INDIANAPOLIS — The Broncos dropped to 1-1 with a stunning, 29-28 walk-off loss to Indianapolis when Spencer Shrader made a 45-yard field goal on an untimed down. Here are seven thoughts in the aftermath.
1. The Broncos defense did not have its finest day and could really have used ILB Dre Greenlaw
No two ways around it, this will go down as a bad day for defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and company.
The Colts threw it early, ran it late and racked up 473 total yards of offense in the process.
A week after Denver allowed 133 yards total to Tennessee, Indianapolis raced out to 162 in the first quarter alone.
It wasn’t all bad, of course. The Broncos stopped Indy twice on fourth down around midfield and they came up with four red zone stops, too.
The overarching issue: Indianapolis drove the ball into the red zone a half dozen times because Denver did little to slow down quarterback Daniel Jones (316 yards), running back Jonathan Taylor (215 total offensive yards), rookie tight end Tyler Warren (four catches for 79) and a fast, versatile set of receivers who gave the Broncos’ vaunted secondary a run for its money in man coverage.
Perhaps most concerning: Through two games, Denver’s defense looks susceptible to the same things it struggled with last year. Namely: Tight ends and running backs who can do damage in different ways.
Put another way: This would have been a really good week to have a healthy Dre Greenlaw (quad).
Perhaps Greenlaw will be back on the field for Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers. And perhaps he’ll stay healthy for a good, long run and will provide the kind of athletic presence the Broncos are currently missing in the middle of the field.
Until both of those things become a reality, though, Denver’s got warts it has to try to mask.
Taylor and Warren combined for three plays alone that accounted for 152 yards.
Taylor’s 68-yarder included some shoddy tackling and then his trademark breakaway speed, but the two big plays in the passing game are perhaps more indicative of Denver’s trouble spots.
Warren got open for a 41-yard completion early in the game when he ran up the field and split right between Denver’s linebacker pair of Justin Strnad and Alex Singleton. Both took steps forward like they were going to cover Taylor in the flat, and nobody bailed out to run with Warren. The No. 14 overall pick in April’s draft out of Penn State, Warren galloped free and easy through the secondary before finally getting pushed out of bounds. Indy settled for a field goal on that first-quarter drive.
Taylor hauled in a 43-yard wheel route from Jones in the second quarter in which he found himself wide open. Singleton was hauling out to the flat to try to provide coverage, but he got caught up in the wash of a crossing receiver and defensive back en route. Whether he’d have got there in time to make the play anyway is an open question, but regardless Taylor found himself all alone. Jones punched in a 1-yard touchdown to cap that drive.
Overall the Broncos’ defense gave up four plays of 40-plus yards, a bad mark in general.
The fact that three of them came from players who operate in the middle of the field — the territory the Broncos thought they were hardening when they added Greenlaw on a three-year deal (though it’s really a one-year, $11.5 million commitment) can be seen two ways.
Perhaps it’s a limited-time worry until the former San Francisco enforcer is patrolling the middle next to Singleton.
Or perhaps it’s more of a wish than a plan that Greenlaw gets healthy and provides a solution to an issue that’s no longer a new one for Joseph’s defense.
2. Outside of a dominant season-opener, this has become something dangerously resembling a trend for Joseph’s group
Points and yardage totals for the Broncos’ past seven regular-season and postseason games, not including a Week 18 outing against Kansas City’s scout team:
Dec. 2 vs. Cleveland: 32 points, 552 yards
Dec. 15 vs. Indy: 13 points, 310 yards
Dec. 19 at L.A. Chargers: 34 points, 380 yards
Dec. 28 at Cincinnati: 30 points, 499 yards
Jan. 12 at Buffalo: 31 points, 477 yards
Sept. 7 vs. Tennessee: 12 points, 133 yards
Sept. 14 at Indy: 29 points, 473 yards
There are caveats, of course. The games are across two seasons. They featured some different personnel and different game situations. The Bengals game featured more than 100 yards in overtime — which could have been avoided one way or another had the Broncos gone for two after a miraculous last-second touchdown. Opposing quarterbacks on the list include Josh Allen, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert.
Nonetheless, here are the averages for those seven games: 25.9 points and 403.4 yards. Those marks in 2024 would have been 29th and 31st, respectively, in the NFL.
So much of success in the NFL defensively is about takeaways, third downs and the red zone. The Broncos have been good across the board in those departments, particularly the red zone. They’ve allowed two touchdowns in eight tries for opponents so far this year. Continued success there will keep Denver in a lot of games. At the same time, though, this group needs a couple of overall stingy outings to keep from consistently being on the high wire.
3. Two games in, Darren Rizzi’s special teams groups have a concerning level of critical mistakes
The Broncos’ special teams work so far under new coordinator Darren Rizzi has been a mixed bag at best.
In Week 1, Denver gave up a 71-yard kick return to Chimere Dike right before the half that allowed Tennessee to kick a field goal.
Sunday against the Colts, a 15-yard penalty on Dondrea Tillman turned a 60-yard prayer of a game-winner into a much more manageable 45-yarder, which Spencer Shrader made.
Even keeping Wil Lutz’s missed 42-yarder in the fourth quarter Sunday and Marvin Mims Jr.’s muffed punt in Week 1 out of the equation — no play is solely on one player, but Lutz said the operation Sunday was clean and Mims flat-out dropped a punt for the first time as a pro — that’s too many high-profile errors.
Denver really only had one big gaffe last year — the blocked field goal against Kansas City — and it was a crusher. They had a systemic protection issue that finally got exposed, they fixed it and it wasn’t a problem again.
Still, Mike Westoff left the next week to address a health issue with his eyes and Ben Kotwica was fired after the season.
Rizzi, of course, has an impressive resume and a deep history with Payton.
For a team that prides itself on being superior in preparation and detailed work, though, the Tillman penalty is inexcusable.
Shrader, a 2024 undrafted free agent, entered Sunday 9 of 9 in his career but had never attempted a field goal longer than 48 yards in the NFL. That’s not to say you shouldn’t put a rush on him at all. But drawing an over-aggressive, poor-technique personal foul on a 60-yard attempt for a guy trying a field goal 12 yards longer than any attempt in his career is akin to fouling a basketball player heaving a three-quarters court shot at the buzzer while trailing by two. If it goes in, you live with it. But you absolutely cannot foul the guy.
Tillman explained that he was just attempting to do what he’d been coached to do on the play. When pressed about his specific role in the call sent in from the sideline, Tillman said, “Just try to make a play. That’s really what it is at the end of the day.”
Tillman did put his left hand on the back of the Colts’ right guard as he leaped, though he didn’t do so with much force. Below, Eyioma Uwazurike’s arms got on the long-snapper’s back and appeared to push him down. That also can be a leverage penalty.
“You can’t do that to the long-snapper,” Payton said after the game, adding that his understanding before seeing the video was that the officials had called the penalty on Uwazurike. That’s how referee Craig Wrolstad announced the call on the field before telling a pool reporter later the call was, in fact, on Tillman.
Either way, there were two instances squarely in the middle of a very low-probability kick that invited scrutiny. That’s coaching and situational awareness.
The Broncos special teams units have improved in a couple of ways on the fly under Rizzi. They covered kicks much better Sunday — no touchbacks for Lutz on five kickoffs, and the Broncos netted 25 yards of field position compared to taking touchbacks. Not only that, but rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw is off to a terrific start after an up-and-down preseason. His three punts Sunday pinned Indianapolis at its own 15, 7 and 8-yard lines, and all six of his punts so far have put the opponent inside the 20-yard line.
Overall, though, the Broncos’ special teams units have been a liability as often as an asset so far.
4. For a second week in a row, the coach on the opposing sideline provided a “WTH” moment. This time, the Broncos couldn’t capitalize.
Never go full Hackett. Among many more alluring goals in the head coaching business, that should be a minimum.
Shane Steichen on Sunday called a great game for the Colts offensively, but man, what on Earth was he thinking down the stretch?
As already established, he’s got a young kicker who’s never attempted a 50-yard field goal. On first-and-10 from the Denver 43-yard line with 1:44 to play, Steichen called three straight runs up the gut and burned the clock all the way down. The third-down run from Taylor lost two yards and turned a 58-yarder into a 60-yarder.
The kick, obviously, came up well short before the Broncos’ penalty. That, quite literally, is on par with Hackett opting to try a 64-yard field goal with Brandon McManus in Seattle in Week 1 of the 2022 season.
It came a week after, among other things, Tennessee coach Brian Callahan mismanaged the clock late in the first half and handed the Broncos a possession on which they promptly scored a touchdown. Later, he admitted he didn’t know that an elbow down inbounds counted as two feet and thus decided not to challenge a deep ball completion to Elic Ayomanor that likely would have been overturned to a catch.
Next up on the schedule: Jim Harbaugh. Betting he doesn’t make any egregious errors like those.
Among a lot of things the Broncos have control over in their own play, they’ll rue that they only took advantage of one instance of an opposing coach handing them a gift in a big spot in the first two weeks.
5. Here’s one interesting note on the stadium announcement front from this past week.
Tuesday morning around 8 a.m., Broncos owners Greg Penner and Carrie Walton-Penner, president Damani Leech and a couple of others set up shop in a conference room in the team’s facility and started working through an extensive call list.
They called city council members, neighborhood group leaders, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, chamber of commerce types, officials from Lone Tree and Aurora and more.
The Penners have continued making calls in the days since the announcement as they set out into what is likely to be a year-plus of largely community and political conversations, processes and eventually city council votes.
“We’re going to be open and transparent about what we’re trying to do, and we want their input,” Greg Penner told The Post on Tuesday. “We think we’ve got some interesting ideas to think about with access in that area and improving, in conjunction with the city and state, roads and trail access, obviously there’s transit there. We think these conversations we’re going to have with these neighborhood groups, that they’ll end up looking at this as a real positive for their area.”
Irwin Kishner is the co-chair of the sports law group at Herrick Feinstein law firm in New York and has overseen more than a dozen stadium projects throughout his career. He told The Post in recent days that how ownership groups start off with local constituent groups can set the tone for the whole process and that getting off to a good start can be beneficial when the inevitable wrinkles, twists and turns in the process arrive.
“The local political machine needs to be on board with this in a very meaningful and committed way,” Kishner said. “If you don’t have that, that’s when things get kind of wonky. If you do have that, things can go well. There’s always going to be lefts and rights and middle turns and so on and so forth as this process unfolds. You hit a dinosaur graveyard or something as you put shovels down or you notice some terrible pollution or whatever, there’s always something.”
6. The top of the Broncos’ WR room is pretty set, but it’s possible Pat Bryant is going to work his way more into the picture
Sean Payton came out of the season-opener with a couple of notes for himself regarding playing time.
Namely: He didn’t like the fact that rookie Pat Bryant got only four offensive snaps in the opener.
Bryant, the third-round pick, got more run Sunday and took advantage.
The 6-foot-2 receiver out of Illinois caught two of his three targets for 18 yards and generated first downs on each.
They both came in the middle of the field and the second was a hard-nosed catch in traffic to get just enough for a first-down on third-and-6.
Bryant told The Post during the week that he’d heard Payton talk about his playing time and appreciated the vote of confidence.
“It means a lot, honestly, knowing he’s got faith in me to be ready and that I can come into the game and contribute,” Bryant said. “But I wasn’t really stressin’ about it. First game of the season, I understand my role and they’re coming off last year and trying to get things straight — first game of the season, you’re trying to figure out your identity, who you are and trying to get the wrinkles out just a little bit.”
Veteran Trent Sherfield has taken Bryant under his wing and said recently he’s been imploring the young receiver to be ready to jump into the fray, even if playing time is scarce early in the season.
“When my time comes — and it’s going to come — I’m not a guy who’s really going to pressure anybody into that,” Bryant said. “Whenever you feel like it’s my time to go in, I’m going to go out there and take advantage of it. … God forbid somebody gets hurt, I’ve got to be ready to step up. That’s how I approach it: Always have to be ready. So I’ve kept that mindset – studying the offense, keeping my head in the books and just waiting on my opportunities.”
Bryant was one of five pass-catchers with multiple receptions against Indianapolis. Conspicuously not on that list: Tight end Evan Engram (one catch for 12 yards) and receiver Courtland Sutton (one for 6).
7a. The Broncos got cooked by Daniel Jones in a way that very few quarterbacks have managed in the past two-plus seasons.
The Indianapolis quarterback averaged 12.4 yards per attempt in the first half and finished the game with 9.3. The Broncos not only haven’t been shredded like that often under Vance Joseph the past two seasons, but on the rare occasion it’s happened the games have careened out of Denver’s reach. The only two times since the start of the 2023 season that the Broncos have allowed more than 10 yards per attempt over an entire game were the 70-20 debacle in Miami (13.4) and a 41-10 loss to Baltimore last fall (14.2). Instead of allowing that to continue after halftime Sunday, though, the Broncos limited Jones to 5.5 in the second half.
Still, 9.3 per attempt for Jones represents the fourth-most in a game against Denver since Joseph took over as coordinator.
7b. Runnin’ the dang ball still works. The Broncos kind of showed it. The Colts really showed it.
If you can run the ball, you’re likely to be in games. The Colts have proven better at running it against the Broncos the past two seasons than just about anybody. Indianapolis leaned on Taylor again Sunday and this time he didn’t fumble the game away at the goal line. Taylor rolled up 165 yards, the Indianapolis offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage for big swaths of the game and in the process the home team powered its way to 167 rushing yards Sunday against the Broncos.
The Broncos gave up 171 or more yards six times in the 2023 season but a year ago didn’t allow more than 149. That game? Indianapolis in Week 15 at Empower Field. That game would have felt much different had Taylor not let go of the ball at the goal line, leading to a turnover rather than a touchdown run. He was more sure-handed this time around, including on a 68-yard rumble that set up a Colts field goal in the fourth quarter.
7c. It’s been an adventurous start to the season for running back J.K. Dobbins.
The back is a clear upgrade at the top of the Broncos’ room, but he’s had a couple of can’t-make-em mistakes, too. He had a miscommunication with Nix on what side to go to on Nix’s strip sack in the opener. Then Sunday, he got a delay-of-game penalty for spiking the ball and also wasn’t ready for a snap because he was pointing at the defense trying to implore the officials to call a neutral zone infraction. Both led to broken plays.