Denver Broncos wide receiver KJ Hamler smashed his helmet in frustration after an incomplete pass in a 12-9 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Denver faced 4th and -1 in overtime by choosing a pitch from the 5-yard line instead of a field goal. Hamler tipped to Russell Wilson’s right, but the QB never looked his way, eventually forcing Courtland Sutton to throw an incomplete throw on Stephen Gilmore.
“I could have walked in,” a frustrated Hamler told NFL Network’s James Palmer after the game.
This game is the epitome of the Broncos offense that can’t get out of its own way, and was especially terrifying in the red zone in five games – 4 on Thursday night 0 games in the match.
“We went out (overtime) pretty quickly,” Hamler said via the Denver Post. “We’re in the red zone, we’re in that ‘golden zone’, we just have to learn how to keep going and how to finish the game. We can’t just be empty all the time… We’re capable of scoring 40 points (a game), especially when we have Quarterback situation.”
The Broncos have not come close to scoring 40 points in any game. They have combined for just 64 points in five games, with four under 20.
The Broncos had two chances to hold the ball in the clutch on Thursday night. They put it in Wilson’s hands twice. He trailed twice.
First, before the two-minute warning, a 3-point lead in the fourth quarter, facing the 3-and-4 Broncos who had been running in the drive, he could have rammed To The Rock, at least, kicked a field goal up to six. Considering how the defense kept Matt Ryan and the Colts locked up the entire game, that might have been enough for the win. Instead, Wilson forced the ball to Terry Cleveland but was intercepted.
Then in the final game, it only took a yard to continue the drive near the goal line, the Broncos again avoided the run, not even Wilson asked You can choose to escape when you launch the first one to fall to the ground.
A series of events confounded Wilson’s former Seahawks teammate and current Prime Video analyst Richard Sherman.
” At the end In a game, you have to have the ball,” Sherman said. “Again. I wish I had Marshawn (Lynch) here. A yard. You need a yard. Run the ball. Run the ball! All he has to do is run the football. Like, necessary criticism. I’ve said enough. More criticism of him. But god damn, damn ball!”
Everyone involved in or watching the Broncos offense was frustrated at this point.
