The Broncos faced a fourth-and-one from the Cleveland 6-yard-line with 4:35 left to play on Saturday night, which left head coach Vance Joseph with a decision to make.
Go for the first and the chance to score a touchdown or kick a field goal that cut Cleveland’s lead to 17-16? A few days after saying he wanted to see more aggressiveness on offense, Joseph opted for the latter approach.
“I wanted points there,” Joseph said, via ESPN.com. “Had about 4:35 to go in the game. We had one timeout and the two-minute warning. I trust our defense to get a stop there, OK. If we don’t get points there, a touchdown has to win it. It was my decision -- take points.”
Joseph said having two runs for two total yards on the two previous plays affected his decision to kick and the defense eventually got a stop with 1:49 left to play in the game. That gave the Broncos the ball on the 13-yard-line, but they couldn’t get across midfield before a Jabrill Peppers sack ended their chances of pulling off a comeback win.
