Losing can do a lot to a person.
It can make one angry enough to punch a hole in a wall; frustrated enough to shed tears; and bitter enough to start making excuses.
What some members of the Denver Broncos did after their 30-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday falls closer to the last example, but they do have at least somewhat of a right to be upset.
Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was vocal with his complaints about the Chiefs' tendency to block downfield on their highly effective run-pass options, when the quarterback keeps the ball to throw.
"What's that cutoff point for an offensive lineman to be legally down the field in pass pro?" Wolfe said, . "When is a guy offsides and when is he not? Is it 12 yards now?"
After reviewing the game film, there were a handful of instances on run-pass options where a Chiefs lineman or two was at least three yards downfield (anything beyond five yards usually draws a flag). Guard Cameron Erving moved to second level along a zone path on an RPO with 11:40 left in the fourth in the most blatant example of a player not actively sitting back in pass protection.
It's understandable for a defensive lineman or linebacker to get upset if they have a hard time reading run or pass based on an offensive lineman's activity when said lineman is charging at them, even though it's a pass. It takes away a player's ability to naturally read and react.
"Linemen are five yards downfield, how do we fix that? I don't know," said Broncos coach Vance Joseph. "What's the rule say? I don't know. But we have to figure this out and that's on tape. That's on tape, I've seen it."
It's not a simple fix. Linemen in an RPO call are taught to block it as if it's a zone run. They're designed to get the ball out quick, thus avoiding an illegal man downfield penalty.
Occasionally, it doesn't go so smoothly -- or a lineman gets a little too aggressive with his journey downfield.
"I'm not going to sit here and complain about the refs because we hurt ourselves. We had a ton of penalties," Wolfe said. "But at the end of the day they missed a ton of penalties on things that they had."
Penalties Wolfe considered missed included a huge one. The defender complained about what he considered to be a missed false start on a key play: Kareem Hunt's 23-yard touchdown reception on a shovel pass from Mahomes.
"It's supposed to be a dead play, the guy is offsides, the right guard (Andrew Wylie) is offsides," Wolfe said. "The right guard is offsides. I went to stand up thinking they were going to call it."
Instead, Wolfe was driven into the line and caught in the wash as Hunt raced through Wolfe's since-vacated gap, hurdled a defender and scored a touchdown that will likely be in the annual highlight reel.
Review of the tape justifies what Wolfe claims. Wylie flinches just before the snap, but no flag was thrown.
