Denver Broncos: 5 ideas to get the team on track in 2019

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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 22: Royce Freeman #28 of the Denver Broncos is pursued by Jaire Alexander #23 of the Green Bay Packers during the second half at Lambeau Field on September 22, 2019 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

3. Stick with the hot hand in the red zone

Hindsight is always 20/20, right?

The Broncos have lost two straight games to NFC North opponents and you have to wonder how different things might be had they simply made the decision to stick with the hot hand instead of getting ‘cute’.

I have really liked what Rich Scangarello is installing and implementing thus far with the Broncos, but I have to question some decisions in the red zone. I have never been an advocate of low-percentage plays in the red zone and I don’t always know what constitutes a ‘low percentage’ play, but I want to look at two separate scenarios where the Broncos probably could have gotten 14 points instead of just three between both the Bears loss and Packers loss.

Interception vs. Bears (Emmanuel Sanders target)

The Broncos were marching down the field, knocking on the door and about to score a touchdown when Joe Flacco threw a pass out to Emmanuel Sanders and had it picked off.

The Broncos had 1st-and-goal from the four at the end of this drive. Their play selection went as follows:

Run to Phillip Lindsay, no gain
Pass to Emmanuel Sanders, 2 yards
Pass to Emmanuel Sanders, interception

Where is Royce Freeman? Why is he not on the field there? He’s averaging 4.8 yards per carry this season and is a tackle-breaking machine. Right? Isn’t he the red zone weapon for this team at running back?

I can’t believe he didn’t get a rep there, and it could have changed the entire course of the game against Chicago.

Sack vs. Packers

The Broncos had 1st-and-goal in the second quarter against the Packers. A holding call on Emmanuel Sanders had just wiped out a touchdown, so they were trying to claw their way back in anyway.

Here’s the play selection for this sequence inside the 10.

Pass to Emmanuel Sanders, incomplete
Run to Phillip Lindsay, 5 yards
Pass play, Flacco sacked for -10 yards

On the sack play, the Broncos had Emmanuel Sanders flanked to Flacco’s side like a running back.

The first play of this sequence, Royce Freeman was on the field. That was it. It was also the best play the Broncos ran to try to score, but a bad throw from Flacco and a false urgency caused it to hit the ground incomplete.

I’m just trying to figure out why, one play after gaining five yards out of the shotgun in the running game, were neither Lindsay nor Freeman in the backfield.

I would trust one of those guys with a two-yard situation at this point. Right now, that’s at least an 11-point difference for the Broncos.

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