Last year, nine of the Denver Broncos’ 12 losses were by one score, including a pair of one-point defeats.
That unfortunate trend of losing close games seems to have carried over into 2023, as the Broncos fell to the Las Vegas Raiders 17-16 in Week 1. After the game, pass rusher Jonathon Cooper spoke about the team struggling to close out tight games.
Buy Broncos Tickets“That is the most frustrating part I feel like,” Cooper said. “It’s frustrating, obviously this has happened before. We have seen this before. We have to break this cycle. We have to break this cycle where we play well throughout the whole entire game and then it gets down to the nitty-gritty somehow [and] we don’t finish. We have to learn how to finish these games. That’s it.”
On Sunday, Denver’s defense failed to get the ball back and allowed the Raiders to run out the clock to secure a one-point victory. There were mistakes by every unit on Sunday, though, adding up to a narrow defeat.
“We need to learn how to win,” Cooper said. “We need to learn how to finish. It takes going through the film and seeing where we can be better all around, defense, offense, special teams, you know those little things.
“Those little things coach always talks about. I feel like we just need to improve, the little penalties, not getting off on third down, all that stuff. We got to go back in the lab and just see how we can be better.”
The Broncos will have another opportunity to break the cycle when they host the Washington Commanders in Week 2.
