The Denver Broncos won their preseason debut against the Bears, but it wasn’t due to the inconsistent play of Paxton Lynch. We review his performance…
The debut of the Denver Broncos’ quarterbacks in the 2017 preseason was, in a word, stunning.
Not in a good way, either.
Both Paxton Lynch and starter Trevor Siemian looked less than spectacular as the Broncos came back late in the fourth quarter to beat the Chicago Bears, 24-17.
Siemian’s unit scored just three points, but we’re here to talk about Paxton Lynch.
Lynch, the Broncos’ first round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, showed some ability in three appearances last season, but his job as a starting quarterback was less than inspiring. He needed a strong offseason to surpass Siemian, and it seems as though he has failed to do that at this point.
Lynch finished his game with 13 passing plays, a couple that were broken and turned into scrambles, and completed six of his nine passes for 42 yards.
It was the lowest total on the night among the three Broncos quarterbacks who played.
Lynch did a good job at times of feeling pressure and using his feet to make plays, but when he was able to fire the ball downfield, it was typically off the mark. Lynch’s three incomplete passes were all overthrows, and all were really bad passes.
Here’s a breakdown I did of all the Broncos’ quarterbacks watching the game, so you can see how Lynch’s passing plays were charted:
The final #Broncos preseason game one throwing chart, all QBs charted. pic.twitter.com/jW7CEMLTYm
— Sayre Bedinger (@SayreBedinger) August 11, 2017
The number one issue I took with Lynch’s performance was his lack of awareness. In the NFL, you’re going to face complex blitz packages, disguised coverages, and many different types of looks from a defensive front.
The Broncos seemed to really simplify the playbook during this game, and thus, Lynch’s reads were pretty basic. It wasn’t often he had to move off of his first read, but before the snap, he failed to adjust to an obvious blitz.
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Lynch missed a protection call on a linebacker blitzing on his sixth pass play of the game, and instead of converting a 3rd-and-2, the Broncos’ offense punted. Three-and-out.
Every one of Lynch’s possessions ended with a punt.
It wasn’t all bad, however, as Lynch did make some nice throws, including an eight-yard scramble for a first down, and a couple of nice passes on slant routes to Jordan Taylor and Cody Latimer.
All in all, though, it was a dismal first outing for Lynch, who couldn’t move the Broncos’ 2nd team offense against the twos and threes of Chicago.
That’s somewhat alarming.
Lynch will have a chance to bounce back in week two of the preseason against the San Francisco 49ers.