Denver Broncos vs New Orleans Saints Recap and Drive Stats

 This is not going to be the regular recap and drive stats.  This game was not a regular game.  This was in effect a travesty.  The Broncos were informed late Saturday that their entire QB room would be ineligible to play after video came to light of them having masks down for some parts of a meeting on Wednesday.  The Broncos had discovered this during a review of some video of the meting, and provided the information to the league.  With how late the league got the info, the Broncos had asked if the game could be postponed.  But the request went unheard, and Denver had to send out Practice Squad WR Kendall Hinton, who had played QB at Wake Forest for two years.  As the drive chart below will suggest, it did not go well at all.  The one positive was how well the defense played most of the game, getting after Taysom Hill and just overall holding the Saints at bay as best they could. 

The NFL should be ashamed for having this game played.  I understand that the Broncos QBs broke the rules.  I understand that the league has protocols and that they are trying to keep players safe.  But making a team play without a QB on the roster is very dangerous for him and the players around him.  Throws were inaccurate, players weren't used to mesh points and overall it just lead to opportunities for players to be in bad spots.  The decision not to postpone also seems to fly in the face of the the league moving the Patriots Broncos game earlier this year despite no sign of an outbreak, and the Ravens getting their games postponed again and again, along with the Titans earlier getting a game moved.  This game was the league deciding to hammer a team that they felt they could to prove a point about needing to follow the rules to the letter.  Their actions with other teams though makes it feel like the rules only apply to teams they arent trying to actively market.  As Dave Logan noted, this game also presents a huge issue for the league's competitive balance.  It essentially gave the Saints a win in what is going to be a very tight race in the NFC for the #1 seed, and the only bye this postseason.  Overall, the NFL just made a terrible choice.  They should have moved the game to Monday or Tuesday, giving the Broncos a chance.  Denver already dealt with this by having to reschedule games, and other teams have doen it as well.  It would have kept competitive balance, shown that following the rules and actively reporting potential cases is the right thing to do, and it promotes player safety.  

DEN	NO	75	1	Punt	22	29.3	5
NO	DEN	80	1	Punt	0	0.0	6
DEN	NO	62	1	Punt	-2	-3.2	3
NO	DEN	72	1	Punt	0	0.0	3
DEN	NO	85	1	Punt	6	7.1	3
NO	DEN	74	1	Touchdown	74	100.0	15
DEN	NO	75	2	Punt	1	1.3	3
NO	DEN	73	2	Punt	11	15.1	5
DEN	NO	75	2	Punt	-1	-1.3	3
NO	DEN	66	2	Punt	-8	-12.1	4
DEN	NO	64	2	Turnover	3	4.7	3
NO	DEN	13	2	Touchdown	13	100.0	5
DEN	NO	75	2	Turnover	2	2.7	3
NO	DEN	41	2	Field goal	19	46.3	3
NO	DEN	75	3	Punt	1	1.3	4
DEN	NO	77	3	Turnover	21	27.3	5
NO	DEN	50	3	Turnover	-2	-4.0	3
DEN	NO	40	3	Field goal	1	2.5	3
NO	DEN	82	3	Touchdown	82	100.0	8
DEN	NO	75	3	Punt	9	12.0	7
NO	DEN	77	4	Touchdown	77	100.0	13
DEN	NO	75	4	Punt	15	20.0	4
NO	DEN	79	4	Punt	6	7.6	3
DEN	NO	76	4	End of half	24	31.6	3