Drew Lock’s struggles continue against Raiders

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock didn’t dance at all Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, having made a name for himself by doing so in games earlier this season.

But he did throw four more interceptions, turning a competitive game against the Raiders into a 37-12 loss.

“You can’t win turning the ball over that much,” Denver coach Vic Fangio said. “Everybody’s fingerprints are on that performance. Coaches, players” and Lock’s.

Literally.

“He’s got to start experiencing good play,” Fangio added. “We’ve got to devise our passing game and our offense, our running game, to where he can be more successful.”

Lock had one of his worst performances of the season against the rival Raiders, completing 23 of 47 passes for 257 yards, with one inconsequential touchdown when the game was out of hand. His quarterback rating of 37.3 is his second worst of the season, besting only the 34.9 he turned in during a game last month against the New England Patriots.

But the Broncos won that game, albeit on the strength of their defense. They lost Sunday because of their ineptitude on offense.

“They gave us pretty normal looks we were expecting,” Lock said. “I just didn’t put the ball in my receivers hands. I put it in their hands. … Could have been some better plays by me, without a doubt.”

Lock’s play was particularly egregious, but not exactly surprising given his status as one of the least productive quarterbacks in the NFL. He led the league through the first nine weeks in bad-throw percentage, per Pro Football Reference, delivering inaccurate balls on 25.7 percent of his attempts. His throws were on target 65.6 percent of the time, last among qualified passers. And his completion percentage of 56.5 was also last among qualified passers.

Yet Fangio said after the loss to Las Vegas that he remains committed to Lock, noting that “the more he can play, the better he’ll be.”

“He’s got to fight through this like most young quarterbacks do at some point in their career,” Fangio said. “We’re going to continue to play him.”

Lock on Sunday did not spot an uncovered Jerry Jeudy in the first half and forced a throw up the seam into triple coverage and into the hands of Raiders safety Jeff Heath. He also connected with Heath before halftime, locking onto Broncos wideout Jerry Jeudy in the waning seconds of the half and allowing the veteran defensive back to jump the route and preserve a 10-6 lead.

Las Vegas blitzed Lock early in the fourth quarter and he fired a dart to Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, who’d dropped into coverage and blanketed the checkdown target. A blitz also forced Lock’s final interception late in the fourth quarter — a looping throw to nobody in particular that Raiders linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski secured with one hand.

“That’s just what it is when you play quarterback. You have bad days. You have good days,” said Lock, who has seven TD passes and 10 interceptions this season. “You’ve just got to limit the bad ones.”

Denver left guard Dalton Risner said his team’s performance Sunday was “unacceptable” but insisted he had “all the faith in the world” in his running backs, wide receivers, coaching staff and, yes, his embattled quarterback.

“We need to win football games like that. We need to be better as an offense,” Risner said. “Three or four plays can mess up a whole football game.”

Or, in this case, three or four interceptions.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.