Broncos Fifth Quarter: Offense unable — or unwilling — to stretch field against Eagles’ defense

Thanks for Reading! Don't miss this deal


Get Standard Digital access to enjoy this article and more

Upon Further Review

1. Not capitalizing on field position. The Broncos’ offense has had nine drives that started in opponent’s territory this year … and haven’t scored a touchdown. The breakdown: Four field goals, one missed field goal, one turnover and four end-of-game situations. PR Diontae Spencer’s 19-yard return set the Broncos up at the Philadelphia 45 (trailing 20-10) on Sunday. They had to settle for a field goal after RB Javonte Williams’ 20-yard touchdown was negated by penalty and the offense moved backward on TE Albert Okwuegbunam’s penalty.

2. Throwing short. Among the Broncos’ 22 completions, half went to tight ends or running backs, a product of Bridgewater not liking what he saw downfield. He was 1-of-2 passing for 26 yards on attempts that traveled at least 16 “air” yards (out of 36 passes), a completion to WR Courtland Sutton and an incompletion for WR Jerry Jeudy (miscommunication). Bridgewater had 49 such attempts in the first nine games.

3. Second-most missed tackles. The Eagles had 40 rush attempts, which leads to missed tackles. The Broncos had 11, their second-highest total of the year (12 at Cleveland). S Kareem Jackson had four missed tackles (team-high 11 this year) and DE Shelby Harris and ILB Curtis Robinson two apiece. Single missed tackles were booked to OLB Jonathon Cooper, CB Kyle Fuller and ILB Kenny Young. The Broncos entered Sunday averaging 4.7 missed tackles per game.

4. Pressuring Bridgewater. The Eagles had only one sack, but totaled 11 disruptions (two knockdowns and eight pressures). The sack was booked to LT Calvin Anderson, who was bull-rushed by DE Derek Barnett (3.91 seconds). Anderson allowed 2 1/2 disruptions, C Lloyd Cushenberry three, RT Cam Fleming two and RG Quinn Meinerz one. Bridgewater was 4-of-8 passing for 112 yards against extra rushers (8 out of 31 drop-backs; 21.6%).

5. Hurts effective vs. blitz. Philadelphia QB Jalen Hurts was 8-of-11 passing for 90 yards (one TD, one INT) against extra Broncos rushers. The defense rushed at least five players on 11 of Hurts’ 25 drop-backs (44%) and had only six pass-rush disruptions (one sack, two knockdowns and three pressures) after a combined 43 in their previous four games. DE Dre’Mont Jones got the sack in 3.13 seconds. Harris had a knockdown and his pressure helped lead to Hurts’ interception.

6. No rhythm. The Broncos’ offense tied a season-high with four three-and-outs, which helped lead to going a woeful/season-worst 1 of 11 on third down (15 of 28 the previous two games). The offense needed an average of 9.4 yards per third-down play and only two of their attempts required fewer than seven yards. They gained no yards or lost yards on seven of the snaps.

Four Key Numbers

6

Explosive rushes (gain of at least 12 yards) allowed by the Broncos’ defense on Sunday, a season high.

4-10

The Broncos’ home record since the start of the 2020 season.

0

Fourth-quarter pass attempts by Philadelphia (16 plays/16 rushes).

1-5

Coach Vic Fangio’s record when the Broncos allow at least 200 rushing yards (the Eagles had 214).

Talking Points

Playing time breakdown. The 58 offensive snaps were the Broncos’ second-fewest of the year (53 against Washington). Leading the skill-position players were WRs Courtland Sutton (55), Tim Patrick (53) and Jerry Jeudy (45), TE Noah Fant (44), RBs Javonte Williams (33) and Melvin Gordon (25) and TE Albert Okwuegbunam (24). On defense, S Justin Simmons and CBs Ronald Darby and Pat Surtain II played all 64 snaps. Rookie ILB Curtis Robinson played 39 in place of Baron Browning (back injury). CB Kyle Fuller played 47 nickel package snaps.

Run game effective. The Broncos’ averaged 5.3 yards on 18 rushing attempts, but score (trailing) and situation (second half) forced fill-in play-caller Mike Shula to prioritize the pass; the last 14 offensive plays were drop-backs. Williams had carries of nine, 11 and 20 yards and Gordon attempts of 15, seven, eight and nine yards. On his 20-yard rush, Williams broke two tackles and got good blocks from Okwuegbunam and Patrick. Only four of the 18 rushes were considered “bad” run plays.

Shula’s play-calling. Shula, the Broncos’ QB coach, stepped in for coordinator Pat Shurmur, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday morning. Focusing on one call we didn’t like and one we did from Shula’s afternoon. On third-and-goal from the 3 in the first half, the Broncos threw a fade to Patrick; that play has too low of a percentage to try on third down. Early in the second half, on first down, Shula called an eight-man pass protection to give Bridgewater time to throw 20 yards downfield to Sutton (26-yard gain).

Extra points

The Broncos had 11 run “stuffs” (gain of one or no yards) against Philadelphia. OLB Jonathon Cooper had three “stuffs,” CB Kyle Fuller and DE Dre’Mont Jones had two apiece. … After the Eagles made it 17-10 late in the second quarter, the Broncos went incompletion, penalty, four-yard pass and 14-yard sack to punt and give Philadelphia a chance to extend the lead to 10 points. … QB Teddy Bridgewater, WR Courtland Sutton and WR Tim Patrick drew defensive penalties on Philadelphia. … CB Pat Surtain II allowed his first touchdown in man coverage since Week 1 at the New York Giants.

View more on The Denver Post