{"id":100280,"date":"2022-10-18T04:39:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T04:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/broncos-and-russell-wilson-struggle-again-big-special-teams-error-keys-chargers-win\/"},"modified":"2022-10-18T04:39:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T04:39:05","slug":"broncos-and-russell-wilson-struggle-again-big-special-teams-error-keys-chargers-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/broncos-and-russell-wilson-struggle-again-big-special-teams-error-keys-chargers-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos and Russell Wilson struggle again, big special teams error keys Chargers win"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Russell Wilson had a chance to put together a drive that could have started to perhaps endear him to Denver Broncos fans.  And then another chance.  And another.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos had three possessions when they were tied 16-16.  One came at the end of regulation and then there were two to start overtime.  All three ended in punts, with no points.  There was only one first down in those drives and it came on a run.<\/p>\n<p>Then Denver&#8217;s special teams made a huge mistake.  Montrell Washington muffed a punt when a blocker was pushed back into him.  The Los Angeles Chargers recovered and got a game-winning field goal for the 19-16 win in overtime.<\/p>\n<p>The story of yet another Broncos game is the lack of offense.  Wilson wasn&#8217;t great for the final three quarters of regulation.  He couldn&#8217;t get a drive going in overtime either, going three-and-out on two straight possessions.  He has n&#8217;t been good for most of this season and the questions about his struggles will continue.<\/p>\n<p>At least the Broncos won&#8217;t be on prime time again for a while.<\/p>\n<h2>Russell Wilson starts hot<\/h2>\n<p>The last time we saw Wilson, he was struggling in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts and missing a wide-open KJ Hamler for what would have been a game-winning touchdown.  It was reported he had a partially torn lat muscle and had an injection in his throwing shoulder after that Colts loss.<\/p>\n<p>He started hot on Monday night.  He was 10-of-10 for 116 yards and a touchdown after his TD toss to rookie tight end Greg Dulcich.  That gave the Broncos a 7-0 lead.  It was Wilson&#8217;s best quarter as Broncos quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for the Broncos, the next three-plus quarters looked like the first five games of the season.  Denver didn&#8217;t score a touchdown for the rest of regulation.  The Broncos did get field goals.  It was 13-13 going into the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Denver&#8217;s defense, as it has done most of the season, kept the team in the game.  That included a stop on fourth-and-two to start the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"link caas-button collapse-button\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-ylk=\"elm:readmore;slk:Story continues\">Story continues<\/button><\/p>\n<p>A little later in the fourth quarter they got a huge play when Baron Browning, who is usually rushing the passer, dropped into coverage and caught a deflection for an interception.  He almost fumbled it away, but the Broncos recovered and had great field position.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the Broncos offense didn&#8217;t get a first down after that.  They did get a field goal for a 16-13 lead.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 640px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:67%;\"><noscript><img alt=\"Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (3).  (AP Photo\/Kyusung Gong)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/h23QR.AKnL6bSzY9CElj9A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/6c662a60-4e92-11ed-b57e-73fa7e8f3117\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><\/noscript><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"caption-wrapper caption-aligned-with-image\"><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson (3).  (AP Photo\/Kyusung Gong)<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Chargers had a chance late in the game<\/h2>\n<p>The Chargers weren&#8217;t good on offense against Denver, but had their chances to win the game in the fourth quarter and overtime.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos seemed to force an incompletion on a key third down in the fourth quarter, but rookie cornerback Damarri Mathis got his fourth pass interference call of the game and that kept the drive alive with a little less than five minutes remaining.  The Chargers&#8217; concern was their kicker, Dustin Hopkins, was dealing with a quadriceps issue.  Getting close enough to kick a tying field goal wasn&#8217;t as easy as usual.  With 4:02 the Chargers had to try a 35-yard attempt, and Hopkins nailed it.  The game was tied again, 16-16.  Hopkins would come up big in overtime, too.<\/p>\n<p>Wilson had a shot to lead a game-winning drive in the final four minutes of regulation.  He has led many game-winning drives in his career, but his first month-and-a-half with the Broncos has been filled with mostly subpar play and criticism.  It was a chance for him to start to change that narrative.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos got a first down on a run up the middle and nothing else after that.  On third down Wilson was sacked on a blitz up the middle, as Chargers linebacker Drue Tranquill was unblocked.  The Broncos punted.  After Wilson&#8217;s 10-for-10 start, he threw incomplete on 13 of his final 18 passes.  He had 78 yards after the first quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said after the game that Wilson <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelCBS4\/status\/1582219229738110976\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:had a hamstring injury\" class=\"link \">had a hamstring injury<\/a> during the game, and perhaps that affected Denver&#8217;s playcalling and Wilson&#8217;s effect.<\/p>\n<p>Herbert had his chance at the end of regulation.  The Chargers got near near midfield but couldn&#8217;t get into field-goal range, and their Hail Mary shot on the last play of regulation fell incomplete.  The game went to overtime.  The Broncos won the coin toss to start overtime but had a quick punt.  Then the Chargers went three-and-out too.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos got the ball back and clearly had little interest in passing the ball.  For the second straight drive they started by running on first and second down.  Then Wilson threw incomplete again.  He tried going deep to Jerry Jeudy but cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.  played it well and broke it up.  Another three-and-out.<\/p>\n<p>The Chargers went three-and-out too, but then got the key recovery on the muffed punt.  Herbert did complete a big third-down pass to give Hopkins a shot at the game-winning 39-yard field goal.  Hopkins came through.<\/p>\n<p>The Broncos defense was likely hoping for a tie.  They had to know their offense wasn&#8217;t going to help.  They probably didn&#8217;t anticipate special teams making the crucial mistake to wrap up the loss, however.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russell Wilson had a chance to put together a drive that could have started to perhaps endear him to Denver Broncos fans. And then another chance. And another. The Broncos had three possessions when they were tied 16-16. One came at the end of regulation and then there were two to start overtime. All three &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/broncos-and-russell-wilson-struggle-again-big-special-teams-error-keys-chargers-win\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Broncos and Russell Wilson struggle again, big special teams error keys Chargers win<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100598,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/los-angeles-chargers-defeat-denver-broncos-in-overtime-on-mnf\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":0},"title":"Los Angeles Chargers defeat Denver Broncos in overtime on MNF","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 Week 6's final game was a contentious AFC West battle that went into overtime.The Denver Broncos jumped out to a 10-0 first-quarter lead and didn't trail though four quarters.The Monday night tilt was all tied at 16 apiece going into overtime.Denver's Montrell Washington muffed the Los Angeles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100377,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/broncos-russell-wilson-injures-hamstring-in-loss-to-chargers\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":1},"title":"Broncos&#8217; Russell Wilson injures hamstring in loss to Chargers","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson added another ache Monday night to an already painful start to his first season with the team as he a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter of Denver's 19-16 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers atFi Stadium.\"I kind of scrambled to move\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100464,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/russell-wilson-and-nathaniel-hackett-do-not-work-together-george-paton-unless-one-of-them-goes-broncos-country-will-feel-more-pain-and-youll-hear-more-boos\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":2},"title":"Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett do not work together, George Paton.  Unless one of them goes, Broncos Country will feel more pain.  And you&#8217;ll hear more boos.","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Initial thoughts from Broncos' 19-16 loss overtime loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6 at SoFi Stadium: You see that, Greg Penner? You listening, George Paton? It's not early anymore. Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett go together like jazz and death metal. Elmo and Freddie Kruger. they. Don't.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91571,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/russell-wilsons-shoulder-injury-raises-more-questions-about-decisions-made-on-thursday-night\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":3},"title":"Russell Wilson&#8217;s shoulder injury raises more questions about decisions made on Thursday night","date":"October 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Getty Images On the surface, the report that Bronco quarterback Russell Wilson received treatment on Friday for a shoulder injury he did against the Raiders last Sunday helps explain why he looked off for most if not all Thursday night's game against the Colts. At a deeper level, it raises\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"NFL: OCT 06 Colts at Broncos","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/profootballtalk.nbcsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2022\/10\/GettyImages-1243807085-e1665285422827.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89860,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kj-hamler-disgusted-by-russell-wilson-missing-him-on-final-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":4},"title":"KJ Hamler disgusted by Russell Wilson missing him on final play","date":"October 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Broncos wide receiver KJ Hamler was furious with Russell Wilson after Thursday's 12-9 overtime loss to the Colts. An angry Hamler was seen slamming his helmet on the ground after the final play, in which Wilson completely missed him with the game on the line. Hamler was wide open on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Russell Wilson during the Broncos' loss to the Colts on Oct.  6, 2022.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/russell_wilsonx2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":100419,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/russell-wilson-broncos-offense-ripped-by-nfl-twitter-in-ot-loss-to-chargers-news-scores-highlights-stats-and-rumors\/","url_meta":{"origin":100280,"position":5},"title":"Russell Wilson, Broncos Offense Ripped by NFL Twitter in OT Loss to Chargers |  News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors","date":"October 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Harry How\/Getty ImagesThe Seattle Seahawks version of Russell Wilson finally showed up for the Denver Broncos on Monday.Then, he promptly disappeared.The nine-time Pro Bowler started the primetime AFC West showdown against the Los Angeles Chargers with 10 straight completions while helping the Broncos build a 10-0 lead, but he and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/oSzmAY25KNVCBgqXDxRVWw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyMDA7aD04MDA-\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/os\/creatr-uploaded-images\/2022-10\/6c662a60-4e92-11ed-b57e-73fa7e8f3117","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}