Drew Lock was a breath of fresh air, Fangio and others failed in Raiders loss
Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was a breath of fresh air, while Vic Fangio and the coaching staff failed in the latest loss to the Raiders.
The Narrative after the Denver Broncos’ heartbreaking loss to the Las Vegas Raiders is just how bad the offense was. Pump the breaks a minute. Overall the offense was bad, but that was with an abysmal 18 yards rushing.
Somehow Drew Lock got no more than an “up and down” rating from his head coach. Even PFF who hasn’t always been kind to Drew Lock had him behind only Josh Allen and Joe Burrow in their player ratings. I saw a good passer trying to inspire his offense.
The failures were managing to run the ball or win the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. After an enjoyable ending to the first half, the Raiders made an adjustment and featured a strong rushing attack.
The defense struggled to adjust and Las Vegas marched right down the field to score. After a four-play drive that started with a 20 yd completion to Noah Fant yet netted only 22. Denver only saw the field twice more with a turnover netting a missed field goal and a drive that saw the offense get to the 50 before a big play fell incomplete to Albert Okwuegbunam.
The Raiders made sure the Broncos never got the ball again.
Lock’s presence in the offense incited hope and excitement from me as a fan. The lack of adjustment from the coaching staff despite entering halftime with all the momentum exposed the real problem.
The O-line played subpar, the defense didn’t make stands in key situations, Lock’s stat’s won’t be praised ( with a couple drops as well). Yet what stands out to me with all the talent on both sides of the ball and a defense that held the opponent to 17 despite a lackluster performance is that these coaches don’t know how to win ball games.
In fact, Fangio set this team back when he chose Bridgewater over Lock before the season started. The ceiling of both QB’s was always evident and Lock had seemingly raised his floor in the offseason.
I yelled from the rooftops a month ago that this team could be better and in fact, save their playoff hopes with change. Time for Fangio and Shurmur to go.
The biggest regret is that from executive to fan the sample size on Lock as the future will be only three games maximum in an all but lost season. So we may never know.
For the last two games, I’d like to see a quarterback and coaching staff try and realize this team’s potential.