5 takeaways from Broncos' 16-14 loss to Bears in Week 2

What we learned about the Broncos in Week 2 was mostly disheartening.

The Denver Broncos dropped their second game of the season, falling to the Chicago Bears 16-14 on Sunday. 

Two weeks into the season, Vic Fangio is still searching for his first career win as a head coach. What went wrong?

Here are five takeaways that tell the unfortunate story of the Broncos' second loss of the season. 

Bolles is a liability

Garett Bolles is a straight-up liability at left tackle. He was flagged five times for holding, four of which were accepted. That's to say nothing of the pressures and hits he relinquished in pass protection. 

Ron Leary wasn't much better at right guard with two holds himself, after being flagged for two holds in the season-opener as well. A struggling and beleaguered Broncos offense would take one step forward, only to fall two steps back due to sloppy play and lapses in discipline by Bolles and Leary. 

Elijah Wilkinson mostly held up well at right tackle, or at least, he wasn't the problem. Center Connor McGovern and left guard Dalton Risner were good at their respective positions, outside of maybe one or two pressures allowed on a Bears blitz. 

Leary hasn't played much football in the calendar year of 2019, so a little trial-and-error is expected, to a degree. By now, though, he's running out of excuses. 

The Broncos have to come up with an alternative at left tackle. Although Bolles played slightly better in the second half, the team cannot continue to expect to compete with him protecting Joe Flacco's blindside. 

It's an uncomfortable and inconvenient truth but the Broncos have to bench Garett Bolles. I understand that with Ja'Wuan James sidelined with a knee injury, the Broncos' options are limited at tackle but could Jake Rodgers — who was just called up from the practice squad — be any worse? 

GM John Elway would be wise to pick up the phone to call the Washington Redskins and move whatever mountains are necessary to acquire the disgruntled holdout Trent Williams via trade. 

Offense a day late & dollar short...again

After going the better part of three-and-a-half quarters with just three points on the board, Joe Flacco and company finally punched the ball in with a touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders late in the final period, which was followed by a gutsy call by Vic Fangio to go for the two-point conversion. 

After some bumbling incompetence by Flacco, who was promptly called for delay of game on the ensuing play, which was followed by a Brandon McManus missed extra point, it appeared all was lost for Denver. Fortunately, the Football Gods were looking out for Fangio, as Buster Skrine was flagged for being offsides, giving the Broncos back their extra point attempt once again at the 2-yard line. 

Fangio went back to his original gut call and rolled the dice on a two-point conversion, which Flacco converted to Sanders. The Broncos had a one-point lead but with about a half-minute left on the clock and the Bears owning a timeout, it was too little too late. 

Some allowance should be made for the fact that Denver was going against an elite Bears defense but in the NFL, teams can't wait until the fourth quarter to score touchdowns and expect to win. This is a Flacco and Rich Scangarello problem. 

Flacco goes dark when Broncos threaten

Look, I understand the urge to be an apologist for Joe Flacco, and in many ways, he played well — between the 30's. But the 12th-year veteran QB was horrible, outside of one drive, once the Broncos got inside the Bears 30-yard line. 

When the Broncos would cross the 50 and appeared to be threatening the Bears, it was as if Flacco had already chosen to settle for a field goal. Where's the killer instinct? 

Flacco has not proven to be much of a closer in his brief Broncos career. Denver scored just one touchdown on three trips into the red zone, with the previous two trips ending with a field goal and a Flacco interception, respectively.

With a new offensive coordinator in Rich Scangarello, we knew it would take time for everything to come together for Denver. That's why the team needs its veteran QB to be the difference-maker while the offense works out its kinks and finds its groove.

Flacco wanted to be the 'understood' starting QB in Denver and he got it. But at the rate he's playing, being the unquestioned starter will last until about Week 9, when the Broncos will have the prerogative to activate Drew Lock off injured reserve.  

All bets are OFF on the Broncos' 2019 season! Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Pass rush comes up small..again

The Broncos' pass rush, simply put, was a non-factor. The likes of Bradley Chubb and Von Miller could find no purchase and create no pressure on Mitchell Trubisky throughout the game, and when the chips were down late, as Denver protected a one-point lead and the Bears had to traverse half the field in under a minute in order to get into field goal range, the pass rush came up small once again. 

Two games in, the vaunted Broncos defense has yet to register a single, solitary sack. With the amount of money the team has tied up in just Miller and Chubb alone, that's unacceptable. I'd even go so far as to call it egregious. 

Again, we could expect the Broncos' defensive personnel to take some time to acclimate to playing in Vic Fangio's new scheme but Denver's play-makers at the point of attack simply aren't getting the job done. 

Fangio shows guts but the defense betrays him

I commend Vic Fangio for making the decision (twice) to go for the two-point conversion, and the win, in the final minutes of the game. For a guy still looking for his first win as a head coach, it was the epitome of gutsy. 

That confidence the old coach showed in his team should have instilled some kind of spark in the defense. It didn't happen. To allow a 25-yard completion to Allen Robinson on 4th-&-15 with the game on the line, which put the Bears in field goal range with one second left on the ticker, was a comedy of incompetence. 

This ain't the Broncos' defense of yesteryear. The units who led the Broncos to five consecutive AFC West crowns and a Super Bowl victory knew how to close. 

The 2019 unit, on the other hand, is still apparently figuring out how to play in Fangio's scheme. But we probably shouldn't be too surprised. Although Fangio is starting from square one with a lot more talent than he did in Chicago circa 2015, we have to remember that it took four years for the defensive wizard to establish the dominant, smothering defense that led the league last season. 

Bottom line, on both sides of the ball, it hasn't come together yet for the Broncos. It's going to take a lot more time than the best hopes of the fans. 

Sitting at 0-2 for the first time since 1999, Denver now faces a road trip to Green Bay to battle an undefeated Packers squad. And while the Broncos are struggling to find themselves and establish even a modicum of identity, these games, unfortunately, count.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.