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Broncos blog: Essang Bassey to miss season; Fangio talks fourth-down decision; defense lacking takeaways

Broncos coach Vic Fangio announced Monday that starting nickel back and undrafted rookie Essang Bassey will miss the rest of the season after suffering an apparent knee injury against the Chiefs on Sunday night in Kansas City. Bassey was carted off the field in the third quarter.

“The full extent of his knee injury is still being elevated,” Fangio said, “but they’ve seen enough at this point to know he won’t play the final four games.” 

Bassey has played the 10th-most snaps of any Broncos defender this season, mostly playing at the nickel and corner position. Bassey has totaled 21 tackles, two pass breakups and one interception. 

With cornerback Bryce Callahan being placed on the injured reserve last week, the Broncos have limited depth in the secondary. Alijah Holder, De’Vante Bausby and Will Parks — who the Broncos picked up last week and Fangio says should be good to go this week — will likely have opportunities to play for Denver over the final four games. 

Why punt?

Fangio has faced a lot of questions over the last 24 hours after the Broncos lost 22-16 to the Chiefs. But none bigger than his decision to punt down three points with 6:13 remaining and facing a fourth and 3 from their 49-yard line. The Chiefs were able to kick a field goal and run five minutes off the clock, leaving the Broncos with no timeouts and 1:04 to score a touchdown. 

After the game, Fangio admitted he probably should have gone for it. And Monday he explained his decision further and said he wouldn’t change his mind if given the opportunity.

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“With 6 1/2 minutes to go roughly, no matter what we would have done — if we had continued that drive successfully, converted the fourth down — we were going to have to come up with a stop on defense,” Fangio said. “Our strong suit hasn’t been third and 2s and 3s, fourth and 2s and 3s. In fact, I think we haven’t converted any of the fourth and 2s and 3s we’ve tried all year.

“So combining that fact with the fact that we’re going to have to get a stop no matter what happens, I chose that to be the time for us to get a stop.” 

The Broncos are ranked last in the league in fourth-down conversions of 5 or less yards, going 0 for 6 on those attempts. 

Fangio wants turnovers 

The Broncos are tied for 30th in the NFL in turnovers forced (11) and last in giveaways (28). 

Fangio knows how crucial takeaways can be for a team’s success and when asked where exactly he wants to improve as a coach in the final four games of the season, it’s exactly that. 

“I want to get us better in the takeaway, turnover margin. If we can get that improved, we’ll all improve as coaches,” Fangio said. “We haven’t gotten enough takeaways on defense.” 

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