Thursday night was a familiar sight.
The Denver Broncos, for better or worse, seem to have finally returned to the winning ways that Broncos Country was so accustomed to over the last few seasons, and they seem to have done it with a familiar formula.
Despite a few lopsided scores, the Broncos defense has been playing at the same standard they have been for the last few years. The Broncos went into Thursday’s game ranked third in the NFL in rushing defense, and second in passing defense. The only difference between this season and 2015 is that the offense and special teams haven’t been able to get it done when they’ve needed to.
But Thursday night’s 25-13 win over the Indianapolis Colts was a taste of the championship football the Broncos are capable of playing. One where the Broncos can wind up on the wrong side of the turnover battle and still walk away with a win. One where the Broncos are just as tough a team on the road as they are at home.
You might not be able to tell just by looking at the numbers, but the Broncos defense settled into what turned out to be a rather dominant performance on Thursday night.
Denver allowed only two plays of 20 yards or more (on offense they had six). They held Indianapolis to just eight plays of 10 yards or more and only 228 yards of total offense.
After allowing a touchdown on the Colts’ opening drive, a drive that began at midfield after a Trevor Siemian interception, the Broncos only allowed six more points over the next three-and-a-half quarters.
They finished the game with only one sack, and that belonged to cornerback Bradley Roby. They didn’t force any turnovers, but they didn’t really have to. Brock Osweiler stepped into a relief role at quarterback and the Broncos defense was able to shut the Colts out in the fourth quarter to protect a nine-point lead.
That’s the kind of thing they were able to do in 2015, and that season ended pretty well.
Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett finished the game 17-for-30 for 158 yards and no passing touchdowns. The Colts only finished with 70 total yards on the ground.
Thursday’s win comes on the heels of a 23-0 lashing the Broncos administered to the New York Jets just last Sunday. That’s an average of just 6.5 points allowed over their last two games.
The problem all year long has been that the Broncos haven’t been able to figure out what type of team they were in 2017. The truth is that they aren’t much different than they were two years ago. They just needed the offense to stop shooting itself in the foot.
