The Denver Broncos‘ defense, along with the head coach Sean Payton, has been feeling the absence of linebacker Dre Greenlaw. The LB was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a thigh injury and is set to miss at least four games. Greenlaw was picked up on a 3-year deal from free agency, and Payton had compared the LB to Mike Tyson. But we have yet to see any punches from him. 

Without him, the team struggled to secure a win on Sunday, resulting in a 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and marking their second consecutive loss.

After the 23-20 loss against the Chargers, Sean Payton shared his thoughts on the situation as he said, “Listen, he’s been busting his tail. This’ll take a little pressure off. We could’ve done it earlier, and yet there was still — there was a goal date, and it was either this week or next, and we felt like the last thing we want to do was have him come out too early and reinjure it.”

The decision to place Greenlaw on injured reserve was made after a discussion between Head Coach Sean Payton, General Manager George Paton, and the player himself. According to Dre’s agent, J.R. Carroll, Greenlaw was fully on board with the team’s plan. However, his thigh injury is an unwelcome development for the Broncos.

Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad have been filling Greenlaw’s spot. But both of them have been unable to completely replace Dre for the Broncos; the inside linebackers in the last two matches were seen creating mismatches against opponents’ tight ends and running backs. While the defense recorded five sacks, an interception, and two red-zone stops on Sunday, their inability to make a game-winning play was something the coach and the Denver fans couldn’t let go unnoticed.

Mistakes Sean Payton’s Denver Broncos made against the Los Angeles Chargers

If we are to term some of the major reasons for how the Broncos lost their match against the Chargers, the number 1 reason has to be the high penalties received by the team.  The Broncos were flagged ten times for 90 yards, a stark contrast to the Chargers’ three penalties for just 25 yards.

After the game, Payton expressed his thoughts about the loss during the post-game press conference. He said,  “Listen, we had two or three opportunities right at midfield, it’s frustrating,” he added. “Two good teams, it was a tough loss.” The Chargers were pretty out of the game during the early stages. Denver could have made use of the opportunity, but instead received penalties. These avoidable miscues consistently put Denver in a difficult position, making every drive an uphill battle.

Another incident was that, with two minutes left in a tied game, rookie Bo Nix had a chance to be the hero. Coach Sean Payton drew up a deep vertical shot, hoping to catch the Chargers’ defense off guard. Nix delivered a perfect pass downfield to a wide-open Courtland Sutton, who had easily beaten his defender. A reception would’ve set the Broncos up for a game-winning field goal and a huge divisional victory. Instead, the ball sailed just beyond Sutton’s fingertips. 

Denver punted the ball away, and the Chargers made best use of the missed opportunity, led by quarterback Justin Herbert, methodically marched down the field for the game-winning field goal. The team and its head coach have dissected all the areas they need to work on to deliver a great match next Monday. The next match’s results will decide the fate of Denver this season.