Early decision and late-game failures doom the Broncos in loss

The Denver Broncos lost in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday night. On Christmas Eve, the New England Patriots came to town and beat the Broncos by a score of 26-23.

The Broncos got down with a third-quarter outburst from the Patriots offense, but they climbed back into the game with a fourth-quarter showing from their offense. Denver was tied and had the ball with less than two minutes remaining, but the offense stalled due to bad play calling. It was a disappointing loss, but mostly I was frustrated watching their inconsistent play.

After the game, Broncos HC Sean Payton shared his frustration.

“Obviously a disappointing finish, a really frustrating game. We had a lot of opportunities, I felt, especially in the first half. Offensively we struggled. Tip our hats to New England. We fought back in it. I said to the team (that) there were six or seven different situations in that game that any one of those play out a little differently—but unfortunately, they didn’t. Our margin for error right now is not what it needs to be, and we end up on the losing end of the game.” Payton said.

Here are three observations from the Broncos loss to the Patriots in Week 16.

***

Going for it early (and failing)

I was doing the pregame show from Mile High Station, and I went right up to kickoff of the Broncos game. When the show was over, I got my laptop and things together and headed to the car so I could go home and watch the game. As soon as I got into the car, the Broncos already had the ball and were within the Patriots’ five-yard line.

The Broncos defense showed up early, and a forced fumble from Patriots QB Bailey Zappe had them taking over deep into New England territory. I thought for sure the team would at least walk away with a field goal, but that didn’t happen. Instead of taking the points, Payton kept his offense out there for all four downs – and they failed to punch the ball into the end zone.

The Patriots had played in 10 one-score games entering Week 16. Their record in those games was 2-8, but it showcased how the team plays close games – but they do not win them. Going into this contest, I felt it would be a close game and I thought it would be a low-scoring game. The game was a one-score game, but both teams had more points than I expected. In a game that was decided by a field goal, it would have been nice to see those three points added early with that fumble recovery. Instead, the Broncos failed and the decision to go for it instead of taking the points came back to bite them.

Payton explained his rationale for going for it that early.

“I felt confident where we were relative to field position. I felt confident in a couple plays. Normally, I would say, especially early, that I would kick the field goal. But I felt pretty good if we didn’t get it, where we had them backed up. It was really more about me feeling like we had two or three good opportunities relative to the plays we were wanting to run. It was really that.” Payton said.

***

Fourth-quarter outburst

The Broncos offense didn’t do much in the first three quarters against the Patriots. However, in the fourth quarter, they got this team back into the game. The Broncos are not built to play come-from-behind football, so it was a pleasant surprise to see them fight back after falling behind 23-7 in the third quarter.

The offense was jumpstarted early in the fourth quarter with a huge catch by rookie WR Marvin Mims Jr. His 47-yard catch was a thing of beauty, but Patriots HC Bill Belichick challenged the catch thinking it hit the ground. It did not, and the play stood with the Broncos on the Patriots’ 12-yard line. Just a few plays later, TE Lucas Krull was hauling in the first touchdown grab of his career. The Broncos went for the two-point conversion and got it, so they were down only eight points.

Denver’s defense got the ball back for the offense, and they marched down the field again with QB Russell Wilson dealing through the air. He struggled for most of the game as the Broncos were content with dinking-and-dunking their way down the field. In the fourth quarter, Wilson came to life and was tossing big passes to guys like WR Jerry Jeudy and WR Brandon Johnson. With just under three minutes left, Johnson caught and short pass and ended up scoring a 21-yard touchdown.

Payton explained what caused the outburst by his offense.

“The advantage we had towards the end was with the timeouts. We got zero blitzed a few times. They got us in third down. Clearly we had to punt it, and we still had the ability to stop the clock. We felt like we would get the stop. We were not able to. All of a sudden the script is flipped and it is one of those seven or eight things that I was discussing. It was a disappointing finish, but credit them. They made the plays they needed to and we were not able to.” Payton said.

***

Not playing for overtime

The Patriots got the ball back late in the fourth quarter, and with their first two plays it seemed like they were playing for overtime. They ran the ball twice with RB Ezekiel Elliott which gained seven yards. Payton called a timeout after each run, setting himself up to get another chance at winning the game in regulation if the team could stop the Patriots on third-and-three.

With 47 seconds left in the game, Patriots QB Bailey Zappe hit WR DeVante Parker for a 27-yard gain down the left sideline. Parker is a seasoned veteran, but at this point in his career, he’s an average starter. The play was a fade-stop, and the coverage was by CB Pat Surtain. That play flipped the field and just a few plays later the Patriots kicked the game-winning field goal.

Starting S Justin Simmons seemed dejected with the team’s execution after the game, and he was asked about what happened on that final Patriots drive.

“They got a first down, and once that happens they get time on the clock. They take a timeout and talk it over to get to this yard line and they got a chance to win it. Thank God we got a negative play during that first or second down. Maybe they try to get that two and win it there. But we didn’t execute with the defense down the stretch there.” Simmons said.

Follow @CecilLammey