Mile High Tuesday: Broncos Fall Short on Monday Night Football

John Fox screams at a replacement referee during a sloppy Monday Night Football game. (Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE)

The Denver Broncos didn’t get things going until it was too late during their 27-21 loss to the Falcons on Monday Night Football. Peyton Manning threw 3 interceptions right out of the gate, and 4 Broncos turnovers in the first half was too much to overcome.

Here are some thoughts on the Broncos loss to the Falcons:

• The Denver offense didn’t find a rhythm until late in the second half. They needed some early first downs to weather the storm from the home team and keep their defense off the field, but they weren’t able to get it done. At the end of the day, Denver simply made way too many mistakes which made it nearly impossible to win the football game.
• The replacement refs were disgraceful. There were several phantom defensive pass interference and offensive holding calls, but the worst was when they awarded Atlanta the ball after the Moreno fumble. It was clearly recovered by Denver. It seemed to me the refs gave it to Atlanta because a Falcons player signaled they had the ball. The refs allowed both teams to call the game for them all night and it was embarrassing. The NFL has to get the regular referees back as soon as possible.
• After the amazing touchdown grab by Demaryius Thomas to end the first half (which the refs called incomplete by the way), the Broncos desperately needed to come out in the second half and keep their newfound momentum going. The offense responded by going three-and-out on their initial drive of the third quarter and then Matt Ryan started to carve up the Denver secondary. I give the defense a lot of credit for keeping Denver in the game early, especially when they got so little help from the offense at critical points in the game.
• Manning really struggled and finished the game with only 241 passing yards to go with his 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. Social media was on fire with criticism in the midst of his 3 picks in the first half, but there is no need to worry about Manning. He’s going to go through some growing pains with his new team, but there is no doubt he is a special quarterback and will be fine going forward.
• Knowshon Moreno has finally used up his last chance as far as I’m concerned. He finished with 2 yards rushing, but more importantly his fumble early in the game was back breaking. Unfortunately it was easy to see it coming. Moreno has a knack for coming up small in big spots. I’ll be looking for Ronnie Hillman starting in week three.
• For everything that Moreno lacks, Willis McGahee makes up for it in spades. He always impresses with how hard he runs and he finished with 113 yards and two touchdowns. As long as McGahee can hold up over the long haul the running game is in good shape.
• It was nice to see the Broncos fight back late in the game. It was looking pretty ugly in the third quarter and it showed a lot heart for them to keep fighting. In the grand scheme of things this was going to be a tough one to win regardless of how the Broncos played. They will bounce back from this defeat and there are a lot of positives they can build on. Even though Broncos Country came away from this prime time game with a sour taste in their mouths, it’s only one loss and there is no need to panic. If the offense cleans up their turnovers they will be fine going forward. Denver returns home on Sunday to take on the Houston Texans and try to get back on track. Go Broncos!

Make sure to follow @MileHighMonday on Twitter and Predominantly Orange on Facebook.