Broncos rookie Devaughn Vele and young skill group continue to hit

The play probably should have been bad.

The Broncos didn’t exactly have a fleet of explosive playmakers on the field in the first place for a first-and-goal Sunday from the Kansas City 3-yard line midway through the second quarter.

Rookie quarterback Bo Nix faked a play, but no one got open.

Part of that was because the only wide receiver on the field didn’t do what he was supposed to do.

Tight end Adam Trautman broke free as Nix ran to his right, but Nix put the ball in a bad spot for him, giving Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson a chance to disrupt the throw.

Johnson did just that, sending the ball into the air. Then he knocked him down again as he and Trautman disappeared out of bounds. Cornerback Keith Taylor also hauled in the ball.

At that point, incompletion seemed like the best case scenario.

Instead, it stayed in the air just long enough for Broncos rookie receiver Devaughn Vele to snatch it.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1876031097215009092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Landing. 21-0 Broncos. Week 18 rout against the mostly rested Chiefs.

It was a circus catch. This happened in a game where one team had a lot more to play for than the other. This probably didn’t have much impact on the overall outcome: Denver was already up two scores and firmly in control.

But besides getting a big reaction from CBS broadcasters Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, the play had meaning.

At least that’s the case for Nix, who playfully punched Vele before getting to his reasoning.

“I think it shows that even though Vele took the wrong path, he didn’t give up on the game and showed a lot of effort,” Nix said. “In my opinion, it’s the effort that counts and it’s the effort that counts.

“Young people, especially, are told all the time that it’s okay if you make a mistake, just do it with 100 percent effort. That’s what Vele did. In fact, it was perfect. I’m glad he did exactly what he did and got a touchdown.

Vele had individual coverage and plenty of space to operate to the outside. Instead, he ran a short sit-down route around the goal line and ended up in traffic. He faded toward midfield and jumped when the ball was kicked into the air.

Everything looks good in the box score, even if it wasn’t the duo’s prettiest play combined for Sunday. That’s when Vele made a hesitant move on a third-and-11, came up the seam and Nix pinned him for a 32-yard completion. In total, Vele played in 13 games as a rookie – he was inactive Weeks 2-5, first due to a fractured rib, then due to a healthy scratch – and caught 41 passes for 475 yards and three touchdowns.

He and second-year man Marvin Mims Jr. have become Nix’s favorite pair of targets behind veteran Courtland Sutton.

In fact, as the season progressed, the Broncos relied more and more on talented young players.

In Denver’s last three games — losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati, then wins against Kansas City — seven of the team’s 10 offensive touchdowns were scored by first- or second-year players. On the season, that’s seven of Denver’s 12 rushing touchdowns and 17 of 30 passing touchdowns for a total of 57 percent.

They look like this:

Mims: Six receiving

Nix: Four rushes, one receiving

Vele: Three receptions

Tight end Nate Adkins: three receptions

Running back Jaleel McLaughlin: two receiving, one rushing

Running back Audric Estime: Two on the ground

Receiver Troy Franklin: Two receptions

Payton knew Denver would have to rely on young players this season and this stretch showed their ability to find the end zone with regularity.

“(We had to) hunker down a little bit here and take on that challenge and then find those guys who are like-minded and competitive,” he said Monday. “I used this term that ‘young and hungry can be dangerous,’ and it’s true. There’s a bit of naivety in not even knowing.

“It’s inspiring as a coach to work with players like that.”

A little thing I liked: Oh, no, not another Bo Nix/Russell Wilson comparison. Just one more, I promise. And it’s really a coincidence that it’s Wilson, the former Broncos quarterback.

The current Pittsburgh signal-caller made a critical mistake late in the Steelers’ Week 18 loss to Cincinnati when he took off late in the game, but didn’t go out of bounds and instead lowered his shoulder while the clock was ticking. The ball was snapped at 47 seconds. If Wilson had gone out of bounds, there would have been maybe 40 left around the Steelers 45 and it would have taken a field goal to win. Pittsburgh kicker Chris Boswell is having a tremendous year and is an excellent long-range kicker. Wilson had them within 20 yards of Boswell’s range, but couldn’t stop the clock.

Instead, it lasted 24 seconds before Pittsburgh got the ball back and Wilson took a 5-yard sack, leading to the team’s final timeout. Pittsburgh was scoreless and now heads into the playoffs after a four-game skid.

A very different game situation, but juxtaposes a play made by Nix the next day, at the end of the second quarter against Kansas City. With 1:04 left in the first half and a timeout in his pocket, Nix took off and ran 29 yards. When he sensed he was about to be tackled, Nix tried to move him laterally to Javonte Williams, who fired 21 more. The full-back was ultimately ruled a forward pass and a penalty, but what stood out in the game was Nix’s explanation after the game.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to get out of bounds within two minutes,” he said, noting that he would have had to either make sure the ball was going backwards or get around Williams to become a blocker potential. the sideline.

Denver settled for a basket. So the execution hasn’t been perfect, but Nix is ​​heading toward the clock and the game situation in mind.

A little thing that I didn’t like: There wasn’t much going on from a Broncos perspective. Hopefully the next time these teams meet at the end of the season it will mean something to both teams. It would be a lot of fun. Late in the season or… later in January? A trip to Arrowhead would be on the other side of an upset Broncos win on Sunday. Eh.

A trend to watch: I joke about the end of the Nix/Wilson comparisons. Nix, according to Next Gen Stats, has thrown 21.9 percent of the time this year, which is the second-most in the NFL behind — you guessed it — Russell Wilson (24.9 percent).

Nix is ​​also very successful. He threw for 904 yards and eight touchdowns while moving at least 8 miles per hour, according to NGS tracking data. This is the fourth-most yards by a quarterback in a season since 2016. The top three all belong to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

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