After all the buildup, all the offseason drama and all the talk about Brock Osweiler‘s return to Denver, things ended just the way the Broncos defense imagined they would. Denver cruised to a 27-9 victory over the Texans in arguably Osweiler’s worst start since departing for Houston in the offseason.

Osweiler entered the game with plenty of question marks, despite a 4-2 record and his Texans in first place in the AFC South. Even with the loss, they’ll retain the division lead, but fans in Houston will have even more questions about their $72 million man who looked wholly overmatched from the first possession on.

The Denver defense, meanwhile, did exactly what it thought it would do on Monday night,  looking very much like the group that led them to a Super Bowl win back in February. Denver’s vaunted “No Fly Zone” defense was phenomenal against Osweiler and one of the league’s best wide receivers, DeAndre Hopkins, holding Texas to just 131 yards passing – only 36 to Hopkins.

The numbers say Osweiler was worse in a Week 5 loss to the Vikings where he posted a 56.1 passer rating on 185 yards passing for one touchdown and an interception. But Monday night’s beatdown in Denver (60.1 passer rating) appeared worse in many ways.

Entering the final 6:25 of the game, when Houston was trailing 24-9 and was forced to go to a no-huddle offense, Osweiler had completed 15 passes for just 81 yards.

In the game, Houston had just one drive enter the Broncos’ red zone and never inside the 10-yard line. Their best field position, a field goal from the 11-yard line, came as the result of a penalty.

Osweiler managed to avoid a “true” sack against a team that was tied for the league lead entering the game, but it was clear that Osweiler was feeling the pressure of the vaunted Denver pass rush. His fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter came under pressure and was ruled a sack. More importantly, it put an exclamation mark on a night that went wrong in just about every way for the former Bronco.

As always, the team at Mile High Sports was all over the action as it unfolded. Here’s what they had to say about Brock’s bad night in Denver, along with commentary from some of our favorite follows in the Denver media…

Osweiler tried to target his Pro Bowl wideout early, with little success…

 

Things didn’t get any better through three possessions, despite holding a 3-0 lead…

Trevor Siemian wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire either, however…

Denver buckled down in the red zone on three occasions, allowing Houston inside the 20 on just one drive…

Although the pass rush never reached Osweiler for the sack, it was disrupting his throws plenty…

Even when he had receivers open underneath Osweiler struggled to connect with them, especially as the game tightened…

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/790744359440224256

The stats backed up just how dominant the Denver defense was through the first three quarters…

And a Denver offense that had struggled in recent weeks finally started doing its part…

https://twitter.com/RonnieKRadio/status/790747603411492865

The wheels really fell off for Osweiler when he fumbled trying to attempt a forward pass with Derek Wolfe between him and his intended target…

It’s actually a problem that has plagued the quarterback recently, not just against Denver…

His poor downfield passing, already a weakness, was further exploited by the “No Fly Zone” secondary of the Broncos…

And on the final two drives, a problem that plagued him while in Denver – batted passes at the line of scrimmage – reared its ugly head again…

It was a rough return for the man who did help deliver a Super Bowl to Denver last year. And this about sums it up…