LOS ANGELES — It can be chalked up as a mistake, or even a coincidence when it happens once. Concerns start to flicker when it happens twice. Three times? That’s a troubling trend.
The Denver Broncos, though, surpassed even that threshold when it came to pass-coverage blunders during their 34-27 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night. The breakdowns that led to Ladd McConkey and other receivers running untouched through the secondary were as frequent as they were damaging.
“We dropped coverage tonight,” Broncos coach Sean Payton noted after Thursday’s game, another way of saying that Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was gifted too many wide-open targets by Denver’s defense. “We’ve got to look closely at why are these things happening, but five different times we had free runners. You can’t have one of their top receivers not covered.”
McConkey caught all six of the passes thrown his way for 87 yards. He gained 51 of those yards after the catch. On four of McConkey’s six catches, Denver had no defender closer than 5 yards from the talented rookie wide receiver when he made the catch. McConkey lined up the slot on the first play of the Chargers’ second drive just off the shoulder of right tackle Joe Alt. At the snap, he sneaked into space across the middle between inside linebacker Justin Strnad and safety Brandon Jones. As he got to the top of his route, McConkey accelerated and Herbert led him with a pass that allowed the receiver to scamper for an untouched 27-yard gain before stepping out of bounds.
It was a play that looked eerily similar to the opening play for the Cleveland Browns in Week 13 when wide receiver Jerry Jeudy lined up in the slot on the left side and casually strolled into a gap in the middle of the field. He caught the pass from Jameis Winston and sprinted into wide open space for a 44-yard gain. It was just the start for Jeudy during a 235-yard performance that marked the highest receiving total ever for a player against his former team.
Herbert took advantage of similar openings. So, too, will Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow if they present themselves during a critical matchup between the two teams Saturday in Ohio. The Broncos (9-6) can clinch a playoff spot with a victory against the Bengals (7-8), but Denver will enter Week 18 needing to beat the Kansas City Chiefs — or depend on help from other teams — if it can’t win on the road in Cincinnati. That makes cleaning up the coverage issues that have popped up in recent weeks a major priority of the coaching staff this week.
“I do think it’s correctable but some of it is really basic route principles,” Payton said during a conference call with reporters Sunday. “Underneath coverage, busts. … When you play a good quarterback like that, you can’t make it easy on him. You get into a bunch look, and you have a route distribution of a shallow or vertical — you have to be able to match that distribution. We didn’t do a good enough job several times by dropping coverage. That’s something we have to look closely at.”
Burrow leads the NFL with 4,229 passing yards and touchdowns (39), the latter mark already a career-best. He is tied for fifth in expected points added per dropback (0.16), according to TruMedia, and is third in passer rating (108.5). He’d be in the thick of the MVP conversation if it weren’t for Cincinnati’s record, which is illustrative of a shoddy defense and a confounding 1-7 mark in games decided by seven points or fewer.
The top target for Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, leads the NFL in receiving yards (1,510) and touchdowns (16). Tee Higgins has amassed 727 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing five games. Mike Gesicki ranks 11th among tight ends with 511 receiving yards and has added two touchdowns. Chase Brown ranks 12th among running backs with 366 receiving yards and his four touchdown receptions are third-most at the position.
It’s a group that can create matchup fits all over the field, even when defenses are buttoned up. Botch “basic route principles,” as Payton said, and the Broncos, no pun intended, will be in chase mode again. It’s not the place you want to be with your playoff hopes on the line.
“When we shoot ourselves in the foot and allow them to drive down the field with mistakes we make, that’s costly on our part,” cornerback Pat Surtain II said after Thursday’s loss. “We’ve just got to correct it and move on. Obviously, we know we have to close out the season the right way to get to where our destiny is taking us.”
The Broncos still rank first in expected points added per opponent dropback (0.o7), according to TruMedia, but they’ve slipped since Week 13 (11th at -0.02) without starting cornerback Riley Moss in the lineup. The second-year player has worked out before the last two games for the Broncos and was a limited participant in practice last week for the first time since suffering an MCL injury in late November against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“We were and have been super excited,” about Moss, Payton said. “Obviously, the guy that plays opposite of Patrick is going to get a lot of business. All throughout training camp, he really rose to the occasion, battled, competed, and throughout, really, a good portion of the season. He’s a big reason why we were playing so well defensively. The sooner the better when we can get him back in the lineup. Hopefully, it can happen this weekend.”
The playoff picture didn’t change for the Broncos after Sunday’s action concluded around the league. Their best path remains to find one win — Saturday at Cincinnati or in Week 18 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Scenarios where the Broncos get in with nine wins exist, but they dwindled Sunday as the Bengals, Colts and Dolphins all won to keep their own playoff hopes alive.
“The focal point always is on the game you’re playing,” Payton said. “That’s the one thing that you can control. I look forward to having a good week. … It’s the next challenge. There will be a number of things you learn from this game and then you move on.”
(Top photo of Derius Davis catching a touchdown pass against P.J. Locke: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
