Pritchard: Broncos uncharacteristic outing leads to identity crisis

1. Broncos defense out of character

What usually happens when you point a finger?  You have three fingers pointing back at you.

And on Sunday, the Denver Broncos defense was the unit giving up a bunch of big scoring plays.

It was an uncharacteristic outing from the No. 1 defense in the NFL.

“I told the team after the football game that every man has to do a self-check. Only each man would know what his heart said to him in the fourth quarter there, so that’s where I’ll leave that,” head coach Vance Joseph said after the game.

2. Not all blame lies with the man under center

A ton of attention has been paid to the Broncos quarterback situation, but it’s becoming apparent Denver’s older players have lost a step since the championship season in 2015.

Demaryius Thomas, C.J. Anderson, and Aqib Talib all look like they have started to lose a step.

Said Joseph after the game: “I thought Brock (Osweiler) did a fine job. I was proud of the week he had, and he did a fine job. Obviously, we had two more interceptions today which I don’t like, but I have to go back and watch the tape to really get a feel for how Brock played.”

3. Loss leaves Denver with identity crisis

The 2017 Denver Broncos need to find an identity.

Who is this team?

There is no consistency on offense for the Broncos, and now the defense is losing its power to intimidate.

Joseph, however, said after the game that he still has confidence in his squad.

“We have good players and a good locker room. We have to figure out our brand of football and fix this,” Joseph said, “and especially not have the penalties that we had. Fourteen with over 100 yards of penalties is unacceptable, so we have to fix that part first, and that starts with me as a head coach.”