Welp. That went poorly.
I went into the DEN/BUF game knowing what the outcome was going to be- going into Buffalo against Josh Allen? Yeah, we're not winning this. Few teams could. The win, for me, was getting into a playoff spot in the first place, but the hope for the game was to at least look competent out there- be able to come off the field saying 'we were supposed to be a lottery team, but we gave the Bills a rough afternoon on their own field!'
We, ah... had that one good drive to start the game, and after that, it was pretty much a gong show.
There's no changing that the season on the whole was a shocking success. This was, again, supposed to be a bad team, with a rookie QB and a dead-cap hit unlike any other (if only because the Browns can't find a way to get rid of Watson). They were supposed to be near-last in every category- I pegged them at 4-13 and I thought that was pretty reasonable. And instead, they shocked everyone. It wasn't pretty sometimes- that game against the Ravens was a wake-up call to anyone thinking this was a team ready to compete with the big boys, for example, and they failed the first two of three 'win and clinch' games before beating up on the Chiefs' B-squad last weekend. But... overall there's a lot to like here.
There's also room for improvement, obviously. To me, watching yesterday, I saw two things that made me miserable above all else.
1) Running game. There, ah, isn't one. There's no position on the Denver roster that needs addressing this offseason more than RB. Whether it's drafting someone (though their picks aren't great this year), seeing who's out there in free agency, whatever- they can't show up to camp with this same group. Look around the league, and you see that the top-tier teams tend to be able to pound the ball on the ground. And the teams that struggled at it improved drastically when they invested in their run game- the Eagles and Ravens are prime examples of that this season. An improved RB situation means teams can't shut down the pass game as easily, which gives Nix more options- it's an absolute must if the Broncos want to continue to improve, and develop Nix.
2) Tackling. If you watched the game yesterday, you saw a LOT of missed tackles and yards-after-first-touch. It was stunning- this was a good defense all year, and they just forgot how to tackle, across the board. That was sobering to watch. I'm not sure they need to make a ton of personnel changes- the defense was, again, very good most of the year- but it was a problem at times all season, in particular in the Ravens game and again yesterday, watching three or four Broncos get hands on a receiver or running back and watching them sail on past. Assuming he's returning as defensive coordinator, Vance Joseph has to address that mess.
There's optimism for next year, for sure. But for the moment, this sucked.
