After near 21-point comeback, Broncos know they must be better to sustain success

[Miles]

Even without Ridley available, the Falcons were able to spread the ball around. Julio Jones finished with just 55 yards, but Olamide Zaccheaus surpassed 100 yards on the day, a large bulk of which came on a 51-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 10-0. Davontae Harris was in coverage on the play and was targeted frequently in the first half before he was benched in favor of Kevin Toliver II.


"It was a struggle, obviously I never did find the right combination there in the first half in particular," Fangio said. "We had some good pressures, but when we weren't pressuring and rushing with four to try and help the secondary, our pass rush wasn't good enough. And at times when we pressured, the coverage wasn't good enough. They're a really good offense with a great quarterback and a good group of receivers. Our pass defense — which the pass rush is part of — we struggled today."


Denver's defense settled down in the second half, allowing just 14 points, but the unit sacked Ryan just twice and failed to get pressure with just four players.


"I need to watch the tape in its totality," Fangio said. "Our pass defense wasn't good enough and that includes pass rush, that includes me making the calls, and we've got to do better."


And unlike a week ago, the Broncos were unable to capitalize when they had opportunities. On Ryan's touchdown pass to Zaccheaus, Malik Reed's outstretched fingertips nearly caused a forced fumble. Instead, the Falcons connected for the longest play of the afternoon. On the Falcons' first offensive play of the second half, Justin Simmons picked off Ryan to give the Broncos a chance to cut the lead to seven. Instead, Denver gave up a sack and went three-and-out.


"We obviously answered with that, and then the way it works is that it happens, our offense wasn't really able to do much with it and then it's right back out," Simmons said. "We've got to continue, we can't just think, 'Oh, one takeaway, we've done our job,' and then then rest of the game is on the offense. We've got to continuously push this if we're going to be in the position to win football games. There's that roller coaster of emotions that guys can go through but that's when leaders need to step up, nip that in the bud, and then we come back out here and keep doing the same thing and keep executing the way that a Broncos defense knows how to execute."


In the fourth quarter, the Broncos scored to cut the lead to 14, forced a Falcons punt and took over at their own 15-yard line. On first down, though, Lock drifted backward as he threw and was intercepted. The Falcons scored two plays later to retake a 21-point lead.


"I will throw that ball 10 times out of 10 to Jerry on that pick," Lock said. "I saw it and knew it was coming. The only guy that was going to be able to lock Jerry up on that route was either the safety, if I overthrew it, or the guy underneath, and there's no chance that he had the chance to guard Jerry on that one — zero, none. I tried to backpedal and that's a throw that — I don't go out in the front yard and work on straight-ahead throws. I'll go out in the front yard and work the acrobatic throws. That is what playing quarterback is like in the league. You're going to have guys get beat in front of you. You're going to have seven guys come when you only have six blockers. You have to decide to get it away or you're going to throw the ball, and I'm going to lean on throwing the ball because most of the time it's when our athletes are one on one, and Jerry was open. It's a throw I can make and it's a throw I should make. It's embarrassing I didn't."


The late comeback attempt swelled several stat lines. Lock finished 25-of-48 for 313 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Jeudy posted seven catches for 125 yards and a score. KJ Hamler recorded a career high six catches for 75 yards, and Patrick snagged his third touchdown of the season. The Broncos' offense, though, will need to sort out its first-half issues to find sustained success.


"If we didn't finish with a dub, it doesn't mean anything," Jeudy said.


Both Fangio and several players admitted that a COVID-disrupted week may have impacted their preparation. The Broncos did not practice on Wednesday, and they were relegated to virtual meetings as part of the team's intensive protocols.


"I don't know," Fangio said. "That's a real thing, I'm not going to deny it, but it's also a convenient excuse and we're not going to use it as an excuse. We've got to make do with what we've got available and play better."


Whether in person or not, the Broncos will need to find a solution quickly to remain in the playoff hunt. At 3-5, the Broncos likely need to finish the season 6-2 to have a shot at a wild-card berth. Lock said he's focused on getting back to 5-5 with impending games against the Raiders and Dolphins.


"It's difficult, and when you put it in your head, it's going to be difficult," Lock said. "We just have to take it one week at a time. Come out and win the next two, go five and five, and who knows. We just have to keep playing, man. That's all we can do. There's a lot of football left, and we just have to hit our stride earlier in these games. If you think about what we do in the second half — if we just try to do that a little bit in the first half and score maybe two touchdowns — one or two touchdowns, just get something done in the first half, and that has a lot to do with how I play, but if we can do that, we should put a lot of points on the board."


No matter who they play, they'll need to piece together a more complete game to find success.


Their late comeback attempt speaks to their talent. The fact that they needed it speaks to a larger issue.