DENVER — After their first series of the second half, the Broncos' inept offense was booed off the field by their home crowd.
Early in their second series of the second half, Broncos and Bengals players shakingly gathered around fallen Denver quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who was immobilized and carted off the field with a head injury.
Bridgewater was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he will remain overnight for further evaluation, although the good news is he had movement in all his extremities.
The Bengals wound up defeating the Broncos 15-10, a loss that figures to all but dash Denver's hopes of snapping their six-year playoff skid.
“It’s really tough,'' said tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, who had three catches for 58 yards in the surprisingly low-scoring contest. "First of all, you never want to see a guy have that type of injury that bad, especially with Teddy being such a big leader on this team, having such a big influence. It was a really big blow. Everybody kind of just gathered around him, but regardless, I know Teddy’s going to be good. He’s going to be all right.”
On the Bridgewater injury, the quarterback scrambled, then went airborne as he was clipped at the knee by Bengals linebacker Joe Bachie, who suffered a knee injury on the play. Bridgewater was hit again from the side by defensive tackle B.J. Hill while in midair, and his head slammed into the field. He instantly went motionless. The Broncos medical team immobilized him on the backboard and lifted him on a cart as players on both sides gathered to show support. Bridgewater appeared to remain unconscious as he was rolled slowly off the field, although a few minutes later the team announced he had movement in all his extremities.
To the temporary rescue came Drew Lock. The erstwhile starter turned backup relieved Bridgewater and sparked the Denver offense by finishing off the drive with a 25-yard touchdown to Tim Patrick to put the Broncos up 10-9 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
Lock went 2 for 2 on the drive, mixing it in with strong runs from the Broncos' running back duo of Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon.
“First off, I’m happy to hear that Teddy is alright,'' Lock said. "I think everybody in that locker room is happy to hear that Teddy is all right, and we’re looking forward to the next time we get to see him.
"This being the third time [he's come off the bench this season], I felt like I’m ready to go out there. I think I’m going to look at this film and there are going to be a couple plays that I will want back, like there is in every single football game, but I think we also did some good things when we were out there.
"My No. 1 thing is just taking care of the football. I think I put the ball on the ground twice, and it’s way too many for me personally. I just got to play a little better. I got to hold onto the ball. Like I said, did some good things, but you want to be perfect when you’re out there and I definitely wasn’t that tonight.”
Lock's touchdown to Patrick started the offensive shootout that was expected going into the game, but was missing in the first half. When the Bengals got the ball back, running back Joe Mixon rushed for 12 yards and quarterback Joe Burrow hit receiver Tyler Boyd wide open down the left half. Boyd ran it in for a 58-yard touchdown and 15-10 lead.
“When we got on the ball, we realized that they were playing a little more one-high [safety] than they had been, so figured that would be a good call,” Burrow said.
“Offense goes down and scores, we take a one-point lead, the last thing that you can do is, especially the way it happened, was give up a play like that," Broncos safety Justin Simmons said. "They saved that play for a time like that. It’s just a hide play—fake the run to you, and they used their receiver, act like he was blocking down like normal, and he squeaked out. The low part of our coverage got sucked up on the run fake—it was a run we saw all game long, and they found a way to squeak him out.
"As a post safety, I can’t be top-down. ... I can’t rely on the backside of me because I’m the last line of defense. It was just poor execution all around and when it comes to me, it doesn’t matter how it happens, you have to get him down to get your defense to another play.''
Then Lock started making plays by throwing the ball downfield, most notably on a 24-yard completion to his college buddy Okwuegbunam. Lock's downfield passing loosed up the Bengals' secondary so that the Broncos' running back duo of Williams and Gordon finally had room to run.
It became first and goal at the 10, but on second down Lock kept the ball on a read-option play and had the ball stripped by Bengals defensive lineman Khalid Kareem. It appeared Kareem fumbled it back after a long return of his fumble, but replay review showed Lock hit him as he recovered and the defensive lineman went down before getting back up for his long return.
“They brought cover-zero, the box was stuffed, and I took it upon myself to take the ball,'' Lock said. "The end shuffled twice. Typically when the end shuffles down negative, you kind of have an advantage on them. Kind of shuffled down and came up the field just a little bit enough to where I wasn’t actually able to get outside of him. You know, [quarterbacks coach Mike] Shula says it a couple times in the meeting rooms, when in doubt, give it to the professionals. I’m a professional thrower, not necessarily a professional runner. I should have handed that thing off to Javonte looking back at it, but also if I run that thing into the end zone, make the defensive end miss, who knows what is being said right now.”
Lock and the Broncos got the ball back with 1:04 remaining at their own 25 yard line, but they had no timeouts remaining and needed to go 75 yards for a touchdown. A holding penalty, incompletion and sack left them with third and 29 at their own 6. They didn't get it done.
PHOTOS | Broncos vs. Bengals
For their AFC wildcard showdown Sunday on a 61-degree day in mid-December at Empower Field, the Bengals and Broncos started off firing peashooters.
The two teams reached halftime with the Bengals' Evan McPerson kicking a 58-yard field goal at the buzzer for a 6-3 lead on the Broncos.
It took three field goals of 53 yards-plus for the teams to avoid an intermission whitewash.
Prior to this contest, three teams – Colts, Chargers and Bills -- had occupied the final three AFC wild-card playoff spots with 8-6 records.
The Bengals are now 8-6 and moved into a first-place tie with slumping Baltimore in the AFC North. The Broncos at 7-7 are in serious trouble. The Broncos must now likely sweep their final three games -- at the Raiders, at the Chargers and home against the Chiefs -- and hope for tiebreakers to fall their way.
To show how big this game was, both teams entered tied at 7-6 and now the Bengals are the AFC's number four playoff seed while the Broncos are number 12.
“We’re not out,'' Broncos head coach Vic Fangio said. "We’re just going to strap it up, have another good week of preparation and get ready for the next game.”
A gathering of 67,106 (not including 9,028 no-shows) witnessed how both offenses appeared tense at the start. The Bengals led 3-0 after the first quarter, and those points required a 53-yard field goal by Evan McPherson.
Otherwise, the Bengals had just three first downs in the quarter while the Broncos had two and only 33 yards of offense as their three series ended in punts. The Broncos’ best possession was their first, but it died when receiver Courtland Sutton flat dropped a 15-yard in-route on a pass from Teddy Bridgewater that would have converted a third-and-2.
A game like this, when there’s nothing going, it’s a cliché, and a bit ambiguous, to say the key is for a team to start “making plays.’’ But that’s what the Broncos did early in the second quarter. Simmons on a safety blitz sacked Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow for an 11-yard loss, forcing a punt.
Bridgewater quickly made a big play by scrambling forward and, just as he hit the line of scrimmage, improvised a dump pass to Noah Fant who rambled 28 yards into Cincinnati territory.
The drive stalled and this time it was Broncos kicker Brandon McManus who booted a 54-yard field goal that was good by plenty.
It was 3-3 with 10:44 left in the second quarter.
On the other side of the two-minute warning, the Bengals were guilty of a neutral-zone infraction. A third-and-6 became a third-and-1, no problem for Williams, the rookie running back. It became third-and-5 at midfield with 35 seconds left in the half. Bridgewater checked down to running back Melvin Gordon across the middle, picking up the first down at the Cincinnati 42. After another drop, this one by tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, Bridgewater hit Tim Patrick along the left sideline for a 9-yard completion, setting up third-and-1 at the Bengals 33 with 17 seconds remaining.
That was close enough for McManus to attempt a 51-yard field goal – but he pushed it wide right. With nine seconds remaining, Burrow needed just one 19-yard completion to Tyler Boyd to set up a 58-yard field goal attempt for McPherson.
“I probably should have had us in a better call there,'' Fangio said. "That one could be on me.”
McPherson made it for the lead going into halftime.
It turned out to be a 6-point, final-second swing that was huge in a 6-3 game.
Bridgewater was 12 of 22 for only 98 yards when he left with his scary head injury in the third quarter. Lock was 6 of 12 for 88 yards with a touchdown. Williams was the leading rusher with 72 yards off 15 carries, and Gordon added 53 yards off 15 carries.
Burrow was 15 of 22 for only 157 yards with the touchdown pass and no interceptions. Top rusher Joe Mixon was held to 58 yards on 17 carries before he went down with an injury late in the game.
The Broncos have come a long way this year, surprisingly beating a couple teams like the Cowboys and Chargers to put them in position to play a big game. But in those big games, like against the Ravens in game 4, the Chiefs in game 12 and the Bengals in game 14, the Broncos fell short.
Maybe the next step in the climb back to the playoffs is learning how to win.
“I mean, you for sure got to learn how to win,'' Simmons said. "I mean, I told you guys all week this is a do-or-die situation for us in terms of getting into the postseason and setting us up fairly well with three games left in our division. We fell short.
"It’s not a lack of effort or want to or anything like that. We just—in the NFL in the fourth quarter, one-score games, the good teams find ways to win those games, and we didn’t find a way to win that game today. I think that’s what hurts the most is we played a really good Bengals team and we had a chance to win. We just couldn’t get it done.
"So like I’ve been saying all season long, culture-wise is up to the leaders. You can spin that, you know, whichever way you want to, but it’s up to the leaders to find a way to help us win games like that. That’s what it comes down to.”
Essang waits
The Broncos didn’t want to expose second-year cornerback Essang Bassey to waivers Saturday, but when they realized nickel safety Caden Sterns wasn’t going to play against the Bengals because of a shoulder injury, they needed a roster spot to activate backup safety P.J. Locke from the COVID-19 list. Bassey is a slot corner who played in 12 games with three starts as a rookie last year, so he will draw interest – teams have been checking in on him to see if he’s healthy.
Bassey suffered a torn ACL a little more than a year ago and has not come around as hoped. He has only played in one game as a special teamer this season and was inactive in the Broncos’ previous two games before he was cut.
If Bassey clears waivers at 2 p.m. Monday, the Broncos plan to sign him back to their practice squad.
DT celebration
A Broncos contingent of about 40 people will fly by private plane Monday morning to Atlanta to attend the Celebration of Life service for former Broncos star Demaryius Thomas, who passed away Dec. 9 a few weeks shy of his 33rd birthday. The contingent is expected to include six or seven current players. Those who played at least half a season with Thomas were Garett Bolles, Bradley Chubb, Shelby Harris, Kareem Jackson, Brandon McManus, Tim Patrick, Justin Simmons, Courtland Sutton, Josey Jewell and Alexander Johnson. The group is expected to fly back soon after the celebration, which will be held in the basketball arena of D.T.’s alma mater, Georgia Tech.
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