards and a TD as Green has sat out with a calf injury.
On the ground, the Broncos rushed for 84 yards on carries (3.5 per carry). Starting running back C.J. Anderson led the way with 41 yards on 11 carries but logged a season-low 14 touches while rookie Devontae Booker matched his season high with 10. Since logging a combined 266 total yards on 47 touches in the first two games, Anderson has had 155 total yards on 49 touches over the last three contests.
Denver ran three more plays (65-62) than Atlanta in Sunday’s game but was outgained by the visitors by 105 total yards (372-267) as the Falcons finished with a 6-4.1 yards-per-play advantage. The two teams entered the game ranked first and second in the league in yards-per-play differential with each a plus-1.2 or better.
Atlanta running backs Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman and fullback Patrick DiMarco combined for 180 receiving yards and a TD on eight catches in the game. In the Broncos’ first four games this season, opposing running backs had combined for only 100 receiving yards on 15 receptions.
Overall, Falcons running backs and tight ends combined to reel in 10 of 15 targets for 195 yards and a score. Meanwhile, the Atlanta WRs caught only five of 13 targets for 72 yards and no TDs. Julio Jones, coming off a game in which he caught 12 of 15 targets for a career-high 300 yards and a TD, caught only two of six targets for 29 yards.
Brandon McManus made all three of his field-goal attempts Sunday, connecting from 35, 46 and 45 yards. Since missing his first field-goal attempt of the season, a 54-yarder in the first quarter of Week 2’s win over Colts, McManus is a perfect 10-of-10.
