Clayton: The Broncos have devolved into a bit of a disaster

After having a September to remember with three wins against three teams that had combined nine wins last year, it’s now starting to turn into panic time for the Broncos.

They have now lost three straight games and things have gotten worse each week. Sunday’s 34-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Denver was a disaster.

Sure, there were plenty of problems on offense. But the bigger problem was on defense.

Derek Carr completed 18 of 27 passes for 341 yards and two scores. For the second straight week, the Broncos gave too many passes for big yards. They gave up three plays of 40 or more yards. The defense gave up seven of 25 or more yards. It was bad.

How does that happen against the most-talented secondary in football. The game was barely competitive.

The Broncos were behind 24-7 in the third quarter. To make matters worse, the Broncos lost another linebacker. Alexander Johnson tore a pec muscle and is done for the season.

Because they were behind the entire game, the Broncos were forced to pass the ball more and that turned out to be a disaster. Teddy Bridgewater had a bad game. He had to throw the ball 49 times and he ended up throwing three interceptions. He was sacked five times.

Face it, this was a disaster. There didn’t seem to be one element of the team that did well.

The key now is figuring out how to turn it around, but it will be tough. The Broncos have a Thursday night game against Cleveland. Their linebacker corp has been devastated. They won’t have inside linebacker Baron Browning because of a concussion.

On offense, left tackle Garett Bolles might not be able to play because of a knee injury. Things are in bad shape.

The Broncos have had an October to forget. And the month is only half over.