The Denver Broncos lost to the Colts in part because of a leverage penalty. And the result didn’t sit well with Sean Payton. But here are the Broncos most to blame for the crazy Week 2 loss to the Colts.
Spencer Shrader made a 45-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Colts a 29-28 win. Shrader missed badly from 60 yards, but the Broncos got hit with a 15-yard penalty to give the young kicker a second chance.
Payton said the loss stung, according to ESPN.
“We did a lot of things late in that game to keep ourselves from winning,” Payton said. “It’ll be painful to watch that film. There will be a bitter taste for a little while. We put ourselves in position to control the game late. Then, it slipped out of our hands.”
Broncos HC Sean Payton must accept blame
Yes, it’s a player’s game. But Payton has been around the game long enough. He should have emphasized the need not to worry about blocking the kick. The chances of a make seemed very low.
Dondrea Tillman drew the flag, and here is the definition of leverage, according to the NFL rulebook via denverpost.com.
“Placing a hand or hands on a teammate or opponent to gain additional height to: (1) block or attempt to block an opponent’s kick or apparent kick, or (2) attempt to jump through a gap to block an opponent’s kick or apparent kick.”
Referee Craig Wrolstad said, “In this case, [Tillman] came across the line to the right guard and he put his hands on the right guard and pushed off him to elevate himself in the air, in order to try to block the kick,” Wrolstad told a pool reporter. “You’re not allowed to do that. It is a personal foul and a 15-yard penalty.”
Payton accepted the blame.
“The head coach pointed at himself postgame, noting the litany of errors that marred the fourth quarter for the Broncos,” Luca Evans wrote. “There was Nix’s interception. There were several key penalties on [the] final offensive drive. [And] there was a missed field goal from kicker Wil Lutz.”
Payton said, “There’ll be a bitter taste in our mouth for a little bit. And it’s because we put ourselves in a position to control that game late, and then it slipped out of our hands.”
Broncos’ team-wide blame easy to find
In the final 12 minutes, quarterback Bo Nix threw an interception. He said the Broncos left chances on the field, according to ESPN.
“It felt like it slipped away, got away from us,” said Nix, who completed 22 of 30 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns along with the pick. “There were some errors at the end that cost us, starting with my turnover, and we kind of lost a little bit of our momentum. We played well for three quarters, but you've got to finish in the fourth.”
And the Broncos also had three costly penalties. Included in the mix, J.K. Dobbins got flagged for an absolutely unnecessary delay-of-game penalty after a 23-yard run to the Colts’ 20-yard line.
“We got to be smarter, you can't spike the ball,” Payton said. “We put ourselves in a position to control that game late, and it slipped out of our hands.
“Obviously, a disappointing loss. We did a lot of things late in that game to keep us from winning.”
Furthermore, Will Lutz missed a 42-yard field goal with 3:19 left. That meant the Colts needed a field goal instead of a touchdown to win. When kickers are making 60-plus-yard field goals to help win games, other kickers can’t miss 42-yard attempts. It’s a different game. A 42-yard kick should be a chip shot these days. Lutz has to be better in that situation.
“We gave ourselves every chance to win the game, and then we shot ourselves in the foot,” Nix said. “Good teams bounce back from that; great teams don't do that, don't beat themselves.”
Teammate Mike McGlinchey said it should have been a win, according to denversports.com.
“There’s no way we should have lost that game,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “We had probably six or seven opportunities in the second half to end it, and we didn’t.
“Coach [Sean Payton] said it best after the game: ‘You’ve got to learn to win,'” McGlinchey said. “But in order to do that, you gotta stop losing.”
For a team that has its sights set on the Super Bowl, this is the kind of game the Broncos can't afford to lose. They had a chance to build an early two-game cushion over Kansas City, but fell flat at the end.
