Broncos quarterback Drew Lock is garnering a lot of attention for his performance Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, and rightfully so. It was arguably the best game of his career, throwing for 280 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. 

But how much of Lock’s success can be attributed to offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur?

“I thought Pat did a great job getting a feel for the game and making some really nice calls,” Denver coach Vic Fangio said Monday. “I thought we had a really good mix there throughout the game.”

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Shurmur, who has been criticized as much if not more than Lock this season, had maybe his best game as a play caller Sunday. He emphasized screen passes and bootlegs, allowing Lock to make easy passes instead of throwing into tight windows, which is where his 13 interceptions this season have tended to happen. Lock also took those easy throws when they presented themselves, hitting his checkdowns for small chunks of yardage and then attacking deep only when he saw fit. 

“We were more efficient. Twenty-one of 27 is a lot better than we’ve been doing,” Fangio said of the offense Sunday. “We hit some big plays, threw some touchdown passes. It was really good to see, and we spread the ball around. It was nice to see KJ (Hamler) come up with some big plays. We believe that he can add that to our offense. Jerry (Jeudy) had a 31-yarder, Tim (Patrick) had a 32-yarder. Big plays are huge, and we were able to run the ball well enough to keep running it — 27 carries — that’s big, too, in making some first downs.” 

Shurmur dialed up plays that left guys like Hamler, Jeudy and Patrick wide open, while tight ends Troy Fumagalli and Nick Vannett looked like all-pro tight ends — especially Fumagalli on a unique tight end screen that he took 30 yards down field. 

But above all, he made Lock look like a franchise quarterback for one of the few times in his career. 

“Coach Shurmur and coach (Mike) Shula did a good job getting me ready for the week and finding some man looks,” Lock said, “trying to recognize their zone compared to man looks.”

Shurmur showed confidence in his young players Sunday, something that couldn’t have been said earlier in the season. 

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That was shown when Shurmur called a “go” route for Hamler with four minutes to go in the game and the Broncos only up five. Play calls like that one have Broncos Country hoping Shurmur can turn the offense around in 2021. 

“I appreciate coach Pat for calling that play,” said Hamler, who had two catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. “I applaud coach Pat for just staying true today. I think we all played and all coached a complete game today. We had some ups and downs of course, that’s football, that’s how the game goes.”