Detroit, MI
Denver Broncos’ Limitations Exposed In Blowout Loss To Detroit Lions
The Denver Broncos’ many weaknesses were exposed against a fast and talented team in the Detroit … [+]
Denver Post via Getty Images
The 2023 Denver Broncos have been a nice story, but their limitations were vastly exposed in a national television blowout defeat to the Detroit Lions.
After starting out the season 1-5, the Broncos had been the hottest team in the NFL, winners of six of their past seven games — tied for most in the league — and in prime position to clinch a playoff spot in the AFC.
While those hopes remain alive even after their humbling loss to the Lions — they face three losing teams in the AFC to close out the season, the lowest strength of schedule in the NFL at .341 — much of the confidence built over the past two months evaporated following a flat-out dominating defeat at the hands of a good — but not great — Lions squad.
Without a lead and a stout running game to lean on, the Broncos’ offense was lethargic, completely shut out in the first half. Russell Wilson’s limitations were on display, going just 4-of-10 for 69 yards, mustering just 3.1 yards per offensive play and going for 1-6 on third down conversions during the first half.
In Wilson’s defense, much of that had to do with the Broncos’ offensive line simply being dominated by the Lions’ defensive line. Wilson’s fumble on their first offensive drive with the ball at Detroit’s 20-yard-line was basically a sign of things to come, as the Lions were far more physical and much faster than the Broncos all game long.
Jared Goff — who had struggled in recent weeks, throwing seven touchdowns against nine turnovers in the past four games — carved up the Broncos’ defense, throwing five touchdowns, with three going to Sam LaPorta and the other couple being snagged by Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs.
While the score wasn’t nearly as bad as their 70-20 thrashing at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, the Lions’ plethora of offensive speed demons drew memories of Tyreek Hill, Raheem Mostert and Devon Achane carving up the Broncos.
As good as Denver’s defensive unit has been in recent weeks, their true weakness when it comes to matching up with fast offensive players became obvious (yet again) in their loss to the Lions.
In fact, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph compared the Lions’ team speed to that of the Dolphins just days prior to the game.
Outside of Goff’s season-best game, the Lions carved up the Broncos to the tune of 185 yards on 28 carries (6.6 yards per carry) behind the likes of Gibbs and David Montgomery.
In the perfect example of the Broncos’ run defense being exposed for what it is — very weak, ranking dead last in rushing yards and yards per carry entering the game — the Lions ran for a first down on a 3rd-and-10 play with the speedy Gibbs on a simple sweep play to the right early in the third quarter.
That’s not mentioning the number of broken tackles Gibbs created with this 33-yard run.
This is a team that has overachieved based upon great coaching, limiting turnovers, creating turnovers and playing sound enough football to squeak out wins.
The problem is, that can only get you so far until you start playing the better and more talented teams in the league, such as the Lions and Dolphins. Then you get exposed.
The Broncos have won games while winning the turnover battle and protecting their efficient, but limited quarterback. They’ve won the turnover battle in six of their past seven games, with their only loss being the one game in which they did not win in that category.
The star on this Broncos squad is head coach Sean Payton. When you look at this 53-man roster, there aren’t many stars. In fact, outside of Courtland Sutton, there isn’t a single player on offense deserving of a Pro Bowl bid. On defense, the unit has a bunch of no-names, with the only two players deserving of Pro Bowl consideration being Justin Simmons and Patrick Surtain II.
The offensive line is mediocre, the run defense is the worst in the league, the tight ends have the lowest production in the league of any team, and the quarterback is merely an efficient game manager.
As solid as Wilson has been this season, he’s simply very limited and is the very definition of a game manager at this stage of his career.
This game was the perfect example of Wilson’s limitations as the Broncos weren’t in control — they needed their $250 million star to put them on his back and lead them to victory. The problem is, unless the game is going according to plan — Broncos winning the turnover battle and dominating time of possession with a stout running attack — he can’t do that.
We saw that on display when Wilson turned the ball over three times in an important 22-17 loss to the Houston Texans just a couple weeks prior. He also threw the game-losing interception in the end zone while attempting to threat the needle to tight end Adam Trautman.
Once again, the final box score stats looked fine against the Lions — 223 passing yards, one touchdown and 7.0 yards per attempt — but 66 of those yards came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
In a moment that was very telling — bad calls by the referees aside — instead of going for it on 4th-and-goal at the Lions’ 5-yard line while trailing 28-7 late in the third quarter, Payton opted to kick a field goal instead of placing the ball in Wilsons’ hands. He was also seen on the sidelines yelling at Wilson, instead of berating the referees for their phantom offsides call and missed touchdown call from Jaleel McLaughlin.
Payton dismissed the idea that he was yelling at Wilson during the postgame press conference, instead arguing that he was upset about the offsides call.
The Broncos essentially waved the white flag by kicking the field goal and did so again when they punted while trailing 35-10 early in the fourth quarter from their own 44-yard-line.
Not exactly resounding confidence from the head coach in the franchise quarterback.
As of this writing, the Broncos are in 11th place, below all of the seven-win teams due to their lowly conference record — 4-5 — which may ultimately cost them a spot in the playoffs.
While they could very well finish the season at 10-7 and squeak in with some help, this is an overmatched squad that has been playing above their means.
It’s been a great coaching job by Payton, but it’s clear that this team still has vast improvements to make in the offseason in order to be considered a true contender.
The Toronto superstar lit up downtown Detroit with a stunning stage production full of blinding lights.
The lights were blinding inside Ford Field on Saturday night — as were the lasers, bursts of pyrotechnics and flashes from phones in the audience — as Toronto superstar the Weeknd brought his After Hours Til Dawn Tour to the downtown stadium, a stunning stage spectacle that made full, thrilling use of the Detroit Lions’ home and made his last stop at the venue, in July 2022, seem like a warmup act.
The stage was outfitted with a long runway that stretched the full length of the stadium floor, with two wings that expanded out to the sides. (From overhead, the stage resembled a cross.) Sections of the venue’s club level were blocked off to house huge lighting rigs which flashed weapons grade strobe lights, and the full production transformed the stadium into a massive dance floor for the sold-out crowd of more than 40,000 fans.
Those fans were treated to more than two hours of hits that were accentuated by dark synth stabs and booming bass drops while the Weeknd, aka 35-year-old Abel Tesfaye, sang over top in his smooth, polished tones. Saturday was the first round of the singer’s two-night stand at Ford Field, and he clocks in again for work at the venue on Sunday night.
“Remember I told you last time we were gonna play two nights?” he asked the audience, and indeed, that was a promise he made at Ford Field three years ago. Such a feat was unthinkable when the Weeknd made his Detroit debut at Saint Andrew’s Hall back in 2012 or when he played an undersold show at the Fox Theatre a year later, but such has been the run for the artist who started with a trio of mixtapes in 2011 and was known early on for never showing his face.
Now his face is everywhere, including the movies, and there were no mentions on stage of “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” the companion piece to his current album which is currently playing to empty audiences at a theater near you and is destined to pick up several Razzies at the end of the year. (The movie is, at best, unsuccessful, and that’s being generous.)
But that’s OK because the stage is where he belongs, and this time his vision was even more fully realized than the last time around, with a crumbling cityscape surrounding the main stage, a mega-sized video wall as the stage’s backdrop, and a towering gold statue at the center of the production that looked like either a hood ornament or an Oscar statue’s female counterpart.
A squad of more than two dozen female dancers wore all red and covered their faces with gold masks, and the Weeknd wore a hooded robe and a mask with light-up eyes for the first few songs. It was like if “Eyes Wide Shut” was a stadium tour, with pop-R&B as the soundtrack instead of the dark, eerie chants from the Kubrick movie.
This review is developing…
Lost in the excitement of draft picks and free agents, a healthy DJ Reader might be one of the most important aspects of the Detroit Lions’ offseason – and the veteran nose tackle will be entering training camp with something to prove after hearing whispers about his contract.
“I think there has been some slight disrespect thrown on DJ Reader’s name this offseason as a cap casualty. … Are you kidding me? They paid for DJ Reader for a reason. This guy is a game-changing nose tackle,” MLive’s Ben Raven noted on the latest Dungeon of Doom podcast.
For the first time in years, Reader is entering an offseason program fully healthy and ready to show Detroit exactly what it invested in.
“The biggest thing that I took away from DJ Reader, he said, like, hey, this is the healthiest offseason I’ve had in quite some time. And he’s just ready to get in there and get back rolling,” co-host Kory Woods said.
The timing couldn’t be better for the Lions’ defensive front, which is facing significant questions with Aidan Hutchinson returning from injury and Alim McNeill working his way back as well. Reader’s presence becomes even more critical.
The podcast hosts pointed out that Reader’s impact goes far beyond statistics. While casual fans might focus on sack numbers and tackles, Reader’s true value comes in occupying blockers, controlling the line of scrimmage, and making everyone around him better.
Despite questions about his deal, Reader made it clear that winning a championship is all that matters.
“He doesn’t care about anything else. He said he didn’t care about whether that extension got picked up or whatnot. Right now it is all about getting to that goal of winning the Super Bowl,” Woods said.
Check out the entire Dungeon of Doom episode below:
AI was used to summarize a recent episode of the Dungeon of Doom podcast. This story was reviewed and edited by MLive staff.
Detroit Tigers’ Matt Vierling explains why he drives 2012 Ford Escape
Detroit Tigers player Matt Vierling reveals on the “Days of Roar” podcast that he drives a 2012 Ford Escape — and why he won’t buy a new car.
At last, Matt Vierling has arrived.
The Detroit Tigers activated Vierling — an outfielder/third baseman on the field and a team leader behind the scenes — from the injured list ahead of their Friday, May 23, game against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. He wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he’s available as a pinch-hitter off the bench.
The 28-year-old had been sidelined since Feb. 23 — the second game of spring training — with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. In total, Vierling missed 51 games this season.
But now, he’s finally back.
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To create room for Vierling, the Tigers optioned left-handed reliever Sean Guenther to Triple-A Toledo. On May 24, the Tigers are expected to activate right-hander Casey Mize to start, which will lead to the demotion of a position player.
Vierling has been a mainstay for the Tigers the past two seasons.
He had the best results of his four-year MLB career in the 2024 campaign, hitting .257 with 16 home runs, 41 walks and 121 strikeouts in 144 games. He plays all three outfield positions and third base, but he performs best in center field and right field.
Returning to the Tigers, Vierling projects to play right field and third base, with ex-infielder Javier Báez expected to continue roaming center field until Parker Meadows is activated from the injured list within the next three weeks.
Meadows — who has been sidelined since Feb. 22 with a right upper arm nerve issue — started his rehab assignment May 20, which began his 20-day rehab clock.
He must be activated by June 9.
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As for Vierling, he played 11 games on his rehab assignment. He hit .206 with two home runs, nine walks and 14 strikeouts in43 plate appearances. He spent five games at designated hitter, three games at third base for 21 innings, two games in right for 13 innings and one game in center for nine innings.
The Tigers took their time with Vierling’s rehab assignment to ensure the rotator cuff strain in his right shoulder wouldn’t resurface with throws from different angles.
It took 19 days, but Vierling eventually checked all the boxes.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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