Grades Reflect Poor Offensive Effort In This Report Card

The Denver Broncos had a rough go of it against the San Francisco 49ers in the their 24-10 loss on Sunday, and there weren’t a lot of bright spots. That was reflected by Sam Jane of the Denver Post in his post-game report card, especially when it comes to a certain unit that’s becoming harder and harder to watch. 

Offense — D

Nailing the obvious is part of the job when it comes to report cards, and Jane got it right with this grade. This is the fourth straight game where the Broncos have failed to establish the running game, much less run well or have breakout plays, and fixing this was a point of emphasis in the offseason. 

Overall, the Broncos got just 296 yards, with a per play average of 4.6 yards. Quarterback Bo Nix managed to throw for over 200 yards, but not by a lot, and what he got was almost all on short passes of less than ten yards. 

The Broncos ran the ball just nine times in the first half for just 32 yards, and running back J.K. Dobbins spent much of the day pacing the sidelines in frustration as he found little room to run on the field. The second half was slightly better as the Broncos got 50 yards, but their most successful drive came when Denver had several runs for more than six years. Part of that was being down by two scores, but that also wasn't a coincidence. 

Defense — B+

The Broncos lost both starting cornerbacks, but they still managed to hold one of the best offenses in football to 358 yards. The Broncos held running back Christian McCaffrey to just 52 yards on 15 carries, but they gave up a couple of big plays in the second half that were costly, and we still haven’t seen much of that fierce pass rush that carried Denver last year. 

Special Teams — B-

This might be generous given that awful fumble from returner Marvin Mims Jr. that broke open a tight defensive battle in the second half, but punter Jeremy Crawshaw was excellent and kicker Wil Lutz hit two field goals. We probably would have gone lower here, though, as that was the crucial play that lost the game for Denver. 

Coaching — C 

Jane complained about Payton’s decision to kick a field goal with 14:08 and the Broncos facing a fourth-and-2 from the 49ers 22, but it’s a defensible decision given the way the offense was playing. The offensive struggles as a whole could have made this grade even lower.