Broncos Briefs: Confusion reigned on fourth-down play late in first half

A Broncos offense that failed to gain any rhythm in Sunday night’s 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was particularly discombobulated on a key fourth-down play late in the first half.

The Broncos moved from their 3-yard line to the Chiefs’ 8 and faced a fourth-and-2, the 20th play of the drive.

Twelve seconds on the play clock: The Broncos break the huddle.

Five seconds: Receiver Tim Patrick shifts to behind left tackle Garett Bolles. Williams, lined up in an off-set I expecting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to be in the shotgun, looks to the sideline for direction.

Three seconds: Williams moves to his left to line up in a true I formation because Bridgewater stayed under center.

On the play, Williams started left, but center Lloyd Cushenberry lost his block, forcing him to cut right and into the path of linebacker Willie Gay, who wasn’t blocked by right guard Quinn Meinerz.

“There was definitely some miscommunication there between Teddy making the call and executing the play,” coach Vic Fangio said Monday afternoon. “Teddy gets under center a lot before he moves back to the shotgun and then when it became obvious he wasn’t going to do that, it was too late for me to run down there and call the timeout.”

As for opting to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal to make it 10-6, Fangio said: “That was one of the easier decisions.”

Gordon, Callahan updates. The Broncos reported no new injuries from Sunday night’s game. Running back Melvin Gordon (hip) missed his first game of the season and cornerback Bryce Callahan (knee, on injured reserve) hasn’t played since Week 8 against Washington.

“I think Melvin will be back to practice at some point during the week,” Fangio said. “I have to get together with (general manager) George (Paton) and (head athletic trainer) Vince (Garcia) to see exactly where Bryce is at (physically).”

Callahan has not resumed practicing since his injury.

Purcell decision. Nose tackle Mike Purcell was a healthy scratch Sunday for the first time this year as the Broncos went with McTelvin Agim as the fifth lineman.

“It was more opponent-based,” Fangio said of the decision. “We were going to play a lot of nickel, which we did. That was the main reason.”

The Broncos played only three snaps of their base package (three linemen) in the game’s first 50 minutes. Agim played nine snaps.

Win toss, take football. Fangio elected to take the football after winning Sunday night’s opening coin toss, going against his usual philosophy of deferring.

“It was two-fold,” he said. “One, it was wind-motivated. We wanted to have the chance to have the wind in the fourth quarter because the weather report was that the wind would be higher as the game wore on. … And we wanted to try and have a good first drive offensively.”

The Broncos went three-and-out on the opening series. The offense has produced only 10 opening-drive points this year, tied for second-fewest in the NFL (New Orleans has three) and well below the league average of 26.

Coaching point. A second-half turning point was returner Diontae Spencer’s muffed punt when Caden Sterns collided with him when engaged on a block. The Chiefs turned that into a field goal to lead 16-3.

“(Sterns) needs to be to the side of the guy; he can’t be in front of him,” Fangio said. “We have do a good job of getting that taught to him clearly because if you get in front of the (pursuer), he can dump you into the returner.”

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