For the second week in a row, the Denver Broncos narrowly escaped with a victory in their clutches, this time in an 11-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. Though a much more formidable opponent than the Houston Texans, this win felt a lot uglier.
Perhaps it is because the Broncos’ offense failed to find the end zone until nearly halfway through the 4th quarter, with a prior score of 10-5 that felt as if it could just be the final score. And while a five-point deficit looks very doable on paper, Broncos Country is sure to understand how things felt so doomed while considering the offensive production of the evening.
However, Russell Wilson was able to channel his inner… well, Russell Wilson, and brought the Broncos back to life in front of a sold-out stadium in Denver, followed by the defense securing what may be one of the most lopsided victories in franchise history.
That being said, it is time to dive into this week’s stock report.
Denver Broncos Stock Down after 49ers win
Melvin Gordon, RB
While Melvin Gordon made up for his mistakes upon scoring the only touchdown of the night for the Broncos, some concerns are justifiable. After fumbling twice against the 49ers on Sunday night, Gordon has now fumbled three times over the course of three games.
Unfortunately, it is only adding to the existing narrative that Melvin Gordon cannot be trusted with the football, and will be used to argue the case that he definitely should not be back in 2023.
However, with the state of the entire Denver Broncos offense thus far, troubles with ball security feel pretty on-point. Perhaps as the offensive unit gets into the swing of things, Gordon’s performance will steady and ball security will improve. Nonetheless, Gordon’s performance was rocky enough to land him on the stock-down portion for the week. Here’s to hoping we see an improvement this weekend against the Raiders.
Broncos Tight Ends
While there could be a long, detailed dialogue about how poorly the Broncos’ offense has been played through three weeks (they have yet to reach 20 points in a single game), it makes more sense to take a more in-depth look at the components that seem to be the least effective right now, and one of those is the group of tight ends.
Albert Okwuegbunam has been quiet so far, with just six catches for 45 yards on 10 targets. Eric Saubert has one catch for 22 yards. Andrew Beck quickly looked to have established chemistry with Wilson in the season opener but has not caught a pass since (per Denver Post).
Greg Dulcich has not seen the field yet.
Truthfully, it all comes down to a stunted offense once again, now just one for seven in red zone scoring attempts. It is an improvement from 0-6, but still worrisome. Hopefully, once the offense clicks, all of the position groups follow suit.
Denver Broncos Stock Up After 49ers Win
Corliss Waitman, P
Fans were both concerned and confused when the Denver Broncos parted ways with punter Sam Martin after Martin refused a pay cut. Martin had improved steadily in his time with the Denver Broncos, though the special teams unit overall was abhorrent under the direction of ST coordinator Tom McMahon (who the Broncos will face this weekend, as he is now in charge of special teams for the Raiders).
However, George Paton proved once again that he knows what he is doing, as punter Corliss Waitman is off to a hot start with the team. Though overly utilized, he was the difference maker against the 49ers, often pinning the team deep inside their own territory. One of those punts would ultimately result in a safety, giving the Broncos a little bit of life.
Averaging 47.6 yards per punt, the league rewarded Waitman’s performance with AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the first Broncos punter to receive the honor in 17 years. While one can only hope the Broncos offense will be utilizing him less going forward, it is good to know that the special teams unit is effective when needed.
Patrick Surtain
Although PFF criminally undervalued Patrick Surtain’s performance against the San Francisco 49ers, we are not about to make the same mistake here. Though receiving just a 73.7% from PFF, Surtain surpassed expectations after returning from injury. Targeted six times, he allowed zero receptions on the day. Right now, he has the 4th lowest passer rating at 59.8 (per Yahoo! Sports).
Russell Wilson slowly drifting down NFL quarterback rankings
Matt Verderame of FanSided unveiled his weekly quarterback rankings, and the latest installment was not kind towards Russell Wilson.
Broncos Country could see early on that Surtain is a special caliber of player, and now it won’t be long before the rest of the league takes notice, too. Quarterbacks already show hesitancy in throwing his way.