The Broncos are taking a strong dose of their own medicine

 

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The formula was in place.

The moment John Elway acquired Joe Flacco in February a month after securing Vic Fangio, Elway’s winning formula was set.

It was simple: Make life a living inferno for opposing quarterbacks by racking up sacks, leading to turnovers. On the other side of the ball, just don’t lose the game—AKA don’t turn the ball over.

With Fangio’s evil-genius defensive mind leading Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Chris Harris Jr. and Kareem Jackson, there was no question the pieces were in place on the defensive side of the ball. With Flacco, there was plenty of confidence the Super Bowl MVP would be able to steady the ship and secure the ball on offense.

Fast forward to three games of the 2019 season and the formula couldn’t be any more… off.

“We’re 0-3. That’s our record. That’s a fact,” Fangio stated after Denver fell to the Packers 27-16 on Sunday before explaining why. “We’re not doing enough good things that the good teams that win do, which is protect the ball—hadn’t been a problem the first two games, it was today. We’re not getting the ball turned over, as everybody has eluded to.”

In Green Bay, both problems were as glaring as could be.

One team’s defensive stat sheet read six sacks and three takeaways.

The other teams was blank in both categories. Zilch and zero.

“The three turnovers, and none for us, especially where the turnovers happened, trump anything else,” Fangio said, pointing to the only stat that matters.

Not only did two of Denver’s three turnovers happen in their own territory—giving Aaron Rodgers fantastic field position, which he turned into touchdowns both times—all three came just as Denver was picking up momentum.

The first was immediately after a Packers three-and-out after Denver had kicked a field goal. The second was the first series of the second half. And the final turnover came after Denver scored a touchdown to pull the game within one possession and the defense forced Green Bay into a three-and-out.

On Sunday, the Broncos found a way to make a turnover feel even worse. But that wasn’t just it on the offensive side of the ball.

In 180 career games, the 6-foot-6 Joe Flacco had never been sacked more than five times. Not a single time. He was taken down six times on Sunday.

These problems weren’t just issues on Sunday, either.

Much like Sunday’s game in Green Bay, it wasn’t just that Denver turned the ball over on offense, it was where, and when, it happened.

A week before, Flacco only made one major mistake, but it was as costly as ever. Down 13-6 with 4:51 left in the game on the Bears 2-yard line—just two yards away from taking the lead—Flacco threw his first interception of the season. While he did lead a touchdown drive on the next series, the turnover came back to bite in a major way after Denver lost by just two.

The sacks and turnovers, or lack thereof, on the other side of the ball, became historic for Denver on Sunday.

For the first time in franchise history, the Broncos didn’t record a single sack or turnover in a three-game stretch. If that wasn’t bad enough, they are the only team in the past 50 years to not have either in their first three games of a season.

What’s even more unbelievable is this is still a team with Von freaking Miller and Bradley freaking Chubb—two Top 5 picks—with Vic freaking Fangio calling the plays.

“That’s three games in a row, that’s no good obviously,” Fangio stated after the third-straight game without a sack or a forced turnover. “It is the circumstances of the game, to a degree, this game in some ways, was very similar to our first two.”

In Week 1, the Raiders re-established the formula they set last year of how to avoid the rush—get the ball out quick.

In Week 2, the Bears utilized this formula to an extent, too.

On Sunday, in Week 3, Rodgers took a bit of a different approach. Green Bay’s game plan wasn’t to get the ball out quick. Instead, it was just to get the ball out quick enough—an infuriating game plan for opposing pass rushes.

When pressure was in Rodgers’ face, he calmly dumped it at the feet of an intended receiver or slung it out of bounds—happy to take the incompletion instead of a sack, or worse, commit a turnover.

“Until we can stop people more decisively and score more points, teams are going to be content to play these types of games with us,” Fangio said on Sunday.

Until something changes, the Broncos’ formula isn’t just broken—it’s keeping them winless.