These networks need to fire the guy who is putting the Broncos on every primetime game. The Denver Broncos and their offense has failed to impress once again under the primetime spotlight as they lost 12-9 to the Indianapolis Colts.
What an awful game. Is it just me or has EVERY SINGLE primetime game this season on all of the networks (NBC, Amazon Prime, ESPN, and ABC) has either been a massive blowout, an unwatchable, 1950’s defensive slog, or some horrific injury occurs that ruins the fun and competitiveness of the game.
Though, I probably feeling this way because the Broncos and their utterly incompetent offense has been shoved down our throats this season.
Seriously, the Broncos have been in how many primetime games? 3? They were on Monday Night Football against the Seahawks; they were on Sunday Night Football against the 49ers in that 11-10 game, and now they have just disgraced out screens again with this 12-9 loss to the Colts.
How many times does Denver have to stink out the joint until the network heads realize they need to shift them out of the primetime slot? Apart from the three touchdowns the Broncos scored 32-23 loss to the Raiders last week, they have only scored three touchdowns in 4 games.
That’s embarrassing. And so was the performance they put in last night.
I’ve got to be honest, aside from the heroic defensive performances by both teams, there’s nothing I can talk about from this game. The Broncos and Colts were just horrible on every single possession.
Whether it was that Colts drive that made it to the Denver 15-yard line only to get then sacked all the way back to the 40-yard line, or the Broncos drive that could have sealed the game, but Russell Wilson threw an INT in the endzone, there was nothing but incompetence displayed by both teams.
Still, I’ll give Matt Ryan (26/41, 251 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT) a little credit for his 2-minute field goal drive to tie the game at 9, and then his ensuing field goal drive to put the Colts up by 3 in OT, as he was getting smacked by the Broncos D-Line all night long.
How was he really supposed to lead the offense when the offensive line gave up 7 TFL, 12 QB hits, and 6 sacks? LB Bradly Chubb (2.5 sacks) and DE Baron Browning (1.5 sacks) were all over Ryan on practically every single play!
Now, I’ll also give Russell Wilson a small break as he faced similar pressure as the Colts defense racked up 4 TFL, 8 QB hits, and 4 sacks of their own. Still, he made some awful reads that cost the Broncos the game.
Even though the INT to Stephon Gilmore just before the 2-minute warning gave the Colts a lifeline back into the game, Russell Wilson’s incompletion on 4th and 1 in overtime to lose the game was a worse throw in my opinion.
Only needing one yard to extend the drive (and the game by that point as the Colts had already scored a field goal), Wilson disregarded all of his reads and force-fed the ball to Cortland Sutton into the end zone…even though he was covered by the former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore.
Obviously, Gilmore broke up the pass and won the game for the Colts, but what made this play worse was the fact that WR K.J. Hamler was WIDE OPEN in the end zone. All Russell Wison had to do was turn his head to his right and throw the ball to Hamler as the WR completely blew past his defender for an easy TD.
It’s throws like that which have me really wondering about the logic behind keeping the Russell Wilson-Nathaniel Hackett fit in Denver. Simply put, these two cannot coexist as they really bring out the worst in each other.
Wilson looks like a shell of his former self as he is constantly missing throws and force-feeding the ball into tight coverage, while Hackett has floundered with calling appropriate plays for an offense led by Russell Wilson. Nathainel, you can’t still call plays that would work with Aaron Rodgers. You’re not coaching him anymore!
At this point, I’m not sure how the Broncos will be able to turn their season around without firing Hackett. He’s looked like a Pop Warner coach trying to manage professionals, while also just learning how the game of football is played.
In other words, he’s terrible. And he will sink the Broncos season if they don’t get rid of him soon
As for the Colts, they’re in the same boat as the Broncos as Matt Ryan is not the guy to lead this team to the playoffs. With his throwing velocity wanning every week, and his offensive line allergic to protecting him, the Colts will be lucky to end this season with 6 wins.
Man, both these teams had such high hopes with their expensive quarterback ‘upgrades’. Well, it’s probably for the best that we don’t mention that they have given up their first-round picks for such ineptitude.
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