Denver Broncos: Winners and Losers from Broncos' Loss vs. Titans

As expected, the game was a low-scoring affair. The game wasn't pretty offensively. And as expected, the  Denver Broncos lost.

The Broncos fought hard. That much needs to be to given to them. But they came up short in an effort to win over a similarly talented team in the Tennessee Titans.

Other than the obvious score on the board that pointed to the Titans winning over the Broncos, Denver had players that stepped up, and players that stepped down.

There were winners and losers so to speak on the Broncos' side of the ball. Let me just get this out of the way before I proceed. There weren't many winners on the Broncos' side of the ball from Sunday's game.

Yes, Denver was leading the game entering the fourth quarter. Yes, they had control of the game before their red-zone failure at the one-yard line while up 14-10. Yes, they only lost by three points.

As a Broncos fan watching this game, I always had the feeling that Denver would lose this game. There was never a feeling where I thought to myself, "You know, the Broncos truly have this game in their grasp."

I never had that confidence that my team would be able to finish off the Tennessee Titans. And they didn't.

The score may have said "17-14", but this game was not pretty to watch. Is the team better than it was last year? Yes. Does it show more fight than it did last year? No doubt about it.

But isn't it the same old story as 2010? Red-zone failures? Turnovers to end games in a losing effort with a chance to win the game? Terrible defense? Inconsistent running game?

These were the winners and losers on the Broncos' side of the ball on Sunday at Tennessee.

Run Defense

Winners: Run Defense

Let me start off the article by noting the few positives of the Broncos' loss.

The run defense played as well as they possibly could. Period.

I expected the Broncos to "limit" Johnson. I knew that they would give the Broncos a chance to win the game. However, I did not expect the Broncos to shut down Johnson they way that they did on Sunday. This was utter domination in the trenches. Was I watching the 1977 Broncos?

In all seriousness, Denver's run defense looked as good as any run defense could look against one of the best backs in the league.

Johnson had been criticized for his subpar play entering this game, at only 77 yards rushing through two games. This one was his worst of the season. Johnson had 13 carries for 21 yards on the game. Through three games, Johnson has 98 yards rushing.

Chris Johnson's longest run on the day was for eight yards. Eight yards.

Wesley Woodyard was all over the place, making 10 tackles on the day. Von Miller was relentless in his pursuit of the ballcarrier.

Chris Johnson could have run a little bit harder, but it really wasn't his fault. The Broncos were literally in the backfield before Johnson could make any moves. This wasn't one or two Broncos. This was almost the entire front seven clogging up the running lanes.

The Broncos run defense gets an A+ for their amazing effort on Sunday.

Pass Defense

Losers: Pass Defense

I told you that there were more losers than winners.

There was one thing that I was proud of on Sunday other than the Broncos' resiliency. That's obviously the run defense. Everything else was mediocre at best.

Calling Denver's pass defense "mediocre" would make Cassius Vaughn giddy with joy.

What is there to say about this pass defense? Yes, I realize Champ Bailey was out due to injury. There is no excuse for making Matt Hasselbeck look as comfortable as possible without Kenny Britt.

Hasselbeck was 10/11 at one point in time; he went 27/36 for a little over 300 yards and 2 TDs to finish the game.

He led a game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that went for 95 yards. Comprehend that. 95 yards.

Whatever Hasselbeck wanted in this game, he got. He had complete control over the game, he directed the offense as a well-seasoned veteran would. He never made any costly mistakes, and he remained cool under pressure.

He was the exact opposite of what the Broncos were on Sunday.

Willis McGahee/Run Blocking

Losers: Willis McGahee/Run Blocking

I appreciate Denver's effort to establish the run. I appreciate McGahee's effort in running hard. But it wasn't enough. And it didn't look pretty.

Denver ran it often to no success. McGahee had 21 carries for 52 yards. His longest run of the day was for 10 yards.

McGahee and Moreno aren't Pro Bowl runners. They are not guys who can make something out of nothing.

However, it can no longer be argued that Denver's offensive line is the least bit good. I know people weren't arguing that Denver's offensive line was good in the first place, but this game really cemented it.

Tennessee's defense is stout. It was expected that Denver's running game would never get off of its feet. But maybe I'm a little spoiled. As a Broncos fan that witnessed Denver's glory years running the football during the Shanahan era, it disgusts me watching the Broncos run the football for a little over 2.0 yards a carry.

You know what was worse? Three straight carries inside the two. All three failed to punch it in the end zone, which of course resulted in a turnover on downs.

That is not Broncos football.

The offensive line simply cannot open holes for the running backs to run through. John Fox loves running the football, and it has resulted in the Broncos being more competitive despite their inefficiency. But what happens when you don't have the proper personnel to truly establish the running game?

The result on Sunday is what happens.

Knowshon Moreno

Losers: Knowshon Moreno

I hate to throw the guy under the bus. But this game showed what the pecking order will probably look like at least for the next game or two.

Moreno was "almost completely healthy", yet didn't get a single carry or snap in the game. Moreno literally watched the entire game from the sidelines.

Denver struggled consistently in running situations. Did that make Denver want to give the ball at least one time to their previous starting running back? Hell, Lance Ball got one carry on Sunday.

Knowshon Moreno isn't completely out of the picture. He'll get his carries. But there's no way he's getting the majority of the carries until he proves that he deserves the majority of the carries. If McGahee isn't receiving the majority of carries entering the bye week at Miami, let's just say Moreno isn't receiving more than him either. It'll be a 50/50 situation.

Denver lost this game. Moreno might have lost his spot on the Broncos roster for 2012.

Kyle Orton

Losers: Kyle Orton

Yes, I knew Orton would struggle. Yes, I knew this game would come down to the team that commits that "one more turnover" that kills them.

That's what happened on Sunday.

I don't know what more there is to say about a situation where there's already been enough said. Denver has a bad rushing attack, and although their run defense was as good as possible, their pass defense was almost equally as bad.

But Denver still had a chance to win this game, despite all of those things. Was Orton the sole reason for the loss? No. Was he the main reason Denver lost? That can be argued as "no", when you look at Matt Hasselbeck's passing numbers.

Denver had a chance to gain the momentum. Denver had a chance to possibly seal the game when they were at the one-yard-line. They had four chances to punch it in from inside the two-yard-line.

Was it a bad call by John Fox? Yes. I don't care what people say, you should know your personnel as a head coach. It's easy to say this now because Denver failed on fourth down. People argue that if Denver scored the touchdown in that situation, there would be a different opinion on the decision.

Maybe some people are like that. I'm not. Either way, I'm saying it's a bad call.

Regardless, Denver's "achilles heel" over the past couple of years reared it's ugly head on this drive. Von Miller had sacked Matt Hasselbeck and forced a fumble that Denver recovered at the Tennessee 13.

Denver was up 14-10 early in the fourth quarter. All Denver had to do was punch it in. We all know that doesn't happen if you're the Broncos in the red zone. Especialy under Orton.

Was McGahee the one that got stopped three consecutive times from inside the two? Yes. And he, along with the offensive line deserves blame for that.

But why do you think Denver ran the ball five out of their six offensive plays inside the 13? I think you know where I'm going with this.

As for the game-ending interception while we were at Tennessee's 40, and only needed about 10 yards, maybe less, to putt Matt Prater in field goal range. I mean was that really shocking? Hell, when Denver was within seven points in 2010 in the 4th quarter, Orton's QB rating was 58.4 His overall rating was just under a 90.

Orton crumbles under pressure. This game showed that.