Broncos vs Browns: The No Bull Review

Cleveland Browns v Denver Broncos — Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

The Denver Broncos survived a tough outing against the Cleveland Browns. Here are my thoughts, opinions, and analysis on this critical game going into their bye week.

Whew!

I’m spent after watching that Monday night game. I’ve forgotten just what it feels like to be cheering for a team that’s in the hunt for the playoffs.

As frustrating as this game was to watch, I have to say it feels so good to be playing meaningful football in December for a change. The Cleveland Browns came to town and gave us their best shot (and it was damn close to being enough to get them the win).

I do think this game was very eye-opening for me as I feel like we got many really grounding looks at what this team is made of and what kinds of problems they need to work on with their bye week.

Offense

With all the points scored in this game, on the surface, this looked like a pretty decent offensive game for the Denver Broncos.

But the No Bull truth was that it was not. If it was Sean Payton’s desire to dial up the deep throws and minimize the run game, I’m not sure if he’s got his head screwed on straight as a play-caller.

The Browns have been really sucking against the run. If you just lined up your two tight end sets, put in a competent runner, and run the ball, you’d have changed the context of the game completely in a positive way.

There are just bucket loads of coaching points for the team to go over offensively. Choices on personnel, run/pass frequency, and decision-making on 3rd down plays were all really out of whack.

To Payton’s credit, we’re seeing so much evidence recently of how thin this roster is in spots. It is a testament to his coaching that we’re figuring out ways to win with what we have. That the team looks hungry, shakes off momentum-swinging negative plays, and keeps on fighting no matter what is evidence of why this team belongs in the playoffs.

Quarterbacks

I honestly think Bo Nix looked like a guy this week who knew this game was on prime time and really wanted to shoot for the starts. There were at least three throws that he went deep on 3rd down where he had legitimate options that would likely have gotten the first down conversion at a much higher rate of success.

One great example of this was his throwing to Franklin on 3rd down early in the game. He needs to see Vele for the first instead of trying to get a hero ball to his buddy. On his tipped interception, he was forced it to Franklin again.

Bad choices beget bad plays. His pass to Vele on 3rd and 2 in the 3rd quarter was a bad decision. Newsome had the receiver smothered in coverage.

I was very disappointed to see Nix slide at the end of the game when he could have fought and dove for a 1st down. This is go time, Nix. In the big moments, you need to fight for yards in these late-season games that matter.

Line

Garett Bolles single-handedly killed a key drive in the game with a holding call and followed up by lining up too far back to nullify a chunk play that would have gotten them the first down. He’s a vet that needs to know that the holding penalty is too big and he has to let the player go when the play goes by him even if it means the back gets tackled. We still would have gained yards on the play and the offense would be back online. Outside of that one drive, Bolles played a pretty great game. We don’t recognize enough just how good he is at left tackle. I love his play and honestly want to see him finish his career in Denver.

The line does need some credit for how they played in this game, though. We did get running yards when we used competent backs. We also didn’t give up a sack against a team with a very strong pass rush.

Running Backs

Denver Broncos tak on the Cleveland Browns at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

Jaleel McLaughlin shows such great patience running the ball. He needs to get more of the touches, though to me he is still too small to be our primary back. I love the dynamic he brings as a shifty runner who can jet through gaps to gain yards. He ended the game with a total of 84 yards on 14 attempts.

Audric Estime just needs to be getting most of William’s carries. He constantly picks better holes, runs with better power, and gains more yards than Williams.

Javonte Williams getting a start at this point is criminal. He’s completely washed and is only safe on this roster because we need a guy who can pass protect and catch out of the backfield. It is a crying shame that this coaching staff has had all season to round out the skills of Audric Estime and he’s still not trusted enough. This is a theory on my part as Payton hasn’t spoken to this given that our brilliant local media haven’t asked good questions about why we keep starting a guy who averages less than a yard per carry in the past couple of games. I’m so over seeing this player run directly into the backside of his blockers play after play.

Fullback is a dying breed in the NFL. I loved seeing Michael Burton get the touchdown behind a great block by Mike McGlinchey. He only got on the field for 13 plays, so getting a carry is a pretty rare thing for his usual workload.

Receivers

Courtland Sutton may have only had 6 catches, but they went for 102 yards and it seemed like each and every one was a big conversion in a big moment. What stood out to me was how many great routes he ran in the game. He was fast, and smooth, and made himself an easy target for Nix to throw to. It is also worth noting the impact Sutton has had on pass interference calls. If Bolles hadn’t had a penalty, Sutton would have tallied 2 on the day.

Marvin Mimms Jr. has got to start getting more opportunities as a wide receiver. He’s too fast, too quick, and knows how to make plays down the field. All of the targets Franklin keeps getting need to go to the player who can actually make the plays down field in my mind.

Troy Franklin is a frustrating watch for me at this point in his career. He looks like a very fast player who doesn’t have the dog in him to make contested catches and it cost the Broncos 2-3 plays in the game. I mostly see throws to him deep as a waste as he doesn’t get enough separation to get reliable gains. It honestly looks like he’s getting targets because of his history with Nix and I just don’t see production that justifies it. I think most people remember the good plays and want to see more, but for context, he’s caught 21 catches on 41 targets on the season for just 218 yards. There have been a lot of misses going his way.

Defense

The biggest thing I’ve learned from this game is just how much the Broncos need both Riley Moss and Pat Surtain II healthy for this defense to hum. Their ability to go one-on-one consistently and win makes everything else work for Vance Joseph’s defense.

The whole defense was in shambles for most of the game with no ability to blitz since we had such poor coverage on the back end. Winston carved up our defense and it was horrible to watch.

While I think it is fair to say Joseph should have benched the terrible corner and put someone else down the depth chart in sooner, it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. They switched up coverage so much trying to find a formula that worked. I saw a ton of zone wrinkled in. I saw them try their man concepts. No matter what they did, Winston just found the weak points and went after them by and large.

Front 7

Nik Bonitto showed off that he’s not just a pass-rusher. He’s a complete linebacker who knows exactly how to play zone, hands off his first guy to the safety, and then read the quarterback’s eyes to jump the route. I am so impressed by his ability in coverage on his pick-6. The opportunity for him as a defender to show off was well deserved as this guy has been busting his ass to get better since he got here in 2022. He finished the game with a tackle for loss, 2 quarterback hurries, one interception, and 2 pass defenses. What a night for the young stud!

Jonathan Cooper also chipped in a sack, tackle for loss, and a quarterback hurry on a night where pass rush was really hard to come by with the Broncos mostly only rushing 4.

I want to point out that our inside linebackers both had solid nights for the team. Barton had a pass defense and interception. Strnad had a pass defense. But what they did well all night long was rally to the ball and minimize the damage.

Shout out to Zach Allen for toughing out the game. It looks to me like he needs this bye week to hopefully get healthy. He did have 4 quarterback hurries on the night but didn’t look like his normal disruptive self.

Secondary

Ja’Quan McMillian was the hero of the game in my books. He’s had some rough games recently, but on this night had the play of the game with a key pick-6. That wasn’t his only great play as he had perfect coverage on 3rd down and got the defense a much-needed stop early. Maybe my favorite play of his on the night was on 3rd and 2 holding the edge against a running back to force a 4th down play. It was showed his discipline and big dog fight to make that play. He ended the game with an interception, 4 pass defenses, and 5 tackles.

At some point as a defensive coordinator, you have to adjust when there is one player that is just bleeding yards and touchdowns all game long. Joseph constantly trotting out Levi Wallace play after horrendous play was an atrocity. I know Kris Abrams-Draine and Damarri Mathis aren’t great corners (there are good reasons why they are down the roster from Wallace), but for the sake of accountability, you have to bench a player who isn’t playing at even an average level. He is too slow, doesn’t react quickly enough, and is constantly flat-footed letting guys run by him. This game was bad enough that I’d honestly put him at the bottom of the depth chart for the rest of the season.

P.J. Locke seems to oftentimes be a half-second too late to make plays. One great example of this was the Browns’ first touchdown. Locke can make that play if he can just read it faster and jump the route sooner. We’ve been spoiled in recent years with Justin Simmons at free safety and Locke just isn’t anywhere close to that level.

The stat sheet isn’t going to wow anyone with only 4 tackles and one pass defense, but Pat Surtain II had a great night. Winston only threw at him a few times and didn’t get much out of it.

Special Teams

I can’t say enough how well Wil Lutz has been playing for this team. He’s 5 of 5 on extra points and 2 of 2 on field goals. We needed those points. The scoreboard may make it seem like a field goal didn’t mean much, but in a close game coming down to the wire, each of those points means a lot to the morale of the team.

Let’s also give Riley Dixon some props. He averaged 51.2 yards punting and 49.6 net. That’s superb punting. He even got 3 of the punts to be downed inside the 20.

Final Thoughts

First off, let me thank Jerry Jeudy for his performance. You were an outstanding loser once again, Jeudy. We’ll be thinking of you and how much trash you talked to the stands in Mile High this postseason when we’re playing a playoff game and your losing season is over.

But schadenfreude aside, back to our team. This team couldn’t have asked for better bye-week timing. We’ve learned that our roster is pretty thin in some key areas: cornerback, running back, safety, and defensive end. The defense needs to get healthy and stay healthy for the rest of the season. If they can, we’ll have a real chance to do some damage in the postseason.

Meanwhile, the coaches should be really dialing in on getting some of the younger player’s techniques cleaned up with the extra time. I’d love to see more of our younger corners instead of trotting out veteran guys who don’t have it.

I’d also love to see us work Audric Estime in as the primary back for the love of everything that is holy. Our run game is a liability and if we can inject some production there with a player change, it could mean a ton to this team’s playoff chances.

For those of you who’ve read me for a long time, you know I historically set the standard for the Broncos having a good season as being whether or not they make the playoffs. I’m ecstatic to see them approaching that goal this season. It is nail-biting time as a fan and I’m loving every second of it as I hope all of you out in Broncos Country are!