Mile High Report
Makes sense.
Reflecting on the loss to the Ravens and what the Broncos need to do to win the rest of the season, Sean Payton reiterated his trifecta of success on the field — run the ball well, defend the run well, win the turnover battle.
The Broncos really did none of those on Sunday:
The defense limited the Ravens to 127 yards rushing but gave up 106 of those, plus two rushing touchdowns, to one player — Derrick Henry, of course.
Of note, in all four of Denver’s losses this season, it has allowed at least 125 rushing yards to the opponent.
On the offensive side of the ball, Denver cobbled together 122 yards rushing, which isn’t too much less than its best games on the ground so far this season — Buccaneers (136 yards), Jets (126) and Saints (225).
But 36 of those ground gains came from quarterback Bo Nix. Take those away, and the rushing attack had under 100 yards. In the Broncos’ losses to the Seahawks and Steelers, they were also unable to get over the 100-yard hump.
And finally, the Broncos had one interception but no takeaways, putting them in a deficit for the turnover margin
According to denverbroncos.com, Denver is 5-0 when its winning or tying the turnover margin but 0-4 when losing that battle. Likewise, the Broncos are 5-1 this season when the defense forces a turnover but 0-3 when they don’t get any.
“The consistency of us offensively rushing the football efficiently [and] our continued success, prior to yesterday, at defending the run is going to be vital to this team winning,” Payton said. “We’re minus one right now in the turnover battle.”
The coach noted that only elite teams have been able to consistently win even without winning the turnover margin, the 2015 Broncos being one of them.
“If we’re having problems defending the run, or we’re having problems and not having the ability to blow the game down and play it on our terms, I think it’s going to be challenging for us to accomplish our goals,” Payton added.
At this point, the head coach is somewhat patient with those numbers (building a young team and all that).
But if he’s having the same gripes at the end of the season, that’s going to be a problem.
“If we’re having that discussion towards the end of the season, that’s not going to be good,” Payton added. “So that has to be something in our favor.”
Looking ahead to Kansas City, Payton’s theory likely holds up. if Broncos’ running backs can’t push through the Chiefs tough run defense at all, Denver’s d-line can’t stop Kareem Hunt, and the Brocos give the ball away more than they take it from the Chiefs, it will be another long afternoon.
“If we’re having problems defending the run, or we’re having problems and not having the ability to blow the game down and play it on our...
