After committing 12 penalties in their season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos followed that up with a 13-penalty performance against the Houston Texans in Week 2.
After an ugly 16-9 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, Andrew Mason of 104.3 The Fan pointed out on Twitter that this is the first time in franchise history the team has committed 25 penalties in a two-game span.
“We have to quit hurting ourselves,” quarterback Russell Wilson said after the game. “We have to quit getting penalties as players. That’s on us. That’s discipline. That’s making sure that we’re doing the little things right. Those things can be fixed — that’s the good thing. Those things can be fixed.”
Wilson took responsibility on behalf of the team’s players for being undisciplined, but ultimately, a team’s discipline falls on the coach.
Through two games under Nathaniel Hackett this year, the Broncos have played sloppy, undisciplined football. Hackett was happy to get leave Empower Field at Mile High with a win on Sunday, but he knows the team’s operations need to be cleaned up.
“First win, it’s always great to win, that’s first and foremost, but it was too sloppy by the offense,” Hackett said. “There were too many things that we just made it hard on ourselves, but to be able to win in this league is hard.
“Watching that whole team stay together, stick together was a great thing, and we just have to keep getting better on offense and clean a lot of that stuff up.”
Denver is 1-1 after having played two low-level teams. The Broncos are now set to face a tougher test in the San Francisco 49ers, a team that reached the NFC championship game in 2021. If Hackett’s unit doesn’t clean up their penalties, it could cost the team wins against better opponents.
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