In two-minute period, things got rough for the Broncos offense
Aug 4, 2023, 2:50 PM
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos training camp always hits another gear when the team runs a two-minute period for the first time. That situation reveals truth.
And one thing was immediately evident: The timing needs work. And pre-snap penalties, a bugaboo during last year’s wrecked season, remain a problem.
Given a scenario in which it needed to drive 75 yards to a touchdown in the final 1:48 of regulation, the offense immediately went backwards with a pair of false-start penalties, leaving Russell Wilson and Co. in first-and-20 before a second elapsed.
“I just finished talking about it,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said after practice, referring to his message to the team as he gathered it following the session, which lasted over two hours. “We had too many fouls there with the officials here. Before you ever really get going, you put yourself in a hole. It’s something we have to improve on.”
The offense never emerged from that hole. Wilson hit Samaje Perine for a 4-yard gain one play later, but on second-and-15, defensive lineman Jonathan Harris got his hand up on a pass and deflected it. Randy Gregory snagged the errant pass and ran in for a pick-6, and that was that.
It didn’t go much better for the second-team offense against the No. 2 defense. Although a defensive-holding penalty allowed the unit to move the chains once, it went backwards after advancing to its 45-yard line. A low shotgun snap from Luke Wattenberg to Jarrett Stidham resulted in a 7-yard loss, and another pre-snap penalty left the offense in fourth-and-18, from which it could not recover.
Payton gave the No. 1 offense and defense one more duel, this time with 1:29 on the clock, one timeout and a 3-0 deficit. Wilson fared better, hitting Courtland Sutton twice and Jerry Jeudy once — with the Jeudy catch coming on third-and-7 — to move the offense to the defense’s 34-yard line.
From there, Brett Maher coolly drilled a 52-yard field goal as time expired.
Payton said the first scenario was called “Neat Seven,” with the second one dubbed “Neat Three.”
“Typically, we will do a couple of different situations,” Payton said.
And the No. 1 offense was thankful, because the second scenario provided some slight redemption after a disastrous first try.
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