Broncos are re-creating the problem that plagued their 2020 offense
Aug 11, 2021, 5:23 PM
As the battle between Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater for the Broncos starting quarterback job drags on, it’s hard not to wonder if the splitting of reps is hurting Denver’s offense. On Wednesday, there was certainly evidence of that fact.
While there were plenty of bright spots during the team’s first day of joint practices against the Vikings, it was hard not to notice the miscues. False starts, fumbled snaps and dropped passes were aplenty in Minnesota.
That can’t all be attributed to the lack of continuity at quarterback, but the situation certainly can’t help. There’s a lack of rhythm and cohesiveness to the Broncos offense.
Vic Fangio isn’t concerned, however. He doesn’t see it as a concern.
“We’ve already had double the reps we had last year at this time,” the head coach said, trying to defuse the line of questioning.
Of course, it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out the problem. If the Broncos have had double the reps as they did in 2020, but each of the quarterbacks has only taken 50 percent of them, then the eventual starter has had exactly as many reps as Lock got a year ago at this point in training camp.
That might not sound bad, but the organization continues to use last year’s truncated offseason as an excuse for the team’s poor play on offense. They contend that it was a lack of time that prevented Pat Shurmur’s scheme from gelling and excelling.
So instead of rectifying that situation, they’ve re-created it. Once again, the Broncos have limited the amount of time their starting quarterback is getting with the No. 1 offense.
“Is it ideal?” Fangio asked, rhetorically. “No. But we’ll make it work.”
They didn’t a season ago. Denver finished 23rd in total offense and 27th in points scored.
“Whatever time there is, we have to make it work,” Fangio added, trying to sound unfazed. “I’m confident we will.”
Doing the same thing and expecting a different result. It’s the Broncos mantra of late.
