Recap: Denver Broncos lose 24-15 against San Francisco 49ers in preseason

The attack and defense of the Denver Broncos first team was strong against the San Francisco 49ers at first, but a second-half rise by the reserve units brought the day to the visiting team. Denver dropped to 1-2 in pre-season after seeing their 9-3 lead at half-time turn into a 24-15 loss to 49ers on Monday night.

Denver lost the initial draw and the 49ers chose to take the ball first. Bradley Chubb converged on Jimmy Garoppolo, who made a bad pass intercepted by Isaac Yiadom to immediately put the Broncos attack on a good position on the field.

Emmanuel Sanders showed that he regained all his strength with a reception and an end to put Denver in a goal-line situation. They could not convert, but it was a good start for the first team's offense and defense.

Chubb abused tackle Joe Staley six times to put pressure early in the game. He almost forced a choice of six for De'Vante Bausby, who dropped what would have been an easy race to the end zone.

All this happened in the first five and a half minutes of the match.

The Broncos 'defense completely smothered the 49ers' offense throughout the first quarter as she was the opponent. The offensive of the first team of the 49ers had only one goal. Jimmy G was 1/6 for 0 yards and an interception on three possessions in the first quarter.

One thing that seems to be something that is late compared to last year is the frequency with which Garett Bolles holds and costs the Broncos offense a lot of yards. Emmanuel Sanders denied a huge 45-yard reception at the end of the first quarter:

The Broncos attack ended with a 3-0 lead, with the offending units from both teams being finished for the day.

The defense of the first Broncos team played in the second quarter. Chubb had a striptease before the end of his evening. Although the 49ers recovered, the offensive was shaken and out of sync as the first Broncos team defense was on the field. The Broncos only yielded 2.1 yards per game against the 49ers offense.

Rookie Drew Lock had his first chance in this game early in the second quarter. In his first centrally-managed series, Lock made some good shots and moved the ball against the defense of the first 49er team.

Lock led the attack to a 13-game 57-yard play that ended in a move to extend the Broncos' lead to 6-0. Lock was 4/5 for 24 yards on the drive and ate more than 8 minutes on the clock.

At the end of the second quarter, after scoring a 49ers goal, Lock played well the two-minute offensive. He converted two or three tries with a good decision for these shots. Things went well until they crossed the middle of the field, then Lock started to fall back on some incomplete passes. Penalties helping, however, Brandon McManus scored a goal of 52 yards to allow the Broncos to go up to 9-3 at halftime.

Drew Lock's evening ended shortly after the start of the second period with a hand injury. Kevin Hogan and many players on both sides of the ball competed for places.

The third and fourth players of the 49ers controlled the game from that moment, but one of the best spots for the Broncos appeared in the form of rookie receiver Juwann Winfree who played good games with Hogan at the post of quarter.

While the Broncos' first offense continues to play in the red zone, it is encouraging to see how well they manage to move the ball with Flacco in the center. This will be the most important thing to watch for in the next and most important pre-season game.