Play-calling: Flacco wants to target WR Sutton more.»
INDIANAPOLIS» Former Bronco Emmanuel Sanders caught a touchdown in his San Francisco 49ers debut Sunday. Courtland Sutton’s first game as the Broncos’ unquestioned No. 1 wideout left more to be desired.
And that wasn’t necessarily the fault of Sutton, who finished with three catches for 72 yards in Denver’s 15-13 loss to the Colts. Sutton, the team’s new headline wideout following the trade of Sanders last week, was targeted six times and had one drop.
Quarterback Joe Flacco lamented the bigger performance that could’ve been from Sutton, especially as the Colts lined up in man coverage for much of the day. He wanted a more aggressive game plan.
“He’s a really good wide receiver, and when (Indianapolis) is going to leave him one-onone, you can’t not at least be aggressive and take some shots with him,” Flacco said. “Even if you don’t hit him, like you saw today, he makes a couple good catches and gets a couple (pass interference) calls.”
Flacco, outspoken in his frustrations about Denver’s approach on offense, said that at halftime he mentioned taking more shots toward Sutton to offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello. That didn’t happen.
Sutton had one catch, and was targeted just twice, in the second half. Should the Broncos, unable to get the ball in the hands of one of their best playmakers en route to another gutpunch loss, have thrown more to Sutton down the stretch?
“We probably wish we would have,” Flacco said.
Pass blocking issues might have dimmed Scangarello’s confidence to call for vertical routes that require more time to develop, especially with another poor protection performance by left tackle Garett Bolles.
Despite the limited catches, Sutton was quick to point out his domination of Colts cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, who had five penalties overall and two pass interference calls against Sutton for a combined 46 yards.
“Bro couldn’t guard me,” Sutton said.
Even with that brag, Sutton wouldn’t bite on the narrative that he wasn’t properly utilized. He delivered the company line instead.
“If I was the O.C., I’m calling pass plays every time. But that’s not my job,” Sutton said. “I just run the plays that Coach Rich calls.”
But on this day, it’s easy to wonder if the outcome for the last-place, 2-6 Broncos would’ve been different if Sutton’s number had been called more often.