What the hell was Vic Fangio thinking?
Your Denver Broncos fought hard all day against the best Las Vegas Raiders in Mile High City. Although the Fangio Broncos have improved a lot in defending the ball since he took control two years ago, they lacked the ability to force the turnaround.
Namely, the Broncos had -20 in the billing differential when entering Week 17, which was by far the worst in the league. They not only led the league in turnovers, but also had less results (12). But this Sunday, at the end of the 2020 season, the Broncos forced four twists and turns, playing smart, physical football on the defensive.
And Fangio’s team capitalized 13 points in those four turns, which was enough to help Denver recover from a touchdown deficit and lead 31-24 with 6:29 to play. After both teams exchanged punts, the Raiders again had the ball, with just 1:47 to play and on their own 23-yard line after a touchdown.
Miraculously, Derek Carr found Zay Jones for a 37-yard reception and then Darren Waller for two more great catches to push the Raiders into the field quickly. But the bad Rai-duhs found themselves in a 4th and a goal on the yard line and only 27 seconds left on the clock.
Time was running out and Raiders didn’t have the right people on the field; they were in total disarray and would have to suffer a late game penalty.
That’s when Broncos coach Vic Fangio made the biggest stupid decision of the night and took advantage of Denver’s final time for the game. This allowed the Raiders to get the right people to make the right call for the game, and Josh Jacobs ran the ball into the final zone. On the next play, Jon Gruden scored the winning 2 point conversion move.
“When they asked for a timeout there, they really helped us because we were fighting,” said Raiders’ running back, Josh Jacobs, after the game.
Fangio explained: “I thought it was important to spend the time limit to be direct with what we were doing”.
Sometimes, in game-play moves, coaches spend a timeout simply to see what the opponent’s attack is lining up. So, the defense can match these people and better defend what the attack does.
But that was not as simple as one of those moves, because the Raiders would almost certainly have a delay in the game’s penalty and would be moved back five meters. That would have been huge because it was also in 4th place and Las Vegas had to score a touchdown to extend the game or lose.
Although he is only in his second season as head coach, Fangio has made a lot of stupid calls in terms of criticism and decided to bet instead of trying on the 4th downhill. He also made many mistakes at the end of halves and games in terms of clock management.
This was the most blatant mistake he made when it comes to clock management, as it helped the Raiders win the game.
In the end, the defeat of the Broncos means a greater choice in the draft. But in the long run, Fangio has to find a way to become a better watch and timeout manager if the Broncos want to return to the playoffs again and end this five-year drought.