WARNING: I’m about to show you a summary of the Denver Broncos’ drives that came in their 21-0 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Side effects may include shortness of breath, coughing, sneezing, sniffling and temporary blindness. Small children are advised to close out of the browser they’re using and slowly back away:
- Fumble
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Fumble
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Punt
- Interception
- Turnover on downs
- End of game
Still there? Still feeling OK? Maybe you used one of those smogs masks athletes wore during the '08 Olympics in Beijing? Probably advisable because Sunday was as ugly as it gets.
The Broncos were shut out for the first time since George Bush was president. Not W., either. H.W. H.W!!!!!!
It was hard to decide who had a worse game: Trevor Siemian or the offensive line that was supposed to be protecting him. Siemian attempted 35 passes for 207 yards. He committed two turnovers — a strip sack that probably could've been avoided and a brutal interception on fourth-and-6 that absolutely should've been avoided.
Siemian was also sacked five times. Allen Barbre started at right tackle for Denver, and it did not go well.
The worst hit Siemian took all afternoon didn't even go down as a sack. In the second quarter, Melvin Ingram came right up the middle and obliterated the Broncos QB.
The Chargers found the end zone three times, but that was hardly an indictment on Denver's defense. Travis Benjamin got San Diego on the board with a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Denver limited Los Angeles to 252 total yards on a dozen drives. The Chargers averaged a meager 4.4 yards per play. The Broncos' offense did nothing to help.
Denver finished with 251 yards of total offense and 12 first downs, only three of which came on running plays. The Broncos' ground game, which was so good in the early part of the season, has regressed. Denver finished with 69 rushing yards on 19 carries.
The Broncos scored a combined 82 points in their first three games of the year. In the three games since then, they've scored a combined 26 points. The offense looks lost right now, and Denver (3-3) is reeling.
Things don't figure to get easier from here. The Broncos play at Kansas City (5-2) next week, at Philadelphia (5-1) the week after that and then host New England (4-2) on Nov. 12. Improvements have to happen in a hurry if the Broncos want to avoid missing out on the postseason for the second straight year.
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