Broncos report card: Denver roars to life, staves off defeat

Offense — B

More of the same for the Broncos against Chicago. In moments, it looks like a unit about to take off. Russell Wilson solved some of the second-half woes from early in the season in throwing touchdowns to Brandon Johnson and Courtland Sutton while erasing a 21-point deficit. Jaleel McLaughlin provided a jolt before and after an injury to Javonte Williams. But then also there’s a veteran offensive line group committing five — yeah, five — false start penalties. There’s the stretch of four straight punts between an opening touchdown drive and a second-half flurry. There’s the Marvin Mims Jr. big play and also the erratic playing time. His 48-yarder to set up a go-ahead field goal proved to be the biggest offensive snap of the game for Denver.

Defense — C

After giving up 70 points to Miami last week, the Broncos should have been able to avoid a performance that allows for, “Which is more embarrassing?” But then Justin Fields (58% completions entering play) completed 23 of his first 24 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns as the Bears raced out to a 28-7 lead by midway through the third quarter. The Bears hadn’t scored more than 20 points this year and entered averaging 15.7. Finally, a pair of big plays: Nik Bonitto (2.5 sacks) stripped Fields and Jonathon Cooper scooped it and scored to tie the game at 28. Then the Broncos stopped Chicago on fourth-and-1 in field goal range with 2:52 to play to set up a go-ahead field goal, and Kareem Jackson ended the game with an interception in the final seconds.

Special teams — A-

Wil Lutz made the biggest kick of his young Broncos career, banging home a go-ahead 51-yarder with 1:46 to play. Marvin Mims, Jr. made the first big mistake of his young career, muffing a kickoff and getting fortunate to recover it at his own 4-yard line. He also made a big play, though, in generating a 25-yard punt return. His two punt return chances this year have gone for 45 and 25 yards. Riley Dixon had an inconsistent day punting. He’s been working on smoothing out his ball-striking, but the on-field results remain mixed.

Coaching — C

The Broncos had a week to stew on a 70-20 loss and instead of coming out like a team bent on atonement, then turned in a near-disaster performance. The defense started with a three-and-out and then surrendered four straight touchdown drives. The offense started with a touchdown and then did nothing until the third quarter. In the end, though, the team could have packed it in and instead swung back. Vance Joseph’s maligned defense made enough big plays and Payton dialed up a big hitter to Mims at the right time. What will it count for in the long run? We’ll see. But it was enough for a win Sunday. That counts for something.

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• 2023
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