Cincinnati Bengals vs. Denver Broncos: Denver Grades, Notes and Quotes

The Denver Broncos snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat on Monday Night Football, coming back from an early 14-0 deficit to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-17 in a wild game filled with playoff implications.

Cincinnati marched down the field on its first two drives, scoring two touchdowns with ease. The Bengals looked like they had the Denver defense solved, but defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and his unit fought back to pull it out.

A loss would have crippled the Broncos' hopes at a postseason run. There was even a scenario in which the team could have missed the playoffs despite starting the season 7-0. Instead, the Broncos have clinched a spot in the tournament and still have an outside chance at claiming home-field advantage. 

The Broncos face the San Diego Chargers in Week 17, and a win there will give the team its fifth straight AFC West division title. But first, let's look a little deeper into this game.

Read on for grades for each positional unit as well as some other news and notes coming from Week 16.

Positional Grades

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Quarterback: B+

Brock Osweiler played well in this game. He did a good job stepping up in the pocket, and he had good touch on his passes. One in particular—a 26-yard pass to Owen Daniels late in the fourth quarter was as good as any pass he's thrown in Denver.

He only made one real mistake in the game, choosing to throw the ball deep to Demaryius Thomas on 3rd-and-1 in the fourth quarter. Not only did he overthrow an open Thomas, he had a receiver wide open underneath.

Running Back: B

The Denver running game was kept in check for much of the night, but a 39-yard touchdown run by C.J. Anderson in the third quarter proved to be huge. It gave Denver its first lead of the game, 17-14, and helped provide the spark the Broncos needed to complete the victory.

Ronnie Hillman had 35 yards on nine carries, and he added four catches for 37 yards in the passing game.

Wide Receiver: B+

Thomas had a fairly quiet night, but he made two huge catches in overtime. The first, which came on 3rd-and-3 from the Cincinnati 37-yard line, was a one-handed snag by Thomas in which one arm was being pulled back by Adam Jones.

Moments later, Thomas took a bubble screen and gained 12 yards down to the Cincinnati 20-yard line. That throw was a little in front of the 28-year-old, but he plucked it out of the air.

Thomas has dropped some key passes this season, but those were two big plays. Emmanuel Sanders also had a touchdown in the game to go along with 67 yards receiving.

Tight End: B

If you were going to select an MVP for this game, Daniels would have to be in the conversation.

The 33-year-old made several clutch catches in the late stages of this game, including a 12-yard pass on 3rd-and-10 in overtime. He finished the game with five catches for 70 yards, but Osweiler showed a lot of confidence in throwing the ball to him late.

Virgil Green had one catch for eight yards and Vernon Davis didn't get on the stat sheet.

Offensive Line: C

The offensive line continues to get pushed around, particularly at the right tackle spot where Michael Schofield is. The second-year offensive lineman has had his struggles, and Carlos Dunlap made him look silly in this game.

Gary Kubiak strongly needs to evaluate how to use Schofield going forward, but he doesn't seem to be the best fit at right tackle. The Broncos are light on options at that position, but how much worse would Tyler Polumbus be?

Defensive Line: B

The Denver defense did have some struggles against the run in this game, giving up 108 yards on the ground. However, the team did a much better job defending it in the second half.

Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson both had good performances, and both should be recognized for having solid seasons. Vance Walker had a critical sack late in the game, just his second of the year.

DeMarcus Ware ended up recovering a fumble on a bad snap that ended up sealing the victory in overtime.

Linebacker: A-

Danny Trevathan led the team with 12 tackles in this game, and he made some terrific plays in the open field. Brandon Marshall had seven tackles before leaving the game. The Bengals seemed determined not to let Von Miller make any plays, but Miller was able to get pressure at times that forced A.J. McCarron to get rid of the ball before he wanted to.

Secondary: B

It had to be frustrating for Denver to see the Bengals convert 10 third downs in this game, particularly when many of those required McCarron to make tough throws. However, considering Phillips chose to play man-to-man for much of this game, the Denver secondary held its own.

McCarron went right down the field on Cincinnati's first two drives, making several big plays. A.J. Green caught a five-yard touchdown on a pass that Aqib Talib appeared to misplay, but McCarron also missed Green on a couple deep balls that could have blown the game wide open.

Cincinnati receivers made several touch catches along the sidelines in this game, despite good coverage on most of them. Give credit to McCarron for putting the ball where it needed to go.

Special Teams: B-

Britton Colquitt averaged 43.4 yards per punt in this game, and he had a 54-yard kick late in the game followed by an immediate tackle by Kayvon Webster that was a big play for Denver. 

Though Brandon McManus kicked a 37-yard field goal in overtime that proved to be the game-winner, he could have won the game in overtime from about 45 yards out, but he missed badly, pulling the kick well left. 

Why is Shiloh Keo returning punts? Denver should have a sure-handed player such as Sanders or Jordan Norwood back on those.

Coaching: C

Denver was out-coached in the first half. That much seemed clear. But the team made two key adjustments in the second half that led to Denver pulling out the win. 

Offensively, the team chose to go with a no-huddle offense right out of the break, and that drive resulted in the team's first touchdown of the game. 

On defense, Phillips started to switch from man-to-man to zone coverage, throwing several different looks at the young McCarron. The move worked, as Denver only gave up three points in the second half. 

Important Note No. 1: Brandon Marshall Leaves with Ankle Injury

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The last thing the Broncos need is another injury to a key member of the team's defense, so the status of linebacker Brandon Marshall will be one to watch this week.

Marshall had seven tackles on the night—good for second on the team—but he left following the final play of the third quarter with an ankle injury. Marshall had just made a great stop of Giovani Bernard on 3rd-and-2, forcing a punt. But he came up limping and headed for the sidelines.

Todd Davis finished the game in Marshall's place, and he would likely be the starter in his place if he's forced to miss any time.

Important Note No. 2: Denver Clinches Playoff Berth with Win

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Denver fans had to be shocked listening to all of the playoff scenarios talked about during this game, particularly the ones in which they could miss the playoffs entirely or watch as the Kansas City Chiefs win the AFC West.

Though the AFC West title is still to be claimed, fans don't have to worry about the Broncos being in the playoffs or not. The win over Cincinnati clinched a spot for the team, who will be heading to the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.

Week 17 is when things will really get wild.

Denver will win the AFC West with a win over San Diego or a Kansas City loss to the Oakland Raiders. However, the team can still move into the No. 1 spot in the AFC with a win and a New England Patriots loss to the Miami Dolphins.

That would seal home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. A win over San Diego would assure Denver no worse than the No. 2 seed in the AFC, which would lead to a first-round bye in the playoffs.

Darian Stewart, T.J. Ward Both Active Monday Night

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Denver could be getting healthy at the safety position just in time. Starting safeties T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart were both active for the game against Cincinnati, though Ward's snaps were limited and he had just one tackle on the night.

Stewart had three tackles in the game, including a big hit on Bernard in the backfield. On that play, the 27-year-old diagnosed the run play and came up the gut, unblocked, before chopping Bernard down.

Shiloh Keo and Josh Bush were both used in the game, but neither guy has been great. Bush was beaten by backup tight end Tyler Kroft in the fourth quarter, who broke his tackle on a 3rd-and-8 play to extend the drive. Cincinnati ended up kicking a game-tying 52-yard field goal moments later.

The safety position is one to keep an eye on as Denver heads to the playoffs. Having Ward and Stewart on the field together at full health will be imperative. An extra week of rest before having to play would be big.

Quote No. 1: C.J. Anderson

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Following the game, Anderson was interviewed on the field, courtesy of the team's official website.

Talking about his big 39-yard touchdown run that gave the Broncos the lead, Anderson said: "I just try to do my role. I tell Kubiak if he gives it to me I'm going to try to do what I can and I just try to do my role within the system."

In addition to the big run Monday night, Anderson also had the game-winning score in overtime back in Week 12 to beat the Patriots. Though he's had somewhat of a disappointing season in terms of production, those two runs are two of the biggest plays the Broncos have gotten this year.

Quote No. 2: Brock Osweiler

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Following the game, Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler addressed the media, via the team's official website.

Right at the top of the interview, Osweiler was asked an interesting question about how he handles the near-daily reports of Peyton Manning and whether or not he'll be back as the team's quarterback.

He replied:

"

I don't hear it. I don't read the newspaper, I don't turn on ESPN, I don't turn on NFL Network.

A coach once told me, and no offense to anyone, but ignore all of that and do your job. I'm very appreciative for that advice I received because I feel this game, when you focus on your job and you focus on that task at hand and what's really relevant for that day, it keeps you focused. So that's how I've been handling that.

But most of all, this isn't about Peyton, this isn't about myself, tonight is about this football team.

"

Osweiler was then asked about the team coming out with a two-minute offense to start the second half.

He said: "Well, whenever offensively you're not moving the ball and you're not generating points, you want to try something different, and why not? So our conversation at halftime was to try to pick up the tempo a little bit, show them a look that we have not shown them on tape."

In Denver's back-to-back losses to Oakland and the Pittsburgh Steelers, it didn't seem like the coaching staff was able to make the proper adjustments to help pull out the victory. Kubiak and his staff deserve some credit for making those adjustments in this one.

Quote No. 3: Gary Kubiak

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During his press conference after the game, via the team's official website, Kubiak was asked about his halftime adjustments, but he downplayed them a little bit.

He said:

"

The first half defensively we really struggled. They played lights out, it was a little bit like the Pittsburgh game we played last week, shoe was on the other foot. I think the drive right before the half was positive for us.

We talked at halftime, we've had some struggles in the second half, it's time to play the best second half we've played all year and we did that tonight.

I'm very proud of our guys and how we battled. We've really found some explosion as a football team in the last couple of weeks so we'll stay positive and see if we can find it for four quarters.

"

Asked later in the interview if he's ever been around a team that can change so dramatically from one half to the next, Kubiak said:

"

I guess that could bother some people but I've been doing this long enough, it actually excites me to watch what took place in the first half last week and what took place in the second half this week because that's what this league is about at the end, finding it all. They know what  they're capable of.

We do have to find some consistency, but we have shown some flashes of being able to do that. So as I said all last week talking to you guys, we're going to hang onto the positives and we're going to keep working on the negatives, but we're going to stay positive and battle and we feel very confident in the direction we're heading.

"