Far more.
That seemed to be
But the rest of the way, Siemian added just 64 passing yards to his total as he completed nine more passes.
“We’ve got to find a way to kind of stay in that rhythm, stay on the field and get it to our guys.”
There was no place that lack of rhythm manifested itself more than in the red zone, where the Broncos failed to score a touchdown on all four of their official red-zone trips.
Late in the first quarter, a pass interference call on free safety Reggie Nelson gave the Broncos the ball at the Oakland 9-yard line.
The Broncos wouldn’t return to the red zone until their first drive of the third quarter, and it wasn’t a true red-zone trip. On third-and-7, Siemian scrambled to the Oakland 18-yard line, but that fourth-down play was the only one Denver snapped inside the 20-yard line.
On their next drive, though, the Broncos missed an opportunity to take advantage of positive field position that stemmed from an
That likely wouldn’t be deemed a good sack under Siemian’s evaluation method, which he explained following Sunday’s game.
“I just think you understand, kind of situationally, you’re backed up, you’re obviously not taking any sacks,” Siemian said. “You’re in the red zone, you’re really down low and it’s third-and-5, you take a sack and you kick a 25-yard field goal vs. a 20-yard field goal. It’s not that big of a difference.
To Siemian’s credit, he avoided sacks that would’ve pushed the Broncos out of field-goal range, and the four he took Sunday were for a combined 24 yards.
There’s still room, however, for Siemian and the Broncos offense to improve. The upcoming bye week should give the team plenty of time to evaluate these situations, like the one that came off a failed fake punt in the fourth quarter.
In that sudden-change situation, the Broncos again failed to punch the ball in. After a completion to
Denver couldn’t make up the lost ground, and McManus missed a 29-yard field goal to keep the Raiders within striking distance.
“I think we’re hurting ourselves down there,” Siemian said. “I’ve got to watch everything, but got to find a way to get touchdowns instead of field goals — which, I thought the first week, we did a good job of.
“We’ll figure it out, we’ll clean it up on the bye and be ready to go.”