The Denver Broncos lost another road game, this time against the Tennessee Titans, a 17-10 affair on Sunday. Here are four key takeaways from the game.
1
Jerry Jeudy's loss made a huge difference
Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy went down with an ankle injury on the Broncos’ first offensive play of the game. Without the route-running phenom, Denver only managed one receiving touchdown, a 66-yarder to Jalen Virgil. There is optimism that Jeudy’s injury isn’t an Achilles injury, but it’s still alarming that he’s now battling another injury.
2
Defense holds Henry to 53 yards
The Broncos’ defense held Titans star running back Derrick Henry to only 53 yards on 19 carries. The key to the game was containing Henry, which was thought to be a monumental task without linebacker Bradley Chubb, who was traded during Denver’s Week 9 bye. The defense took this challenge and rose to the occasion. Once again, defense wasn’t the problem for the Broncos.
3
Offense stalls again
Another week, another game where the Broncos’ offense just can’t get anything going. Early on, a busted Titans coverage led to wide receiver Jalen Virgil’s first career NFL catch (and touchdown!). After Jeudy went down, Kendall Hinton stepped up, with four receptions for 62 yards. However, the rushing attack did not get over 100 yards, and (surprise!) Melvin Gordon almost fumbled again.
In summary, another listless effort in an overall disappointing stretch for this side of the ball.
4
Penalties have been killers
The Broncos continue to lead the NFL in penalties and penalty yards. Against the Titans, eight penalties for 50 yards was the equivalent of the final drive of the game for the offense. Most of the penalties are of the pre-snap variety, which is a very correctable issue. Unfortunately, that seems to be the most aggravating part of it all. These penalties can be fixed; they simply aren’t getting fixed. Until the Broncos can fix these issues, they will continue to move the chains on defense and stall drives on offense.
