VS 
To sum it up, I was pretty much speechless last night. Denver walked into San Diego and through another dominating second half, beat the Chargers by a final of 34 – 23 to go 6-0 on the season and build a decent lead in the AFC West. I really thought this was their toughest game yet playing a team that was in basically a must-win scenario, and they shocked me and the Chargers. Here is what I took from the game…
Positives
I don’t see how we can start with anything but special teams. Yes, they gave up a punt return touchdown to Sproles. Yes, Prater missed another field goal (ok it was from 54…but he has the leg). All that being said, for the most part the kick coverage was great, and the kick return team was phenomenal. For the 2nd time in Broncos history, a player returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns. That player was Eddie Royal. He took a kickoff 93 yards and a punt 71 yards to the house to help Denver in a major way.
Kyle Orton deserves a lot of credit again. He finished 20 of 29 for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns (he also had 5 rushes for 11 yards). The guy just exploded in the second half with a passer rating of 143 to control the game with accurate, and timely passes. The pass to Tony Scheffler was a thing of beauty.
The offensive line looked fantastic. There was one sack allowed, but if you watched the game you would know it was on Orton…he stepped into it basically. This line, if healthy, will be the key to a playoff run if it comes down to it. They are flat out dominating defenses and giving Orton time to throw and the backs holes to run through on a weekly basis.
I would be negligent if I did not mention the defense again. I cannot say enough but what impressed me so much this game is that they battled through some very key injuries during the game to hold their ground. Losing Haggan and Dawkins looked to be a problem, but it wasn’t. Here is a stat for you, the Broncos have not allowed a 3rd down conversion in the second half for 4 straight games. Holding the Chargers to 3 points in the second half was ridiculous. 5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles (1 recovered by Denver), 74 yards rushing allowed and 274 yards passing allowed against this kind of offense is a big deal.
Negatives
I am worried about some of the coverages that Denver gets caught in. They allowed what appeared to be completely free space to roam and run through over the middle and in the flats. They were caught by the tight end and some screen plays a few times and it looked like they were just a move or missed tackle from taking it to the house. I am not sure if it is a scheme issue or missed line backer assignments or getting caught in the wrong blitz but they have to fix that. I have seen it happen a few times this year and it will hurt sooner or later.
Stupid penalties. The game overall seemed poorly officiated on both sides of the ball. Denver has to tighten some things up though, they cost themselves some yards last night. Marshall kicking the ball in a situation where Denver would have had a first down from pass interference was just dumb. Also the big pass interference penalty towards the end of the game nearly gave San Diego second life. People can argue it, but Goodman was caught and made a stupid play on an uncatchable ball.
I know he made 2/3 but I am still concerned about Prater. His kickoffs seem to be falling short of what they had been in the past and he is just not reliable.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, I am worried about 3rd and short scenarios. Denver seems to have trouble on 3rd and less than 3 or so, and I am not sure why exactly. I am curious as to the lack of playing time for Peyton Hillis in those situations. Hillis is a beast, but he has seen little time lately and he seems to be a perfect fit for these situations.
Injuries
Mario Haggan left the game but I am unsure of the injury, Ron Fields did as well and they both returned later. Brian Dawkins came up lame on a play with a clear hamstring injury but he also came back in the second half to play some. The bye week is coming at a good time to heal some of these minor bumps and bruises. Other than those, no other major injuries for Denver.
Miscellaneous Thoughts
I cannot say enough about the general attitude and improvement of the team. They won a game last night by using all 3 phases of the team effectively. That is something we have not seen here in a while.
The mantra of “6 wins gets you nothing” is nice to hear. I love that they are only worrying about the next game and not looking ahead to anything else including the division. It is that kind of attitude that will change what we have seen over the last few seasons with this franchise. I don’t get the sense that they feel they are entitled to anything, and that is exactly how they should play…even into the playoffs.
The pre-game crap between the 2 teams was a joke. San Diego is blaming Denver for starting it but it was clear what was happening. The Chargers were a team in desperation basically and tried to play some games and it failed.
Last night marked the first time Philip Rivers had lost a Monday Night contest at home and the first time Norv Turner has lost following a bye week.
Kyle Orton did something our quarterback from 2008 who’s name won’t be mentioned could not do in his time here and that is win in San Diego.
Denver is 6-0 for the 5th time in franchise history, the other 4 times they advanced to the Super Bowl. The most recent 6-0 start was in 1998, the second of back-to-back Super Bowl victories for the Broncos.
With Eddie Royal taking a punt and a kickoff for scores and Darren Sproles taking a punt for a touchdown it marked the first time in NFL history that 2 players from opposing teams each returned a punt for a score, with one of them also scoring on a kickoff return.
Player(s) of the Game
Offensively: Tony Scheffler. 6 grabs for 101 yards and a beautiful over the shoulder touchdown catch is awesome. One of those catches was an enormous 52 yard romp in the second half that really proved to be the knock out punch. I want to give Eddie Royal props also, but that was special teams. Honorable mention goes to Kyle Orton who played a fantastic game again to lead the team to victory when it mattered.
Defensively: Elvis Dumervil. All this guy does is get to the quarterback. He finished with 4 tackles and 2 sacks to add to his league lead (he stands at 10 now). The key to this is when he performed, it was huge. He was absolutely causing fits for Rivers in the second half and stopped 2 drives on his own, including one where he stripped the ball from Rivers causing a Denver fumble recovery.
Coming up Next Week
Denver has a bye next week and will need the time to rest some minor injuries and plan for what will surely be an all out brawl in Baltimore in week 8.
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