Denver Broncos Escape Titanic Problems with a Victory at Tennessee

The Denver Broncos knew they would face a tough team in the Tennessee Titans. They probably hoped they would not reveal some more dark flaws in their game along the way.

Thankfully, the Broncos found a way through all of their own inefficiencies to defeat the Titans in their own backyard.

Similar to the first game in Jacksonville, the Broncos were tested early, as the defense was put on the ropes with a fair offensive mix of run and pass. Titans kicker Rod Bironas set the tone for the rest of the day as he misfired on a 35-yard field goal that kept Tennessee from scoring first.

Following that set the Broncos came out firing and landed two big catches, and then the Titans pass rush took over with two consecutive sacks, forcing the Broncos to punt.  The Titans' front seven was ferocious. On a day when the New York Giants sacked Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears nine times in the first half, the Titans were only slightly less fierce in their output. By comparison, Kyle Orton was sacked three times in the first quarter.

So it’s fair to say this was a defensive struggle for most of the afternoon. 

That said, both starting quarterbacks had good outings. Orton went 35-for-50 for 341 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, while the Titans' Vince Young went 17-for-28 for 173 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

The Broncos rushing total was an absolute joke, with Orton leading all rushers with 11 yards on three carries. Given game statistics like that, it's hard to imagine how the Broncos found a way to win the game, 26-20, and get things done. Yet they did.  The Broncos showed their strengths are their strengths, and their weaknesses are unmistakable.

Broncos Offense Hangs Tough

Most fans probably show the same concerns with the dismal run game. In essence, it’s been talked about for a season and four games now, but it was never as bad as it is now.

The Broncos could only muster a total of 19 yards on the ground against the very stout Titans front. Credit Tennessee for causing fits for the Broncos offensive line, however, one of Coach Josh McDaniels's primary stats he was hanging his hat on prior to the game on Sunday was that the Broncos did not have very many negative losses in the run game.  That just wasn’t the case on Sunday, as the Titans penetrated the Broncos porous offensive line time and time again.

In the run game, Kyle Orton finished with three carries for 11 yards, Laurence Maroney went 11 for five yards, and Buckhalter finished with six carries for three yards. It was a horrible outing on the ground and it’s an area McDaniels will focus on in practice, however in the end the Broncos had to abandon the run all together so they could get into the end zone through the air.

The only out for Denver was to somehow stay on pace with their new, improved passing game. Brian Dawkins said after the game that he was pleased the Broncos were able to pull this game off with the pass game, an area that had been a prior weakness. 

The Broncos are getting it done through the air for three main reasons right now: 

1.  Orton is a smart quarterback. 

2.  Receivers are stretching the field more. 

3.  The route combinations have improved.

Orton is money right now. He's worth putting on your fantasy football team if you have one. Even in the face of the Titans front, and with three first-quarter sacks of him, Orton threw for 341 yards on Sunday, after nearly 500 yards the previous week against the Colts. Just like last season, Orton is keeping his interception total low.

Last year the Denver passing attack relied heavily on Kyle Orton hooking up with Brandon Marshall, to a fault. This season, there is true balance in the pass game. Orton has learned to take what the defense gives him. 

At the same time, Brandon Lloyd has been the key receiver, as he forces defenses to think twice about him being a deep threat. This creates space; on Sunday, it created a lot of crucial first downs for the Broncos. 

Lloyd wound up with 11 catches for 115 yards, with a long of 23 yards. Considering all the failings of the run game, the Orton-Lloyd combination is what kept the Broncos offense in the game. Eddie Royal also had a huge game, with eight catches for 113 yards and one touchdown, with a long of 41 yards.

The Broncos failings on the ground and on third down very nearly cost them this game. The passing game, however, bailed them out in the end, with Correll Buckhalter scoring on a late six-yard out route to seal the victory with a touchdown. 

Denver Is Proving The Defense Is For Real

Coming into the game with the Titans, Denver had one primary objective on defense, which was to find a way to contain Chris Johnson on the ground.

Considering the end result, the Denver defense did its job against the NFL's current top running back. The Titans were only able to get 53 yards out of Johnson on 19 carries. That opened the door for the Broncos to take more chances on defense, which they did.

Part of the Broncos game plan was obvious in containing Johnson, but they also had to find ways to mitigate Vince Young from tearing the defense apart by keeping him honest.

In college Young would routinely shred defenses with his running ability from the quarterback position. While he showed flares of that greatness again on Sunday, the Broncos' strategy paid off.

Brian Dawkins was essentially the shadow for Vince Young all day long, keeping him in check on the ground and only allowing one good-sized gain on the day. Young did hit Kenny Britt midway through the second quarter for a touchdown.

At that point in time, Vince Young was 9-for-13 for 103 yards through the air. The Broncos then locked it down and only allowed 70 more yards through the air for the rest of the game.

The Broncos gave up 20 points, probably about a field goal more than they would like for a game this tight, but they found a way to keep their team in it.

This Game Was All About Team

This might be the defining moment for this Broncos team during the 2010 season.

The Broncos found a way to persevere through a very poor running attack, constant pressure up the middle, and poor special teams play. They surrendered a touchdown on a kickoff return during the third quarter immediately following a field goal that gave them the lead. Titan return man Marc Mariani was special Sunday, averaging 31 yards on six returns with the touchdown that went 98 yards.

Through it all, the players and the coaches set themselves up well to win this game when they had to have it. The Broncos defense got stingy when it had to, the Broncos offense chose to rely exclusively on their successful pass game down the stretch, and the special teams even delivered a key turnover to help increase the Broncos lead and put the game on ice.

This is probably what McDaniels had in mind all-along with his "team first" mantra the last two seasons with all of his personnel moves. Without a full roster of contributors the Broncos probably don’t find the way to win on Sunday—that is what makes this a defining moment for the Broncos this season. 

Had the Broncos lost, they probably wind up with too big of a deficit to overcome this season, but with the win anything is still possible.

McDaniels Makes Another Poor Late-Game Decision

Just as he did last week against the Colts twice, McDaniels passed on the short field-goal try and opting for a fourth-down try that came up empty. The thing that is obvious is that Josh would rather play the battle of field position, even to the point of keeping points off the board.

In tight ball games, field goals do matter, and that is what makes these sorts of decisions controversial at the very least. At some point the strategy and thinking has to be re-evaluated, because the odds are for these things to be reoccurring and working against the Broncos offense.

For now, McDaniels has held off his critics for another week. However, it is precisely these decisions that keep points off the board that could lead to an eventual demise.

McDaniels's Stance On the Run Game Must Change

Here is probably the whole crux of the matter when it comes to the Denver Broncos.

Last week Josh was asked on 104.3 FM The Fan radio about his dealing of Peyton Hillis from the Denver Broncos to the Cleveland Browns in the offseason. In essence, McDaniels gave an answer that said Hillis was not right for the system the Broncos run, and that he would benefit more from being in another system.

That’s all well and good because the Broncos attack is a pass-first philosophy, and not a run-first traditional offense.

The problem really came when Josh opened his mouth after the game when he downplayed the absolute failings of the run game and yet admitted they could not stay with it near the end of the game.

Here’s the fact of the matter: The run game is failing the Denver Broncos greatly.  Despite how much the Broncos have focused on a remedy, the offensive line is getting blown up at the point of attack. Additionally, the Broncos only went 3-for-15 in third-down efficiency on the day, and it can’t be ignored that the Broncos were out-rushed as a team by over 100 yards.

At some point in time the Broncos will have to pay the price of not having an efficient ground game. There's a certain lack of insight to the run game that appears to be a fair criticism of McDaniels at this point in time.

His scheme on the ground is not working. It's deficient, and it could become the undoing of this football team. Seeing what the Broncos can do without a ground game on Sunday lends itself to the thought that this could be a great football team if they could run the football. 

The problem is the remedy is nowhere insight, and McDaniels may not be the right captain at the helm to right that ship.

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