Broncos individual player grades for Week 2 revealed

Which Broncos shined vs. the Bears and which fell short?

It was a rough ending for the Denver Broncos in Week 2, which saw them fall to 0-2 after a last-second (literally) field goal from the Chicago Bears. There were some major issues that emerged in the game, but overall the Broncos looked better than they did in their season-opening performance. 

The Broncos still failed to notch a sack or a takeaway on defense, while the offense struggled with the great Bears defensive front. Those performances are reflected in these grades. 

There were a good number of players that stood out in a positive fashion, and some negatively. During the preseason, I would cover 21 total players, but for the regular season, there will be only 12 per game. 

I'll highlight four players with a positive grade, four with a negative grade and four miscellaneous others of note.

This grading system has been honed and adapted for the last five-plus years. Each player starts with a grade of 50, and it will either get raised or lowered based on each snap and the player's impact on the play.

A cornerback on the backside of a run shedding a block will get a slight raise to their grade, but a corner shedding a block in the run path at the point of attack will get a higher raise in their grade, as they have a bigger impact on the result of the play. 

Selecting four positively-graded players was a bit more difficult in this game than the opener against Oakland.

It does need mentioning, in this article especially, that penalties don’t get calculated into the grading system. There is a simple reason for that and I haven’t been able to figure out how to fairly reflect a penalty in the formula. Many penalties result in no play and only plays that counted work in the formula. 

The Good

Isaac Yiadom, CB: 85.7

This may come as a shock, but Yiadom played a great game against the Bears. He gave up two underneath catches when playing off and missed two tackles, which kept his grade from being higher. Outside of that, he was quick to react, came up and made sound tackles and fought hard against plays to the outside. Fans are quick to hate him because of his first half against Oakland, but his last six quarters have been good football. 

Emmanuel Sanders, WR: 84.2

The best player on the field for the Broncos' offense, Sanders played pretty much lights out. There were some issues with him trying to create more instead of taking what was there and he ended up leaving yards of the field. Outside of that, Sanders was hard for the Bears to hang with because of his quick cuts in his route running. 

Joe Flacco, QB: 78.4

The Broncos' quarterback played a really good game. Denver planned to get the ball out quickly, which helped some with the Bears' pressure. It wasn’t all perfect as he did have the red zone interception and had about five other bad throws that weren’t affected by pressure, tips or getting hit as he threw. Flacco made smart decisions, for the most part, and was effective. 

Noah Fant, TE: 73.8

It was nice to see Fant bounce back and play a pretty good game against the Bears. It wasn’t without issues, which included giving up a sack to Khalil Mack, but Fant held his own as a blocker otherwise. As a receiver, he caused some mismatches against the Bears defense and did his part to help move the ball.

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The Bad

Shelby Harris, NT: 49.3

It has been a rough start for the Broncos' interior defensive lineman. Harris played well at nose tackle last year, but this year he has looked unable to really hold his own against interior strength. His best play has saw him playing more of a 4-technique role with the Broncos, and that helped his grade in this game. I'll be curious to see whether the Broncos keep him around beyond this year. If Denver does decide to keep him, will they move him from the middle? 

Jeff Heuerman, TE: 43.1

Heuerman saw 17 more snaps than he did in Week 1, and it wasn’t pretty. His blocking was really bad and he held the offense back as a result. Being a solid receiving option kept his grade from being lower. Troy Fumagalli looked worse, but played just one snap too few to qualify for the grading system. 

Chris Harris, Jr., CB: 38.9

It was a rough game for Harris, who allowed four catches on six targets, missed a few tackles and looked very passive in the running game. Penalties aren’t included in the grades, but he did have a bad holding call that kept a Bears drive alive that eventually resulted in a touchdown. It was a bad game from Harris, but he should be able to bounce back. 

Corey Nelson, LB: 23.2

Slow, late to react, punished in the run game, lost and so much more verbiage can be used to describe Nelson's game for the Broncos. He only played 34 snaps, but his presence was felt in a very negative way. 

Other Grades of Note

Justin Simmons, FS: 60.8

It was a rough start for Simmons that saw him be out of position, which left some opportunities missed. On one play, being out of position was beneficial for the Broncos where QB Mitchell Trubisky overthrew the receiver. Simmons managed to bounce back and play a solid game, but he needs to work on his positioning and not being overaggressive.

Garett Bolles, LT: 59.3

Again, penalties are not calculated into the grading system, which is the sole reason Bolles isn’t completely sunk with the negatives. Outside of the penalties, he played a good game, giving up only six pressures. Considering who he was facing, that is a solid performance. He also played well on the ground to help create some running room. If he could keep his hands up, he could be a lot better and the few times he did vs. the Bears, he looked like a good left tackle. Denver simply needs to get him to do that. 

Von Miller, OLB: 56.1

Miller is paid to be a game-changing pass rusher and that hasn’t happened yet. Until he does, he will draw a lot of flak. His six total pressures vs. the Bears is not enough. However, he was good in run defense. Denver needs to get him to the QB. though, if the Broncos want a better chance to win. 

Dalton Risner, LG: 50.3

It was a 'welcome to the NFL' type of game for Risner, who struggled to deal with Akiem Hicks and the Bears' tough defensive front. Risner did manage to make some big blocks in the running game, but also got blown off the line a few times, or allowed his assignment to slip by. Risner showed promise, but also showed he is still a rookie. 

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