The good, the bad and the ugly from the Broncos loss to the Raiders

The Broncos tried their best but fell short by a score of 32-31 against the Raiders in Week 17. They did play a clean game on offense. For the first time since Week 1, quarterback Drew Lock did not have any turnovers. With 31 points posted, the offense scored about 11 points more than their season-long average. They did enough on that side of the ball, but once again the Broncos defense let them don.

Denver only won one game against an AFC West opponent this year, and that shows just how far this team has to go before they can even compete for a wild card berth. In order to get where they want to be, a lot of work must be done by the front office with key decisions to make in free agency and the draft.
Broncos head coach Vic Fangio has optimism heading into the offseason.

“I think the optimism comes from getting a bunch of these guys back that have been injured and missed a lot of time. That will be a good place to start. We have a lot of young players that got valuable playing time that will grow from this. For them being able to watch cutups and film of themselves for 16 games, they will benefit from that greatly and we will have the second year of our offense that will let those guys grow even more,” Fangio said.

So, where do the Broncos go from here? Up next, the Broncos begin their offseason program with more questions than answers. It’s going to be a long offseason with many changes to come on both sides of the ball. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from the Week 17 loss.

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The Good

Last week, Broncos rookie wide receiver Jerry Jeudy had a terrible game with six dropped passes. Before the game against the Raiders, I wondered how Jeudy would bounce back. I also wondered if quarterback Drew Lock would force-feed Jeudy the ball like he did in Week 16 or would Jeudy’s poor performance cause Lock to shy away from him.

While he didn’t get 15 targets like he did against the Chargers, Jeudy did receive seven targets that he turned into five receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown. A large chunk of that yardage total came on one play – the longest pass play of the season in the NFL – a 92-yard catch-and-run where Jeudy finally flashed his big-play ability.

Jeudy finishes his rookie season with 52 catches for 856 yards and three touchdowns. Sure, he’s not having a season like Vikings rookie wide receiver Justin Jefferson is (more than 1,400 yards), but that doesn’t mean Jeudy is a bust. Jeudy needs to play better, but at least in Week 17 we got to see what kind of player he could be in the NFL.

Lock had no doubt that his rookie receiver would respond with a big game.

“I knew Jerry can come out and do this. I knew he was going to come out and do this. He had a rough one. He had a rough one against the Chargers and we knew he’d come back out here. There was no doubt in my mind I was going to zing the ball right to him in this game. There was no hesitation with it. I trust Jerry with the ball and I’m always going to.” Lock said.

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The Bad

There was little chance the Broncos would stop Raiders tight end Darren Waller on Sunday. He’s one of the best players in the league at his position, and Waller made his presence felt against the Broncos. Waller tore up the Broncos defense, scoring the game-winning two-point conversion while also compiling nine catches for 117 yards and one touchdown.

It didn’t matter who the Broncos had covering Waller, he was going to make a big play when the team needed him to. The Broncos tried to have safety Will Parks cover Waller and that didn’t work. The team also tried to have cornerbacks, like rookie Parnell Motley, cover Waller and that didn’t work either. Waller is big, fast and physical – a combination that makes him incredibly tough to cover. A converted wide receiver from Georgia Tech, Waller took a few years to get up to speed in his new position.

Waller was a 1,000-yard receiver last year, and this season he set a team record with 105 receptions. That’s not only a record for the tight end position (Waller already passed Todd Christensen’s old record of 95 receptions), but that 105 mark passed wide receiver Tim Brown’s 104 reception season from 1997.

After the game, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden commented on Waller’s new record.

“I know Tim Brown, and I’ve got a great history with him. I know what an unbelievable player he was. When you start throwing around Tim Brown’s name, and you say, ‘Breaking Tim Brown’s record,’ you’re in rare territory. And then Josh Jacobs going over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, first time since Marcus Allen, it excites me to hear those names again. And then Derek Carr throwing for over 4,000 yards, first time anyone’s ever done that in Raider history. And (Daniel Carlson) broke Sebastian Janikowski’s all-time record. There were some positive things that happened this season, and I’m going to enjoy the moment,” Gruden said.

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The Ugly

It was a mixed bag for rookie cornerback Michael Ojemudia in 2020. He was thrust into the starting lineup earlier in the season, but Ojemudia was not ready. The third-round pick was benched after some time, but he was back in the starting lineup due to injuries at the position.

Since his return to the lineup, Ojemudia has had some trouble in coverage here and there. His tackling has been an issue but that can only be fixed if he’s on the field as there is no tackling practiced in today’s NFL.

Tackling was not an issue against the Raiders. Ojemudia had some big hits in the game against the Raiders, knocking a player like wide receiver Henry Ruggs III from the contest for a period of time. After the game, Ojemudia talked about his history as a big-hitter.

“Yeah. Ever since high school, it’s been my mentality, so it kind of sloped this year, but I just wanted to make a statement this game,” Ojemudia said.

So now, Ojemudia takes the valuable experience gained as a rookie and will move into his first offseason as a pro. Ojemudia has the skill set to be a good fit in Vic Fangio’s system. Expect the Broncos to add a cornerback in the 2021 NFL Draft, likely with their No. 9 overall pick in the first round.
Ojemudia had an honest assessment of his rookie season.

“From the start to the end, (there have) been a lot of ups and downs. I’m a fighter. Adversity always made me better and obviously I wanted things to go a little differently for most of the season, but just finishing like that, I just want to build off of it,” Ojemudia said.

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