With Adam Trautman seemingly less and less important in Denver's offensive game plan, and his overall standing on the team slipping by the week, its fair to question why he is in on major drives in the first place. Regardless, he has now committed two straight careless penalties on drives late in the 4th quarter while the Broncos led, and in both games the Broncos have now lost.
In both such cases, those drives stalled out, and the Broncos went on to lose the game. Connecting some dots here, there is a powerful case to make that Adam Trautman has cost the Broncos two straight games. If this continues, he could find himself cut very soon.
With the signing of Evan Engram, the emergence of other options at wide receiver, and the consistent presence of the likes of Nate Adkins and Lucas Krull, Trautman's role on the Broncos isn't quite what it was in the past two seasons. If Sean Payton has any desire to actually win football games, the team is facing an important decision.
Adam Trautman's penalties have cost Denver two straight wins.
In Indianapolis in Week 2, the Broncos were driving down the field with a lead in the 4th quarter. Denver was moving forward before a careless face mask from Trautman cost the team 15 yards, putting them in a spot from which they would never recover, forcing Denver to give the ball back to the Colts. All the Colts did was knock through a game-winning field goal that never happens if Trautman simply does his job.
The Broncos seemed to do a nice job keeping this past week behind them, especially as the team led 20-13 halfway through the final quarter of play. In an absolutely embarrassing fashion, the Broncos are flagged on a first-down play while trying to put the game away. Confused as to what the call could be, even the broadcast wasn't sure what was going on.
Without a clear answer, the replay in the booth finally showed what happened: Adam Trautman lined up on the wrong side of the football and was called for an offside. It is one thing for a receiver to have his toes on the wrong side, but Trautman had his hand in the dirt, fully on the wrong side of the ball. As simply as it can be put, Trautman's inability to know where the line of scrimmage is, which is pretty fundamental to even Pop Warner football, cost the Broncos the game. Naturally, the Chargers would score a touchdown, get the ball back, and win on a field goal.
If Denver has any hopes of the playoffs or even a .500 finish, the team now has no room for error. There is another reality, maybe one without this tight end on the field, where Denver is 3-0.