Offensive Line Problems, Drops and Bad Passes Plague Broncos in Loss to Raiders

The Denver Broncos are no longer undefeated with Brock Osweiler as their starting quarterback. On Sunday, the team didn’t finish their drives, blew a 12-point halftime lead and lost to the Oakland Raiders by a score of 15-12.

Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak explained the team’s red-zone struggles on Sunday.

“We didn’t make them [plays in the red zone]. You’ve got to keep battling. We had 220-something yards at halftime. I think we might have had 10 in the third quarter.” Kubiak continued, “We did nothing in the third quarter. You’ve got to play all day, keep going and there’s no reason we shouldn’t have.”

Here are some of the reasons why the Broncos fell to the Raiders on Sunday.

Offensive Line Problems

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

The Broncos offensive line had a horrible day. Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack was all over the field, and he finished the game with five sacks and a whopping seven quarterback hits.

Kubiak praised Mack after the game.

“He played on our left, he played on our right, he played everywhere. He’s a great player. Just give him credit.” Kubiak continued, “If we could run the ball and do those type of things, we can help our tackles. When we were sitting there throwing it every down, we obviously didn’t help them.”

Kubiak explained, “That’s a tough duty for them, but sometimes you’ve got to get that done in those situations too.”

Perhaps Mack’s biggest play of the night was forcing a safety in the third quarter.

Osweiler explained what happened on that play.

“I felt the pressure; I knew it was coming. Obviously, I knew that he would be coming quick. Unfortunately, there was a situation here I had an open receiver. I was trying to get the ball out, but Mack made a great play.”

As the game went down to the wire, the Broncos had no answer for Mack. On the Broncos' final play of the game, the Raiders only rushed three defenders, and Osweiler was forced to awkwardly spiral a pass to the heavens that landed nowhere near any of his receivers (although it was intended for Demaryius Thomas).

The Broncos offensive line has to perform much better if the team plans on making a deep run into the postseason.

Dropped Passes

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Broncos receivers let Osweiler down on Sunday. The young quarterback was under duress, but his receivers didn’t do him any favors by letting too many passes hit the dirt.

Arguably the biggest drop can at the most inopportune time for the Broncos.

With the game on the line, the Broncos were driving late in the fourth quarter. The Raiders had missed a field goal, and the Broncos took over at their own 33-yard line. On a 4th-and-5 play, Osweiler targeted Vernon Davis on what would have been a huge gain—and perhaps even a long touchdown.

Davis slowed down a bit to catch the ball, but thinking about a potential long gain, he let the pass slip through his fingers and land on the grass.

He talked about the play with a dismayed look in the locker room.

"The ball was thrown, I got super excited because I knew I was going to be wide-open. I took my eyes off the ball and wasn't able to pull it in. I should know better than that. I've got to get better."

Bad Passes

Drops weren’t the only reason the passing game was out of sync. Osweiler was off on a few key throws that could have changed the game for the Broncos.

While under pressure almost constantly, Osweiler’s pass placement was off. Instead of leading receivers in stride, Osweiler would throw it behind a target making for a difficult grab and limiting what could happen after the catch.

The worst pass Osweiler threw on Sunday could have been a touchdown.

The Broncos were driving for a touchdown right before the half when Osweiler overthrew tight end Virgil Green in the end zone. Had the pass connected, it would have gone for a two-yard touchdown that would have made the score 16-0 with the extra point. Instead, the pass traveled far above Green’s head and fell to the ground incomplete.

Two more incomplete passes, both targets to Demaryius Thomas, and the Broncos had to kick a 20-yard field goal.

Fan Reaction

Needless to say, Broncos Country was not happy with this performance. Here’s a few fan reactions from Twitter after the game:

"

@CecilLammey this is just lazy coaching and NO halftime adjustments

— Skywalkerplc3 (@Skywalkerplc3) December 14, 2015"

"

@CecilLammey drops, Schofield turning Mack into Lawrence Taylor.

— stuart roche (@purplehearttc) December 14, 2015"

"

@CecilLammey Horrible OL play, DT is way off as a top WR!

— TIM (@TIMSKI57) December 14, 2015"

"

@CecilLammey We have the worst O line in the NFL. One legit starter. #Broncos

— Christopher Moon (@manisthemoon) December 14, 2015"

"

@CecilLammey And Denver's defense's inability to cover TE's - even mediocre ones! Cooper 0 catches, Crabtree ineffective and still lose?!?

— Danny Piper (@dapipes7) December 14, 2015"

Summary

The offense struggled to make plays on Sunday, and the Raiders methodically took advantage for the win.

The defense came through to a certain degree, but the offense put it in a bad position too many times. The Broncos defense must not get frustrated with the offense after this type of game. There was a sense of disappointment and anger from defenders in the locker room.

Kubiak gave credit where credit was due after the game.

“Let me give [Raiders head coach] Jack [Del Rio] and them credit. They did a hell of a job coaching and playing.” Kubiak continued, “It’s not like we didn’t move the ball. We didn’t finish our drives. They did a great job, Jack did a great job, and we’ve got to get better.”

With a road game against a surging Pittsburgh Steelers coming up in Week 15, the Broncos have a lot to fix in just a short amount of time.

All quotes and injury/practice observations obtained firsthand. Record/statistical information provided via the Broncos media department unless otherwise noted. Advanced stats via ESPN's employees-only database.

Contract and salary-cap information provided by Spotrac. Transaction history provided by Pro Sports Transactions.