Trevor Siemian has been “half and half ”
Broncos’ good Siemian, bad Siemian take turns competing
Nobody truly gave the New York Giants a chance Sunday night, and they were fine with that because they had their own script and, before long, they would have Trevor Siemian’s, too.
“After the first three series, we got him kind of shook because he wasn’t expecting what we were doing,” Giants safety Landon Collins said. “We watched a lot of film. He was just holding it too long and not letting it go.”
So Collins, well versed in the book of Siemian, went in for the first strike after more than 20 minutes of inefficiency and frustration by the Broncos’ offense. On a third-and-10 play, Collins closed in on wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who ran a skinny post route when Siemian expected him to roll inside.
“He overthrew him inside and it just came right to me because I was breaking on the ball,” Collins said. “I knew it was going to be a big hit or a big pick.”
Minutes later, it was Janoris Jenkins’ turn. Against a three-man rush, Siemian targeted Bennie Fowler out wide to his left, and Jenkins jumped the route for the interception and a 43-yard return for a touchdown.
“We were talking about it on the sideline that he was going to lock on and stare down the receiver,” Jenkins said. “I told my coach what they were attacking us with, and he told me to one time sit on it and just take it.”
Those interceptions were the big plays in the Giants’ stunning 23-10 upset.
Though Siemian has flashed improvement and shown more comfort in the pocket in his second season as a starter, his inconsistencies linger. NFL start No. 19 was arguably the most erratic of his career, with bullet passes perfectly on target but more head-scratching mistakes that changed the game.
He threw for a career-high 376 passing yards on 50 attempts but also had the two interceptions and a slew of missed opportunities, specifically in the red zone, that have hindered the Broncos all season.
“The turnovers, obviously,” he said afterward. “That’s the story of the game for us.”
That has been the story in four of the Broncos’ five games. Through Week 6, the Broncos have the NFL’s fifth-worst turnover margin (minus-5), and Siemian has thrown six interceptions. Denver finished last season tied for 13th (plus-2) in turnovers and in 14 starts, Siemian had 10 picks.
“His decision-making has been half and half in my opinion,” coach Vance Joseph said. “We have some big plays that we’ve missed, and he’s made some nice plays under pressure. It’s half and half. It hasn’t been perfect. I won’t lie and tell you that it’s perfect. He understands that he has to
play better in spots, we have to protect better in spots and we have to run the football better. That’s our formula.”
Joseph points out Siemian’s youth as a starting quarterback and is insistent improvement will come with experience and a more balanced attack.
But amid his up-anddown play are Siemian’s constant struggles when the pocket closes around him.
Against the Giants, he completed only 2-of-9 passes when under pressure, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), for 23 yards. When Siemian has operated with a clean pocket this season, PFF says he has completed 70.6 percent of his passes, thrown six touchdowns, a pair of interceptions and posted a 103.5 quarterback rating, ranking 11th among all quarterbacks.
When pressured — which he has been for 34.8 percent of his dropbacks — Siemian’s completion percentage plummets to 38 percent, his interceptions (four) double his touchdowns (two), and his passer rating falls to 35.1.
And, as Collins noticed, Siemian’s play can change drastically from play to play. Last Sunday, Siemian was 9-of-19 in passing with two interceptions and a 42.3 rating when his time to throw was 2.6 seconds or more, according to PFF.
This season, he’s averaging 2.64 seconds to throw, tied for 16th-fastest among qualified quarterbacks, per PFF. Oakland’s Derek Carr is tops, needing only 2.09 seconds. New England’s Tom Brady sits at No. 18, with an average of 2.65 seconds.
“Trevor’s a young quarterback still, so when our running game is clicking, that helps him to play in a more relaxed form,” Joseph said. “To throw that many passes, for a young quarterback, it’s sometimes not good. Even though he had success doing it and he threw for a ton of yards, our formula is different. It’s run, it’s play pass, and that’s where he’s been more efficient for this offense. That part hurt us, not running the football well.”
In the Broncos’ previous loss, at Buffalo in Week 3, Siemian seemed to try to make plays that weren’t there. The Bills loaded the box to force Siemian to throw and he did — 40 times. Two of those were targeted for Bennie Fowler and resulted in interceptions.
In games where Siemian has thrown 40 or more passes, the Broncos are 1-6 and averaged 69 rushing yards, well below their current season average of 123.6 yards per game.
But, as Joseph emphasizes, Siemian isn’t solely to blame for the Broncos’ inconsistencies, especially in the red zone, where they’ve converted only one of eight attempts into touchdowns in the last two games.
“The red zone, everything kind of squeezes down,” Siemian said. “You get two or three chances to make big plays down there and put it in and we were close, but just didn’t get it done. As far as being balanced, you want to be balanced, but you’re not going to do that 16 weeks. At some point, a team is going to put a lot of guys in the box, you’re not going to be able to run it as well and beat teams and vice versa. You’ve got to be able to win multiple ways, and I think you see the good teams are able to do that.”
And when they can’t, fairly or not, fingers point to the quarterback. Joseph knows that. Siemian does too.
“When you have mistakes or negative plays on offense, it usually falls on two or three people,” Joseph said. “Not just the quarterback. But obviously, he’s the quarterback and at the end of the day, it definitely falls on his shoulders because he’s the quarterback. Mike (McCoy) is the coordinator and I’m the head coach. It definitely falls on those individuals first, but it’s everyone.”