Everything anyone ever said about Drew Lock was proven true Sunday in the Broncos' heart-palpitating 19-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at empty SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
To those who believe Lock is not quite good enough, that he gets too careless on some throws and is inaccurate with others, there was the first half when the Broncos fell behind, 13-0, and some of the second when the deficit moved to 16-3 early in the fourth quarter.
To those who say Lock has all the arm talent, athleticism and unshakable confidence to become a top-half, NFL starting quarterback with a little more patience, there was the bulk of his second half when only some devastating drops by rookie Jerry Jeudy spoiled another heroic comeback attempt against the rival Chargers.
Drew Lock on Sunday at SoFi was Drew Lock of 2020.
“I'd say it's still the same,'' said Broncos head coach Vic Fangio when asked if he has a better evaluation of Lock after the game that was just played. "You said it was a microcosm of the season—I kind of agree with you. There's a lot of good, and there's some that's got to get cleaned up and disappear.”
It's amazing how down-to-the-final-play exciting and how intensely competitive NFL games have been with no fans in the stands. Credit the athletes, coaches and managers in all sports -- it was that way through the professional baseball, basketball and hockey seasons during the COVID year of 2020, and it's been that way from game 1 on through game 15 of the regular season.
These guys get paid a ton of money, and while many say they play for their fans, the truth revealed during the pandemic is so long as they keep score, everybody plays to win. Even with all the practice squad-caliber players lining up on Fangio's defense, Denver nearly pulled this one out against the Chargers and their record-setting rookie quarterback Justin Herbert.
“I think that reflects well on the team—their effort, their toughness, their resiliency,'' Fangio said. "But we got to start making the plays and not do the things that cause you to lose a game like that.''
He then quickly went through the list of why the Broncos, for all their honorable intentions, fell short.
"Can't give up an opening kickoff where they return it deep into our end for a field goal,'' Fangio said. "We got to make our field goals. We got to catch the ball when it's thrown to us. We got to throw the ball more accurately at times. We got to play receivers tighter, no matter who's playing corner and not just play scared. We got to tackle when we have the opportunity to tackle. We got to do all the things that winning teams do.''
And then, after realizing he was a little too dialed up on his frustration meter, Fangio remembered he was down five cornerbacks, two starting defensive linemen and their star pass rusher.
"But I'm proud of the guys we have,'' Fangio said. "I'm proud of their effort, their toughness, and their resilience, but we got to do things better.”
We'll start at the end. Broncos kicker Brandon McManus, who missed a field goal earlier in the game, came through with a clutch, 52-yarder with less than 3 minutes remaining to tie it, 16-16. The Chargers, stale the entire second half, finally put together three consecutive first-down plays -- two on long runs by former Eaton star Austin Ekeler -- and were at the Broncos' 18 yard line with 1:41 left. Time management strategy resulted in a go-ahead, 37-yard field goal by Michael Badgley with 41 seconds remaining.
Down, 19-16, Lock began his final series by beaching a throw to a wide open DaeSean Hamilton. On the next play, though, Lock threw a deep post route to Jerry Jeudy, who had split two defenders. The ball clanked off Jeudy's hands, his fifth drop of the game.
This after Jeudy expressed frustration at not getting enough balls thrown to him on social media in recent weeks.
“It definitely came to me,'' Jeudy said afterward. "Nobody stopped me. I was open. I’ve just got to finish. I beat myself today.”
Jeudy may have been the game's goat but give him credit for being an accountable goat.
On fourth and ballgame, Lock got a break when former Bronco turned Chargers cornerback Chris Harris muffed an interception with 1 second left.
"That's the easiest pick I ever dropped in my career,'' Harris said. "I'll probably get a lot of jokes the rest of the day for sure."
But Lock's desperation, final-play heave to the end zone was intercepted.
These two AFC West rivals entered their second meeting this season with identical 5-9 records. The Broncos are now 5-10 and -- get this -- 25-44 since the final six , weeks of 2016a span that takes in three head coaches in Gary Kubiak, Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio.
In their first meeting on November 1 in Denver, the Chargers jumped to a 24-3 lead midway through the third quarter but Lock got hot and rallied the Broncos to a 31-30 win on a final play touchdown pass.
For most of both games, the Chargers had the better young quarterback as Herbert threw his 28th touchdown pass of the season to set a new NFL rookie record.
The scintillating yet maddening Lock, meanwhile was on quintessential display on the Broncos’ opening drive. He moved his offense efficiently from his own 13 to the Chargers’ 16. He completed his first three passes on a drive that lasted 14 plays and 7 minutes, 45 seconds. But on third-and-6 from the Chargers’ 16, Lock showed both his athleticism and his carelessness. He escaped left, then threw back across his body to Hamilton.
A purposeful trick throw that went awry. Inaccuracy, not decision-making, seems to be at the core of Lock’s struggles.
Lock threw the ball too far behind Hamilton, who reached back to get a hand on the ball, only to deflect it dangerously and softly into the air before Chargers’ cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. intercepted it in the end zone.
All that work, all that execution. For nothing. It’s the type of mistake, and inaccuracy, that has too often cost the Broncos. Lock also twice missed an open tight end Noah Fant on deeper routes. Lock finished 24 of 47 for 264 yards and two interceptions. He played much better in the second half although critical drops by Jeudy cost him at least one touchdown as the game moved into the fourth quarter.
When he gets hot -- and he does so for moments in almost every game -- Lock is fun to watch. But when he's not, the bad plays are often too bad to overcome.
"It is all about consistency at this position and at this level,'' Lock said. "I have to find a good balance of being level, but quite honestly, I'm going to try to be hot all the time. I understand what I can do with the football—I am starting to see this speed, these defenses, and know this offense well enough to be able to go out and feel really confident going in there to be able to make the throws that I need, see the defense and put the ball where it needs to go.
"It's something I feel a lot better than I did at the beginning of the season— which is how many reps we've gotten this year in games, but it is about me finding the steady tempo of a game. I think sometimes, because I am the big-play guy and put it downfield, that when I do take a check down here and there that it kind of comes off as being cold. You're used to me taking deep shots and going down the field to where, myself included, I need to be okay with just getting it down and extending drives."
It's not the checkdowns, though, It's the misses on passes that good NFL quarterback almost always make.
Besides Lock, the Broncos were momentarily stricken with a kicker problem. McManus had been having a terrific season until he missed two extra points in a win at Carolina two weeks ago. Not allowed to play last week against Buffalo because he was deemed a close contact to a COVID patient, McManus watched emergency replacement Taylor Russolino miss two extra points and a field goal.
And then against the Chargers, McManus had a chance to tie the game, 3-3, early in the second quarter but he clanked the left upright on a 42-yard field goal attempt. The Chargers jumped offsides, though, so McManus got another chance from 37 yards. He clanked the same upright.
McManus did get his leg swing groove back by making field goals from 30, 50 yard and 52 yards.
The Chargers took an early, 3-0 lead thanks to a game-opening, 53-yard kickoff return by Nick Adderley, which set up a 37-yard field goal by Michael Badgley. They expanded on it when Herbert followed McManus’ miss with a drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ekeler, the pride of Eaton. It was Herbert’s NFL rookie-setting 28th touchdown pass of the season. Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield held the previous TD pass record of 27, set two years ago.
"Pretty cool statistic,'' Herbert said. "Just glad we got the win today."
Ekeler caught the ball at the 5, turned and seemed surprised no one was around him. By the time linebacker Josey Jewell closed. Ekeler scooted into the end zone.
Herbert finished 21 of 33 for 253 yards and a 97.2 rating.
Broncos running back Melvin Gordon had 79 yards rushing on 16 carries. He needs 107 yards in the Broncos' final game next Sunday against the slumping Las Vegas Raiders to reach 1,000 for the season.
Jeudy was open all game long but finished with just six catches for 61 yards and five drops.
"It just happened too many times today,'' Jeudy said. "That's unacceptable."
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