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Denver Broncos: Why Emmanuel Sanders took the blame Sunday

By Sayre Bedinger

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 14: Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders #10 of the Denver Broncos celebrates after a catch before drawing a taunting penalty in the first quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on October 14, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 14: Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders #10 of the Denver Broncos celebrates after a catch before drawing a taunting penalty in the first quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Broncos Stadium at Mile High on October 14, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders took all the blame for the Broncos losing by three points to the Rams on Sunday.

No one on the Denver Broncos has any right to point fingers after the team’s fourth straight loss on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, but it might have been the pointing of a finger that cost the Broncos the game.

At least, that is what Emmanuel Sanders — the culprit of a massive misconduct penalty — said following the game.

The Broncos lost by three points, and Sanders talked about how he felt his finger pointing took the four points off the board that would have given the Broncos a one-point victory.

Critical errors at the most inconvenient times have cost the Broncos throughout the early portion of the 2018 season, and Sanders’ taunting penalty after what was called a touchdown on the field proved to be a back-breaker for Denver.

Instead of the Broncos going up 7-6, they were left attempting to score from the 16-yard line, which they should have been able to do, but didn’t. The Broncos settled for three points and ‘settling’ isn’t likely to work against the Rams over the course of four quarters.

Now, Sanders doesn’t deserve as much blame as he’s giving himself here. NFL officials have already done their part to suck the fun out of the game, and nothing Sanders did was out of the realm of gamesmanship. He wasn’t trying to be polite to the defensive back, but it wasn’t like he stood over the top of him or threw the ball at him or something like that.

As Sanders also said, he’s been pointing after just about every catch for years now, this time he just happened to point at a defensive back and it wiped points off the board for Denver.

Again, Sanders is not solely to blame for the loss. This was a contributing factor as the Rams went up 13-3 after the following drive instead of — worst case scenario — a 13-7 lead.

Even that changes the complexion of the game entirely.

Next. Three reasons the Broncos lost to the Rams. dark

This particular play was a critical juncture of the game as it appeared the Broncos were finally responding offensively and a killer penalty and ruling of Sanders’ being down by contact at the one-yard line (which unfortunately wasn’t the wrong call) kept the Broncos down by a field goal and the Rams attacked with blood in the water.

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