5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

The Denver Broncos suffered a disappointing loss to the Baltimore Ravens at home. Which players were the most disappointing in the loss?

What goes up must come down, right?  The Denver Broncos started the 2021 season with a perfect 3-0 record in September, but they got a rude awakening in their first game of October against the Baltimore Ravens.

Nobody likes losing, but looking bad and once again suffering a potentially significant injury in the process?

Yikes.

The Denver Broncos’ first game against a really good team this season was a major letdown in just about every phase of the game. It’s difficult to say that the Broncos played poorly on both offense and defense because the defense forced the Ravens to punt the ball seven times, but there is plenty of blame to go around for this particular loss.

5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

Which players were the most disappointing in defeat?

1. Drew Lock, QB

Let’s just preface this a bit by pointing out that Drew Lock didn’t exactly walk into a great situation. It was a tough ask to come in at halftime of a game against a playoff team with a 10-point deficit and jumpstart the offense.

Still, I can’t help but feel like Lock wasted a huge opportunity to come in and prove why he should still be considered a viable starting quarterback option in the NFL.

Instead, Lock looked more like he did at times in the 2020 season when the Broncos’ entire offense was just lost.

Lock’s timing with the receivers was not there. He was unable to get anything going off of play-action. He took three sacks. Even as the team tried to end the game on a positive note, Lock threw an interception in the end zone to end the game.

A missed deep ball to Courtland Sutton, a poorly thrown screen pass to Noah Fant, and a missed screen pass to Melvin Gordon were all plays that could have had the Denver Broncos’ offense on the right track in the second half, and they are all plays an NFL quarterback has to make.

5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

2. Garett Bolles, OT

For really the first time in what feels like a very long time, Garett Bolles had a bad game.

Bolles was a breakout player for the Denver Broncos in 2020 and his outstanding play led to a contract extension from the team.

Since signing that new contract, Bolles has continued to earn his keep and play like a top-tier left tackle in football.

With that being said, even he would admit his performance against the Baltimore Ravens was unacceptable.

The Ravens had a ridiculous 11 QB hits and five sacks in this game, and Bolles was called for a critical holding penalty on one of the offense’s only good plays of the second half.

Considering the situation at the time with the Broncos having about half the fourth quarter left and down by just two scores, the penalty by Bolles at that particular time was detrimental to any hopes of a comeback.

He put the loss to the Ravens on himself, which is just a player being tough on himself, but this kind of performance from Bolles is something he’s going to have to do some reflecting on and figure out why it happened.

He was pushed back easily on one play by Ravens pass rusher Tyus Bowser, who just bulldozed Bolles into the pocket.

5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

3. Albert Okwuegbunam, TE

Early in the game, the Denver Broncos drew up a pretty perfect play to tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, whose physical skills and athleticism got him wide open down the right sideline for a would-be touchdown.

Unfortunately, instead of sitting here talking about Albert Okwuegbunam’s big touchdown reception against the Baltimore Ravens, we’re talking about him as being one of the more disappointing players in the game because of a drop.

Remember, this was a problem early last season as well for Okwuegbunam when he got a chance at some significant playing time against the New England Patriots.

Although he made some big plays in that game, he missed some touchdown opportunities as well.

The Broncos need to continue putting packages of plays like this together for both Okwuegbunam and Noah Fant. I think they also need to do more of getting these guys chances at big-time YAC, which just doesn’t seem to be happening right now.

That may be easier said than done, but Okwuegbunam has to capitalize on the chances he’s given at this point in time. There may not be an easier touchdown served up to him than the one he got against the Ravens.

After this whiff against the Ravens, a fumble earlier in the season, and some drops last year, the negative column is filling up a little too quickly for Okwuegbunam. He’s got to start making some more plays.

5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

4. Courtland Sutton, WR

Outside of his brilliant performance in week two against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where has Courtland Sutton been this season?

Coming back from a knee injury, it’s understandable that it’s taking some time for Sutton to get things going.

The Broncos really did a good job of featuring him in week two and that kind of thing has to continue. Sutton is the Broncos’ best player when he’s healthy, and the team simply needs to find ways to get him more involved.

That wasn’t the case in this one as Sutton’s involvement didn’t really ramp up until the final drive of the game in garbage time.

Sutton was targeted eight times in this game and finished with just three receptions for 47 yards and a long of 32. That big play, again, was late in the game and would go down in the unofficial “garbage time” stat category.

The Broncos need a number of things offensively, but specifically, they need more from Sutton. The quarterbacks have to be more accurate getting him the ball, and Sutton also needs to prove he is a WR1 by dominating at the catch point and coming down with balls like he did back in 2019 when it seemed like he was catching anything even close to his vicinity.

5 Broncos players that disappointed in the loss to the Ravens

5. The secondary

The Denver Broncos have dodged some bullets this season in the big play department, but they have also been a little bit exposed in this area.

As good as the defense has been as a whole, let’s point out something that is a bit alarming four games in.

In week one against the Giants, the Broncos’ secondary (Kyle Fuller) surrendered a huge play to wide receiver Darius Slayton down the right sideline. In that same game, Sterling Shepard made the secondary look bad with a long touchdown catch and run.

In week two against the Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence exposed the secondary on the first drive of the game with some big throws including a touchdown to Marvin Jones.

In week three, Zach Wilson made a number of throws that should have been caught by his receivers for big gains.

Against the Ravens, it was Hollywood Brown getting deep for some huge plays against the Denver Broncos’ secondary that made all the difference in this matchup.

Not only that, but the Ravens exposed a busted coverage late in the game on a throw to James Proche for 30-plus yards.

Sammy Watkins and Mark Andrews each had at least one reception of 20 yards or more.

The big plays allowed by the Denver secondary through four games have been frustrating to watch given all the team has invested there.

Justin Simmons spoke after the game that there were some issues with communication on certain plays and that kind of stuff has to be cleaned up.

Denver Broncos: Drew Lock blows a golden opportunity in loss

Denver Broncos backup quarterback Drew Lock got a great opportunity against the Baltimore Ravens and simply could not put anything together.

This Denver secondary has given us plenty to love after just four games, but big plays downfield have been a problem.