Broncos defense left grasping again as concern rises

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Denver Broncos piled up points for the better part of 30 minutes of football Thursday at SoFi Stadium. For most of the season, such a rapid accumulation of offense would have been enough to power the team to a victory — and, in the case against the Los Angeles Chargers, what would have been the team’s most significant triumph since Super Bowl 50.

But December is not like the months that preceded it.

The potent and powerful defense has become porous, pockmarked by miscues that included some untimely penalties, two of which gave the Chargers first downs on consecutive second-half touchdown drives that turned an 11-point Broncos lead into a Los Angeles advantage that they wouldn’t relinquish.

From a 24-13 lead, the Broncos gave up touchdowns on three of their next four defensive series — surrendering more end-zone trips in barely one quarter of action — 15 minutes and 33 seconds — than it did in the final three games of November.

And for the second time in three games, the Broncos walked off the field having allowed 30-plus points, this time 34 in a 34-27 loss.

Seventeen days earlier, the Broncos had enough offense — and a boost from a defense that scored a pair of touchdowns itself — to overcome leaking points to the Cleveland Browns. But no such explosion came Thursday, and even though Denver cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine accounted for the night’s only takeaway with a touchdown-saving theft in the final 50 seconds before halftime, it was far from enough — and in fact set the stage for a bizarre end-of-half scenario that resulted in the NFL’s first fair-catch free-kick field goal in 48 years.

The game-management snafus that followed Abrams-Draine’s interception snagged the attention. They could be called a turning point, although that is debatable, since the Broncos offense began the second half by consuming 6 minutes and 29 seconds of clock on a 47-yard drive that ended in a Wil Lutz field goal.

But the more impactful turning point came on the following series, after Dondrea Tillman’s sack of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert put the Bolts into second-and-20. They still had third-and-13 when Herbert took off on a scramble and slid 6 yards short of the line to gain.

But Broncos linebacker Justin Strnad couldn’t hold up. His contact on Herbert was light. But it was enough to spur a drive-resuscitating flag.

“I think I barely hit him,” Strnad said. “I mean, he’s a huge quarterback. I’m getting ready to tackle him. He slides last second I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

One play later, Gus Edwards scored on a 5-yard touchdown run, and a 21-0 Chargers run that overturned the Broncos’ lead — and then some — was udner way.

And by the time Chargers running back Hassan Haskins galloped 34 yards through the bedraggled defense for what proved to be the game-clinching touchdown …

“t wasn’t good,” Sean Payton lamented, repeating for emphasis, “It wasn’t good.”

The thing is, it hasn’t been good all month.

AGAINST THE BRONCOS, JUSTIN HERBERT AND THE CHARGERS WERE GOOD ENOUGH TO SUCCEED WHERE CLEVELAND AND INDY FELL SHORT

Prior to Thursday, the Broncos had not faced a quarterback who could make them pay since seeing Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes on Nov. 10.

But the signs had been there in the previous two December games. And now, as the Broncos linger over a mini-bye with their first loss since before Thanksgiving, their defense carries a series of alarming numbers out of the last few weeks.

After giving up 1.58 touchdowns and 16.8 points per game through Week 12, the Broncos have allowed 3 touchdowns and 26.3 points per game in December. They’re allowing a full yard more per play — 1.04 yards, to be exact — this month than in the previous three. And over the course of a game, the Broncos are surrendering 140.8 more yards each outing in December than they did through the end of November.

They’ve played the month without Riley Moss, to be certain. But Moss’ absence doesn’t explain all of it.

Sure, Herbert is a top-drawer quarterback, and he lived up to P.J. Locke’s pregame praise of him.

“He has a cannon,” Locke said Tuesday. “I mean, he can make every throw. It don’t matter. He can run a deep out to the field, and the ball’s on the opposite hash, run a deep out to the field, can get that throw there.”

Thursday night, Herbert did all that, and in doing so, led the Chargers to their first season-series sweep of the Broncos since 2010 — a time so long ago that the franchise still had six seasons left in San Diego before moving northwest on the freeway.

“But as much as he’s a great quarterback, we know that we could have played better,” Cooper said. “We could have executed things better. Could have kept them in the pocket on one of those third downs.

“Yeah, I just think from a whole defensive standpoint, we could have just executed better in that second half.”

But unfortunately for Denver’s defense, it was more than just the second half. After forcing the Chargers into a game-opening three-and-out, the Denver offense marched 72 yards in 10 plays to a touchdown — and then the Chargers responded with an 8-play, 70-yard drive of their own to knot the score. Their next series covered 51 yards and ended in a field goal.

The Chargers fell short after that touchdown for the balance of the first half, but they were moving the ball – just like Cleveland did for most of the night on Dec. 2, and just like the Colts did in spurts last Sunday despite sporting the scattershot Anthony Richardson at quarterback.

Herbert is decidedly not Richardson, nor is he Browns quarterback Jameis Winston. And he succeeded where Richardson and Winston fell short.

And now, the Broncos may have to face that their defense is showing signs of wear after being so dominant for so long — and that their success algorithm may have to change — and change fast — in order to qualify for, and succeed in, the playoffs.

 

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