The Broncos took down the Chargers 24-7 on Sunday, placing themselves firmly in contention for a playoff spot. At 7-6, Denver is now in a six-way tie for the final two Wild Card playoff spots in the AFC.
This week’s grades are the highest across the board so far this season, which makes sense considering their 17-point win was their widest margin of victory this season.
Here’s how the Broncos graded out…
(Click here for the defensive grades.)<\/a><\/em>
Quarterbacks<\/strong>
Russell Wilson: A- <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 If anything this grade might be too low. Wilson completed 21 of his 33 pass attempts for 224 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. That\u2019s a pedestrian stat line, but it was close to being special.
Jerry Jeudy had a three balls hit his hands that he wasn\u2019t able to reel in. Two of them should have been catches, a deep ball up the right sideline and a 10-yard pass to the end zone. The third was also up the right sideline but would have taken a special grab. If Jeudy had hauled those two passes in, Wilson would have pushed 300 yards passing with another touchdown, too.
Running Backs<\/strong>
Javonte Williams: A <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 Williams had one of his best runs of the season on his touchdown, weaving through traffic that began in the backfield. In the fourth quarter, a defender got a hand on Williams in the backfield, but he was able to pick up 20 yards to kick off the game-clinching drive. He also had his first clean game in pass protection in a few weeks. He finished with 17 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. He also caught three balls for 25 yards.
Samaje Perine: A-<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 The first three plays of the Broncos\u2019 two-minute drill before halftime were all passes to Perine, and he picked up 20 yards. They went away from him for a play, but then handed him the ball for five more yards. During the putaway drive at the end of the game, Perine converted a 3rd & 5 with a catch and run.
Michael Burton: B<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 Burton\u2019s weekly fullback dive went for two yards, which is down from the four yards he picked up against the Texans. He had a good block on the 20-yard run on the final drive.
Tight Ends<\/strong>
Adam Trautman: A- <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Trautman made two important plays in the passing game. One was hauling in the wide-open touchdown on the trick play. The other was when he made a man miss and ran for a first down on 3rd & 8 on the game-clinching drive. He wasn\u2019t perfect as a blocker\u2014Khalil Mack beat him for a stuff in the fourth quarter\u2014but he did enough to keep high marks.
Chris Manhertz: A-<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 Manhertz manhandled Khalil Mack one-on-one on the first touchdown of the game, which was by far his best moment.
Lucas Krull: A <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Krull caught his first career pass, and it was a big one. The 25-year-old ran up the seam and Russell Wilson found him wide open for a 35-yard gain.
Wide Receivers<\/strong>
Courtland Sutton: A- <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 Sutton\u2019s one-handed grab 46 yards downfield through pass interference might have been his best touchdown of the season, and that\u2019s saying something considering he has 10 touchdowns. He finished with three catches for 62 yards, and an offensive pass interference penalty that put the Broncos behind the sticks and doomed a drive in the second quarter.
Jerry Jeudy: D- <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Jeudy had a tough day. He should have had a deep ball up the right sideline but it went right through his arms. He definitely should have had a touchdown in the back of the end zone, but he didn\u2019t get a second foot down in bounds. He brought in two passes for 16 yards, including a good grab on a slant for seven yards.
Lil\u2019Jordan Humphrey: B<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 You have to appreciate Humphrey\u2019s consistency. He does his job in the blocking game, like when he pushed a defensive back to the boundary on Jerry Jeudy\u2019s second-half screen. And, like usually, the Broncos rewarded him with one target in the passing game. This week he picked up 12 yards with it, and last week he picked up 12 yards, but the week before was a doozy: his catch was a 13-yarder.
All jokes aside, Humphrey is an important piece of the offense because Sean Payton knows exactly what the 25-year-old will bring to the table week-in and week-out.
Marvin Mims: D<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 On the first play of the game, Mims bobbled a ball and it was intercepted. The pass was a little behind him on a quick out, but the Broncos needed him to bring that ball on. He only got a couple more opportunities in the passing game, snagging two balls for 11 yards, including an eight-yard screen.
Offensive Linemen<\/strong>
Garett Bolles: B <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Bolles wasn\u2019t perfect, but he did solid work holding down the left side of the line of scrimmage without much help from running backs or tight ends.
Ben Powers: B <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Powers had a solid game against the Chargers. He looked good on a powerful duo block with Garett Bolles. He made a good block in space on a screen. When Javonte Williams ran for 20 yards to start the Broncos\u2019 game-clinching drive, Powers was an important part of creating the running lane. He or Samaje Perine gave up a sack in the second quarter on a weird missed switch in pass protection.
Lloyd Cushenberry: C+ <\/strong><\/em>\u2014 Cushenberry wasn\u2019t as stout as usual on Sunday, losing ground on a handful of blocks including on Javonte Williams\u2019 touchdown run. He should\u2019ve given up a sack in the first quarter, but Russell Wilson was able to spin out of the sack and throw the ball away.
Quinn Meinerz: A- <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 Meinerz missed about half the game after he had an irregular heart beat, but all reports are that all is good. I think the easiest way to sum up his night is to say that when Meinerz was in the quarterback sneak worked, and when he was out it didn\u2019t.
Luke Wattenberg: C- <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 This grade might be a little low. Maybe I\u2019m overcompensating for giving out so many high marks.
Let\u2019s start here: in his first extended work of 2023, Wattenberg played much, much better than he did in 2022. I think a little extra weight and a year of strength training probably did the trick.
Wattenberg made back-to-back mistakes in the third quarter. He couldn\u2019t hold his man off on a wide zone run, which allowed a tackle for loss. Then he got beat in pass protection and Russell Wilson had to throw the ball away. A couple of other plays didn\u2019t go his way\u2014like a quarterback sneak behind him\u2014but it wasn\u2019t an overwhelmingly bad performance by any means. He just didn\u2019t make enough notable plays to balance out the mistakes, which is to be expected considering he\u2019s played about one game\u2019s worth of snaps in his NFL career.
Wattenberg\u2019s mobility stands out more than his strength. He looks like a natural fit for a zone-heavy scheme. He moves the way you want a guard in that system to move. Everything about Wattenberg looks right for the position, for whatever that\u2019s worth. Maybe a few more pounds wouldn\u2019t hurt, but I\u2019m not convinced one way or another.
Hopefully the Broncos line stays healthy and we don\u2019t see Wattenberg again until training camp, but I\u2019d be lying if I said I wasn\u2019t intrigued by what I saw and curious to see more.
Mike McGlinchey: A-<\/em><\/strong> \u2014 McGlinchey might have had his best outing of the season in pass protection and he made a couple of nice plays on the ground early. One was when he wiped out the edge on a zone run and the other was his block on Javonte Williams\u2019 touchdown run.
(Click here for the defensive grades.)<\/a><\/em>
Henry was born in Columbia Falls, Montana and graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 2015. He earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and economics from the University of Montana in 2019. After graduation, he joined DNVR. He spent three years covering the University of Colorado before moving to the Broncos beat ahead of the 2022 season. Henry joined DNVR as a remote staff writer in 2017, providing support to BSN’s Broncos beat reporters. He interned at DNVR headquarters in the summer of 2018 and accepted a full-time position after graduating from UM. Follow Henry on Twitter – @HenryChisholm
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