The Denver Broncos have dropped their seventh game of the season falling to a 7-7 record at .500 following a rough loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 15. Denver's defense looked out of sorts through the majority of the game and the offense truly never found an answer for Detroit's blitzing attack. With the loss, the Broncos are now in a "win or go home" mode with their playoff chances becoming slightly slimmer. Head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will have a lot to clean up ahead of their matchup with Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on Christmas Eve.
Denver Broncos Stock Up following a disastrous loss to Lions:
WR Jerry Jeudy
Despite the Broncos' offense struggling to find any momentum whatsoever, especially in the first half, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy strung together a rather nice bounce-back game following one of the worst games of his career last Sunday in Los Angeles. Jeudy caught three receptions for 74 yards and led the team with seven targets. Jeudy's 74 receiving yards and 24.7 yards per reception led the team on Saturday. On a night where the offense struggled in virtually every capacity, Jerry Jeudy was essentially the only light on Denver's offense besides perhaps Courtland Sutton and Samaje Perine.
DT D.J. Jones
Interior defensive lineman D.J. Jones was a lone bright spot on Denver's defense in Saturday's disastrous defensive showing. Jones recorded four tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hit in the game and made a good impact in stopping the run in the first half. However, given Denver's poor effort as a team, his performance will likely be swept under the rug.
P Riley Dixon
Broncos punter Riley Dixon, who has not necessarily had the best season since returning to Denver, had a nice performance Saturday night. Dixon totaled five punts for 259 net yards and an average of 51.8 yards of distance per punt. In addition, Dixon had two punts land inside the 20-yard line with just one punt reaching the endzone. Even though it didn't stop Detroit's offense from going nuclear, Dixon still had one of his better games of the season.
Denver Broncos Stock Down:
CB Fabian Moreau
It was a rough game for starting cornerback Fabian Moreau, to say the least. Beaten on multiple routes throughout the game, Moreau has recently begun to show more of his weaknesses than strengths. Granted, the Broncos' defense was on the field for an unreasonable amount of time. However, Moreau was simply picked on in coverage Saturday night and will need to be a quick fix for the final three games of the season if the Broncos defense wants to keep their offense in games.
S P.J. Locke
Like Fabian Moreau, Broncos safety P.J. Locke was shaken on a chunk of routes throughout the game and was simply a liability in coverage at times. While he did not have the worst game, there were definitely a few too many plays by Detroit's offense that banked on Locke's inability to cover receivers consistently in zone coverage. To make matters worse, Locke also did not have his best game tackling defenders missing about two or three tackles in the loss.
Offensive Line
Arguably the biggest reason for Denver's offensive trouble was their inability to protect the quarterback on an every-down basis and create sizable run gaps for running back Javonte Williams. Williams had essentially nowhere to run the football and as a result, rushed for just 27 yards on 12 attempts in the contest. Sean Payton's offense heavily relies on running the football efficiently and at a high volume however, was never able to find a rhythm due to the offensive line being manhandled by Detroit's front seven.
Quarterback Russell Wilson had virtually no time throughout the game and most of his completed passes were under extreme duress due to blitzes not being picked up or players losing their one-on-one matchups. The Broncos offense simply got dominated in the trenches and was a massive reason for why Russell Wilson and Javonte Williams were never able to dictate the game and lead more scoring drives.
LB Josey Jewell
Broncos linebacker Josey Jewell arguably had the worst game in his last two years in Denver. From missing multiple tackles to being a liability in run defense, it was a horrible performance from the sixth-year linebacker. Despite leading the team in tackles Saturday night, his effort and failure to capitalize on opportunities just made Denver's performance on defense that much worse.
Forgettable night for the linebacker who has just three games remaining on his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2024.