Inside Slant

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October 11, 2018 at 3:02 am.

Red zone has been danger zone for Denver offense

The Denver Broncos’ struggles in the red zone are dragging the offense and the team overall down this season.

Losers of three straight and facing a Sunday matchup against the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams (5-0), the Broncos (2-3) have the lowest scoring percentage (66.7) in the AFC on possessions inside the 20 and come away with touchdowns less than half the time (46.7 percent).

Broncos head coach Vance Joseph attributes the lack of efficiency in the red zone to the team’s failure to consistently convert third downs. In last week’s 34-16 loss at the New York Jets, Denver converted just 4-of-14 third downs (29 percent) and failed to convert its only fourth-down try. The Broncos also were forced to settle for a Brandon McManus field goal when a first-and-goal at the Jets’ 7-yard line turned into a fourth down from the 12-yard line following three incompletions by Case Keenum around a penalty for an illegal shift by rookie wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

Overall, the Broncos have converted only 35.8 percent of their third downs, which ranks 26th in the 32-team league.

“Every drive in the red zone last week or even in the scoring zone have been third-and-longs, so we settle for field goals or we get pushed back with penalties and had to punt,” Joseph said. “It’s more about converting third downs and keeping third downs more manageable.”

Keenum said the onus is on him as the quarterback to improve the scoring efficiency of the offense when it gets within striking distance.

“The red zone is tough,” Keenum said. “As detailed and as a game of inches as it is out on the field, everything gets condensed down there. Decisions get magnified, so that’s something we’ve looked at. We’ve gone through all of the red-zone clips and asked, ‘OK, what can we do better here? What kind of decisions do we need to make that better here? How do we prevent negative plays, going backwards, penalties, holds, whatever it is?’ Because those kill you, those kill drives. We move the ball, then get down there and go backwards. Those are all things that we need to fix, and we’re going to get better at. You need to come away with seven points down there, most of the time. When you don’t, if you have three points in your pocket, then you need to take it.”

The Broncos have to resolve their scoring issues in a hurry if they hope to keep up with or exceed the scoring punch of the Rams, who have scored more than 30 points in each of their first five games.

Keenum said to a large degree the responsibility for picking up the play of the offense rests on his shoulders.

“We’ve had a good share of explosive plays, run and pass,” he said. “But for us, it’s just execution. I’m getting tired of saying that we’re close because we’ve got to get better. It starts with me. I’ve got to get the ball in the right place. I’ve got to get the ball out. I’ve got to get the ball out accurately to the right place and let those guys — we’ve got so many weapons — I’ve got to let those guys hunt and go do what they do.”

SERIES HISTORY: 14th regular-season meeting. Rams lead series, 8-5. This is the first game between the Rams and Broncos since the team left St. Louis and returned to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. The Broncos have lost the past three encounters, most recently a 22-7 setback at St. Louis in 2014.

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