Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio admitted his timeout mistake.
The Denver Broncos’ week one loss to the Tennessee Titans was full of notable moments that led to the eventual defeat.
Melvin Gordon’s fumble deep in the Broncos’ own territory, Jerry Jeudy’s dropped passes, Michael Ojemudia’s pass interference, the penalty called on Alexander Johnson, and some missed deep throws from Drew Lock, just to name a few.
With that said, another huge error that didn’t contribute as much to the loss but more so prevented an opportunity to potentially win was Vic Fangio’s clock management at the end of the game.
With 1:45 left in the game, the Titans were on the Broncos’ 29-yard line. One play later, Derrick Henry busted his biggest run of the night for 13 yards to the Denver 16, and as time bled off the clock, everyone and their dog was wondering why Vic Fangio was not using any of his three timeouts he had available.
By the time the Broncos got the ball back, they had two timeouts but under 20 seconds to move the ball into field goal range from their own 25. That obviously didn’t happen and despite all of the errors throughout the game, everyone is talking about Fangio’s inexplicable decision to not use his timeouts.
After the game, Fangio noted that he didn’t use the timeouts because of Stephen Gostkowski’s kicking struggles throughout the game (he did have four missed kicks) as well as the fact that Derrick Henry, at one point, ran out of bounds.
The Titans happily let the clock bleed out as much as they possibly could before Gostkowski kicked in a chip shot, making the only field goal that ultimately mattered in the contest.
After having some time to reassess the situation, Fangio admitted he should have used a timeout, specifically after Henry’s 13-yard run.
Fangio owned it: “I did miss calling a timeout after the second down play from the 29 when Henry got 13 yds to our 16. I should have called timeout there.”
— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) September 15, 2020
“It was totally my fault. I had too much thought into what I was going to call next on defense. And I missed it.” #9sports
The fact that Fangio didn’t use the timeout and the reason he gave is that he was putting too much thought into the next call on defense is a very eye-opening admission for a head coach to make.
There are other coaches on the team who could say something to Fangio about taking a timeout, but that communication piece was missing as well.
Fangio went on to state that when he is calling the defense, the offensive coaches have some input into the game management side of things including calling timeouts. Still, Fangio (rightfully) took full responsibility for this.
While it’s not good that this happened, it’s good that Fangio sees the error of his ways here and is going to adapt moving forward. Again, the decision not to use the timeouts wasn’t the reason the Broncos lost the game, but it was something that prevented a possible victory, no question.
There has to be better communication between the coaches and much better game management from Fangio, whose responsibilities as the defensive play caller aren’t going to change any time soon.
We’ll see if this continues to be an issue but for the time being, it’s something the Broncos can — and must — put in the past.