In the Denver Broncos' 15-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, every issue with the offense was on full display, and for both quarterbacks. The Broncos' offensive line lost the game in the trenches early and often, making life difficult in running the ball and putting a lot of pressure on Teddy Bridgewater.
That made it difficult for Bridgewater to push the ball but that isn't his penchant anyway. However, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, and his hubris, is the biggest issue despite all of Denver's problems.
Shurmur displayed arrogance and terrible play-calling despite having both quarterbacks take the field, which hurt both guys. For a coach that only cares about wins and points, he sure likes to make life difficult on the quarterbacks trying to achieve that.
The first issue is Shurmur's insane usage of 11-personnel, which is middle-of-the-pack as far as NFL averages go, but the Broncos are one of the most inefficient teams in that grouping, which is what makes his usage of it so mystifying. Denver has much lower effectiveness out of 11-personnel groupings.
The Broncos allow more sacks, have a lower success rate, average fewer yards per rush, and score fewer points. Shurmur cares about winning and points but doesn't want to call plays out of personnel groupings that his guys execute well?
When the Broncos work out of 12, 13, 21, or 22-personnel, they have a much higher EPA and are more efficient. But, unfortunately, the hubris of the coordinator gets in the way of what is best for the team.
To add to the issues, when Drew Lock entered the game, Shurmur called a bad run/pass option in the red zone that resulted in the ball being stripped from the QB and recovered by Cincy. Denver had to score points in that situation and failed, which was the game's turning point.
There is no denying that Lock made a terrible read on the play to keep the ball. It was poorly executed, but that doesn't mean it was a bad call. In each game Lock has taken the field, we have seen an RPO called, and not once has Lock made the correct read.
So when the offensive coordinator has plenty of evidence that the play type doesn't work with the quarterback in question, and he continues to call it, it's negligent. In a game with significant playoff implications, Shurmur called a bad play at a terrible time.
This loss doesn't erase the Broncos' playoff hopes, but it may as well have. Maybe that's a good thing because Denver has to change its coaching staff.
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