Russell Wilson, Broncos hope to fix third quarter woes in Carolina

Nov. 26—ENGLEWOOD — There is no team in the NFL worse in the third quarter than the Denver Broncos.

For the Broncos, while the fourth quarter is where they often lost games, one could argue the third quarter is where things begin to fall apart. This season, Denver has scored only 12 points in third quarter — safety in Week 3 against the 49ers, a field goal in Week 5 against the Colts and a touchdown in Week 8 against the Jaguars — which is the lowest of any team in the NFL. For reference, the Chiefs, which rank first in the NFL, have scored 79 points in the third quarter this year.

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"We've got to come out and have a better third quarter," quarterback Russell Wilson said. "Our third quarters have been why we are where we are. Not even part of it — a big part of it. We've had pretty good first halves for the most part, decent. Some have been better than others. The third quarter has slowed us down tremendously."

If the Broncos want to change their season, Wilson is right — it starts in the third quarter. They've only been outscored 22-12 in third quarter this season, thanks to the defense being one of the best defensive units in the third quarter this season. Their 22 points allowed is second in the NFL.

But the offense failing to muster any points in third quarter is why in six of their 10 games they've entered the fourth quarter trailing. And five of those six games were losses, failing to come-from-behind.