Broncos’ Quinn Meinerz got ‘butt whooped’ on safety but miffed by non-calls by officials
LONDON – Broncos right guard Quinn Meinerz would like to talk to somebody in the NFL about officiating.
Meinerz said that for two straight games, an opponent has used an illegal move on him that wasn’t penalized. That included when Meinerz was flagged for a safety for holding in the end zone in Denver’s 13-11 win Sunday at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The safety occurred with 4:56 left in the third quarter when Meinerz was called for holding Jets defensive lineman Michael Clemons. That gave the Jets an 11-10 lead but Wil Lutz ended up kicking a go-ahead 27-yard field goal with 5:06 left in the game.
“I took a set,’’ Meinerz said of the safety. “I got a head straight down to my chest (from Clemons). According to the rule book, that is illegal. But I just got my butt whooped. I fell down. I still had my hands attached to him. When you fall down and your hands still attached, they’re going to see the jersey tug and throw the flag for holding. I got to be better.”
Meinerz then said there were moves used on him that should have penalized in Denver’s 21-17 win on Oct. 5 at Philadelphia.
“Also, my part is I got to talk to the refs because this is the second week in a row that by rule, I’m getting illegal rushes,’’ Meinerz said. “But I got to be better. That’s what happens in this league. I’m going on five years (in the NFL). You’re going to get your butt whooped any time.”
Meinerz wasn’t the only Broncos offensive lineman who had issues during their shaky performance Sunday on that side of the ball. The Broncos had just 246 yards, including just 71 in the second half. They had a meager 78 yards rushing for the game.
“Obviously, we got to do a lot better job,’’ said left tackle Garett Bolles. “We left some points out and that’s just unfortunate for us to have a day like we did with our offense.”
Bolles, though, was pleased to see the Broncos put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive in the fourth quarter that led to Lutz’s go-ahead field goal.
The Broncos played their first game without starting left guard Ben Powers, who suffered a torn biceps muscle against the Eagles, had surgery last Monday and was placed on injured reserve Saturday. He is out until at least December.
Replacing Powers was Matt Peart, who hasn’t played much left guard in his six-year career. He was called for three penalties, two for holding and one for a false start.
“We’ll go back and look at the tape,’’ Broncos coach Sean Payton said when asked about Peart. “It wasn’t just him. We had a number of errors that there will be a lot of us that want to clean some stuff up.”
Payton was displeased with the Broncos having six penalties for 37 yards and with their inability to run the football.
Special teams woes
Payton also didn’t like how the Broncos looked on special teams.
The Broncos allowed a 72-yard punt return in the first quarter by Kene Nwangwu that led to a Jets field goal. And they allowed the Jets late in the second quarter to convert a fake punt on fourth-and-1 at their 37.
“In the kicking game, I felt we lost that battle,’’ Payton said. “(Special teams coordinator) Darren (Rizzi) is probably just as disappointed relative to his units as I would be relative to our offense.”
The successful fake punt by the Jets didn’t lead to any points, but Payton was still irritated by it. The Jets left their regular offensive line in when they went into punt formation and the ball was snapped to up back Breece Hall, who gained a yard.
“I think my wife knew it was going to be fake,’’ Payton said.
Defense shines
While the Broncos had plenty of struggles on offense and on special teams, the defense shined.
The Broncos had nine sacks to tie a team record, previously set against Chicago in 1971 and the Jets in 1996. The minus-10 passing yards by the Jets were the least allowed in Denver history and the second-least allowed in the NFL since 1990. The only showing since then more woeful was the San Diego Chargers having minus-19 against Kansas City in 1998.
“I love the way we were rushing (the passer),’’ said Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who had two shared sacks on quarterback Justin Fields. “Loved the way we were blitzing, how everybody is doing their part on the defense and making plays.”
Pat Surtain II enjoyed watching it from the secondary.
“It was honestly pretty crazy,’’ said the star cornerback. “It was just like I was sitting back watching, being a fan of it.”
Four Broncos debut
Four Broncos players made their season debuts Sunday.
Defensive tackle Malcolm Roach played as a reserve after he missed the first five games with a calf injury and was activated Saturday off injured reserve. Rookie outside linebacker Que Robinson was active for the first time due to Jonah Elliss being out with ribs and shoulder injuries and got some snaps from scrimmage.
Running back Jaleel McLaughlin was the No. 3 running back behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey after being inactive for the first five games in favor of Tyler Badie. And guard Calvin Throckmorton played on special teams after being elevated off the practice squad due to Powers’ injury.
Badie had been listed on the injury report last week with a shoulder injury. McLaughlin had one rush for no gain and was targeted once on an incomplete pass.
“Tyler was going to miss a day or two,’’ Payton said. “So (McLaughlin has) been having good weeks of practice. Probably didn’t get enough touches today. And there’s a little spark with him.”
In addition to Elliss and Badie, inactive for the Broncos were defensive linemen Jordan Jackson and Sai’vion Jones, tackle Frank Crum and quarterback Sam Ehlinger.
Briefly
Payton was miffed that the Jets, trailing 10-6 and facing third-and-7 at their 41, simply allowed the last 37 seconds of the first half to run out. “We were waiting for either a Hail Mary or something,’’ he said. “And then the clock ran out so that was a little surprising.” … In the final minute of the third quarter, trailing 11-10, the Broncos thought Jonathon Cooper had recovered a fumble at the Jets 30 after Garrett Wilson caught a pass and was hit by Surtain, but a replay review called it incomplete. Payton said it was “a correct call.” … Bonitto was excited to see how many fans wore Broncos gear Sunday. “Shout out to our fans,’’ he said. “It was amazing to see how much orange there was out there.”
