Denver Broncos: 4 takeaways from win over Panthers

3. Drew Lock’s finest moment

While his performance against the Houston Texans certainly put the league on notice, this was Lock’s best game of his professional career. Lock looked poised and confident throughout the game, finishing with 280 yards and four touchdown passes with a 149.5 passer rating, per ESPN.

This was exactly the game we needed to see from Drew Lock, after a solid performance against the Kansas City Chiefs. Lock looked much more comfortable against the Panthers and corrected the mistakes he made against the Chiefs.

Lock talked about taking the safe play in his post-game interview, and how taking the easy plays would lead to chunk plays downfield. Sunday was a perfect example of that philosophy, as the Broncos began to open up the passing game when the Panthers played the short routes.

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Lock showed his comfortability in hitting the deep passes, but he made excellent decisions with the football as well. Instead of using the deep pass to take unnecessary chances downfield, Lock picked his spots wisely and threw with accuracy. As a result, Lock had his 1st zero interception game since week two of the season.

Lock showed progression against a young defense and performed very well. However, if he wants to silence the critics and prove he is the guy, Lock will need to continue his strong play in the coming weeks.

By using Sunday’s victory as a building point, Lock can learn from his mistakes and come back strong against the Buffalo Bills, who are currently vying for a playoff spot. Lock’s performance was certainly encouraging, but repeated performances would all but guarantee he returns to the Broncos in 2021.