Denver Broncos' Lack of Second-Half Production a Concern, What Can Be Fixed?

The Denver Broncos started out like gangbusters against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15. Going into halftime, the Broncos held a commanding 27-13 lead. But the Steelers would score 21 unanswered points to win the game 34-27. That represented the third game in a row that the Broncos failed to score points in the second half.

This team has been struggling mightily in the second half this month. In December, the Broncos have been outscored 36-0.

At this time, the Broncos have not clinched a first-round bye. They also haven’t secured their fifth straight AFC West title. In fact, the Broncos haven’t even secured a playoff berth—and there’s only two games remaining in the regular season.

Head coach Gary Kubiak knows the recent second-half struggles can become teachable moments.

“I think you learn through everything. If going through that is the only way that you learn, hopefully you're not learning too much. That's tough. It's part of football. It's like not being good on the goal line, so you put a special emphasis on it. There are all kinds of categories, but there are still ways to win games.”

Kubiak continued, “When you have four losses and something's not right, you're obviously going to hammer it a little bit, but you want to make sure that you're hanging on to some of the things that you're doing well, so this is no different.”

In Week 16, the Broncos host the Cincinnati Bengals. They are currently the second seed in the AFC behind the New England Patriots. If the Broncos want a first-round bye, they must defeat the Bengals on Monday Night Football.

The lack of production in the second half is a concern for the staff. Let’s take a look at what the team can do to improve that part of its game as it prepares for the Bengals this week.

Adjust at Halftime

Don Wright/Associated Press

One thing we need to see from the offense is better second-half adjustments. The Broncos scored 27 points against the Steelers in the first half last week, but they failed to score for the rest of the game.

The Broncos script their first dozen plays or so each week to start the game. Perhaps coming out of halftime, the team should script plays, as well.

Kubiak has varied his approach when it comes to his philosophy coming out of the half.

“I've done a little bit of everything through my career. I've not scripted plays; I've scripted plays. The bottom line is that you're talking and making adjustments. To be honest with you, it's like anything else that you do in football. If it's not going good, you find a way to change it.”

Kubiak continued, “We tried to do that the last couple of weeks. We did make some changes last week. They obviously didn't work. We're going to have to make some more this week. We'll keep digging until we find a way to come out of the locker room the right way.” He admitted, “It's been a little puzzling, but there are a lot of other things that are puzzling, too. You have to work through them and keep pushing.”

Last week it was clear the Steelers had changed things offensively to move the ball more successfully against the Broncos. It’s past time for the Broncos to work in a similar fashion. Wins or losses can often come down to adjustments—or lack thereof. The Broncos need to make sure they don’t get stale so their offense does not become stagnant.

Minimize Penalties After the Half

Don Wright/Associated Press

The Broncos offense was marred by penalties in the second half against the Steelers last week. It finished the game against the Steelers with a whopping 12 penalties for 127 yards. Even though most of those yards came after the half, the Broncos were penalized six times before halftime.

Kubiak highlighted penalties as something the team needs to reduce.

“The thing that I'm concerned about most in the second half, if you go back and look, is that we come out, we make a play like we did last week and then here comes a holding call. Now it's 2nd-and-20 or things like that. I don't know if I'm right, but I want to say that we had three or four big penalties in the first two touches of the football in the second half at Pittsburgh.”

Kubiak explained, “When you do that on the road, you're probably punting. There go a couple of possessions, and nothing is happening. That's the biggest thing that we're trying to focus on, is the attention to detail and having the same juice going throughout the course of the football game. You're going to have issues like that, but you have to play through them, and we're not playing through them, so that's a concern.”

Even with a sizable lead, the Broncos can’t let an opponent stay in a game due to penalties. We should see a greater emphasis on playing within the rules in the second half going forward.

Keep Bengals Offense in Check

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

The Bengals are going to be without their starting quarterback, Andy Dalton, so second-year pro A.J. McCarron will be starting on Monday night.

Kubiak knows that McCarron has plenty of big-game experience from his college career at Alabama.

“Yeah, I can tell. I had him last year—I spent a day and a half with him in Baltimore. We were very interested in him as a player before the draft. He's a very confident young man in his abilities. He's played in a lot of big games. He was coached hard; you can tell that when you talk to him.”

Kubiak added, “He's on a good football team right now. He went to San Francisco and handled the ball game well. His team played well. They got him some turnovers. He's really done a hell of a job. Like I said, it's two good football teams going at it with two young quarterbacks. I've been very impressed with the job that he's done.”

The Bengals feature star wide receiver A.J. Green, and he may prove to be a difficult matchup for a secondary coming off a 380-yard performance from Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Antonio Brown did most of the damage last week, and it was cornerback Chris Harris Jr. who gave up the most yards. We’ll see if Harris can bounce back this week with a better game against Green.

A big weapon in the passing game won’t play on Monday night, as tight end Tyler Eifert (concussion) has been declared out. That’s a big loss for the Bengals—especially since the Broncos defense is historically weak against the tight end. Without Eifert, we may see more targets for guys like wide receiver Marvin Jones. Running back Gio Bernard could also be used effectively as a receiver out of the backfield.

These two teams may meet again in the postseason, and the Bengals offense would look much different with Dalton and Eifert back in the lineup. The Broncos need to take advantage of a weakened opponent.

Summary

The Broncos don’t have an easy task on Monday night. Playing at home will certainly help, and the defense has to be more than motivated to play at a high level since they performed poorly last week.

The team needs to adjust better after halftime. Offensively, the Broncos need to keep their foot on the gas in order to keep a downed opponent down. Defensively, the Broncos need to adjust quickly to the changes the Bengals make after the half.

Penalties have been a problem for this team—on both sides of the ball. Playing a better game with fewer penalties can help this team get the win. Drives can continue on offense when penalties don’t put the team in bad down-and-distance situations. Opponents' drives can be shortened when penalties aren’t called on the Broncos defense.

The Bengals are playing without key weapons on offense—and this plays into the Broncos' hands. McCarron is a young quarterback with a ton of confidence but a shortage of experience. There are things defensive coordinator Wade Phillips can throw at McCarron that he’s never seen before—even with his big-game experience from college.

The Broncos have dropped two games in a row for the second time this season. It’s time to get back on the winning track and build momentum for the postseason. Broncos fans would feel a lot better about any sort of playoff run if the team can show better adjustments after the half.

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.