The Denver Broncos have sunk to a new low in the 2019 season. Leading by 20 at halftime, the Broncos blew it all in the second half and allowed the Minnesota Vikings to win 27-23, becoming only the 14th team in NFL history to lose after leading by 20 or more points at halftime. Lots of bad things happened during the course of the game, but there were a few bright spots. Here are three takeaways from the Broncos loss.
The Good
Courtland Sutton has turned into a stud. He caught, he rushed, he even threw a 38-yard pass in the first quarter to Tim Patrick. Sutton had a total 161 all-purpose yards – 113 receiving yards and 10 yards rushing to go with his pass. He has turned into a star on offense and provides a bright future with Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. Quarterback Brandon Allen has found his favorite target going forward.
The Bad
As stated earlier, the Broncos led at halftime 20-0. In the last five years, no team has lost the game after leading by 20 points at the half. The Broncos allowed Kirk Cousins to have a monster day by throwing 319 yards and three touchdowns. Cousins finished with a quarterback rating of 133.2 and had no interceptions. The defense did put pressure on him as he was sacked five times for -35 yards. Stefon Diggs had a touchdown and 121 receiving yards, while Dalvin Cook was held to 26 yards and a touchdown.
The Ugly
To add to the futile stats, the Broncos have gone six straight games without scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Their last fourth-quarter touchdown happened way back in Week 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Denver will need to find offense in the second half going forward, or the losses will continue to pile up this season.
Intangible
Von Miller had a sack and one tackle for a loss. For the season, the All-Pro linebacker has only five sacks, the worse of his career since his 2013 suspension season. Head Coach Vic Fangio needs to let Miller loose, and allow him to pressure the quarterback like he used to do.
Featured image courtesy of USA Today
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Ryan.
“From Our Haus to Yours”