Three things the Broncos need to do to get a win in the season finale

The Broncos return home for a divisional game against the Raiders in the regular season finale. Of course, there are no playoff games for this team once again, as they haven’t made the postseason since the magical run to Super Bowl 50 back in 2015.

The playoff drought continuing is the most disappointing occurrence for the Broncos this season. There was hope they could make the postseason, especially with the expanded format, but now they’re just looking to try and win their sixth game of the year. The Broncos got walloped by the Raiders 37-12 back in Week 10.

Broncos head coach Vic Fangio sees a lot of the same things he saw from the Raiders when the two teams met back in mid-November.

“Not a lot different. They’re having a great season offensively. They’ve got some great players. You have (Darren) Waller at tight end who’s having a phenomenal season, Josh Jacobs who’s having a great season. (Derek Carr) has always been good; he’s a great passer. Hunter Renfrow has really emerged for these guys and playing well. Nelson Agholor has played great for them. They have a good o-line; they’ve really had a great season offensively and their special teams is a really good team too. I think their defense has improved in the last couple of weeks and they’re playing much better,” Fangio said.

The Broncos want to finish this disappointing season on a high note. They can beat the Raiders, but it is not a given with the way they’ve played this year. Here are three things the Broncos must do to beat the Raiders.

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Continue Playing Well Up Front

The Broncos offensive line isn’t the problem it used to be. In fact, that unit has become a strength of the team in 2020. Not much has gone right for the Broncos this year, but the direction of the o-line trending upwards is a big positive.

The Broncos offense is a big problem for the team, as they don’t move the ball well and they certainly don’t score enough points. Add in the problems that quarterback Drew Lock has had with turnovers, and you can see how this offense holds the team down.

By playing well up front, the Broncos minimize the problems that have plagued them this year. If they block well, they’ll run the ball well and that helps simplify things for Lock. Protecting the quarterback with quality play from the offensive line also reduces the chances that Lock will throw an interception.

Lock hasn’t played a game without a turnover since Week 1 against the Titans. It would be nice if he finished the season without an interception or fumble lost against the Raiders. In order to do that, the guys up front have to do their job.

Fangio was asked about the recent play of the offensive line earlier in the week.

“I think the units come along well. It’s a young unit. We got a rookie center, a second year left guard, Garett (Bolles) is still a young player. We’ve had Graham (Glasgow) in and out of there in that timeframe that you’re talking about, and we’ve had Elijah [Wilkinson] and/or Calvin (Anderson) playing some of those games too along with (Demar Dotson). I think the o-line’s had a good season in that regard. I think we’ve been able to improve our run blocking and pass blocking. I think it’s a good credit to those guys and the work and the commitment they’ve had to it, and it’s a good credit to Mike (Munchak) and (Chris Kuper) in their leadership in coaching the o-line,” Fangio said.

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Get the Ball to Timmy Pats

The Broncos tried to force-feed the ball to rookie wide receiver Jerry Jeudy last week against the Chargers, and that plan failed miserably. Jeudy was targeted 15 times and dropped four to six passes. The drops clearly got to him as he was visibly frustrated on the sidelines. Jeudy and Lock are working on their chemistry and they showed last Sunday why that process is going to take more time.

Instead of forcing the ball to Jeudy, the Broncos should focus their attention on getting the rock to Tim Patrick as much as possible against the Raiders. Lock has no problem finding Patrick when he’s in trouble, and Patrick’s “my ball” mentality means that he’s going to catch passes that other receivers just let slip away.

The Broncos have been developing Patrick for a few years as a reserve player. He is big, fast and physical but he needed to refine the parts of his game like route-running. That’s something Patrick has done (and then some) this season.

Patrick knows why he saw an uptick in production in 2020.

“Definitely opportunity plays a big part, but just my mentality coming into this year. After going into my second year, you just build more confidence the more you play. I got put in a situation where I was able to play a lot more, so I was able to learn a lot more. My whole mindset, I had a routine this year that I stuck to the whole year and I think that’s a big part of some of my successes this year too,” Patrick said.

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Go for 1,000 with Gordon

Melvin Gordon is only 107 yards away from the second 1,000-yard rushing mark of his career and the Broncos should try to get him there on Sunday. He was signed this offseason to be the lead back for the Broncos, and the team signed him to a deal that made him the sixth-highest paid running back in the league (at that time) in terms of annual average salary.

Not only was Gordon signed to be the lead back, but he was signed to essentially replace back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher (and fan favorite) Phillip Lindsay. Earlier in the season, Lindsay was running better than Gordon and this move looked to be a mistake. However, after multiple injuries stunted Lindsay’s production, we saw Gordon finally take over and take charge in the backfield.

In fact, Gordon has looked good for at least the last month or so. He’s running hard and producing with a larger workload. He’s basically showing off during that time why the Broncos felt so strongly about signing him. In order to beat the Raiders, a big game from Gordon is needed.

Fangio knows what it would mean to the offense if Gordon eclipsed that mark for the 2020 season.

“I think it’d be great if he got to 1,000 yards and that was a part of a victory for us. We like Melvin, he’s a good running back, he was a good running back before we got him and he’s still a good running back. He runs hard. He’s a very good back in this league. He was before and he still is,” Fangio said.

Carrying momentum from one year to another happens all the time in the league. It would be great for Gordon to reach that mark so he can build momentum for the 2021 season and hopefully get off to a faster start next year.

Fangio believes momentum can be carried over.

“You always want to get a good jump into the next season, and he’s played well enough. He should feel good about it. For any player, the new season starts a new season and he’s going to have to work really hard in the offseason to get his body right — to get in the optimal shape that he can get in to be a running back in the league and the grind that it is for those guys. To me, it’s a new season moving forward that starts for a guy like Melvin, especially as you get to his age. He’s not old, but he has to do a great job of taking care of his body,” Fangio said.

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