Broncos Regular Season Week 9
Hawk Valley
Quick Review
The Broncos beat the Chargers as time expired 31-30.
A longer review
The Broncos first drive of the day gained 6 yards on three plays and took two minutes off the clock. The Chargers responded with a drive that gained three yards on two plays before their quarterback threw an interception to Justin Simmons on third down. The second drive of the day for the Broncos started in the red zone on the eleven yard line. On the first play Denver was flagged for a penalty and lost five yards. On first and fifteen, Drew Lock rolled out, all of the way, out of bounds. On second down, Lock threw another incomplete pass into the end zone. Lock followed that play up with a completion for a four yard gain. Denver ended up kicking a field goal with 10:20 remaining in the first quarter. Nothing happened for the rest of the quarter. The Chargers punted with 7 minutes left. The Broncos punted with 5:15 left. The last play of the quarter was a one yard run by the Chargers quarterback on third and two.
To start off the second quarter, the Chargers went for it on fourth and 1. They were unsuccessful. The first drive of the quarter for the Broncos involved Lindsay, Fant, Jeudy and Gordon, but they punted with 11:32 left in the quarter. The Chargers had a nice punt return, but they ended up punting three minutes later. The Broncos earned one first down on the next drive thanks to a catch by Fant, but they punted again with 6:15 left. The Chargers moved the ball through the air on the next drive. On third and three, their quarterback completed a pass for a 36 yard gain. On second and eight, they completed another pass for a 34 yard gain. On first and goal, they lost yards. On second down, they moved the ball to the eleven yard line. On third down, with 1:53 left, the Chargers completed a pass into the middle of the end zone for a touchdown. The score at this point was 7-3 Chargers.
The next Bronco drive gained 6 yards on first down. Lock threw two consecutive incomplete passes to end the drive and the Broncos punted with 1:21 left in the quarter. The Broncos sacked the Charger quarterback on first down but the defense was flagged for a penalty on the play, first down Chargers. The Chargers then ran to the right, which put the ball on the 45 yard line. On first down, they ran the ball to the left and mid-field. On second and seven, a completed pass moved the ball to the 44 yard line with 42 seconds left. On the next play, the Chargers completed a pass to the two yard line. The Chargers entered the end zone with 15 seconds left, but there was a flag on the play. The Chargers declined the holding call on the Denver D. The score at halftime was 14-3 Chargers. The Broncos offense had earned 63 yards during the half.
The Chargers started off the third quarter with a run for a five yard gain. Their quarterback then scrambled for a first down. Three plays later the Chargers were at mid-field. Three more plays and they were at the Denver 25 yard line. On first down, the Denver defense finally stopped them for no gain. On second down, the Chargers scored. At 10:13 in the third quarter, the score was 21-3 LA.
On first down, Lock was sacked for a five yard loss. On second and 15, Lock threw the ball away as he was being sacked. On third and fifteen, Lock threw the ball away again and the boo birds came out. The Broncos punted with 9:31 left in the quarter.
The Chargers ran the ball for seven yards on first down. On second down, the Denver defense batted the ball down. On third down, a delayed run to the left gave the Chargers a first down. At the 8:23 mark, the Chargers ran to the right for a huge gain. The Denver defense stiffened up and forced three consecutive incomplete passes. That forced the Chargers to kick a 52 yard field goal, which they made. The Chargers now lead Denver 24-3.
With 7:33 left in the quarter, the Denver Broncos handed the ball off to Lindsay for a two yard gain over the left side. On second down, Lock threw an incomplete pass that was almost picked off. On third down, Lock found Hamilton for a first down. Then Lock threw another incomplete pass. On second and ten with 6:15 left, Lindsay took it to the house for a 55 yard touchdown run. The score was now 24-10.
After a flag on the Denver defense gave the Chargers fifteen yards and a first down, the Chargers tried a reverse, wide receiver pass that ended up incomplete. This drive only gained three yards and the Chargers punted on fourth down. The Broncos went back to the run game on first down and Gordon gained two yards. On second down, with 3:14 left, Lock threw an interception. On first down, the Chargers ran for three yards. On third down with 1:41 left, the pass into the end zone from the Chargers quarterback was intercepted. The next Broncos drive started at the end of the third quarter and continued on into the fourth.
The first play for the Broncos in the fourth quarter was another incomplete pass on second and 16. On third down, Lock connected with Jeudy for 43 yards. Gordon then picked up eight yards on first down. On second down, Lock hit Fant and Fant moved the Broncos into the red zone. After a penalty moved the Broncos back five yards, Lock hit the Big O, Okwuegbunam, for a touchdown. At this point, there was just under twelve minutes left in the game and the Chargers lead 24-17.
The next Charger drive moved down the field aided by a personal foul on Chubb. In the end, the Denver defense forced LA to kick a 47 yard field goal with 7:57 left in the game. The Chargers lead was back up to ten points.
On first down, Lindsay gained 19 yards. With 7:37 left in the game, Lock connected with Hamilton for a 40 yard touchdown pass. LA was still in front, but their lead was down to three points.
The Chargers tried to run clock on their next drive. The Chargers ran for five yards on first down. Then they ran for three yards on second down. With 6:26 left in the game, the Chargers picked up a first down through the air. With 5:47 left, their quarterback scrambled for a first down. With 5:13 left, they only picked up one yard on the ground. On second down and with 4:28 remaining on the clock, they completed a screen pass to the left for a huge gain. On first down, the clock was now down to 4:18, they ran the ball to the 17 yard line. On first down, with 3:35 left, the Chargers were penalized for fifteen yards. On first down, they gained four yards up the middle. On second and 21, with 2:50 left, their quarterback tried to scramble but gained zero yards. On third down, a completed pass moved the ball to the 15 yard line. The Chargers thne kicked their final field goal of the game with 2:30 left on the clock. LA now lead 30-24.
On two running plays before the two minute warning, Gordon picked up 9 yards. Over the next two plays, Gordon picked up a first down and caught a pass for a total of three yards. At the one minute and 35 second mark, on second and 8, Drew threw another incomplete pass. On third and 8, Lock threw another incomplete pass in the direction of the Big O and the Chargers were called for pass interference. At this point in the game, the announcers pointed out that the Chargers have blown leads in each of their last three games. The ball was now on the 45 yard line and there was one minute and 27 seconds left in the game. The Broncos offense picked up the pace and moved the ball down the field thanks to Hamilton, Lindsay and Gordon. There were 27 seconds left on the clock when Lock connected with Fant for a 6 yard gain. On second down, Lock spiked the ball. On third and four, Lock threw a pass into the end zone and the pass was intercepted out of bounds. On fourth down and four, with 7 seconds left in the game, the Chargers called a timeout to "ice" Lock. When play resumed, Lock threw a pass into the end zone, in the area of the Big O and it fell incomplete, BUT....THE CHARGERS WERE CALLED FOR PASS INTERFERENCE on the play. Denver now had a first down with 1 second left on the game clock. On the last play of the game, Lock found Hamler for a Bronco touchdown. There was a flag on the Chargers defense, but the game was over and Denver won 31-30.
The Game Stats
Denver
Time of Possession
24:07
Passing Attempts
41
Passing Yards
248
Rushes
16
Rushing Yards
108
Chargers
Time of Possession
35:53
Passing Attempts
44
Passing Yards
278
Rushes
38
Yards
210
Player Stats
The Running Game
* AYPC is average yards per carry
PlayerCarriesAYPCLongTD(s) Fumble(s) Gordon831000 Lindsay6145510 Lock2-1100
The Passing Attack
PlayerReceptions%LongTD(s)Fumble(s) Fant778%1200 Gordon686%600 Hamilton480%4010 Jeudy440%4300 Hamler3100%710 Lindsay133%300 Okwuegbunam1100%910
The Quarterbacks
Lock
Passing
compypaTD(s)INT(s)LongRating 63%6314394
Rushing
AttYardsLongTD(s) 2-110
Sacked
TimesYards LostFumble(s) 250
Herbert
Passing
compypaTD(s)INT(s)LongRating 67%7323689
Rushing
AttYardsLongTD(s) 321110
Sacked
Time(s)Yard(s) LostFumble(s) 230
Allen
Passing
compypaTD(s)INT(s)LongRating 0%000040
Rushing
AttYardsLongTD(s) 0000
Sacked
Time(s)Yard(s) LostFumble(s) 000
During the week
The first three quarters of the game were universally hated, but everybody loved the ending and the Broncos sold the fourth quarter as one of the greatest come from behind victories in the history of the franchise.
There was talk of the Broncos making the playoffs. The NFL is thinking of expanding this year's playoffs to 16 games, so that would include everyone. It would just be an unofficial week 18.
Later in the week, Drew's "dancing" drew criticism from a national radio host.
There's an ongoing push to shrink the offense. While Rypien was able to stretch the field, Lock seems to preform better if all of the pass plays are under 10 yards.
On Tuesday, the NFL trade day, John Elway and Joe Ellis tested positive for Covid. Later in the week, there were more positive tests and a practice was canceled.
Afc West Standings
Vs the Division
TeamGame(s) PlayedWinning %Net Las Vegas1100%+8 Kansas City367%+22 Denver250%-26 Los Angeles20%-4
Vs the Conference
TeamGames PlayedWinning %Net Kansas City5100%+79 Los Angeles2100%+13 Denver450%+8 Las Vegas333%-13
vs the NFC
TeamGames PlayedWinning %Net Las Vegas367%-11 Los Angeles30%-15 Denver10%-18 Kansas City00%0
Today's teams ranked by stats
Broncos (3-4)
27th
27th
25th
17th
9
6
14
93%
0
20
0
0
0
0
-7
Won 1
Falcons (2-6)
14th
6th
2nd
19th
12
10
20
95%
0
17
0
0
0
0
+2
Won 1
Outlook
This is an out of conference game and the Broncos lost the only one of those they have played this season by 18 points, but that was six weeks ago.
This is an early game and the Broncos are 500 in early games this season. The Broncos have scored 39 points in early games this year and only allowed 38.
The Broncos have won 67% of their away games this season. Oddly enough, those wins were on even weeks of the NFL season, the game today falls on an odd week of the season.
The Bronco are +10 net points on the road, while they are -41 net points at home.
The Broncos have won 2 out of their last 3 games.
Game Time
Sunday November 8 @ 11 AM MT
