Broncos Drew Lock's Perfect 4th Quarter Sparked Rally Against Lions
DENVER (CBS4)- Drew Lock set another Denver Broncos record in the 27-17 win over the Detroit Lions. He became the first rookie quarterback to win three of his first four starts in franchise history and he set the record in comeback fashion.
The Broncos went into the 4th quarter down 17-14, but that changed in four plays. Lock flipped a shovel pass to DaeSean Hamilton, which put up Denver 20-17. It was the Broncos first touchdown in the fourth quarter in the last 11 games. Hamilton finished with six catches for a career-high 65 yards receiving and the fourth quarter score.
"The guy is super-duper intelligent, Lock said. "Just being able to have the spatial awareness that he does, it helps us out, especially in our type of offense. Him being able to sit up in zones, feel the guys running with him and break off and separate, it makes my life a lot easier as a quarterback and he had a fantastic game today."
On the following drive, Lock took what the Lions defense gave him, completing both 3rd downs conversions by connecting with Tim Patrick. The scoring drive ended with Phillip Lindsay following the lead block by Andrew Beck, and ran 27-yards to the end zone. Lock was perfect in the fourth quarter completing all eight of his passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
"I thought Drew played well. It's the first time he's had a comeback victory," Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio said. "He's had a lot of stuff happen here the last two weeks-playing in the poor conditions against a really good team on the road, now getting down 10-nothing, not moving it very well offensively, having a punt return against you which can kind of deflate you. I thought it was a good game for Drew."
Lindsay finished the afternoon with 109 yards rushing on 19 carries and a touchdown. It was his fifth 100-yard game of his career. He needs only 42 yards to become the first undrafted player in NFL history to begin his career with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. And Lindsay is looking forward to setting the mark against the Oakland Raiders in the season finale next week.
"Oh yeah, I'm going for it," Lindsay said. "I'm going for it, the offensive line's going for it, the quarterback's going for it, the receivers are going for it, the defense is going for it. At the end of the day, I just want to win though. If it's 970, 980, or 1,000, it's just a stat."
The most encouraging sign for the Broncos future is how they responded to adversity. Denver had to punt on their first three drives and were down 10-0 in the 2nd quarter before scoring on the next five drives. The team also played with three reserved offensive linemen because of injuries and a flu bug in the locker room. Jake Rodgers, Austin Schlottman and Patrick Morris filled in valiantly, keeping Lock clean by not allowing and sacks and opening holes as the Broncos rushed for 150-yards.
"I thought they played their butts off," Lock said. "You look at it, new o-line in there, you don't think we are going to run. It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious there, and we ended up being able to pound the ball with those new guys in there. They did an awesome job."
The Broncos have won three of their last four games and will host the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. With a win, Denver would finish with a 5-3 home record, the best since 2016.
"Our record isn't what anybody wants it to be and we're not proud of our record, but we are proud of this team," Fangio said. "When I say team, these guys play for each other. They've played hard. It's a one for all and all for one mentality. They've got a brotherhood going. I love being around this team. Nobody likes our record, but this team is a good team."
