All is well that ends well, right? That's what we're going with as the Denver Broncos improved to 8-5 this season with a win last Monday night against the Cleveland Browns. But the Browns did their part to come into Denver and play the role of spoiler.
The Broncos' pass defense was abysmal for most of the game against Cleveland. In fact, I think it's safe to say it was abysmal for the entire game. The Broncos got big plays when they needed them the most but they surrendered nearly 500 yards through the air to Jameis Winston, and his favorite target on the night was whoever was being covered by veteran cornerback Levi Wallace.
All of Broncos Country was screaming from their seats -- whether in person or at home -- that the team needed to take Wallace out of the game and put someone else in, which the Broncos eventually did. Wallace was replaced late in the game with the Broncos up by two points by rookie Kris Abrams-Draine, a 5th-round pick out of Missouri.
Nothing like getting thrown right into the fire, right?
The benching of Wallace was already admission enough, but one week after the win, Payton has had plenty of time to dissect and digest the film. And he seemed to indicate that he understands just how big of a mistake it was not to keep star cornerback Pat Surtain II on Jerry Jeudy as much as possible.
Sean Payton reflects on Broncos pass defense debacle vs. Browns
“It’s what we talked about after the game. Obviously, there are things when the game ends that you look back on and say, ‘We would’ve done this differently.’ It’s finding a way to get your best players against their top receiver. There were a handful of things—not just on defense, but in all three phases—that we would’ve done differently, and we have to learn from that.”
- Broncos HC Sean Payton (via team PR)
Against the Broncos, Jerry Jeudy had a season-high 13 total targets with nine receptions and 235 receiving yards. He added a touchdown and two-point conversion as the cherry and sprinkles on top. There was a lot of discussion after the game about whether or not the Broncos even could have put Surtain on Jeudy more because of the Browns moving Jeudy around the formation, and it's clear that they just had to try and figure it out.
Make it happen.
There is no excuse for the fact that a team with Pat Surtain II, on a massive contract, was unable to limit a player like Jerry Jeudy in this particular instance. This is the precise reason why you pay a corner big bucks, isn't it?
This is the type of thing the Broncos just cannot afford to happen. Imagine if they had lost the game as a result of this complete malpractice when it comes to the chess match of football. Kevin Stefanski and Ken Dorsey just out-classed Vance Joseph in this way, and it can't happen again. Hopefully, it serves as a wake-up call for the remainder of the season and will prompt the Broncos to use Kris Abrams-Draine in the event that Riley Moss is unable to play after the bye week.