Saturday, we learned the Broncos would be without a quarterback on Sunday when they faced the Saints. All three of the QBs in Denver were deemed COVID-19 close contacts and none were wearing their masks, so they all went into quarantine.
The answer from the NFL was ‘too bad, deal with it’ and didn’t move the game off its Sunday schedule. What the Broncos were faced with was a QB depth chart topped by practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton as the starter with running back Royce Freeman as the backup.
The result was pretty much what you might expect. Hinton threw a total of nine passes in the game, completing one for 13 yards with two intercepted. The lone score by the Broncos came off an interception and they lost 31-3.
What’ worse than that? Well, I can think of something
As bad as that loss was, it wasn’t as bad as the Raiders lost. They turned the ball over five times, including a pick-six thrown by Derek Carr. Carr was sacked three times, fumbling on all of them. Josh Jacobs had the other fumble and nearly had a second fumble as well. And the Raiders lost 43-6.
The Broncos lost by 28 points to an 8-win Saints team with one of the league’s top defenses. The Raiders lost by 37 points to a 3-7 Falcons team that just got pummeled 24-9 by those same Saints.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs kept rolling with a 27-24 win over the Buccaneers and the Chargers were beaten 27-17 by a tough Bills team.
AFC West standings
1. Kansas City Chiefs 10-1 (3-1)
2. Las Vegas Raiders 6-5 (3-1)
3. Denver Broncos 4-7 (1-2)
4. Los Angeles Chargers 3-8 (0-3)
Week 13 schedule
Chiefs vs Broncos
Raiders at Jets (0-11)
Chargers vs Patriots (5-6)
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