Denver Broncos: Team doesn’t get the best grades vs. Ravens

Denver Broncos Defense grade, C+

Lamar Jackson is a problem. It is an obvious disappointment, but the Denver Broncos performance in the second half is the reason why the grade is sitting at C+. One of the most important takeaways when watching Jackson is to have him defeat you through the air. In the first half of Sunday’s game, the Broncos were beat in exactly that way. It was a little surprising to see the adjustment or lack thereof that never happened Sunday.

As great of a player as Justin Simmons is, if there’s any problem or struggles (this goes with anyone on the offense or defense), then there should be an adjustment to make sure it will not happen further. Marquise Brown also saw some action deep for a touchdown and underneath.

Multiple former Oklahoma Sooners players were a thorn in the side of the Broncos. Mark Andrews and Brown provided just enough of a spark for the offense along with Jackson’s arm. It became a dual-threat battle for the Broncos’ defense.

The defensive line up front did about as well as a team could ask for against the Ravens’ number one ranked offense. There’s no way teams can contain Ravens for a full game. They will obviously get yardage on the ground. Especially if Lamar Jackson is leading the way.

Unfortunately, Denver never stopped it all game and found themselves in the allowed 100-yards category. While there are frustrations for Vic Fangio from the game, if you stopped the run game the opportunity never would be there. As a whole players did about as well as they could in the second half only allowing six points and keeping Denver in the game.

It became a bad memory of that second half seeing a defense help out an offense and that offense not deliver. Denver must find a way to erase that and move on.