Trailing the Houston Texans by five points on Sunday afternoon, the Denver Broncos faced third-and-goal at the eight-yard line with no timeouts left and 16 seconds remaining in the game.
Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles was beat at the line and quarterback Russell Wilson spun out of the pocket and made the pass rusher miss, but he then launched the ball into the end zone looking for tight end Lucas Krull. The pass was intercepted, securing a loss.
The next day, Denver coach Sean Payton indicated that poor communication before the snap led to players not being in the correct formation for the final play.
“I think communication has to be on point,” Payton said on Monday. “We finished the game yesterday, [and on] the last play of the game, we leave a shift off, so at the snap of the ball, you have three receivers that are trying to run a route, but they haven’t shifted into their final formation. My experience has always been it’s the details — it’s the little things. Those things have to be better.”
Before the play, Krull can be seen with his hands up in the air, presumably asking for the shift. He was not supposed to be the main target on the play.
“There was no shift, so certainly from your vantage point, it looks like, man, they’re calling on Lucas to be the hero here,” Payton said. “I can promise you he was in the progression of three receivers, but the shift doesn’t happen, and then we’re playing street ball.”
A third Russell Wilson interception in the end zone ends the game and five game win streak for the #Broncospic.twitter.com/OxYAPN7YfI
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) December 3, 2023
Wilson was presumably the player responsible for making the shift before the snap. After the game, the quarterback was asked what he saw on the play.
“Yeah, just tried to scramble, tried to avoid the sack,” Wilson said. “Couldn’t take a sack there because the clock was going to run out, so I tried to get off of it and then I saw Krull one on one, and just tried to put it up high for him, and they made a play. You’ve got to score a touchdown, obviously, to win the game, and it just didn’t go our way.”
It was a costly play for the Broncos as it dropped them to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the conference, hurting the team’s playoff chances. Denver will get a chance to bounce back on the road aginast the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14.
