Broncos defense and mother nature send Buccaneers adrift

On a night when mother nature did the best job of sending folks out to sea in Tampa Bay, the Denver Broncos defense had the Buccaneers offense floating adrift even before the rains came.

Prior to the 86-minute weather delay in extended Sunday’s 27-7 Broncos victory, the Denver D had again put on a stellar performance, allowing just 204 total yards and limiting 2015 NFL Rookie of the Year Jameis Winston to a 34.4 passer rating. Tampa Bay would tack on just 11 more yards in the final 6:52 played before what media at the game estimated to be around 2,000 fans – mostly clad in Broncos orange.

It was a dominant display from start to finish by the Broncos. Aqib Talib intercepted Winston on the third play of the game and would do so a second time less than two minutes into the second quarter. Following a touchdown drive on Tampa Bay’s second possession, Denver held the Bucs scoreless for 53:17 of game clock, racking up five sacks and forcing a total of three turnovers.

Derek Wolfe topped the stat sheet, registering six tackles (five solo) and 2.5 sacks. Billy Winn recovered a fumble and Von Miller added a half sack to move his season total to 5.5, the best in the NFL.

Although eight different Tampa Bay receivers caught passes from Winston, none found the end zone. The Bucs’ longest play of the game was a 25-yard pass to Mike Evans midway through the fourth quarter with Denver playing zone defense as they nursed a 20-point lead.

While all three turnovers came in the decisive first half, the defense really dialed up the intensity in the second half, allowing just 61 yards after the intermission. In the third quarter they actually moved Tampa Bay backwards, holding them to -4 yards in the quarter.

On a day when the offense faced serious questions, first with Trevor Siemian struggling to put points on the board outside of turnover possessions, then when rookie Paxton Lynch had to take over because of an injury to Siemian, the defense delivered. The main storyline on Monday will be Lynch and Siemian, but the defense was the true deciding factor Sunday.