WEEK 1 GAMEDAY THREAD- MNF vs. Titans

[bMiller031]

I think this is one of the blind spots in having a pseudo-coordinator coach focused on scheme/play calling rather than being the leader of the team. Any detached (and effective HC) would’ve had the presence of mind to preserve time in that scenario. Fangio is still a defensive coordinator. 

[Broncofan]

OK so couldn't post until after the game, but some thoughts:

The Good

Drew Lock - he made a couple of bad decisions, and missed a couple of throws that could have put the game away (DeSean) - but he showed so much timing, pocket awareness and ability to move around the pocket, and get the ball out in time, that I'm really high on his development curve, given there was no preseason work, or live in-game time, either.     It's too soon to say it's a given he'll become an elite QB, but his growth so far says at the very worst, we've got a top 10-ceiling QB, with a league-average floor.   That's more than OK in my books, and there's still room for more growth.

Jerry Jeudy's elusiveness - the guy can't be covered.   He's going to be a stud for years to come.   It wasn't perfect (we'll get to that), but OMG the ceiling is literally AB, sane version.   You just don't see that kind of separation and YAC ability.  He's literally a generational talent.   

Noah Fant - His year 1 development was somewhat of a mirage, in that 2 big games with some broken plays inflated his #'s.  But this game was completely earned on his part.   He really gives us a glimpse of how difficult DEN will be to plan for with Jeudy, Sutton & Fant spreading the field.

OL play - outside of Wilkinson, there weren’t really any problems.  Now, TEN isn't a great pass D yet (Clowney is a glue guy, not an elite pass rusher, the guy who gave us fits on pass rush was Landry, who abused Wilkinson on key plays), but it was still encouraging to see.   It was nice to see our interior OL mesh together with Cushenberry / Risner / Glasgow.  

Run D - color me impressed, without Davis the run D was still effective.   That was by far Jewell's best game.   Alexander Johnson showed he's still a force in run coverage.    We still could use an Alpha at Mike, but at least Jewell showed he can be a serviceable swing guy.  That's a step up from his play last year (but he & Johnson are still going to be limited in pass coverage).

Ojemudia / Jackson / Callahan - huge props to them for coming up big.  Not only did they play really well in pass coverage - they absolutely killed it in run support.   You can see how crucial it is in a Fangio scheme.   It's a shame Johnson's penalty wiped out a HUGE pick by Ojemudah. 

Special Teams - wow, it was refreshing to watch us flip the field.  The punting and coverage were top notch. 

Attachou - should mention he provided some nice edge pressure.

 

The Bad

RB / TE pass D - we really missed having cover LB / hybrid guys.   Jonnu Smith and the other TE's, and Humphries killed us in the slot.  

Key penalties - Alexander Johnson PF and Jewell's facemask were crucial penalties, really could have turned the tide had 1st downs not been given (especially after the pick Ojemudia made).    

Jeudy's drops - it shouldn't be a problem long-term - literally a case of him trying to take off before the ball's secured.   That's a rookie mistake, and one exacerbated by zero preseason work.  I know the big 25+ yard gain and the 1st down drop on the last drive killed our momentum, so ppl will be **ssed at him.  That's shortsighted.   The guy's ability to separate is going to make him a star for years to come.  He'll bounce back, and we'll enjoy it for years to come.

Chubb's lack of pressure - again, it has to be emphasized that this isn't a surprise, for 2 reasons - first, Chubb was always a glue guy, not meant to be an Alpha.  7 of his 12 2018 sacks came with more than 3 secs of time post-snap, which means it's an effort/motor play (or coverage sack), but not quick-twitch elite pass rushing skills.    Moreover, at just over 12 months post-ACL, players are able to play, but do NOT regain full explosion until 18 months post-ACL - so 2021 is a more likely ETA for him to have his entire skill set.   It highlights why losing Von was such a killer blow.  Attachou did a nice job with pressure at times, but in reality, we're going to see games like this with Chubb - fantastic glue guy, but not a Batman pass rusher.  Nothing wrong with that, but given that Fangio's D really hums when we have that, it's a minus for 2020 to have Chubb as the lead alpha pass rusher.

Losing Bouye - as well as the CB's flashed at times, losing Bouye is an absolute crusher.    Hopefully he's not out for a while.

 

The Ugly

Playcalling on 3rd/4th down on the failed GL drive - man, you can't have Lindsay there on 4th down, it gave away that the run wasn't really an option.   And if the FO got MG3 specifically for his ability to get the tough yards (and pass protect) - you HAVE to have him out there to keep the run D honest.   Just terrible play calling on that sequence.

Fangio's clock management - just no words.  I get he probably thought TEN was never going to try and kick the FG - but once they were inside the 20, there was no benefit to letting the clock run out.    Just Pop Warner level management.

 

Now, let's be realistic - that was a nightmare FG performance by Gostkowski.   Missing from 50+ is meh with our altitude - 3 missed FG's and a missed XP, TEN should have likely put at least 23, if not 26 points on the board.   We should have likely been losing by a wider margin.  But, that was still a very winnable game.  So it sucks for sure that the team lost a game that was there for the taking - but that's likely our 2020 story, given who we've lost. 

In the end, given I didn't think we'd win this game (and 90+ times out of 100, we wouldn't with TEN actually using a league-average K), I can't get too upset.   Frankly, Locks' progress, Jeudy's display of his abilities, and the young CB's work, gives me nothing but more hope for us long-term.   That helps soothe the balm of a last-minute L.

 

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by Broncofan

[paul-mac]

The pros:

 

- Ojemudia had that diving overturned pick, and got in a few nice spots. He did give up a brutal penalty though.

 

- Apart from Wilkinson the OL was great. I didn’t even think Wilk was that bad, just looked out of place because the other 4 played awesome.

 

- Sam Martin. I’m sick of punters that shank it all the time. He went out there and showed why we paid him.

 

- Noah Fant had a career day

 

- Although he had a couple of key drops, I’d rather Jeudy separated from defenders like he did tonight and then we can coach the drops out of him. I thought he had a good game, made some nice plays and flashed his potential.

 

- Alexander Johnson is a stud and picked up where he left off. Josey Jewell played a good game too. 
 

The bad

 

- Injuries. The injury bug is hitting us hard this year. Can’t see either Bouye or Lindsay travelling out East on a short week so we just need to hope they can go against Tampa.

 

- Fangio’s time management. No excuses for not using the timeouts. 
 

- The playcall on 4th and goal

 

- Too many silly penalties 

 

- Awful fumble by Gordon 

 

- I like Essang Bassey as a prospect for the future but he’s not ready to be out on the field yet. He got worked on.

 

- Simmons had an off day and dropped a pick among several mistakes. 

[paul-mac]

I’ll volunteer to make the GDT for next week

[titans0021]

Goodish (kind of, I guess) game guys. I think whichever team lost that one was going to be pretty frustrated, lot of missed opportunities both ways.

Really look forward to watching your offense grow. Lock looked good, that Sutton, Jeudy, Fant trio is so young and already a lot of fun.

[Broncofan]

9 minutes ago, paul-mac said:

The pros:

 

- Ojemudia had that diving overturned pick, and got in a few nice spots. He did give up a brutal penalty though.

 

 

 

- Although he had a couple of key drops, I’d rather Jeudy separated from defenders like he did tonight and then we can coach the drops out of him. I thought he had a good game, made some nice plays and flashed his potential.

 

 

- I like Essang Bassey as a prospect for the future but he’s not ready to be out on the field yet. He got worked on.

 

 

Re: Ojemudia, he got beat by AJ Brown on that play, no shame in that, life of a CB.   He just flashed so much ability in both coverage and run support, for a 1st game that was so impressive.

Re: Jeudy, I couldn't be more in agreement.   Drops like those are completely fixable, it's not bad hands, it was trying to leave before tucking the ball away.   Jeudy's ability to separate can't be coached.   He's going to be a top 5 WR barring injury or some unfortunate off-the-field incident.    Along the same lines, Lock's 6th game as a starter was far from perfect - but it showed key areas of continued growth we want to see as a fanbase.  Lock-to-Jeudy is going to be sweet tagline we'll be using for a while, barring injury.

Re: Bassey, it's why losing Bouye really hurt.   He had no business taking meaningful snaps, TEN abused him.  Doesn't mean he's hopeless, but ideally he learns on the practice field, and not on TV.

Sucks to take the L, but man, this team just looks more & more hopeful - our skill positions are now starting to show real talent with Jeudy/Sutton/Fant as our top 3.   Next year, draft a long-term RB, and we're cooking with gas there.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Broncofan

[paul-mac]

Our offense

 

1. 5 plays, 26 yards. PUNT.

2. 10/63/TD

3. 4/17/Lost fumble

4. 12/74/Downs

5. 2/33/Halftime

6. 3/7/Punt

7. 3/-4/Punt

8. 9/75/TD

9. 5/24/Punt

10. 3/2/Punt

11. 3/18/End of game

 

Not. Good. Enough. 

[bMiller031]

3 minutes ago, paul-mac said:

Our offense

 

1. 5 plays, 26 yards. PUNT.

2. 10/63/TD

3. 4/17/Lost fumble

4. 12/74/Downs

5. 2/33/Halftime

6. 3/7/Punt

7. 3/-4/Punt

8. 9/75/TD

9. 5/24/Punt

10. 3/2/Punt

11. 3/18/End of game

 

Not. Good. Enough. 

All things considered, with fewer OTA/TC reps, no preseason, etc, I thought the O was encouraging.  Correctible off-target passes and drops would make those drive #s look different

[BroncoBruin]

I come out of this game thinking we have at least 3 rookies who can be cornerstones. No Sutton or KJ  but the offense showed it can be dangerous. We finally have the group of athletes to really threaten secondaries, and a QB who plays aggressively enough to trust those guys. A few plays turned this game from an eye opening win to a deflating loss.

I understand young guys making mistakes + the occasional dumb penalty, the Fangio timeout blunder is the only thing that really bothers me. Defense was fighting all night, give Drew a chance while receivers were  starting to get comfortable. McManus can make a long one. Ugh. Hope Vic grows from this. You can be a defensive coach and believe in your offense. 

I see a lot of long term positive trends but it’s another game where the mistakes are amplified because it’s yet another close loss. I still think this team is better than the 2019 team overall. 

 

[lomaxgrUK]

It felt like that the two 3 and outs in the 3rd killed us. Sure, we only had 7 points in the 1st half but we were moving the ball and turned it over on downs at the 1.

But those 3 and outs in the 3rd let the Titans get in their kind of rhythm Offensively and it just burned so much time off the clock.

As others have said, there was plenty to be positive about, but this team (especially with injuries) isn't good enough to turn it over inside their own 30, drop balls that would give you 1st downs, give penalties away when creating turnovers  and drop potential INTs.

As for Lock - a lot of good, a fair bit of bad. We know the arm strength is there for sure, I just see too much Cutler in him at times. 'Locking' in on one guy, poor ball location and more than anything, throwing off his back foot. He actually has good pocket presence, but he has to climb the pocket if he's going to throw the ball accurately deep (see Hamilton overthrow that would've won the game).

That said, he made some splash plays, didn't turn it over and the arm strength really is something to behold. Just going to have to accept the inconsistency early on.

[lomaxgrUK]

I'd be a lot less down on this defeat if it wasn't for the fact we have to go east on a short week to play a very good Defense, then come back and play a desperate Buccs team and they fly east again on a short week.

Brutal loss.

Edited September 15, 2020 by lomaxgrUK

[paul-mac]

7 minutes ago, lomaxgrUK said:

I'd be a lot less down on this defeat if it wasn't for the fact we have to go east on a short week to play a very good Defense, then come back and play a desperate Buccs team and they fly east again on a short week.

Brutal loss.

On the bright side, I still think we have a decent chance to get to .500 by the quarter-pole. 
 

My power rankings suggest Denver and Pittsburgh are relatively even teams. The Steelers slightly better, but close enough that I’d be hoping for a win in most cases. The problem is going east for an early afternoon game. I don’t see any way we avoid 0-2.

 

But after that, we’ve got Tom Brady coming to Mike High. He was notoriously bad in Denver when he was an elite QB and I’m increasingly of the opinion that 2020 for Brady will be like Manning’s 2015 season in terms of his play starting to reflect his age. I think we can win that game.

 

After that we are East on a short week which would be a bad spot in normal circumstances but our opponent is the Jets. I rate them as the worst team in the NFL. Also, they have the 10 day mini-bye after that and if we beat them to make them 0-4, we could have a chance to end Adam Gase’s head coaching career because they’ll need to fire him and get someone in to try and fix Darnold. Elway and Gase obviously have bad blood so Elway would get the team motivated to go and win in the meadowlands if we think it could lead to Gase being removed from his job. 

[Broncofan]

5 hours ago, bMiller031 said:

I think this is one of the blind spots in having a pseudo-coordinator coach focused on scheme/play calling rather than being the leader of the team. Any detached (and effective HC) would’ve had the presence of mind to preserve time in that scenario. Fangio is still a defensive coordinator. 

I like what Fangio has brought and done so far as a HC.  And no one is perfect.  Mistakes happen.   But given what he asks of his team with his brutal honesty in his assessments - he needs to hold himself accountable.   He made a brutal game management mistake at the end of the game.   He needs to own it publicly and move on.   If he won’t hold himself accountable for his mistakes how can he hold players accountable?    
 

The mistake sucked - but the answers last night were more troubling TBH.   Hopefully a night’s sleep will change the tune.  

Edited September 15, 2020 by Broncofan

[Broncofan]

3 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

I'd be a lot less down on this defeat if it wasn't for the fact we have to go east on a short week to play a very good Defense, then come back and play a desperate Buccs team and they fly east again on a short week.

Brutal loss.

As much as it sucks realistically our window to contend got hammered when Von went down.    As you referenced while our D showed a ton of heart they also gave up 3 long drives (and last of the 2Q to start) and couldn’t get the big play to close the Titans out (paired with the 3 and outs on O killer combo).  That’s a direct reflection of our pass rush being below average to average now.   If we go 0-3 it’s likely over.    If we are 1-2 as @paul-mac covered week 4 really sets up well for us vs. the Jets.  Playing on the road only matters travel & time zone wise - crowd isn’t a factor anymore.  
 

Long term last night’s big pluses (Lock, Jeudy & Fant, the young CB’s, run D) are far, far  more important than the minuses, other than the game management mistakes.   I take solace in that - so long as Fangio learns from that horrible blunder in game management.   We’ll see what he says today.  

Edited September 15, 2020 by Broncofan

[broncos67]

My biggest frustration last night was with Fangio's clock management. Plain and simple, it was pathetic, and he needs to own up to it. His garbage post-game presser answers aren't good enough. This is a problem going back to last season. The guy sits on timeouts and doesn't use them effectively. He's had plenty of time as HC. No excuses.

It's obviously not a game you want to lose, but the reality a lot of folks needs to accept is that a young team with a weird offseason and no preseason games are going to struggle early in the season. It also doesn't help when you lose: Sutton, Lindsay, Bouye, Miller- for the game. That's just a brutal series of losses that I think we did incredibly well to deal with overall.

Overall, I was actually fairly pleased with the offense, though not necessarily the playcalling. I did appreciate some of the aggressiveness, and I am hoping we let Lock continue to rip it. He's got the confidence and he made some great throws. I'm reserving some judgement until Sutton is back because I think that will change the dynamic on offense considerably. Same with Hamler being available. Jeudy is going to be a star. I am chalking those drops up to rookie yips- trying to make plays before securing the ball. That's something a preseason game could have helped with. He will be fine. He's uncoverable off the line- not one Titans CB could deal with him. Fant is also going to be a star. The guy looks faster than he did last year and he seems more confident with the ball in his hands.

Defensively, thought Ojemudia looked excellent save that one penalty, but it happens. Jewell/AJ had very good games, and the DL was pretty stout against the run across the board. Kareem Jackson was probably the best player on defense last night, IMO. Simmons looked awful. Slow in coverage, dropped an INT, seemed out of place at times. Definitely not his best performance. Losing Bouye hurt in the second half. Callahan didn't have the size to hang consistently, though I did appreciate his willingness to mix it up in the run game.

Just a quick mention of Sam Martin. It was wonderful to have a punter who could actually kick the ball instead of the Coldy Wadman/Riley Dixon/other garbage we've had over the past few years.