Denver Broncos: Paxton Lynch shines for Seahawks, more reactions

The Denver Broncos were flat out embarrassed most of their second preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, including by Paxton Lynch.

The Denver Broncos were back at it for their second game of preseason action against Paxton Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks, and they were flat out embarrassed for the majority of four quarters of play.

The Broncos were sloppy on offense and defense but played perhaps their worst game on special teams where there was one error after another.

Denver couldn’t get much of an evaluation in this game as the officiating was throwing one flag after another. It was truly a sight to behold as the flow of the game was hindered from the moment backup players stepped foot on the field.

The biggest storylines in this game, which we’ll talk more about in detail:

• Paxton Lynch looks great for Seattle
• Andy Janovich hurt shoulder, did not return
• Drew Lock improves, regresses, then improves again
• TE Austin Fort carted off with a knee injury
• Joe Flacco and the top offense have a nice drive
• Backup offensive line stinks it up
• Malik Reed keeps making plays
• 26 accepted penalties between both teams

Let’s get into some of the details, and I promise we will wait to talk about Paxton Lynch until last.

How was the first-team offense?

The Broncos’ first-team offense took the opening kickoff and marched down the field to score a field goal. While some of the starters stayed in the game after that, that was the only time we saw Joe Flacco on the field.

Here’s how Flacco fared as a passer.

• Screen pass to Phillip Lindsay for 9 yards
• Screen pass to Tim Patrick for 9 yards
• Dumpoff to Royce Freeman for a short first down
• Incomplete on a fade to Courtland Sutton (3rd down, red zone)

Of course, ideally we would have liked Flacco and the top offense to score a touchdown, but that was ever so slightly out of reach. Flacco’s pass to Courtland Sutton had really no chance of being caught and Sutton slipped a little trying to create separation from the corner.

The Broncos were going up against mostly second-team defenders for Seattle, and despite a couple of plays not working exactly as planned, the offense moved the ball right downfield and got a huge play from Royce Freeman and Dalton Risner.

Watch that play again and again and just imagine it happening in regular-season action. It was truly a beauty.

There was also a vintage Phillip Lindsay play — he was involved early and often by the way — where a seemingly broken play turned into a brilliant first-down run.

Aside from some issues preventing the Seahawks’ defensive line from crashing down off the edge, it was a strong opening drive from Denver’s offense. Something to build on, for sure.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio thought Flacco looked ‘comfortable’ running the top offense.

Evaluating Drew Lock’s performance

The Broncos brought Kevin Hogan in for no. 2 quarterback duties, but his time on the field was short-lived as they gave Drew Lock the most reps of all the quarterbacks in this game.

As a matter of fact, Brett Rypien didn’t play at all.

There was plenty of good and plenty of bad from Lock in this game. He ended up completing 17-of-28 passes for 180 yards, one touchdown, one interception, a two-point conversion throw, and three sacks.

The Good

The first really great play from Drew Lock of the preseason came on a third down play when he hit tight end Troy Fumagalli on an out route. Fumagalli wasn’t looking at Lock nor was he looking for the ball, but the throw was so perfectly placed he literally had no choice but to catch it.

On one particular drive, Lock got into a groove and hit five consecutive passes, one that went for a nice gain of 24 yards off of play-action to Nick Williams. Lock lofted the ball perfectly over the top of the defense and hit Williams in stride for a big gain.

With some solid throws mixed in between some of his poor plays, Lock put together a nice drive near the end of the game to get the Broncos their first touchdown of the night, a drive set up by a big throw to Austin Fort (who hurt his knee on the play), another big throw down the sideline to Trinity Benson, and a swing out to Devontae Jackson for a touchdown.

After the touchdown, Lock made a tremendous throw into a tight window for a two-point conversion to Juwann Winfree.

Had his night ended there, it would have probably been a much better day stat-wise for Lock.

The Bad

The backup offensive linemen weren’t doing him any favors, essentially turning Lock’s drops into a full-on retreat away from defensive linemen, but his three sacks included a couple he probably wishes he could have back.

One sack came in the end zone for a Seattle safety, and while Khalfani Muhammad clearly missed a blitz pickup, you hate to see that kind of play happen for the rookie.

Lock made a couple of poor throws in this game, including a couple that could have been or were picked off.

He had an interception in desperation time when he tried to make a play happen on third down. He had a near-interception not long before that on just a poor decision with the ball.

As the pressure continued to bear down on Lock throughout the game, his mechanics noticeably regressed, but he settled in, settled down, and made some plays after going through a rough patch.

There was one particular play that killed a drive where Lock finally had time, a pocket, and a throwing window and he just missed River Cracraft low.

One sentence summary

Lock’s second preseason game was much better than his first, and he was able to show off his elite arm talent.

Fangio’s thoughts?

Vic Fangio said of Lock after the game:

Fangio added he thought this past week of practice and the game tonight for Lock were very good for the rookie. It’s the first time we’ve really heard overwhelmingly positive comments from the coach about Lock’s overall performance.

Injury updates

FB Andy Janovich (shoulder/pectoral)

Janovich left the game after a special teams play, and it seems like he hurt his pectoral/shoulder area.

It didn’t seem good at the initial eye test. The Broncos have a backup fullback in George Aston who had a catch in this game, but Janovich does quite a bit of ‘behind the scenes’ work for this team. Losing him would be pretty big.

TE Austin Fort (left knee)

Austin Fort has been having a whale of a training camp. He’s been making one play after another and it was becoming increasingly likely he would earn a 53-man roster spot.

What you really hate to see with the type of injury Fort sustained is the fact that it was non-contact and he appeared to be in a devastating amount of pain as he was carted off the field.

At this point, both of these players will undergo an MRI to determine severity, but it doesn’t look good for either guy.

Malik Reed continues to be good

Another week, another sack for Malik Reed.

He’s making his presence in the offensive backfield a permanent residence, whether that’s in preseason action or at Broncos training camp.

He was rewarded with a lot of work with the second defense, and it doesn’t appear he’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Although Reed is not big enough to hold up at the point of attack against the run yet as an every-down player, he is most certainly a capable player off the edge.

Reed has flashed enough at this point, that I don’t know how the Broncos could justify cutting him. Those are always hard decisions to make, but pass rushers are hard to come by and this guy looks like a really good one.

Against the Falcons, Reed showed off his speed and ability to bend around the edge. In this game, he had a nice spin move to the inside and cleaned up nice interior pressure by DeMarcus Walker.

We had Reed making the final 53 in our latest roster projection.

Paxton Lynch & other updates

If you were among the sect of Broncos Country wanting Paxton Lynch to get put in his place for this game, you were not satisfied with the outcome of this game.

Lynch put on a show with his new team, albeit against the Broncos’ bottom-of-the-roster types, but still. Here are some notable numbers.

• 11-of-15 passing (73.3 percent)
• 109 yards (no interceptions
• 1 touchdown
• 38 rushing yards, 1 rushing touchdown

Lynch was not just dumping the ball off in this game, either. He was working off of play-action, zone reads, and had some nice throws downfield as well as some really good decisions to tuck the ball and run.

It was a stellar opener for him especially considering he wasn’t in an NFL camp all of last year after he was cut by Denver.

Other notes

• RB Khalfani Muhammad was quiet in this game, not getting many carries (3) and just one look in the passing game, which he caught. Nothing close to his 74-yards from scrimmage performance in the previous outing.
• RB Devontae Booker struggled, fumbling (and recovering) the opening kickoff and slipping on one of his two carry opportunities behind the line of scrimmage.
• S Su’a Cravens was flying around the field and had a nice tackle for loss as well as a very good stop on third down
• LB Josh Watson led the team with 10 tackles. He’s been working some with the first defense in camp.
• LB Malik Reed was taking reps over Jeff Holland in relief of Von Miller/Bradley Chubb
• QB Kevin Hogan missed RB Theo Riddick on what could have been a great move-the-chains play on third down. Hogan was not sharp in this one.
• P Colby Wadman might get some competition next week at camp after a really poor showing, especially in the hangtime department.
• No one has taken hold of the punt return job

The Broncos will take Friday off, then they will meet and lift on Saturday before returning to practice Sunday. They will host the San Francisco 49ers for joint practices before a preseason Monday Night Football showdown in 10 days.