Broncos HC Laments his 'One-Score' Offense After Titans Loss

Nathaniel Hackett has been out of answers for weeks.

The Denver Broncos are reeling after suffering their sixth loss of the season — a 17-10 defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans. It was a tough AFC road game against a stout opponent.

Outside of an encouraging second-quarter performance, the Broncos failed to show up offensively. We can point to Denver's injury epidemic, which has decimated the offensive line, but the bottom line, is no team can covert 24% (4-of-17 in Tennessee) of its third-down tries and expect to win games. 

"We were doing some good things in that first half again, and third down continually gets us," head coach Nathaniel Hackett said post-game. "We've got to be sure that—we've got to keep mixing it up as best we can."

Thanks to the injury bug, the Broncos had to rely on two rookies in this one. Undrafted wideout Jalen Virgil came through in the clutch, in place of the injured KJ Hamler, taking his one target from Russell Wilson 66 yards to the house for Denver's lone touchdown. Rookie center Luke Wattenberg was also called into action when Graham Glasgow went down with a shoulder injury in the second half. 

"[I] had to throw some guys in there, and I loved watching them battle," Hackett said. "Jalen Virgil came up big for us on an audible that Russ had, which was great to see, but we've got to do a great job protecting Russ and we've got to find a way to run the ball." 

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Hackett's remarks might hold water if he'd shown any sort of commitment to establishing a ground attack on the road in Nashville. But the Broncos passed on eight of their first 10 plays from scrimmage. 

Sure, the Broncos have to "find a way to run the ball," but good luck doing that when you don't call rushing plays. Denver finished with a paltry 65 yards rushing, eight of which came from Wilson on quarterback scrambles, averaging a measly 2.6 yards per attempt as a team. 

A big reason for Denver's inability to pick up yards on the ground is Hackett's incongruent play-calling. The Broncos never presented the run game as a plausible threat, and the Titans are a stout rushing defense. 

Hackett called one passing play after another, and outside of Wilson's shot to Virgil, a couple of connections with Kendall Hinton and Courtland Sutton, it was nothing doing through the air. There was no rhythm offensively for Denver, in large part, because Hackett's play-calling prevented the unit from finding it. 

Hackett doesn't see it that way, though. It's a myriad of factors, according to Denver's beleaguered head coach. 

"It's a combination of a lot of things," Hackett said. "We wanted to mix it up, we wanted to try to max protect, we wanted a quick game, we wanted to do as much as we could to try to keep the defense off and try to protect those guys, and at the same time, be able to protect Russ, and it just wasn't coming together."

Another signature defensive performance was wasted as the Broncos could do nothing to protect their three-point lead in the second half as the Titans chipped away with balanced, steady play-calling that eventually put Ejiro Evero's vaunted unit on its heels. Limiting Derrick Henry to 53 yards on 19 carries (2.8 avg) was a moral victory for Denver's defense, though it will not avail them as the Broncos battle the Las Vegas Raiders for bottom seeding in the AFC West standings. 

"It's unfortunate because it's another close game, another one-score game, and we feel like the defense stepped up to the challenge with Derrick Henry," Hackett said. "I give our defense so much credit. And the offense has to find a way. We're one-scorers each time." 

Indeed. If you want a sobering reflection of Hackett's competency as a head coach and play-caller, there's no better proof than a cursory glance at Denver's scoring game-by-game this season. 

• Week 1: 16 points (L)
• Week 2: 16 points (W)
• Week 3: 11 points (W)
• Week 4: 23 points (L)
• Week 5: 9 points (L)
• Week 6: 16 points (L)
• Week 7: 9 points (L)
• Week 8: 21 points (W)
• Week 10: 10 points (L)

Tim Tebow could do better. Even Drew Lock... 

It's bad enough to average 13.1 points per game in the modern-day NFL. But after the Broncos hired a young, offensive-minded head coach, moved mountains to acquire a franchise QB, giving up multiple first and second-round draft picks, and invested $245 million in said signal-caller sight unseen, 13.1 points per game isn't just disappointing. It's pathetic. 

"One-scorers," indeed. 

Adding insult to injury, these 10 points, 24% third-down conversion rate, and 313 net offensive yards came on the heels of a bye week. Hackett's assurances of self-scouting, diagnosing, and fixing the problems fell impotently flat. 

And guess what? There's no offensive lineman waiting in the wings to come in and save the Broncos' offense. This team has to find a way to work with the personnel it has. 

Hackett continued to point to Denver's third-down struggles as the emphasis for turning the ship around offensively. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, and the Broncos picked up a few explosive plays outside of the Virgil touchdown. But the lack of play-calling rhythm and execution on the field prevented Denver from establishing drives and sustaining even a modicum of momentum. 

"I think third down is one of the biggest things," Hackett said. "We have to be able to convert on third down. Whenever we get those explosive plays, we start moving the ball a little bit—again, the third down is kind of what's continually got us. We're almost better on fourth down, I think. We've got to get better there." 

One of the more frustrating components to Denver's loss in Nashville is the 10-point lead that was squandered. It started with the Titans getting one last possession in the second quarter, which saw Ryan Tannehill orchestrate a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to end the half and chip away at Denver's lead. 

"That was unfortunate that we gave that long drive up, but the defense did their job," Hackett said. "They did a great job throughout the game. We had that 10-0 lead. The offense has to score again. That was early in the game, and we have to be sure we put points up, it's that simple."

Outside of Patrick Surtain II emerging into the NFL's premier shutdown cornerback, the Broncos' defense has been the only positive development this season. An all-too-familiar trend dating back to the 2016 season. 

Hackett's post-game musings offer nothing by way of answers or solutions. He's lamenting the same issues that have haunted the Broncos dating back to Week 1. 

Third down, penalties, the failure to establish a run game, and praising the defense. 10 games into what appears to be yet another lost season, Hackett's inability to answer the bell portends poorly for his job security as head coach. 

If fans and media are tired of hearing the talk of improvements without it being reinforced with results, imagine how the new Walton-Penner ownership group must feel. 

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