Clayton: The Broncos suffered a predictable fate against the Ravens
Oct 4, 2021, 3:48 PM
It was predictable that the Broncos would go 3-0 in September. They were playing three teams that won only nine games last year – New York Giants, Jacksonville and New York Jets.
But it was predictable the Broncos would lose to the Baltimore Ravens, even though the Ravens are one of the most-injured teams in football. Once we found out that guard Dalton Risner couldn’t play, the Broncos were down seven starters since the start of the season. Plus, the matchup against the Ravens wasn’t favorable.
The defense was going to be asked to stop Lamar Jackson and Greg Roman’s complicated running offense with three young linebackers and Von Miller. Vic Fangio did a good job stacking the line to slow down the run, but that made them more vulnerable to the pass.
The Ravens rushed for 102 yards instead of their usual 200, but Jackson completed 22 of 37 passes for 316 yards. Jackson’s not a 300-yard thrower.
On offense, not having Risner and Graham Glasgow left the offense vulnerable to the Ravens aggressive blitz packages and strong defensive line. The Ravens got five sacks and even worse Teddy Bridgewater suffered a concussion that leaves him questionable for this week’s game against the Steelers.
The Ravens dominated in the 23-7 victory. They had eight tackles for losses and 11 – that’s right, 11 – quarterback hits.
Injuries obvious played a big role in this loss. The Broncos didn’t have Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler. The Ravens had enough coverage to limit Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick to three receptions each. Fangio did think the hit on Bridgewater should have been called a foul.
“They should have been called obviously, but they weren’t,” Fangio said. “I sent a video in to the officiating office during the week, showing similar hits that they’ve had and gotten away with and it continued. You can see sending videos to the officiating office can be fruitless at times.”
Fangio is bitter after this loss. He was upset about hits. He didn’t like John Harbaugh not taking a knee at the end of the game.
This was a tough one. But the Broncos have to find a way to bounce back.
