It wasn’t pretty, but the Denver Broncos kept their playoff hopes alive at home with a 17-10 win against Washington in Week 8. The Broncos improve to 4-4 on the year, while the Football Team slips into last place in the NFC East at 2-6.
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Denver Broncos
Quarterback
It was a quintessential Teddy Bridgewater stat line on Sunday, as he went 19-of-26 for 213 yards with a score and no picks. He was just efficient enough at the intermediate level to fuel the Broncos' offense to a win. He went 5-for-7 for 101 yards on throws between 10-19 yards downfield Sunday.
Running Backs
Melvin Gordon III was having himself a nice day until disaster struck late in the fourth quarter when he coughed the ball up and gave Washington a chance to tie the game with 21 seconds left in the game.
Before that mishap, he had gained 49 yards on his nine carries, with four broken tackles.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
He may not have factored too heavily into the passing attack, but it was sure nice to see Jerry Jeudy back out there for the Broncos. He hauled in all four of his targets for 39 yards on his 19 receiving snaps.
Offensive Line
The arrow once seemed to be pointing up for center Lloyd Cushenberry III, but he got the Washington interior defensive line treatment today. On 30 pass-blocking snaps, he allowed a sack and two other hurries in ugly fashion.
Defensive Line
Without Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, the Broncos' pass rush simply doesn’t have the teeth to pressure opposing quarterbacks consistently. That being said, they still chased down a scrambling Taylor Heinicke several times outside the pocket.
Malik Reed and Dre’Mont Jones both finished with a couple of sacks on the day.
Linebackers
Unsurprisingly, the Broncos linebacking corps didn’t get fixed overnight after trading for Kenny Young. They combined to allow 9-of-10 targets for 116 yards and six first downs. Baron Browning took the brunt of it, as he looked lost too often in coverage.
Secondary
This is why the Broncos backed up the Brinks truck for Justin Simmons. He had a crucial fourth-down stop early in the game…
Justin Simmons comes up to secure the Broncos stop on 4th down! pic.twitter.com/1IBgHiSVMY
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) October 31, 2021
And then almost single-handedly shut down Washington’s penultimate attempt at a game-tying drive in the fourth quarter.
Quick trigger by Justin Simmons and a nice tackle. pic.twitter.com/pO3u2XD0sD
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) October 31, 2021
There may very well be a PFF team of the week award in the near future.
Washington Football Team
Quarterback
Different week, the same story: bad sacks, bad decisions and inaccurate throws.
Sure, Heinicke made some beautiful throws — like the touchdown to DeAndre Carter — but it was far from leading a consistent offense.
Taylor Heinicke finds DeAndre Carter, who makes the touchdown grab on Bryce Callahan. pic.twitter.com/LeiVnOy92t
— Joe Rowles (@JoRo_NFL) October 31, 2021
That touchdown was his only deep completion on five attempts. Heinicke finished with only seven completions on passes thrown more than five yards past the line of scrimmage.
Running Backs
Even though he was off the injury report, Antonio Gibson’s shin injury relegated him to near-backup status today. He took only eight carries to Jaret Patterson’s 11 and 23 snaps to JD McKissic’s 32.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
It was the rare dud for Terry McLaurin, who finished with season lows in receptions (three) and yards (23). Unfortunately, it wasn’t because there was finally a No. 2 option that really stepped up. Return specialist DeAndre Carter ended up leading the Football Team receivers with only 51 yards.
Offensive Line
Despite injuries up front, the Football Team offensive line still held up fairly well in pass protection. On 45 pass-blocking snaps, they combined to allow only eight pressures on the day.
| Player | Pass-blocking snaps | Pressures |
| Charles Leno Jr. | 45 | 1 |
| Ereck Flowers | 45 | 2 |
| Chase Roullier | 15 | 0 |
| Wes Schweitzer | 45 | 3 |
| Tyler Larsen | 31 | 0 |
| Keith Ismael | 3 | 0 |
Defensive Line
It was yet another disappointing performance as a pass-rusher from Chase Young. Even though he led the Football Team defensive line with 47 snaps, he managed a measly one pressure on 26 pass rushes.
Youn has now managed two or fewer pressures in half of Washington’s games this season. But at least he made his presence felt in the run game with three stops, including a forced fumble that gave the ball back to Washington’s offense with a chance to tie the game.
CHASE YOUNG FORCES THE FUMBLE
pic.twitter.com/gvHJb2RATC— PFF (@PFF) October 31, 2021
Linebackers
On 41 snaps Sunday, rookie first-rounder Jamin Davis was nowhere to be found. He made only two tackles — neither of which resulted in a stop — and missed a tackle, as well. He’s now averaged fewer than two defensive stops a game this season for a total of 13.
Secondary
This was the Landon Collins Washington thought they would get when they signed him back in 2019. Collins’ five defensive stops were his most in a single game since he first donned a Washington uniform.
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