Michael Schofield, Billy Winn and Shiloh Keo. Those three players either have very little name recognition (Keo and Winn) or a negative connotation (Schofield) in Broncos Country, but on Sunday in the Broncos 29-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, all three emerged as key players.
Schofield, a name that just a year ago gave Broncos fans nightmares, continued his impressive 2016 campaign against the Bengals by continuing to show his versatility. In the first two games of this season, Schofield emerged as a strength on the offensive line at right guard. Last week when Donald Stephenson went out with an injury, Schofield slid over and finished the game at right tackle.
On Sunday, Schofield continued his impressive season taking over yet another position due to injury. In the first quarter when left tackle Russell Okung left the game with a lower back strain, Schofield moved to the other side of the line and filled in at left tackle. Okung eventually returned and Schofield moved back to right guard. Head coach Gary Kubiak singled out Schofield during his post-game press conference.
“I want to mention Michael Schofield — I think he ended up at left tackle today for a while, if I’m not mistaken. He’s a guy that’s really helping us when stuff hits the fan, and we need to move guys around,” Kubiak said.
Although Schofield was below average as a tackle last season he has emerged as a very viable backup swing tackle and a major strength of the offensive line at right guard. While the Broncos offense struggled to run the ball on the day, only 2.3 yards per carry, the Broncos line gave Siemian the time he needed in the pocket, only allowing two sacks.
On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense received a major boost from backup safety Keo as well as reserve defensive end Winn. Keo, a component of the Broncos Super Bowl run last season, made his season debut on Sunday after being signed back with the team just five days before; Keo made his presence felt.
When T.J. Ward went down in the first quarter, Keo stepped in, delivering a key tackle on third down to stop the Bengals drive. Then on just the next play, Keo came up with one of the Bengals two turnovers on the day recovering a fumble forced by Zaire Anderson on a punt return.
The least familiar name on the list, Billy Winn, had a quiet yet powerful impact on the defensive line. Winn, a fifth-year player, played sparingly (25.3 percent of the defensive snaps) on the defensive line coming into Sunday’s game. However, on Sunday Winn helped change the course of the game by helping Denver’s run defense.
On the Bengals first drive of the game, when Winn was not in the game, the Bengals marched down the field on five plays, four runs for an easy touchdown. The Bengals continued to move the ball at ease against the Denver defensive line, but when Winn entered the game he made it more difficult.
While Winn finished the game with just one tackle, he helped the defensive line close the holes that were being opened on the first drive. The Broncos defense ended the day allowing 4.9 yards per carry, which is sub-par for any defense, let alone an elite one, but Winn was a quiet factor in bringing it down from the 7.6 yards per carry that it was earlier in the game.
Although Trevor Siemian, Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas will get much of the credit for Sunday’s victory over the Bengals, and deservedly so, Schofield, Keo and Winn all emerged as necessary depth to give the Broncos their first road win of the season.
