The Denver Broncos could have had a better chance of beating the Cincinnati Bengals if they included their wide receivers more.
The Denver Broncos failed to beat the Cincinnati Bengals on their home field on Sunday. The team prides itself on its run game and while they rushed for 133 yards as a team, they needed to do more. What more did they have to do?
They needed to get their wide receivers the football way more than what took place Sunday.
As a team, they completed 18 of 34 passes (Drew Lock led the way after Teddy Bridgewater suffered a scary concussion). Lock finished the day going 6-of-12 for 88 yards and a touchdown. Before he got hurt, Bridgewater went 12-of-22 for 98 yards.
Of those 18 completions, five were completed to wide receivers. Only two wide receivers caught passes against the Bengals: Courtland Sutton with two and Tim Patrick with three.
Jerry Jeudy? Zero receptions, four targets. Take a look at this play right here.
Jerry Jeudy was wide open, fwiw. pic.twitter.com/0HrOFVRuzY
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) December 19, 2021
With Drew Lock in at quarterback, Jeudy runs wide open. It looks like he would have been able to score had he gotten the ball. Instead, Lock throws to his first read—a well-covered Tim Patrick.
Unfortunately, it appears that Drew Lock still has his moments of staying on his first read and throwing the ball no matter what.
The lack of receptions and even targets is no bueno. There’s no excuse for this type of usage and output out of a former first-round wide receiver. As a whole, the passing game was pretty much completely average outside of the team’s three long completions of 28 (tight end Noah Fant), 25 (wide receiver Tim Patrick), and 24 (tight end Albert Okwuegbunam).
This game was extremely nerve-racking with playoff implications on the line. With a loss, it gets extremely difficult from here on out.
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Dear Denver Broncos: Get your high-draft pick wide receivers the football. That’s what they are there for. Sincerely, Broncos Country.