Justin Simmons Confirms he Expected 'Post Help' on Marquise Brown's 49-Yard Touchdown

The Broncos' safety tandem had better figure out how to ensure their reading from the same page.

On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the Denver Broncos came up short on offense, defense, and special teams. Denver's inability to successfully game plan and execute in all three phases only validates the widely held opinion that its 3-0 start was built on shifting sands.

The Broncos' highly rated defense has had its moments, and in the second half, it largely kept Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson quiet. That being said, major communication issues reared their ugly head leading to Marquise Brown’s momentum-swinging 49-yard touchdown catch that turned the game on it’s head before the half.

Denver's veteran safety tandem Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson were to blame for letting the Baltimore speedster split their two-deep zone coverage. Diagnosing the issue was a no-brainer, but Broncos fans are questioning why one of the NFL’s best safety tandems had such a critical breakdown in the first place.

Simmons addressed the mistake post-game on Sunday and resolved to establish better communication between himself and Jackson. 

“Yeah, he stemmed for the outside and that’s my leverage, and it’s miscommunication with Kareem,” Simmons detailed. “I expected some post help, but that’s why I’m so big on—I’m talking about it every week, communication.”

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In a laughable post last week, Bleacher Report drew derision from Broncos Country for suggesting that Simmons should be benched in favor of rookie Caden Sterns (who coincidentally had a two-sack performance vs. the Ravens). In the wake of Sterns' day at the office and Simmons' faux pas, BR may choose to double down on its hot take.

But sorting out the communication problems isn't something Simmons and Jackson should over-analyze. 

“Yeah. We both know what went wrong,” Jackson said on Monday. “We talked about it on the sideline. We have to move on. We had a long game after that. One play—you can’t dwell on it, but you talk about it and you move on. That’s just how it happens sometimes. They’re going to make plays, but like I said, you just have to move on from it.”

Now sitting at 3-1, the Broncos are nowhere near to pressing the panic button yet, but with the wounded Pittsburgh Steelers next up on the docket, those communication wrinkles had better be ironed out or future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will wreak havoc in the Broncos' defensive backfield. 

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