Miles
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- Mar 18, 2019
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Lock was by no means perfect on Sunday.
His pair of fourth-quarter interceptions helped turn a sure Denver win into a nail-biter as the fourth quarter wound down.
The first came with just over five minutes to play as the Broncos were attempting to bleed time off the clock with a nine-point lead. He threw the pass as if he anticipated Tim Patrick to run a comeback route, while Patrick continued to head downfield. J.C. Jackson easily picked off the pass, and the Patriots added a field goal to cut the lead to six.
The worse play may have come on the next drive, when the Broncos led by six points with 3:23 to play and looked deep on the first play of the drive. Lock, again looking for Patrick, fired into double coverage down the field.
The ensuing few minutes were nerve-wracking for the young quarterback, who was hopeful his defense could come up with one more stop.
"[I was] very, very anxious," Lock said of how he felt as Cam Newton guided the Patriots down the field. "That's our offense, though — we're going to take shots when they're there. The first [interception] was 100 percent on me. From the look I saw, I felt I could have tried to squeeze it back shoulder and then of course the defender falls off. Tim and I will work on that this week. If I just throw it the way I've been throwing it the whole game, fit it in a hole in Cover 2, that was just man-to-man [coverage], just throw it like it did the first play of the game to Tim and it would have been fine. I wouldn't have been able to throw the pick. We would have held the ball, possibly score, kick another field goal and I would have been sipping Gatorade on the sideline, relaxing, instead of biting my nails."
He was able to relax, finally, when the defense forced an incompletion on fourth-and-10, and Lock was able to trot out to kneel out the clock.
"Obviously, the interceptions we don't want to have," Fangio said. "One I believe was a miscommunication, and I'll look at the other one on tape. I think it's a great learning experience for him and the entire team and hopefully we'll be better prepared to close out the next time we get a lead like that."
The Broncos did close out the game, no matter how it looked toward the end.
In the process, Lock improved to 6-2 in games in which he played the majority of the snaps. He also became the youngest quarterback in history to earn a win at Gillette Stadium.
While the completion percentage and passer rating could be better, that's certainly the stat Lock cares about most.
"As an offensive side of the ball and an offensive group, we have a lot to work on," Lock said. "We appreciate our defense and our special teams. It's a very bright future for us here, without a doubt, and I'm excited to keep working with these guys because we can be a special football team."