On MHR Radio this week, Ian and Adam reviewed the Broncos

The rookie showed improvement Von Miller Jersey White , and that’s what the coach was looking for." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesMile High Report homepageHorizontal - WhiteMile High Reporta Denver Broncos communityFollow Mile High Report online:Follow Mile High Report on TwitterFollow Mile High Report on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchMile High Report main menuFanpostsFanshotsSectionsBroncosOddsShopAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Broncos NewsBroncos ScheduleBroncos PodcastsBroncos Film RoomBroncos RosterBroncos Injury UpdatesFull ArchiveBroncos StoriesScheduleRosterStatsOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Fangio: Lock should consider his plays ‘learning experiences, not failures’New,46commentsThe rookie showed improvement, and that’s what the coach was looking for.MDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Fangio: Lock should consider his plays ‘learning experiences, not failures’TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Otto Greule Jr/Getty ImagesIf you watched the Broncos’s 22-14 loss to the Seahawks Thursday night with the sole hope of seeing Paxton Lynch go down in flames, you were severely disappointed (looking at you Tim Lynch and Jess Place!) as his stats on the night turned out to be the best of any quarterback on the field.Of course, stats don’t tell the much bigger story about Lynch’s small probability for becoming a starting quarterback, but it’s not even worth talking about that again.What is worth talking about, however, is how various Broncos fared in their performances - and what head coach Vic Fangio thought of it.When it came to his starting quarterback Joe Flacco and second-round draft pick Drew Lock, the coach was about as complimentary of his signal callers as we’ve come to expect.“I thought Joe looked comfortable,” he said, adding that Lock had “some good plays out there, some not so good, but that’s part of his growing process.”As far as the first team offense overall, the coach had a little more to say.“I think we did well. The [starting offense] did well as a whole. We had a critical 3rd-and-1 play in there,” Fangio said, adding he wished the team could have finished the drive. Flacco’s first and only drive went 12 plays for 78 yards, taking up nearly seven minutes and ending with three points.It wasn’t dazzling - except for Royce Freeman’s spectacular 50-yard run - but it was efficient.“We had a couple of nice runs there early. We had some nice check downs that moved the sticks. I was disappointed in the red zone and that we did not punch it in,” Fangio said, noting that it’s a four-point difference that is a big deal in a close game. “Those add up for you as the game wears on, especially in a game that was close like this was.”For Flacco, who suited up as a Bronco for the first time, the drive was the usual adrenaline rush that comes with playing in a game versus practice.“We just hit some simple things. I thought the line played really well for the time I was in there. The backs did a really great job. Yeah, you’d love to punch the ball in the end zone; it would make you feel a lot better about things, but like I said, we did some really simple things and I thought we did them well,” Flacco said. “I think we have the parts that make it work. I think that if we can run the ball well and physical, the way our line is doing it, the way our backs are doing it right now...I think it’s going to open up a lot of things for the type of talent that we have on the outside.”Kevin Hogan played a few series after Flacco, both netting just one first down each drive and zero points, before Lock came in to lead the huddle.Similar to Flacco, Lock led a 12-play drive for 60 yards and a field goal. He completed three first downs and mostly showed improvement over last week - something Fangio has highlighted as a benchmark.“He threw it pretty damn good. He seemed to be a little more in control of the operation,” Fangio said of Lock’s first drive. Seattle would keep the ball the rest of the second quarter, ending with a field goal of its own Royce Freeman Jersey , and bringing the score to 6-3.Fangio said after the game that Lock’s performance in his later drives suffered a little, partly because the Broncos got behind due to their own sloppy play.Former Broncos’ first-round pick Paxton Lynch came in for the Seahawks to begin the second half and finished his first drive with a field goal to tie the game at six.Lock and his offense went three-and-out on their first drive of the second half, giving the ball back to Lynch, who engineered an 85-yard drive and touchdown to go ahead by seven.During Lock’s next drive, a sack in the end zone on 3rd-and-9 put the Seahawks up 15-6, and on Lynch’s next drive, the backup QB scrambled for a nine-yard touchdown from shotgun, putting the Seahawks up 22-6. With 13 minutes to go in the game and down 17 points, the Broncos’ rookie quarterback was in an obvious pass situation that didn’t go as planned. In the next two drives, Lock threw five incomplete passes and was sacked once. Lock bounced back on his next drive, completing four first downs and throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Devontae Jackson and then a four-yard two-point conversion to mount a comeback as the Broncos brought the score to 22-14. An interception on Lock’s next drive would seal the game for the Seahawks.Despite coming up short, Lock did show some poise and improvement. In fact, of Denver’s 10 longest plays during the game, Lock was responsible for seven of them, including a 29-yard pass to Austin Fort, a 26-yard play to Trinity Benson and another 24-yard pass to Nick Williams.“I thought he was OK; obviously he can be better,” Fangio said of Lock dealing with the 16-point deficit. “I thought he has made progress this week and in practice and in the game. I think it showed at times out there. It is still a process for him. I don’t know how long it is going to take. But I think that this past week and game were great for him. He needs to learn from everything and not consider plays failures, they are learning experiences, not failures.”While the coach felt relatively good about his quarterbacks, he was a lot less happy with his team’s penalties. Fangio has been noted for his “death by inches” mantra, and Thursday’s penalties - four for 25 yards - was disconcerting.“The penalties were during the course of play because you have poor technique or you’re not good enough. With either one you have to cheat, you have to grab guys, you have to hold them,” Fangio said, noting it was a “highly penalized” game for both teams. “We have to make these guys aware of the proper technique and hopefully they’re good enough to play honest downs without fouling.”Fangio added that in the other preseason games he’s casually watched on TV, he’s noticed “flags all over the place.”“I do think that the players need to play better from a technique standpoint, and they are being extra judicious in their officiating,” he said.Sunday was back to practice and for the early part Flacco and his offense were looking good - even if against the backup D.“This is a great week for us, we have been looking forward to it,” Fangio said about the Broncos longer week before the second preseason game and a joint camp with the 49ers. “This is a very important week for us.”9NEWS’ Mike Klis tried to make the coach decide on his No. 2 quarterback after just two preseason games and Sunday’s practice in which Lock took Hogan’s reps with the 2s.Fangio was having none of it.“I’m not going to. No,” he told Klis. “You said ‘we.’ I’m not. You can, but I’m not.” For the Denver Broncos (6-9), the year started out with a dud and a four game losing streak, but since then they have scraped and clawed their way to a 6-5 mark with three different starting quarterbacks. They now have a chance to end the season on a high note.Meanwhile, the Oakland Raiders (7-8) were once playoff contenders and sitting at 6-4. However John Elway Jersey , they went on a four game losing streak that they just snapped last week. There are still playoff hopes for them, so Denver could take that away from them as well.Broncos TicketsBuy tickets to Broncos vs. Raiders from StubHub HERE.Game PreviewIn Week 1, the Raiders ran all over the Broncos front seven and dominated the line of scrimmage. They cannot allow that to happen again this week. Denver had issues early on in the season with stopping the run, but they were able to, briefly, become an elite run stopping unit during the middle of the season.MHR’s Denver Broncos Fan ShopVisit our Broncos fan shop for some great deals on team gear.Unfortunately, the injury bug has swept the defensive line and it is once again a concern heading into the final game of the season. Can this deplete unit win the battles in the trenches on Sunday?The Broncos offense is a completely different unit in Week 17 than it was in the first game. Drew Lock has stepped into the starting quarterback role and played really well. He has balanced the gunslinger attitude with the need to manage the game effectively. “I think it just comes the mindset of taking what they give you the whole time, which is what we really started to preach before my first game and even into all these other games,” Lock said of balancing taking shots and managing the game. “I’m a gunslinger, but I’m going to be a gunslinger if the defense allows me to be. I don’t go into the game thinking, ‘Alright, I’m going to go chuck this thing around the yard and make big plays.’ If the defense allows me to be the gunslinger, it’s in me to bring out. But if the defense wants me to be a guy that checks down the field and we drive it 80 yards and take seven or eight minutes off the clock, then I can be that. I don’t think there’s an exact, perfect formula for me going into the game to think, ‘Alright, I’m going in gunslinger mode right now.’ It’s just whatever the defense is going to throw at us that day.”That mentality has led to some big plays and more points being scored. And most importantly, a 3-1 record in his first four starts. If he can find success attacking a weak Raiders defense, then Denver could be on its way to a 7-5 finish since that 0-4 start.Here is how to watch.TV ScheduleWhen: Sunday, December 29, 2019 at 2:25 p.m. Mile High timeWhere: Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, ColoradoChannel: CBS / LocalAnnouncers: Andrew Catalon (play-by-play) and James Lofton (analyst).Local Radio: KOA - 850 AM | 94.1 FM & The Fox - 103.5 FM | Spanish Radio KNVR 1150 AMIf you see GREEN in your area below, you will get the Broncos-Raiders game on CBS locally. Hopefully fans show up for this game and help Denver send the Raiders home with no playoffs. Online StreamingFuboTV (Available if being televised in your area)Yahoo Sports AppNFL Game Pass (After the game)Broncos injury reportPlayerPos.InjuryWednesday*ThursdayFridayGame StatusPlayerPos.InjuryWednesday*ThursdayFridayGame StatusRaiders injury reportPlayerPos.InjuryWednesday*ThursdayFridayGame StatusPlayerPos.InjuryWednesday*ThursdayFridayGame StatusOddsThe Broncos are barely home favorites over the Raiders with the line at 3.5-points. The public is betting heavily on the Raiders too, so hopefully that’ll mean a whole lot of sad Raider fans losing money on Sunday. If they don’t lose money, then hopefully they win money in a Raiders loss. Matchup HistoryDenver has slowly chipped away at the massive hole they exited the 1960s with against the Raiders. By 1977, the Raiders had an all-time record of 26-6-2 against Denver. The Broncos are now just 12 games back with a 52-64-2 record against their hated rival and have a chance this week to bring it down one more game. Hot ReadsFan SentimentConfidence in the Denver Broncos has risen steadily since Drew Lock took over at quarterback. At 77% this week, we are seeing the third highest mark since January of this year and the second highest since Lock started his first game. The future is definitely looking brighter in Denver.FanPulse is a polling project put on SB Nation to gather the opinions and insights of the most plugged-in Denver Broncos fans. If that describes you, then SIGN UP HERE to join us and other knowledgeable fans for NFL FanPulse.MHR RadioWe have a new podcast schedule for the regular season. Please subscribe and check in every weekday morning for a new MHR Radio show. Details here. 27-17 win over the Lions and how Drew Lock came back from behind to win that game. Kevin Gillikin of Broncos & Bratwurst discussed the future of Drew Lock and what Denver needs to do this offseason to get better. You can subscribe to our podcast feed on ApplePodcasts, GooglePlay, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and anywhere else you get your podcasts.Social Media InformationMHR Facebook Page: Mile High Report: A Denver Broncos BlogMHR Twitter: Follow @MileHighReportMHR Instagram: Follow @MileHighReportDenver Broncos Fan Group: Denver Broncos FootballMHR Live on Twitch: Follow @ MHR_LiveBroncos 2019 regular season scheduleWkDateOpponentTime (MT)TVScoreRecordWkDateOpponentTime (MT)TVScoreRecord