Denver Broncos Lay a Foundation for the Season Vs Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are the defending AFC Champions and one of the odds on favorites to emerge in the AFC again. Because of that, the Denver Broncos can hang their hat with their effort on Sunday afternoon. The Broncos showed they could go toe to toe and punch for punch with the best of them, the very best of them — and they did it with a heavy heart. 

The orange and blue paid tribute to their fallen teammate, wide receiver Kenny McKinley, prior to the game against the Colts with a moment of silence. McKinley was found dead at his home earlier in the week of an apparent suicide. 

So much like last season, the Denver Broncos are starting to prove the critics not to be entirely right about this team early on this season. 

The Broncos, with all of their injuries along the offensive line and at the running back position, were penciled in for a 4-12 finish by many prognosticators. The misconception among many was that the Broncos are not a physical football team.  Certainly, there are more physical teams; however, Josh McDaniels' crew proved a point Sunday—that they can hang against anyone this season.

In the end, the score read 27-13 in favor of the Colts, but the Broncos knew they were their own worst enemy and probably should have found a way to win.  Credit the Colts for being a great football team, certainly among the NFL elite. 

However, it can’t be denied that should these teams happen to meet in the AFC playoffs, the Broncos are one team that are officially starting to pitch some real fits in the Colts direction. So take note—it could be this year or next—but these two teams may be on yet another playoff collision course and this time, the Broncos are the up and comers.

Peyton Manning vs. Kyle Orton

Don’t look now, but could this game have actually have had the above billing?

Regardless of the end result, Peyton Manning is after all Peyton Manning and one of the greatest, if not the greatest regular season quarterbacks of all-time. 

Orton through last season was an NFL football survivor—this season, Orton is turning heads while his game is turning rather savage at the point of attack. 

Considering the fact that Orton lost his number one target from last season, Brandon Marshall, in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, he couldn’t be credited more with rising to the challenge.

The last time Orton threw for over 400 yards, the Broncos were being throttled by the Kansas City Chiefs in the last game of the 2009 season; on Sunday, Orton went 37 of 57 for 476 yards with one interception and one touchdown. 

Manning, not to be outdone, went 27 of 43 for 325 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Manning won the battle and the war, but Orton showed he could carry this Broncos franchise on his shoulders. 

It’s what will make it hard for the team to part with him at any point in the not too distant future.

Considering how these two teams faired through the air and on the ground, it was sort of a throwback to the AFL shootouts of old. 

The Broncos offense looked a bit like Mike Leach's old Texas Tech offense.

Neither team had much of a run game to speak of, with the Colts' top rusher Joseph Addai going 13 carries for 29 yards and the Broncos' Laurence Maroney going 12 for 24 yards.

Through the air, Manning connected with emerging favorite target Austin Collie 12 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns with a long of 48 yards.

Orton went big with Brandon Lloyd six times for 169 yards and a long of 61 yards that resulted in a field goal; Orton also hooked up with Jabar Gaffney 12 times for 140 yards. He also hooked up with seven other Broncos receivers on the day.

It was sort of a fitting tribute to their fallen teammate that the air attack would serve the Broncos so well.

Youthful Ambition Does Not Equate To Victory

Credit McDaniels for helping the Broncos franchise through its most difficult regular season week ever, following the apparent suicide of one of the team's reserve players.  It was no doubt a draining week on the franchise; still, McDaniels had his team ready to play on Sunday. 

These Broncos were hitting hard from the get go and sending a message to the Colts that they were going to have to earn their way on Sunday.

The plays that kept the distance between the Colts and the Broncos were well intended, yet poorly executed, and in the end showed the difference between age and wisdom and divide with youthful angst or ambition. 

Certainly these will be the points of contingency on sports talk radio in Denver this week, but these are the reasons why sometimes successful coaches choose the boring route.

The first time the Broncos tripped themselves was some 13 plays and 79 yards following a start from their own 20-yard line. Midway through the second quarter, on fourth and goal from the Colts one, Josh McDaniels chose to go for the touchdown instead of kicking a field goal. 

A touchdown would have made the game 13-7 in favor of the Colts; a field goal would have at least put points on the board. It seemed insignificant at the time and yet when  Maroney fell inches short of the goal line prior to the ball crossing the plane, the feeling of significance undeniably started to creep into the framework of this game.

The second time McDaniels chose to go for it on fourth down was in fourth quarter; there was still plenty of time and the Colts were clinging to a seven point lead at 20-13. 

The Broncos started the drive on their own 28 and moved down inside the Colt 15 yard line. On fourth and three, Orton and Lloyd, who had amazing chemistry all afternoon, were clearly not on the same page as Orton threw the hot route with Lloyd finishing his route in the Colts end zone. 

The pass fell incomplete and the pressure was squarely on the Broncos defense the rest of the game.

This is where hindsight is perfect, but the wisdom of taking the points whenever you can could have paid off for the Broncos. They would have been within one point at 20-19 at that stage in the game and would have been in position to at least tie the game following a Colts touchdown, which eventually did come and put the game out of reach.

Credit McDaniels for having his team ready and focused this week above all other weeks. The Colts are defending AFC Champions after all and the Broncos were very close to dictating the tempo of the game. 

Still, the importance of taking the points when you can cannot be overlooked and hopefully this game will serve McDaniels and the Broncos well into the future. 

On this day, the youthful ambition and boldness did not lead to victory but it may have made this team better in the long run.

The Broncos Run Game Is Still Inept

Despite the early promise of the Broncos starting Maroney, he only managed to average two yards per carry and just missed scoring a touchdown on the crucial fourth down play.   

Knowshon Moreno was out injured and Correll Buckhalter was used sparingly but only averaged three yards on the ground. 

Teams are usually keying on the obvious run downs and crashing the line of scrimmage, causing headaches for the Broncos offensive line and the running backs.

Regardless of the fact, the Broncos have to continue to be creative to find solutions to fix the problems of their running game and short yardage situations.

Just a point of note here: Peyton Hillis rushed 22 times for 144 yards and one touchdown with a long run of 48 yards on Sunday with the Browns against the stalwart Ravens defense.

Say, wasn’t he available to help the Broncos in short yardage last season as well?

It’s worth mentioning (again) because it is a point of frustration with Broncos fans: McDaniels has had the talent in-house to help the short-yardage problems and yet, he has fallen short as a coach and as an offensive coordinator in this area specifically.

Moreover, some in the press have doubted Hillis’ abilities as a starting running back in the NFL. 

Now you know, now we all know. 

It’s possible the Broncos got the short end of the stick with the trade of Hillis for eventual third-stringer Brady Quinn at quarterback.

One thing remains—the Denver Broncos run game is still inept at the point of attack.

What Lies Ahead

The Denver Broncos will play at the Tennessee Titans for an early game next Sunday.   

The Titans are in a three-way tie for first in their division, with the Colts and Texans all holding 2-1 records. 

This will be another physical test for the Broncos. 

On the surface, this is a better defense they will be facing; yet the Broncos defense should have an edge on the Titans offensive attack as well. 

The real ‘X-factor’ of the game will probably be Titan quarterback Vince Young. 

He has intangible talent that can cause fits for defenses in gap control and pocket control when pass plays break down. His skill set is similar to John Elway’s with his ability to adjust on the fly.

At the end of the day, it will be a very difficult test for the Broncos, but one they should be up for. Denver will be desperate to win this game to get back to the .500 mark.

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