It’s hard to find fault in a 29-10 victory in which the only points the (previously undefeated) opposition scored came on the heels of some questionable penalty calls by the officials – still that is the task for this week’s “Studs and Duds,” a Broncos-Packers edition.
But it’s even harder to narrow things down to only three “Studs” in what was by all accounts one of the best Broncos performances in recent memory. Sure, Peyton Manning didn’t have a touchdown pass for the third time on the season. But for the first time all year he connected regularly with his tight ends and on crossing routes, to the tune of 340 yards on the night.
Believe it or not, things went so well for the Denver Broncos on Sunday night against Packers, a group NFL.com had ranked as its No. 2 team in the country heading into Week 8, that even a 21-for-29 for 340 yard performance by Manning was enough to land him a spot on our studs list. In fact, he didn’t even make our honorable mention this week.
So who rose to the occasion more than Manning? And whose little faults are we going to pick apart this week? Read on, Broncos Country…
Honorable Mention Stud – Demaryius Thomas
Heading into Week 8, the Broncos’ $70 million man was catching some serious flack from fans and the local media. And perhaps justifiably so. After getting a huge payday in the offseason, Demaryius Thomas looked to be the same guy from early 2014 who couldn’t hang on to balls because he was reportedly too preoccupied with his contract status.
According to sportingcharts.com, Thomas ranked third in the NFL in dropped passes through the first seven weeks of the season, including a bye. Well, he responded on Sunday following the bye with a monster performance.
On the night, Thomas pulled in eight catches for 168 yards on 11 targets. The real key to his stat line was zero drops. His big number on the night was six first downs. Thomas and Manning connected for 25 percent of Denver’s moving the chains on the night.
His long catch on the night was 47 yards, and while he didn’t find the end zone, he was constantly wide open for Manning all night.
Next up… we reluctantly crown a dud.
Dud No. 3 – David Bruton
I don’t want to fault David Bruton for hitting Aaron Rodgers high on a third down play. After all, it was a judgement call by the referees and the play had fans and analysts from both sides disagreeing with whether or not it was legal.
Nonetheless, on third-and-six at midfield, Bruton got to Rodgers on a safety blitz and made contact above the neck. The result was a roughing the passer penalty and a first down for Green Bay. He’ll likely be unofficially lauded in the locker room, but it did set up Green Bay’s first score on the night when a “smarter” play would have resulted in a punt.
Hindsight being 20/20, we now know that the Broncos cornerbacks were blanketing the Green Bay receivers all night and Rodgers had few downfield options, so the hit was largely unnecessary. In the moment, though, many fans (and perhaps Broncos coaches) would trade the penalty for ringing Rodgers’ bell.
Bruton wasn’t the only Broncos defender to move the chains due to infractions. On the night, Green Bay earned four of their 14 first downs via penalty.
Our first official studs were part of the reason Bruton got flagged.
Stud(s) No. 3 – The No Fly Zone
77. Sure, it’s the defense this Broncos team has been most frequently compared to, but it’s also the mind-numbing stat of the night. It’s the total number of passing yards for Aaron Rodgers against the Denver defense.
In 116 NFL starts prior to Sunday night, Rodgers has thrown for 30,069 yards. That’s an average of 259.22 yards per game. Together, Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and Bradley Roby held Rodgers to roughly 33 percent of that number. It was the first complete game of his career in which Rodgers was held under 100 yards.
Green Bay’s leading receiver, Randall Cobb, had just 27 yards on the night. Only one other receiver, Richard Rodgers, broke double-digits.
And all the more impressive was that the Denver defense did not blitz with nearly the same intensity they’ve had in the six wins prior. Rodgers had all night in the pocket, but the Denver defensive backs held their ground and allowed just 14 completions on the night.
The”no fly zone” had its strongest showing of the year against its toughest opponent to date.
Dud. No 2 – Max Garcia
There are usually two ways to find yourself on national television as an offensive lineman: Lay a massive pancake block that stops a pass rusher or opens a huge hole for your running back, or get flagged for a penalty that’s going to have your quarterback playing on his heels.
Max Garcia, in his very limited time on the field on Sunday night, got his 15 seconds of fame for the latter of those two reasons.
The Broncos had just surrendered their first score of the game (see Dud. No 3 – Bruton, David), and the offense was starting to move the ball to answer. On second-and-10 just inside Green Bay territory, Garcia was flagged for holding. On the very next play, the refs rung him up for illegal use of hands. The net gain on those two non-plays was minus 20 yards and a very ticked off Peyton Manning.
Garcia was subbed out immediately and C.J. Anderson was stopped for a loss of one on the very next play, setting up third-and-31. Needless to say, the Broncos eventually punted.
The offensive line made some big strides on Sunday night, but Garcia showed that he’s still not 100 percent ready to step in and be a 1:1 replacement for Evan Mathis, who continues to fight a hamstring injury.
Garcia can get it corrected with more reps, but he can’t continue to derail drives in key moments. Thankfully, our No. 2 studs on the night set a much better tone for the rest of the o-line.
Stud(s) No. 2 – The Two-Headed Monster
Perhaps it was fitting on Halloween weekend that the Broncos’ two-headed monster in the ground game finally showed its teeth.
For weeks, Gary Kubiak has been effectively splitting reps between C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. Finally, in Week 8, it paid off.
Hillman found the end zone twice, which was ultimately all the Broncos would need to win, but it was Anderson‘s breakout game of 101 yards on 14 carries and his first touchdown of the year that really socked this one away for Denver.
Together, they accounted for 161 yards and all three of Denver’s touchdowns.
The offensive line, for all its health issues and lack of consistency, really started to show what Kubiak was brought to Denver to do. His zone-blocking scheme finally started to open up some big holes (helped by Peyton Manning’s ability to find tight ends and receivers open over the middle), and both Hillman and Anderson showed the patience and field vision required of “one-cut” backs.
On a night that honored the 1997 Super Bowl team, there were moments where the Broncos offense looked very similar to the one that led Denver to its first world championship under Kubiak’s guidance as offensive coordinator.
If this was truly a turning-point game for the offensive line and the running backs, Peyton Manning has to be licking his lips as he looks down the remaining schedule.
Our last duds? Count me in that group.
Dud No. 1 – The Doubters
Fortunately, my words are contained here on the digital page – you aren’t subjected to my observations, thoughts and opinions via our radio station, Mile High Sports AM 1340.
Off the record, I said this one felt like a 35-12 blowout. I was close on the score, but in the total wrong direction.
I wasn’t alone in thinking this game was one that was going to be a struggle for the Broncos. Gil Whiteley, Joe Williams and other longtime Broncos analysts who make their hay week in and week out breaking down the orange and blue didn’t like the way this one stacked up for Denver.
In our defense, Peyton Manning entered the game having thrown just seven touchdowns against 10 interceptions. And, in fairness, he didn’t improve that number on Sunday, going 0-fer in the TD department and getting picked off yet again.
But Peyton Manning didn’t need to be great against Green Bay (see Studs Nos. 2 & 3). Like John Elway in the Broncos’ two Super Bowl-winning seasons, Manning needed to spread things out, put the rock in his running backs’ hands and trust his defense.
Now it’s time for me, Whiteley, Williams and the rest of the doubters to trust everything about this team. Gary Kubiak and Peyton Manning are getting this thing figured out and as James Merilatt wrote Monday morning, it’s time to get on the bandwagon.
Stud No. 1 – Gary Kubiak
Despite all the griping an moaning from fans about Gary Kubiak’s stubbornness over the first few weeks of the season, the old backup QB has shown himself to be wildly flexible and resilient over the past several games and none more so than on Sunday night against Green Bay.
In the battle of undefeated teams coming off a bye, Kubiak just plain outsmarted Mike McCarthy on both sides of the ball.
Denver diversified the passing game – a sign Kubiak has finally found a way for his vision of the offense to coexist with Peyton Manning – as eight different Broncos caught passes on the night. Most impressive was the fact that they reintroduced the tight ends to the game plan, something that’s been missing since Julius Thomas went down with injury last year against St. Louis.
What’s more, the zone blocking scheme seems to be coming together well (see Stud(s) No. 2), which opened up passing lanes in the middle of the field for Manning. While other defenses have stacked the box, Green Bay let Denver stretch the running lanes and Kubiak exploited it all night.
On the other side of the ball, Kubiak let his wise old owl Wade Phillips throw McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers a solid diet of offspeed pitches all night. The Broncos’ usually blitz-happy defense let Rodgers stay in the pocket all night while the cornerbacks (see Stud(s) No. 3) turned Sports Authority into a “no fly zone.” Unable to scramble and create chaos, Rodgers had his worst night as a professional.
The game plan was a thing of beauty and Kubiak had his team primed to execute it. Where was that when the Broncos took on Indy in the playoffs last year? Oh yeah, it was in Baltimore. Meanwhile, John Fox was already checking Zillow for houses in Chicago.
Kubiak earns our highest honor by a landslide, with a tip of the cap to Phillips.