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OLB Nik Bonitto 

In absentia, the second-year pass-rusher’s importance showed through clearly in the Motor City. Denver struggled to consistently heat up Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Nobody’s generated more consistent pressure for the Broncos than Bonitto, who missed the game due to a left knee injury sustained against the Los Angeles Chargers. None of the remaining offenses on the schedule pose the kind of every-down threat Goff and Detroit did, but even still, Denver should be hoping to get Bonitto back sooner rather than later. Head coach Sean Payton indicated Bonitto is not looking at an injured reserve stint, meaning he’s hopeful to play again in the regular season.

Blood pressure medicine 

For suspended Broncos safety Kareem Jackson, in particular. Jackson had every right to be furious as he watched a fourth straight game and sixth overall this season on television and saw Detroit rookie nickel Brian Branch lead into a fierce hit on tight end Adam Trautman with his helmet. It was clear head-to-head contact. No whistle. A similar argument could be made for a hit late in the game on Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy. Penalties and fines make players mad, but inconsistency is what drives them nuts. Jackson is nowhere near blameless in his own punishment, but if he got commissioner Roger Goodell’s cell number during that meeting a couple days ago, he’d have likely been tempted to drop the ol “WT_” text. He certainly didn’t hold back his feelings on social media. Branch will almost certainly incur a big fine for the hit, but it’s the kind of contact that can’t slip past the crews on the field, especially when they have help from an independent monitor and the league office in New York.

Takeaway importance 

Entering Saturday, Denver was 7-1 in games it won the turnover differential (plus-17) and 0-5 when it lost that battle (minus-11). Well, Russell Wilson fumbled on the Broncos’ fourth offensive snap of the night and Denver finished minus-1 for the night. That turnover wasn’t the reason Denver lost by 25 points, obviously, but the Broncos’ inability to take the ball away from Goff and company certainly played a role. Between Detroit’s third punt of the night with 5:04 left in the first quarter and their fourth with 9:18 to go, the Lions rolled to 372 net yards and five straight touchdowns.

Uh… urgency? 

Yeah, we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel here. It’s not so much because this was a world-ending loss. The opposite, in fact. The numbers 7-7 are far more important than 42-17. And even if the Broncos don’t reel off three straight wins and crack the playoffs, this won’t be the game to look back on and wonder what could have been. But missing the playoffs would be a disappointment given Denver’s good health, the quarterback issues elsewhere in the AFC and the flaws all the other contenders have shown. So now all that matters is whether Denver can dial it in and find three straight wins.

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ILB pair 

Alex Singleton and Josey Jewell are good players. There’s no doubt about it. But the same way their strengths play well together, their weaknesses overlap too much. They each struggle in coverage and teams with speed like Detroit’s are happy to exploit it. It’s not easy for anybody to handle that kind of combination of scheme, speed, space and balance. But the Broncos needed to find a way to take more of the middle of the field away and they just didn’t have the horses to get it done.

Tackling 

Early in the season, the Broncos really struggled to tackle. Opponent speed clearly has something to do with that – remember the scattered bodies on the turf against Miami? – but Vance Joseph’s group had really tightened up in that department over the past two months. Even when somebody missed, most of the time reinforcements were typically not far away. On Saturday night, it felt like Denver defenders were operating solo way too often. Jewell and Fabian Moreau missed particularly bad ones along the visiting sideline against super rookie tight end Sam LaPorta and receiver Amon Ra St. Brown, respectively.

Goal-to-go 

For most teams, first-and-goal is a good thing. For the Broncos this year, it’s been a struggle. They scored definitely once, maybe twice and maybe three times late in the third quarter Saturday night and still only came away with a field goal. Even when Denver converted from close range two other times, they only bumped their season average to 53.9% touchdowns, which is way behind the league average of 71.8%. Sounds like a broken record, but this is another metric which will play a role in whether Denver finds a way to get to 10-7.

Young guy avoidance 

It’s not entirely fair to judge against Detroit’s rookie class, which is already terrific and is shaping up to be a franchise-propelling group. All the same, the Broncos’ modest draft capital over the past couple of years felt more notable Saturday night as the young Lions roared. LaPorta and rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 164 offensive yards and five touchdowns. Linebacker Jack Campbell chipped in with five tackles in 33 snaps and Brian Branch played extensively at nickel. The Broncos on opening day had one of the NFL’s oldest rosters, a Sean Payton calling card when he was in New Orleans. They’ve got some contribution from rookies, but not a ton. Is there any kind of breakout coming?

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