Broncos Country needs Drew Lock to save the franchise
Nov 5, 2020, 6:16 AM
When everyone thinks of the Broncos, they will always bring up quarterback play. John Elway and Peyton Manning. Those two names are huge reasons why there are three Lombardi Trophies sitting in a trophy case at Dove Valley. Without Elway and Manning, Denver has made the playoffs only eight times.
The Broncos are on pace to be the first team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl and miss then the playoffs for five straight seasons after. There’s only one solution to end that streak. It’s Drew Lock.
The second-year quarterback needs to realize that these final nine games are the most important games in his career. They’re also the most important in Broncos history.
If Lock is not the answer, this sets the franchise back another two years in finding the right guy. At least.
Lock hasn’t played well enough this season to give Broncos Country a lot of hope. But he did bring this town some hope at the end of last week’s game against the Chargers.
Lock threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a game-winning touchdown as time expired. On that play, the quarterback improvised, alloing rookie wide receiver K.J. Hamler to make an amazing catch to win the game.
Some Broncos fans thought of this game as a “John Elway-type” comeback to beat Los Angeles. There were games where Elway’s offense would struggle all game until the fourth quarter in which he would make magic happen. This is what Lock did.
No. 3 didn’t look comfortable in the pocket in the first three quarters and he knew it. He’s smart enough to know what mistakes he made.
Once the fourth quarter hit, he knew he needed to make plays and that’s what he did. Lock didn’t go out and go for the explosive plays down field, he made the quick and easy reads that allowed him to sink and dunk his offense down the field.
Pat Shurmur also helped Lock by not calling as many play-action plays. Instead, he went with quick passing plays and when it was time to go deep, they hit the jackpot with big plays from Jerry Jeudy and DaeSean Hamilton.
If the Broncos can play like they did in the fourth quarter moving forward and have complete games in that way, they can be a dangerous team.
Another issue that Drew Lock will have to overcome is that his own defense. They currently sit as the 17th ranked defense in points allowed per game. The injuries have hurt them, but Lock has to overcome that.
Lock has to understand that he needs to carry the defense moving forward. Take long drives and turn them into scoring drives to allow the defense to relax and play with leads.
Don’t forget when Peyton Manning was in Indianapolis, he only had one top 10 ranked defense in his career. Manning carried those teams and gave them hope. Lock must do that now and for the future as the defense will look completely different next season due to a nearly full rebuild on defense.
Lock has the weapons on offense, as well as an offensive line that has played better than expected for him.
The youngster has to be the guy because there won’t be many options for the Broncos in free agency unless they want to go after Sam Darnold if released. The chances of them getting a top quarterback in the draft has pretty much vanished.
Not only does Lock need these final nine games to prove to himself that he can play in this league, but Broncos Country needs Lock to save the franchise just like John Elway and Peyton Manning.
