Denver Broncos 5 stock up, 4 stock down following brutal loss in season opener
By Amir Farrell
Denver Broncos Stock Down:
CB Damarri Mathis
Despite CB Patrick Surtain ll having an impressive showing against one of the league's best wideouts, second-year CB Damarri Mathis struggled in every facet of the game to complement that elite level of production on the field. Coverage-wise, Mathis continuously struggled to hang Raiders WRs Jakobi Myers and Davante Adams and thus hurt Denver's chances of winning the game.
The Raiders were targeting Mathis early and often and decided to repeatedly look his way on first reads knowing that he was a liability in zone coverage. Mathis clearly excels much more in man coverage as he flashed last year in former DC Ejiro Evero's defense but new DC Vance Joseph was not able to always put him in the best position to make plays. However, when he was tasked with his opportunities, he failed to lock down his assignments resulting in the Raiders finding offensive momentum through the pass game. The 24-year-old corner will look to have a bounce-back game next Sunday against a speedy WR core in Washington.
S Kareem Jackson
This may come as a surprise to some but safety Kareem Jackson did not have a great game by any means necessary. Co-starting safety Caden Sterns went down with a non-contact knee injury early in the first quarter which meant Jackson would need to take over as the permanent starter for the remainder of the game alongside Justin Simmons. The 14-year veteran struggled during times in coverage allowing a few decent chunks of yardage to Raiders WRs and was not much help for CB Damarri Mathis, who had one of the worst games of his career.
Despite having an interception late in the third quarter off a pass breakup from LB Alex Singleton in the endzone, Jackson was penalized late in the game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Raiders WR Jakobi Myers which proved to be a costly personal foul for Denver's defense. A few missed tackles in the game were also plays that were indicative of how poor Jackson played defensively on Sunday. The Broncos will need him to step up with Sterns expected to miss extensive time.