After the Broncos lost to the Chiefs in Week 7, head coach Vic Fangio didn’t sugarcoat the need for more out of the offense and tight end Noah Fant agreed the group was falling short of their potential.
Through one half of Sunday’s game against the Chargers, it seemed as if those words fell on deaf ears. They had 60 yards and two first downs while falling behind 14-3 and that led quarterback Drew Lock to address the unit in the locker room at halftime.
“I just got up in front of the offense and said, ‘Listen, it’s so easy for us to come in here and yell and scream and get mad about what we’re doing bad, but we just need to man up, and when the plays come our way, we need to make them, myself included. I’m not yelling at y’all, I’m obviously talking to myself right now, screaming to myself right now,’” Lock said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “And that’s exactly what we did.”
The speech didn’t spark an immediate turnaround. The Chargers would go up 24-3 before the Broncos fully joined the fight. They closed within 14 points in the third quarter and then scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner on the final snap of the game.
Lock was 17-of-26 for 190 yards after the break and threw all three of the fourth quarter touchdowns to secure a much-needed win in Denver. Now the challenge will be playing that kind of offensive football for a full game rather than waiting until its almost too late.