The Denver Broncos Falter Spectacularly In Week 2

There is no doubt that the Broncos’ defense is very good, but they have some real flaws. The main concern in this recent game against the Indianapolis Colts was the lack of ability to create pressure. Daniel Jones was kept upright pretty much all game long and was only taken down once.

This game felt similar to the playoff game against the Buffalo Bills from a defensive standpoint. The Bills, like the Colts, have a tremendous offensive line and a mobile quarterback. In that playoff game, Denver went into the game with a league-leading 63 sacks and struggled mightily to get to Josh Allen consistently. He had all day to throw in the pocket and picked apart the secondary, throwing for 272 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers.

In the Indianapolis game, Denver came off a game where they had six sacks against the Tennessee Titans. They just were unable to generate the same amount of pressure on Jones, and he threw for over 300 yards with two scores and no turnovers. The Broncos have to find a way to get to the quarterback against better teams.

Teams with great offensive lines and good quarterback play will find a way to solve blitzes. Once they do that, the secondary for the defense will be compromised, which is what happened. Riley Moss and Patrick Surtain were not up to par yesterday because Vance Joseph had to bring extra guys to rush to get any pressure, leaving the back end on islands.

The Denver defense can play well against 90% of the league, but it is not quite ready to compete with the upper echelon of teams yet. In order for that to happen, the front four needs to be better. Elite teams will make a blitz-heavy team pay 10/10 times.

Denver’s only sack of the day was off a blitz. In 2025, so far, the blitz rate has been at 50%. That number must come down a good amount.

Plethora Of Self-Inflicted Mistakes

The end of this game is something that the Broncos should never repeat. It began in the fourth quarter with just over 11:30 left in the fourth. Denver was up 28-23, facing third and three at the Colts 28 with a chance to go up 35-23 or 31-23.

The Broncos came away with no points as Bo Nix threw an interception. He has to be smarter and understand that the worst-case scenario has to be a field goal. This was the first part of the mistakes.

Later in the game, Denver was once again driving down the field. They stalled at Indianapolis’ 24-yard line and lined up to kick a field goal that would put them up 31-26. This would put Jones and the Colts in a much tougher spot, as they would have to drive the length of the field to win the game.

Wil Lutz ended up missing the 41-yard field goal. That cannot happen, and too many times as a Bronco, he has missed kicks when they absolutely needed them. Despite all that, Denver was still up two.

The Colts drove the ball down to the Broncos’ 42-yard line to set up for a game-winning field goal. The Denver defense deserves credit for not letting them get closer, and as a result, Indianapolis had to make a 60-yarder to win the game.

The odds of that happening are very slim. Kickers are getting better, but 60-yarders have only had a 38% success rate from 2019 to 2024. The data was proven right as Colts kicker, Spencer Shrader, lines it up and misses wide right.

The Broncos thought they had won the game. Oh, wait, there is a flag on the field. Denver has just been called for leverage, and the Colts get to kick it again, 15 yards closer.

For context, leverage is when the defender pins the center’s head down to gain an advantage to block the kick. This is a safety concern which is why it isn’t allowed. There were arguments on whether the call was good or not.

The main question should be why the defender was trying to make that type of play on a 60-yard field goal? The chance of that kick going in is slim. Just play it safe on defense and leave it up to chance.

Hats Off To Indiana Jones

Daniel Jones and his performance in these first two weeks deserve some praise. The Colts have opened up the season scoring on their first 10 possessions. They have not punted yet, and the only two times they didn’t score were two fourth-down failures at midfield.

Jones, in his two games with Indianapolis, has thrown for nearly 600 total yards and three total touchdowns, with no turnovers. His passer rating is at 111.1. He has a real chance to revive his career in a well-built franchise like the Colts.

Indianapolis runs the ball well and protects the quarterback at a high level. Could this be a similar story to what Sam Darnold did a year ago? Leave New York and play good football.

End Of My Denver Broncos Collapse Rant

It was a tough pill to swallow. This team has a lot of things to still figure out, but that doesn’t mean there were no positives. Nix looked much better than he did last week, tossing three touchdowns and playing a clean game for the most part.

Troy Franklin looks like he is ready for a big year two leap. He had 100 total yards and a score. The run game with JK Dobbins looks much more on point than last year.

They just need to clean the little things. At the end of the day, it’s only Week Two.