In the fourth quarter of the 30-6 shellacking by the Chiefs on Thursday night, the Broncos’ offense — despite the game being well out of reach — was trying to earn some self-respect with a drive that inched inside Kansas City territory.
Instead, Joe Flacco‘s pass to DaeSean Hamilton on fourth-and-6 was incomplete, and Denver turned the ball over on downs. The home crowd’s boos rained (again) on an inept passing attack. Fans were riled up by Flacco getting sacked eight times and the team’s inability to move the ball with any consistency.
“With that performance, (the fans) have every right to be angry and they have every right to boo,” Broncos coach Vic Fangio said Friday. “We probably deserved it.”
The no-show by the Denver offense sealed its first 2-5 start in two decades, and Fangio admitted “our whole passing offense really struggled” while the run game didn’t fare much better with just 71 yards by ground.
“Sacks was part of that. Coverage was part of that. Guys (not) getting open was part of that,” Fangio said.
The Broncos appear to have a breakout star developing at wideout in second-year pro Courtland Sutton, who had another big game on Thursday with six catches for 87 yards. They have a veteran quarterback in Flacco who is supposedly capable of making an offense tick, although he had several off-target throws Thursday night.
Yet weak pass protection, an erratic run game and ineffective play-calling by first-year offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello have kept the offense bogged down. Denver is 25th in the NFL with 207.9 passing yards per game.
When asked whether the Chiefs game is evidence that Scangarello’s play-calling is going through growing pains, Fangio said: “Obviously, (Thursday) was not a proud moment for any of us and we’re going to work to get it better.”
But all the blame for a hapless offense can’t fall on the coordinator, either.
In terms of potential personnel changes, Fangio said the coaches will “look at it closely”. He said there will be no change at quarterback (rookie Drew Lock is returning to practice next week from a thumb injury) and that the embattled Garett Bolles is the starting left tackle “for now”.
“Poor technique is the biggest culprit (for Bolles),” Fangio said. “We have to do a good job of getting that taught to him so it sticks.”
Meanwhile, Fangio dismissed criticism of Flacco’s perceived lack of intensity. Thursday Night Football color commentator Troy Aikman was particularly harsh in his evaluation of Flacco’s energy level, or lack of it, against Kansas City.
“That is Joe. When things are going good, he’s like that and he’s ‘Joe Cool’,” Fangio said. “When things are going bad, it’s a ‘lack of intensity’. It’s a ‘lack of enthusiasm’. I think that’s just going to continue to be the dialogue as it relates to Joe Flacco and his career.”
Fangio also expressed confidence in rookie tight end Noah Fant, who had three drops against the Chiefs. Fangio believes that in time Fant can be a dynamic player.
“A lot of our poor play, as it is for a lot of teams, is self-inflicted,” Fangio said. “Some of the plays, we are getting whipped both in blocking and in covering on running the routes … but more so, if we can just play the fundamental principals of the call on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game, more times than not we’ll be alright.”
Denver did the opposite of that with an empty offensive effort against Kansas City after scoring on its opening drive.
“We have to make the plays,” wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said after the game. “We have to call better plays, too.”
