Broncos-Panthers: Denver's Offense Stalls in Carolina, Peyton Hillis Is Missed

The Denver Broncos had been feeling good after winning two straight games and four of their last five. The Carolina Panthers came in feeling even better after watching Tampa Bay drop their second straight game in Atlanta.

This game was anticipated to feature Carolina's excellent rushing duo, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart running all over the Broncos defense. This was not the case. Had it not been for a 56-yard touchdown run by Williams, the Broncos would have held the Panthers under 100 yards rushing on the day.

Overall, the Denver can afford to lose this game. Clearly, it's never nice to lose, but losing is a fact of life in the NFL (unless you are the '72 Dolphins). Despite losing, Denver could have won the AFC West today, had it not been for the masterful choke job done by the Kansas City Chiefs, after being up 11 points going into the final two minutes of their game.

However, each team will ultimately control their own destiny, and the situation still stands that Denver need only win one of the remaining two games in order to clinch the division.

The game today in Charlotte was not a particularly electrifying one, from a Denver fan's prospective. The Broncos opened the game looking good, with a quick score on a screen pass to running back P.J. Pope. Carolina countered with their own TD pass from Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith. The teams then traded field goals to go into the second quarter tied, 10-10.

From then on out, it was all Panthers. Rookie Jonathan Stewart punched the ball into the endzone with six and a half minutes remaining in the second half. At the end of the first half, the Broncos had one last chance with the ball deep in Carolina territory, but Selvin Young coughed it up, leading to a field goal as the seconds ticked down to send the game into halftime with the Panthers up, 20-10.

The second half opened, and DeAngelo Williams had his big run to make it 27-10. After that, for the final 28 minutes of the game, the only scoring was a Carolina field goal early in the fourth to put up the final: Carolina 30, Denver 10.

The Broncos defense didn't play a great game, but they didn't play badly either. Rookie Safety Josh Barrett recorded his first career interception of Delhomme in the third quarter. Matt Prater missed another field goal, also in the third quarter. The Denver offensive line was not up to their normal level of play, letting Jay Cutler be sacked three times.

Cutler's day can best be described as "mediocre". The entire offense was just mediocre in this game. There were no standout performers on offense or defense. The whole game just didn't feel right for the Broncos. The missing piece: Peyton Hillis.

For the last four games, Hillis was the constant. He could be trusted to get first downs, power the ball for short yardage or break longer runs to the outside. Today was the first game without him, and the running game suffered. The team still had 121 yards on the ground all together, but the longest run was 24 yards by Pope.

Hillis also held on to the ball, and today Selvin Young had a costly fumble. The trio that played for the Broncos today just didn't have the "oomph" to force Carolina to respect the Denver offense.

The final piece is that the Panthers game planned for a passing day. Everyone was expecting them to run, but they passed. Delhomme picked on rookie Josh Bell all afternoon, and Steve Smith had nine catches for 165 yards and a touchdown.

Moving forward, the Broncos will go home to face the Buffalo Bills, a game that they should be able to win. The Chargers will have to play the Buccaneers, which should be a very tough game for them. It is likely that Denver will clinch next weekend, but none of that makes up for the fact that they couldn't get it done against one of the strongest teams in the NFC.