Big plays, NFL- worst turnover differential hold Denver back
One silver lining from the Broncos’ 22- 16 loss at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night: The Denver defense kept highpowered Kansas City out of the end zone until late in the third quarter.
The other side of that coin? How the Chiefs kept ending up in the red zone in the first place.
Kansas City failed to score a touchdown in four red zone trips, and was also 0- of- 3 in goaltogo situations. Kudos to the Broncos defense for standing tall. But consider: The Chiefs had eight plays of 20 yards or more, which allowed the defending champs frequent trips deep into Denver territory.
Coach Vic Fangio didn’t think there was “a common theme” to the big plays. The Broncos were simply getting gashed in a variety of ways.
“It came against different coverages, different plays they were running,” Fangio said. “They hit us with a reverse, the quarterback scrambled for 20, then they threw some balls in there, also.”
That big- play trend has been noticeable all season for Denver, which has allowed 50 plays of 20 yards or more. The Broncos set a high in that category Sunday, but also gave up a bevy of 20
plus yard plays to the Chargers in Week 8 ( seven), the Falcons in Week 9 ( five) and the Raiders in Week 10 ( five).
Against Kansas City, the Broncos allowed just one big play in the first quarter — a 20yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to Demarcus Robinson that set up the Chiefs’ first field goal. Denver then allowed four such plays in the second quarter and three in the third, setting up each of Kansas City’s five field goals and resulting in the Chiefs’ lone touchdown when Mahomes found tight end Travis Kelce for a 20- yard touchdown pass.
Compounding the issues surrounding Denver’s tendency to give up big plays is its minus- 17 turnover differential, which ranks last in the NFL. It also underscores the Broncos’ inability to make up for consistent chunk plays against its defense. It’s a trend Fangio said the Broncos have “got to get it corrected.”
“We lead the league in interceptions thrown ( at 21),” Fangio said. “Obviously, that’s where we got to start. We haven’t gotten enough takeaways on defense — that’s also where we’ve got to start — and it’s obviously an area that we need to improve on and it’s an area that has held us back this season.”
Of those 21 interceptions, Drew Lock has 13 of them, all of which have come in the seven games since he returned from a shoulder injury. That’s the longest active interception streak in the NFL. Still, Fangio said the Broncos haven’t given any consideration to letting backup Brett Rypien take the reins from Lock. Rypien went 19- of- 31 for 232 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions in his lone start this year, the Broncos’ 37- 28 win over the Jets in Week 4.