Why The Broncos Lost

It’s still early in the season and bad habits can be corrected, so don’t get too down on the Broncos right now. It’s tough playing Monday Morning Quarterback after a loss, but I’m going to tackle it. Here are 5 points that contributed to the Broncos loss yesterday:

1. Turnovers – when  your top offensive studs (Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and Eddie Royal) combine for all four of your team’s turnovers, you’ve buried yourself alive in a six foot hole. It’s hard to climb out of that mess. 

2. Defense – when your QB has arguably one of the most memorable hits of the game, you know your defense is one of the worst in the league. Cutler pushed linebacker Demorrio Williams after the whistle blew and Williams flopped a la Vlade Divac.

a.) Run defense – Larry Johnson had 198 yards and 2 TDs on 28 carries. 

b.) Pass defense – The Broncos couldn’t stop one of the many backup QBs the Chiefs have used this season. With no pressure on the QB (Broncos had 1 sack), Damon Huard threw the ball wherever he wanted. If they would’ve played the Jets or the Cardinals yesterday, the score would’ve been somewhere around 19-106!  

3. Special Teams – Matt Prater missed his first field-goal of the year. A 28 yard chip shot, but that obviously didn’t cause Denver to lose the game. What did do the Broncos in on special teams was the piss poor punting by Brett Kern allowing the Chiefs good field position. Throw in the bad defense on kick returns with another long run of 51 yards against this special teams unit, and the defense gets put into tough predicaments. 

4. Practice – They didn’t have the most solid week of practice, and that can come back to bite you when you’re playing a team that had lost 12 consecutive games. Just because you’re playing a winless team doesn’t give you a reason to kick back and take a week off.  

5. On the road – The Broncos proved to have a tough time playing on the road where the crowd is against them, and the sea of red scared them into dropping the football.