It may have been a disappointing end to the 2017 season, but five players really stood out in the Denver Broncos week 17 game to the Chiefs…
The Denver Broncos closed a disappointing season with a tough loss on the game’s final drive to their rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs.
But it wasn’t all bad for the Broncos, who were able to get a look at some young players in this game — some for the very first time this season.
One such player was De’Angelo Henderson, who caught a screen pass and took it for his very first NFL touchdown. Henderson’s big play was a highlight, and I want to take a deeper look into five other players who stood out for Denver in this game, potentially earning a more expanded role going forward.
Starting with…
Paxton Lynch, Quarterback
Before you jump into the comments section and talk about how this was a game where Lynch was going up against a bunch of second-stringers, let’s not forget the last few times we saw him play against second-string players, it was terrible.
Lynch came out earlier in the season and had a decent start against the Raiders that quickly took a turn for the worst, and ultimately, an injury cost him an opportunity to prove he deserves a starting gig next year.
In this game against the Chiefs, however, I saw a lot of things from Lynch I haven’t seen since his rookie preseason games. Lynch looked confident.
Even after turning the ball over a couple of times, Lynch showed poise and made some really nice throws in this game, including throws deep downfield and throws under pressure.
It was clear that Lynch had a better understanding of how to move the ball efficiently, and despite missing two of the Broncos’ top three receivers, he was throwing guys open and allowing his receivers to make plays on the football.
It wasn’t a perfect start from Lynch, but it was a lot better than I or many of you would have expected, even against second-string players. These are guys the Chiefs trust on their 53-man roster, not pre-season 90-man roster bodies.
There’s something to be said for this performance from Paxton, warts and all. I came away much more impressed than I thought I would be.