Broncos HC Speaks Out on Defense's Clutch-Time Collapse in Baltimore

The Denver Broncos found a way to lose another one-score game, though the main plot points are the same.

With 5:02 left in the fourth quarter, the Denver Broncos held a 9-3 lead and had the Baltimore Ravens on the ropes. The Ravens took possession on their own 9-yard line. 

If the Broncos' defense gets a stop, it's ballgame — the oddsmakers would be defied with an upset victory on the road. But, alas, that's not how it shook out. 

The Ravens had to work for it, but work they did, as backup quarterback Tyler Huntley drove his team 91 yards on 16 plays, consuming 4:34 of the clock and punching it in the end zone to take a 10-9 lead. With two timeouts, Russell Wilson and the Broncos' offense would get 23 seconds to try to get into field goal range of kicker Brandon McManus, who'd been responsible for all nine points of the road team. 

Wilson got 37 yards in three plays, and got close to McManus' plausible range. But not close enough. McManus' attempt from 63 yards out was no good as time expired. 

Ballgame. 

Once again, the Broncos' defense collapsed in the clutch, on the heels of a very impressive game where it carried the team through 55 minutes of action, sacking the quarterback four times and picking off Huntley twice. As a collective, the Broncos have clearly forgotten how to finish, which has led to a lingering case of winner's amnesia, too. 

After the game, an exasperated Nathaniel Hackett lamented his team's lack of poise when the chips were down in Baltimore, walking the line of crediting his defense for keeping the team afloat for 55 minutes and pointing to its inability to close the game out. 

“I thought the defense did a great job all the way until that last drive," Hackett said. "But I mean, those guys are doing a really good job. Huntley is a very, very good football player, and I went against him last time I was here, he happened to be the quarterback who was out there. I give him so much credit for being able to step in and being able to move the football.” 

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Hackett knows as well as anyone that nobody gets a trophy for the close-but-no-cigar finish. The Broncos have to be able to finish in critical moments, or else it squanders and demeans all the work and production leading up to it. 

Even though Lamar Jackson exited the game with a quad injury in the first half, the Broncos' defense should be commended for holding the Ravens to 285 total yards. It's just a damn shame that 91 of those yards came on Baltimore's final possession. 

And, pointing to the elephant in the room, the Broncos' offense can't continue to be the worst scoring unit in the NFL since 2000 and expect the defense to pitch a perfect game in order to have a puncher's chance. 

“In the end, we have to make that last play," Hackett said. "But, at the same time, we have to be more efficient earlier, and I mean throughout the game. I didn’t think it was a very good offensive football game all around. We didn’t get into the red zone; we didn’t score any touchdowns. So, it’s not just the second half, it's not the first half; we’ve got to find a way to move the football continuously, third down again is probably the most frustrating across the board. Especially, when you’re in those third down and manageable. Those have continuously been our Achilles heel, and we’ve got to get that right.” 

Hackett's offense went 2-of-12 (17%) on third down and not only failed to score a touchdown, but the Broncos didn't even sniff the red zone. Wilson isn't wrong in saying that Sunday's defeat was a total team loss. As is often the case in the NFL, every phase shared complicity in the team snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 

“I think it’s a complete team effort," Wilson said. "The part about winning is that, especially in the National Football League, is that it's going to come down to a possession or two almost every game. From my experience, it comes down to these one or two possessions. Maybe the last one, whatever it may be, offensively, defensively, special teams, whatever it is. That margin of error is so tight and is so clear and has to be communicated so well. We all have to be on the same page [at] all times, we all have to make that one or two plays, whatever it is.”

Second verse, same as the first. 

Back to the drawing board, I guess. The Broncos are now 3-9 and haven't won on American soil since September 25 — more than two months ago. 

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