In no surprise, the Denver Broncos traveled to the east coast for an early Sunday matchup and got their doors blown off.

Denver has historically had its struggles in early games, particularly in September, and sadly enough they followed suit in their matchup versus the Baltimore Ravens.

Untimely turnovers, costly penalties, and an influx of mental errors showed us first hand why this team still has an abundance of things to work on if they want to be playing football in January.

Let’s dive into some takeaways from the Broncos’ meltdown in Baltimore:

1. Penalties, penalties, and penalties… oh, and penalties

13 penalties for 120 yards… the #Broncos can't continue to play like this. https://t.co/HUwYdPKP0g — Broncos Wire (@TheBroncosWire) September 23, 2018

Denver Broncos or Oakland Raiders?

Pathetically, Denver tallied a total of 13 penalties for 120 yards. If we are looking for some positives, however, we should all be excited that the Broncos at least know how to diversify their portfolio. They were called on everything from holding and unsportsmanlike conduct to having 12 men in the huddle. They hit on the full spectrum of possible penalties.

Penalties are signs of a poorly-coached team. And I don’t want to spoil anything, but all signs point toward the Denver Broncos being a poorly coached team.

After struggling to produce any offense, the Broncos’ special teams came up with a huge blocked field goal that resulted in a Chris Harris touchdown. Those points were taken off the board after a very questionable block in the back penalty.

If that didn’t sting enough, Denver coughed up another look at points later in the game when Ronald Leary was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Baltimore 27-yard line. This penalty moved the good guys back far enough to force them to punt instead of attempting a field goal.

For an offense that is struggling as mightily as Denver’s at the moment, these costly penalties must stop.

2. Philip Lindsay’s disqualification was questionable

None of those refs have ever been in a pile. That's BS, @I_CU_boy, no punch there. Keep your chin up son. Keep running hard #DENvsBAL — Ryan Miller (@Rmiller73) September 23, 2018

Philip Lindsay was ejected from the game late in the second quarter when he was accused of throwing a punch during a scrum for a loose football.

I don’t argue that it should have probably been a penalty, but an ejection? I don’t know about that. These “punches” happen early and often throughout a football game, particularly in any kind of scrum scenario. He wasn’t ripping off helmets or gouging out eyes, he was just punching at the pads of an opponent.

Lindsay’s absence certainly impacted the Broncos’ success, but he is a rookie and has got to learn how to handle his emotions a bit better.

With that being said, I am still not sure he should have been removed from this game early.