Broncos Keep Making Poor Decisions
The Denver Broncos and their fans are seeing troubles with their team.
Despite playing a king’s ransom for quarterback Russell Wilson, the team is losing games they should win.
Thursday night was another case of the Broncos making terrible offensive play calls late in the game.
With head coach Nathaniel Hackett already under fire for poor play calling, Thursday night marked another failure for his offense.
So what are the Broncos doing wrong, and can they fix their problems in Denver?
Outside Influence Might Be Affecting Offensive Play Calling
During the Broncos’ week one game against the Seattle Seahawks, people came down on Hackett for not using Wilson to convert a fourth down play.
“I just don’t understand it. You have Russell Wilson!” #Broncos
-DP discusses Nathaniel Hackett’s decision to attempt a field goal instead of go for it on 4th down pic.twitter.com/r39helCi9L
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) September 13, 2022
With everyone coming down on Hackett for attempting a 60+ yard field goal, instead of trusting Wilson, he listened to those people on Thursday night.
He put the ball in Wilson’s hands late in the fourth quarter, instead of running out the clock.
However, it was a costly mistake by the team.
Wilson threw an interception on third down inside the 20 with less than three minutes on the clock.
While the coaching staff might have listened to people who wanted them to trust Wilson, the decision was horrible.
They were up by three, with the potential of going up by six.
With the Colts offense struggling, and unable to score a touchdown, a field goal could have cruised them to victory.
However, the poor decision making continued after the game went into overtime.
Broncos Offense Make Another Poor Decision During Overtime
When the Broncos got the ball during overtime, they were down by three points.
With them needing a field goal to extend overtime, or a touchdown to win, the Broncos went for a touchdown.
During a critical fourth and one play in the redzone, the Broncos passed for the first down.
However, the decision was a poor one, as Stephon Gilmore batted the ball down, giving the Colts the victory.
While the Broncos could have taken the three points, they had another option to extend overtime.
That option was to run the ball.
— sportsvids99 (@sportsvids991) October 7, 2022
Even a triggered Richard Sherman knew from history that running the ball was the best choice.
But can the Broncos turn things around and stop these horrendous play calls?
Hackett’s Hiring Of Jerry Rosburg To Help With Game Management Isn’t Helping
Shortly after their disaster against the Seahawks, Hackett went out and got Jerry Rosburg to help with game management.
Newest member of the #broncos staff Jerry Rosburg will be in the coaching box Sunday night vs the #49ers and will be in communication with Hackett on overall operation and game management I’m told. He’ll also be a part of those meetings during the week obviously.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 24, 2022
While the move was to help Hackett with managing the game, it didn’t work on Thursday night.
Simple game management inside the 20 with less than three minutes shows you run the ball.
However, they didn’t run the ball when everything pointed towards running the ball.
If the Broncos want a better managed game, they need to read the game correctly.
The Colts offense wasn’t scoring a touchdown, meaning rushing the ball eats clock.
With a six point lead, instead of three points, they might have won against the Colts.
Continuing to misread situations will only cause the Broncos to keep losing winnable games.