Here's what we learned from the Denver Broncos' preseason-ending win over the Los Angeles Rams

DENVER — The result and final score of Saturday’s preseason finale — a 17-12 Broncos win over the Los Angeles Rams — was secondary to the fact that they got four key players their first game-action work of the preseason — and all passed their tests with flying colors.

COURTLAND SUTTON

Two catches in a four-play span of the second quarter revealed Sutton’s readiness for the regular season.

He began with a 19-yard grab on third-and-7 near the right sideline, moving the Broncos into the red zone at the Los Angeles 20-yard line. Then, on first-and-goal after a pair of Royce Freeman runs, he found an open space in the left side of the end zone, and when Teddy Bridgewater bought time with his feet, he was there for the touchdown pass that put the Broncos in front, 10-6.

“We know how much Court means to this offense,” Bridgewater said. “To finish with a touchdown for him, to see the smile, his eyes lit up, it was a great feeling.”

Added Sutton: “Man, it was special. All my teammates, coaches, training staff, strength staff, equipment staff, the media, the PR guys — everybody has seen the hard work that it has taken for us to be able to come back. To have that moment in Broncos Country with my teammates on the sideline, it was amazing, and it was special.

“It may have been preseason, but to have that moment and to be able to share it with the guys, it was dope. It’s something that I definitely will remember and look forward to more of.”

ALBERT OKWUEGBUNAM

With Noah Fant resting, Okwuegbunam drew the starting assignment in his first game-time action since he tore his ACL last October. He finished with a team-leading three catches for 23 yards.

“I was talking with Drew [Lock] and ‘Ryp’ (Brett Rypien) on the side, and I was like, ‘Man, let’s get ‘Big O’ into the games all of the time,’” Bridgewater said. “Just the energy that he brought tonight, he’s catching the ball, and he’s not even thinking. You know, he’s out there hurdling guys.

“It’s that effort that we love about him. He’s a guy that I’m still getting to learn, I’ve only been here for so long, but he’s a guy who’s been a true pro, you can tell that he wants to do everything that he can to help his team have success. I’m glad he’s on our team.”

MELVIN GORDON III

As the passing game misfired early, Gordon’s runs picked up the slack.

On the Broncos’ first drive, he provided all 26 yards netted by the offense on three runs — gallops of 5, 6 and 15 yards that moved the Broncos to the Los Angeles 36-yard line. The four Bridgewater passes that series fell incomplete, but the Broncos still had enough from what Gordon did to finish the series with a 54-yard Brandon McManus field goal.

“I felt confident out there,” Gordon said. “I think as far as the run game and line block, things are going pretty well.”

Gordon led the Broncos with 7.0 yards per carry, and set the tone for a night where the Broncos ran more often than they threw — 33 run plays compared with 26 pass plays.

VON MILLER

Pass-rush opportunities were infrequent for Miller, but his best contribution came on the run, with three tackles that helped keep the Rams’ ground attack from dicing up the Broncos.

But for Miller, the night wasn’t about so much what he did on the field. It was about absorbing the entire scene from arriving in the locker room four hours before kickoff to the time he left Empower Field at Mile High after his late-evening, postgame shower.

“I really just wanted to get here early and warm up—get in my pads, just chill, listen to music, and play games,” he said. “I’m the DJ, so I try to get there early and play all the music that everybody loves.”

He didn’t notch a sack, but with his work against the run, Miller was playing the hits Saturday.

THE QUARTERBACKS: OVERCOMING BAD STARTS

If Bridgewater wanted to win over the skeptical portion of the Broncos’ fan base who would have preferred Drew Lock to start, he wouldn’t have done that with his work on the Broncos’ first two possessions: one completion in six attempts, with a series of misfires that sailed high and beyond their intended targets.

“We were just off a little bit tonight,” he said.

Bridgewater acknowledged that part of the struggles might have come from his desire to involve Sutton and Okwuegbunam in the offense as they made their 2021 game debuts.

“Let me kind of really get these guys going,” Bridgewater said he recalled thinking. “And if I really just play within our system — throw the ball to the guy that’s open — you’d have success as a quarterback in this offense.”

On the Broncos’ third series, Bridgewater was able to walk down the street and chew gum, so to speak. He completed all five of his passes on the drive — two to Okwuegbunam and two two Sutton, including the 8-yard score on first-and-goal. That play saw Bridgewater step out of the pocket, move to his left and fire a pass under pressure that a sliding Sutton grabbed for the Broncos’ first touchdown of the night.

That ended the night for Bridgewater, who completed his last five passes following the 1-for-6 start.

Drew Lock entered to the cheers of many fans, but found himself under siege from the Los Angeles pass rush. His first series ended in a three-and-out after a third-and-13 scramble out of pressure fell 6 yards short of the line to gain.

His second series saw the Broncos net two first downs — on via a defensive-pass-interference penalty and the other on a 12-yard completion to Okwuegbunam — but then went askew when Rams defensive end Michael Hoecht whipped around right tackle Cameron Fleming and hit Lock from behind and jar the football loose as he prepared to throw, 3.26 seconds after Lock received the shotgun snap. Hoecht recovered the loose ball.

What was most frustrating about the play was that it was the second time Lock has fumbled when sacked in the last two games. Unfortunately for Lock, he had a high fumble rate on sacks in his first two seasons — an average of one fumble every 4.8 sacks. While Lock has progressed in many areas, feeling the rush enough to effectively protect the football remains a spot in need of improvement, and likely was at least a small factor in the coaches’ decision to make Bridgewater the Week 1 starter. Lock’s sack rate is better than Bridgewater’s, but the fumbles negate the advantage.

Two incompletions began Lock’s second-half work before he eventually began cooking. He completed four consecutive passes on his fourth series, the final one being a 7-yard touchdown pass to Austin Fort.

“I think they both continued to play like they’ve been,” Fangio said. “We didn’t like it at the time, but it’s good to overcome adversity. You’re not going to win a lot of games this league 30-3 or [33-6]. I’ll take them anytime I can get them, but we know what the NFL is like, how many games come down to the end.

“So, I think it was good for them to experience some adversity, too.

If the competition were still ongoing, Bridgewater would have won the night, 6 points to 4. His 1-for-6 start was frustrating, especially given that he missed a series of short throws that he normally hits. But he rebounded well by completing his last five passes, including the touchdown to Sutton.

COVERAGE UNITS STILL STRUGGLING

For the second consecutive week, the Broncos gave up a long kickoff return, as Los Angeles’ Jeremiah Haydel burst upfield for a 40-yard runback on the Broncos’ second kickoff of the game, setting their offense up at their 36-yard line.

On Thursday, special-teams coordinator Tom McMahon spoke of how leaders had yet to emerge in the coverage units because of the issues in coverage.

“We’ve got to make it better. We’ve got to find the players. We’ve got to get the players that we keep covering kicks better, and if not, we’ve got to find players that will,” Fangio said. “And, obviously, we need to do a good job of coaching it, too.”

NOTES:

• With Gordon getting the bulk of the carries early, rookie running back Javonte Williams did not play. “We felt good about what Javonte has done the first couple of weeks,” Fangio said.
• Fangio acknowledged that the roster cut to 53 players over the next three days would be “harder, because we have more depth at more positions than we’ve had in the past.” He said that he would meet with general manager George Paton on Sunday to discuss cuts.
• Denver finished the preseason unbeaten for the first time since 2017 and the fifth time in franchise history. Its previous four undefeated preseasons preceded campaigns that finished 2-7 (1982), 11-5 (2000), 13-3 (2005) and 5-11 (2017).
• There were 19,496 no-shows at the game, which was played with a persistent smoke in the stadium for most of the night. The actual attendance was 52,478.