Why They Lost: Green Bay Gets Demolished In Denver

Nov 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker

(94) sacks Green Bay Packers quarterback

(12) causing a fumble and safety on this play in the fourth quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the Packer 29-10. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Flat Start

We may be somewhat spoiled with what we have in Aaron Rodgers and the way this offense usually functions; few teams have the ability to get out quickly on teams the way Green Bay has made a habit of doing in recent years.

We now got to feel what it’s like to be on the other end of that.

After holding the Broncos scoreless on their first drive, the Broncos proceeded to score on their next three possessions.

With a touchdown, a second touchdown and a field goal, Denver got the score up to 17-0 by the time we were halfway through the second quarter.

It wasn’t until being down by three scores that Green Bay got anything going offensively, but that didn’t last long.

The hole had already been dug too deep, especially with the talented defense lined up against them able to pin back their ears and play the pass with abandon.

Another sign that things were off: Green Bay could have been calling time-outs towards the end of the half to save time for a final drive attempt before halftime. At that point, they were down only 17-7 and were set to get the ball back after the half. A score of any kind puts them set perfectly to possibly tie things up after e first drive in the third quarter.

But, Green Bay doesn’t use any timeouts to slow the clock, even when it was looking pretty assured that the Broncos weren’t going to do anything on their final first half drive.

The players, the coaches…everything was flat about this team to start the game despite coming in rested off a bye week.

I don’t expect this to be a lasting issue — facing a future Hall-Of-Fame quarterback and a defense of this caliber does not happen most weeks, much less in the same exact game — but it sure was an issue in this one.

Next: Inability To Get Open