For as much as Sunday’s loss to the Jets got away from Denver in the second half, the Broncos squandered a pair of golden opportunities before that.
They moved the ball inside New York’s 5-yard line on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter, only to settle for field goals on both occasions.
Offense gets tougher in the red zone because of the condensed space, but Denver’s performance Sunday wasn’t good enough.
The first play of the second quarter came on a first-and-goal from the 5, and a fly sweep to receiver Jerry Jeudy got shut down for minus-2 yards. From there, Samaje Perine got back to the 5-yard line, and then it appeared quarterback Russell Wilson either checked into a quarterback draw at the line of scrimmage or pretended to change the play with a draw already called. Either way, it had no chance of succeeding. The Jets played a lot of man coverage early on, creating rushing lanes for Wilson. On this play, however, New York’s linebackers had eyes on him and stopped him for no gain.
Later in the quarter, running back Jaleel McLaughlin lost three yards on a second-and-goal snap from the 5 and Denver again settled for a short Wil Lutz field goal.
The game looks entirely different at 21-8 with a pair of red zone touchdowns than it did at 13-8.
“Obviously you have to run the ball well in the red zone,” coach Sean Payton said Monday. “Any good red zone offense is able to run the ball as well as throw it. … Going into the game, we knew that was going to be an important number for us, so it was frustrating. But nonetheless, generally speaking, to be good and efficient in the red zone, your running game has to be efficient.”
The Broncos have scored 10 touchdowns in 18 red zone trips this year, about middle of the pack in the NFL. They scored touchdowns on six of their first seven tries this year and since are 4-of-11.
Injury update. The Broncos didn’t practice Monday, but they estimated that had they been on the field, defensive lineman D.J. Jones (knee) is the only player who would have been held out of practice entirely.
Jones played 12 snaps Sunday but wasn’t in on New York’s two-minute drive late in the first half. He didn’t return to the game, though he was on the Denver sideline without his helmet. He didn’t have a brace on or any other noticeable treatment in the postgame locker room.
The rest of Denver’s injury report: OLB Baron Browning (knee) and RB Javonte Williams (quad) would have been limited along with a trio of players who played Sunday in S Justin Simmons (hip/groin), C Lloyd Cushenberry (quad) and DT Mike Purcell (ribs).
Payton on Mims. Payton said he didn’t think rookie receiver Marvin Mims Jr. was at fault on the trick play that resulted in a fumble, indicating the toss on a reverse from running back Samaje Perine was the problem.
As for Mims’ second straight week with a fumble in the return game, Payton said the rookie would be coached hard, but not taken off the job.
“We’re going to continue to grind with him and those decisions as to, ‘Hey, do I fair catch it or do I not?’ But he’s too big of a threat for us,” Payton said. “I’m sure it’s something that weighs on him and yet, I don’t want to take the stinger or aggressiveness away from him.”
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
