Broncos Fall to Bengals 15-10, Bridgewater Carted Off

The 7-6 Broncos entered the day with an opportunity to continue a playoff push in December as they hosted the 7-6 Bengals but the offense was flat and a key fumble inside the 10 yard line sunk Denver's chances at a win. The recap is below:

Broncos won the toss and deferred to the 2nd half. Bengals offense began the game with the ball at their own 25 yard line.

It was a terrific start for the Broncos defense as they forced the Bengals offense to go 3-and-out after a couple of short completions that failed to reach the first down marker.

After a 57 yard punt, the Denver offense started their first drive of the afternoon at their own 10 yard line. The Broncos offense moved the ball 19 yards, gaining one first down in the process but were forced to punt after a failed 3rd and 2 passing attempt to Courtland Sutton. Sam Martin punted the ball 51 yards and Cincinnati would start their 2nd offensive drive from their own 32 yard line.

The Bengals found more success on their next drive, finding Tee Higgins on a slant for 17 yards to get into Broncos territory. The Denver defense were able to avoid too much disaster though, holding the Bengals to a 53-yard FG, giving Cincinnati a 3-0 early lead.

The Broncos started their 2nd offensive drive from their own 25 yard line and, unfortunately, found similar results as they only mustered 6 plays before another punt from Sam Martin. The results of the next punt was better than the first as it went 57 yards and went out at the Bengals 10 yard line.

Cincinnati didn't find much success on their 3rd drive as a crushing offensive holding penalty negated a 47-yard catch by Ja'Mar Chase. Broncos defense forced a punt after just 3 plays and, following a 57-yard punt, set up the offense for a chance to finally get some points on the board, however, Denver was still not able to gain any traction offensively and punted again after just three plays.

The Bengals offense would begin their 4th drive at their own 16 yard line. After a short rushing gain by Mixon, Justin Simmons came unblocked on a Safety blitz and sacked Joe Borrow for an 11 yard loss. Cincinnati punted following a short completion to Perine and the Broncos offense got another crack at getting points, starting from their own 32 yard line.

Teddy Bridgewater barely avoided crossing the line of scrimmage before completing a short pass to Noah Fant who took the ball upfield for a 28 yard gain. It was the biggest play of the drive and, unfortunately, the Broncos weren't able to do much more with the ball before Brandon McManus converted a 54-yard Field Goal to tie the game 3-3.

Now in a tie game, the Denver defense was back on the field to force another Bengals 3-and-out. Kevin Huber punted the ball 61-yards, pinning the Broncos offense inside their own 5 yard line with 8:01 remaining in the 2nd quarter.

Albert Okwuegbunam had an incredibly athletic play hurdling Eli Apple after a catch in the flat but the Broncos offense really didn't have much success. After a near miss Sam Martin punt, the Bengals took over at their 38 yard line.

The Broncos defense continued to play dominant up front as they forced yet ANOTHER 3-and-out, capped off by a sack by Shelby Harris and Jonathon Cooper.

Offensively, the Broncos are able to work the 2-minute drill effectively but the drive stalls out at the Bengals 33 yard line. Brandon McManus was unable to convert a 51-yard attempt, leaving a window open for the Bengals to get points before the half. After a quick 19-yard completion to Tyler Boyd, Evan McPherson drills a 58-yard FG to give the Bengals a 6-3 lead at halftime.

The Broncos offense took the field to start the 3rd quarter and it was more of the same. Six plays, punt, rinse and repeat. Teddy Bridgewater was sacked for a loss of 10 yard by Hendrickson on 1st down and based on how the offense had been playing up to that point, it more/less ended the drive.

After a touchback on the punt, Bengals began their next drive at their own 20 yard line. Cincinnati's offense finally got on track as they put together an 11 play drive but the Broncos defense, once again, was able to keep them out of the end zone and force a chip shot FG from McPherson. Bengals now lead 9-3.

On the next drive, Teddy Bridgewater scrambled 6 yards for the first down but his face was driven into the ground on the tackle and, in a scary situation, he was carted off the field. With 5:34 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Drew Lock entered the game. Lock engineered a drive that resulted in the Broncos first touchdown and lead of the game, hitting Tim Patrick at the goal line on a 50/50 ball to give Denver a 10-9 lead.

The Broncos first lead of the game was extremely short lived as Joe Burrow connected on a 56-yard touchdown to Tyler Boyd who was left wide open on busted coverage. Cincinnati was unable to convert the 2-point conversion so the Bengals lead was now 15-10.

Denver's offense got the ball back and moved efficiently down the field on an 11-play drive but Lock had the ball stripped out of hands at the Bengals 9 yard line and, after review, the fumble went to the Bengals.

The Denver defense kept the Bengals to a modest drive of 6 plays to give the Broncos offense another crack at it with less than 7 minutes remaining in the game but unfortunately the Broncos offense stalled out at their own 37 yard line after a holding penalty by Garrett Bolles set the drive behind the chains.

Facing a 3rd and 10, Joe Burrow delivered a seed to Tyler Boyd for 15 yards nearly crippling the Broncos chances at a comeback. 

The Denver offense got one more chance but did little with it as Bolles was called for holding and Drew Lock was sacked. Broncos lose to the Bengals 15-10.

The next Broncos game will be on the road as they take on the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, December 26th. Coverage on KOA begins at 8am MTN.

Postgame interview below: Vic Fangio and Drew Lock with Dave Logan, Jonas Griffith with Susie Wargin