For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost, the Broncos keep discovering ad infinitum.
For the lack of a flip or a chip or a block or a Lock or a scramble or a sight unseen, the potential victory was lost.
For the seventh time from September to September, the Broncos lost Sunday by one possession because no seemingly slight detail must be disregarded.
Forget about it and the Curse of the Eastern Time Zone? The Broncos have to remember.
If it’s not one thing — a field goal — it’s another — a failure to call timeouts — or still another — an unrestrained safety blitz on fourth down. And the Broncos fall from grace with the game by two, two, two, two points too often and four points, five points and eight points.
With just under two minutes to play Sunday, the Broncos, down to the Steelers 26-21 at Heinz Catch-Up Field, had fourth down and 2 at Pittsburgh’s 15-yard line.
The Broncos were attempting to steal one in the Steel City.
New offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur called for a pass play that had five possible alternatives and “an empty set’’ for backup quarterback Jeff Driskel. Wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton went in motion behind Driskel. Running back Melvin Gordon flew out of the backfield toward the flat and cut in. Tight end Noah Fant was a secondary objective, he told me later, while rookies Jerry Jeudy and K.J. Hamler also were available targets for the 27-year-old QB who has been with four teams in five years and was playing in his 13th NFL game.
As Driskel, who had replaced injured starter Drew Lock, was catching the snap in the shotgun, Steelers strong safety Terrell Edmunds, who lined up on the left side, was coming as Gordon was going. They didn’t meet, and nobody else touched either.
Driskel admitted afterward he wasn’t looking in that direction.
“I didn’t get my eyes in the right spot. I have to navigate the throw and get it to somebody. That’s on me.’’
Truth is, Driskel didn’t have a moment to escape or think, but he might have just flung the ball into space and wished for a positive result. After all, it was the last down.
On the sideline Shurmur, in disgust and disappointment, simulated a passing motion.
The impressive 67-yard drive abruptly ended, and Ben Roethlisberger was able to consume the clock to hang on.
Shurmur and Driskel had a conversation at the bench. Offensive coordinators don’t talk after games, but Shurmur had to be thinking about how to prepare Driskel for Sunday’s home game against Tampa Bay and Buccaneer Brady, who is more famous than Captain Jack Sparrow.
Driskel is 1-7 in career starts.
The Great Orange Hope, Lock, is wounded on his business arm for the second year. A right thumb in 2019, his right shoulder in 2020. Wearing a serious sling following the game, Lock said he knew immediately after being slammed down on a sack-fumble about seven minutes into the first quarter he was in deep trouble.
Lock said he would undergo an MRI Monday. ESPN reported he suffered a sprained AC joint in the right shoulder and could miss two-six weeks.
The Broncos have buzzard’s luck. Players keep falling. Von Miller, A.J. Bouye and Courtland Sutton again were joined by Phillip Lindsay and now Lock and Dre’Mont Jones. They deserve better, but the situation gets worse.
Broncos backers and media types will slam Vic Fangio, players, John Elway and everybody else associated with the franchise, but all should consider that patience is a highly valued virtue.
I asked Dalton Risner, who has been a Broncos fan since he was a little kid on the farm in Colorado and is the team’s starting left guard and a leader among men, to evaluate an offensive line that allowed 19 hits, seven sacks and 10 hurries to their two quarterbacks.
“You said it,’’ he said. “Pisses me off.’’
Multiple players were discussing that the Broncos must “finish.” An improved beginning and middle would help.
Last season, and the two seasons before, the Broncos constantly flopped near the conclusion, and two games this season are the same old same old continuation.
Fangio, who did use his timeouts late in the fourth quarter, looked and talked like a beaten man in his Zoom conference.
Too many horseshoe nails missing for these Broncos.
Is the season lost?
More from The Woody Paige Sports Network:
- Target these NFL regular season win totals with confidence in 2020
- The best dressed player from each team in the NBA bubble
- ‘Most losses in 2020’ prop bet offers NFL bettors huge value
- Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton suffers season-ending ACL injury
- Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey out 4-6 weeks with high ankle sprain
- Broncos QB Drew Lock out 3-5 weeks with right shoulder injury
- Injuries piling up at alarming rate for San Francisco 49ers
