Clough: Broncos can’t beat themselves like Falcons did on opening night
Sep 7, 2018, 10:16 AM
It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect from an execution standpoint, says 104.3 The Fan host Sandy Clough, but the Denver Broncos can’t beat themselves and expect to be victorious Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
“I think the lesson for the Broncos is that you don’t have to be artistically, or from an execution standpoint, anywhere close to perfect,” Clough said. “But you have to fight, and you don’t beat yourself.”
The lesson the Broncos can learn comes from the Atlanta Falcons’ opening night loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.
Against the Eagles, the Falcons failed to put the ball into the end zone four out of five attempts in the red zone, including one in the last seconds that could have won them the game. What’s more, Atlanta failed to punch it in on three of four goal-to-go attempts.
“When you fail in the red zone as many times as Atlanta did tonight, you are in effect beating yourself,” Clough said. “They had (four) cracks at it in a goal-to-go situation.”
In 2017, the Broncos ranked dead last in the NFL in terms of red zone percentage at 39.6 percent, converting on just 19 of 48 attempts.
However, Denver’s new guy under center, Case Keenum, and the Minnesota Vikings ranked ninth in the NFL last season in the red zone, converting on 57.9 percent of their attempts.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
