Three Major Areas Of Concern For The Broncos

Sep 14, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Chris Owens (20) and strong safety Eric Berry (29) stop Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (10) near the goal line in the third quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 24-17. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Penalties/Mental Errors

The Broncos are not cutting it by any means when it comes to mentally controlling the 60 minutes of action in its entirety. They’re letting lesser teams back into games that are all but over.

Penalties and other mental errors are a huge reason why.

Luckily for us, Sunday’s game provided some great examples, most of them coming in the second half.

Oh, and by great, I mean incredibly frustrating.

Kansas City had a ridiculous 10 minute drive that could’ve been stopped on numerous occasions. It ultimately ended in zero points for the Chiefs but it left quarterback Peyton Manning and his record breaking offense on the sidelines for far too long.

From then on out, the Broncos offense found themselves caught up in confusion and prematurely stalled drives.

Three encroachment penalties alone came on the Chiefs final drive. One of those happened on a pick-six by cornerback Aqib Talib, which would have effectively ended the game.

11 penalties and 11 allowed third down conversions in total nearly blew the lid off of every Bronco fan’s head.

Manning, however, did that courtesy when he chewed out tight end Julius Thomas within an inch of his life as the third quarter was winding down.

Penalty after breakdown after mental lapse and three points was all Denver’s offense wrote on Sunday afternoon in the last two quarters of play.