Can I...can I really believe again? Two whole quarters of great football and the Broncos looked competent, even dominated the team that was supposed to blow them out of the water. 23-point lead at halftime? Maybe they CAN do this!
...then I remembered the way they've been playing in the second half. And they played the exact same way. And blew a 23-point lead. And lost. It was like the teams that left the field at the half switched places and reemerged in the others' uniforms. I don't know what bodysnatching, midwestern hocus pocus Minnesota summoned, but it worked, and in both directions.
Dammit.
How do you blow a 23-point lead to a team you shut out in the first half? You fail to score. At all. You fail to convert third downs. You fail to stop the offense you had arrested completely just 20 minutes ago. Both defenses were their opposites in the second half. Both offenses were their opposites in the second half.
What. The. Fuck?
Denver had so many opportunities to win this game. If they had scored a TD instead on just one of their field goals (or attempts, ahem). If they had scored a TD instead of throwing an interception off the fumble. Even in the last seconds, the last play, the last few plays, they had a chance, but they didn't succeed.
Brandon Allen's numbers weren't as good in this game, but my biggest problem with his play is how easy he is to read. Watch that final drive again, just the red zone play—the Vikings defenders knew exactly where Allen was going to throw the ball, and they covered each receiver accordingly. If he didn't telegraph the play directly to the defense, they might have a chance.
And then...WTF happened to the defense? I know Minnesota made adjustments during the half—did Denver not anticipate the adjustments they would make? Did they not know how to make adjustments on the sideline? Did someone spike their gatorade with Ativan? ALL of that satisfaction (rather smug, I will admit) from watching Denver perform how we KNOW THEY CAN...then they get smashed all over the field.
I know there were some injuries, but most had returned in the 2nd half—except Janovich. Even if that DID explain the difference, it doesn't explain the defense. The O-line wasn't bad in this game. Those illegal formation penalties were a joke, but they overcame them. I don't know why Denver couldn't adjust to the Vikings renewed play in the second half, but they couldn't, didn't, and lost.
Again.
All I expect from the pressers is, "We gotta do better. We gotta finish games. We gotta score more," and other presser cliches, and I don't wanna hear it. THANK YOU FOR THE OBVIOUS—now WHAT is the ISSUE?
Was that first half a fluke? Are the Broncos every bit as bad as people say they are? Or is what we saw at the beginning of the game their potential when everything clicks, and somehow, some way, it got unclicked in the locker room?
Seeing so many dudes perform SO well—Sutton, Lindsay, Harris, Wolfe, Miller, Fant...all of them had great games. How can we do so well while doing so badly?
I have no answers, and these are genuine questions, but I can tell the Broncos: I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of empty platitudes, cliches, and wishful thinking. I do hope this inches Drew Lock one step closer to starting so we can see what we have in him, but I don't know that he's the answer either.
How can we determine the answer when we're not even asking the right questions?
...then I remembered the way they've been playing in the second half. And they played the exact same way. And blew a 23-point lead. And lost. It was like the teams that left the field at the half switched places and reemerged in the others' uniforms. I don't know what bodysnatching, midwestern hocus pocus Minnesota summoned, but it worked, and in both directions.
Dammit.
How do you blow a 23-point lead to a team you shut out in the first half? You fail to score. At all. You fail to convert third downs. You fail to stop the offense you had arrested completely just 20 minutes ago. Both defenses were their opposites in the second half. Both offenses were their opposites in the second half.
What. The. Fuck?
Denver had so many opportunities to win this game. If they had scored a TD instead on just one of their field goals (or attempts, ahem). If they had scored a TD instead of throwing an interception off the fumble. Even in the last seconds, the last play, the last few plays, they had a chance, but they didn't succeed.
Brandon Allen's numbers weren't as good in this game, but my biggest problem with his play is how easy he is to read. Watch that final drive again, just the red zone play—the Vikings defenders knew exactly where Allen was going to throw the ball, and they covered each receiver accordingly. If he didn't telegraph the play directly to the defense, they might have a chance.
And then...WTF happened to the defense? I know Minnesota made adjustments during the half—did Denver not anticipate the adjustments they would make? Did they not know how to make adjustments on the sideline? Did someone spike their gatorade with Ativan? ALL of that satisfaction (rather smug, I will admit) from watching Denver perform how we KNOW THEY CAN...then they get smashed all over the field.
I know there were some injuries, but most had returned in the 2nd half—except Janovich. Even if that DID explain the difference, it doesn't explain the defense. The O-line wasn't bad in this game. Those illegal formation penalties were a joke, but they overcame them. I don't know why Denver couldn't adjust to the Vikings renewed play in the second half, but they couldn't, didn't, and lost.
Again.
All I expect from the pressers is, "We gotta do better. We gotta finish games. We gotta score more," and other presser cliches, and I don't wanna hear it. THANK YOU FOR THE OBVIOUS—now WHAT is the ISSUE?
Was that first half a fluke? Are the Broncos every bit as bad as people say they are? Or is what we saw at the beginning of the game their potential when everything clicks, and somehow, some way, it got unclicked in the locker room?
Seeing so many dudes perform SO well—Sutton, Lindsay, Harris, Wolfe, Miller, Fant...all of them had great games. How can we do so well while doing so badly?
I have no answers, and these are genuine questions, but I can tell the Broncos: I'm tired of excuses. I'm tired of empty platitudes, cliches, and wishful thinking. I do hope this inches Drew Lock one step closer to starting so we can see what we have in him, but I don't know that he's the answer either.
How can we determine the answer when we're not even asking the right questions?
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