Broncos 29, Packers 10
The hype may have built Sunday night into more than it was. The two non-conference opponents had little in common besides the undefeated records they brought to Sports Authority Field at Mile High for Sunday Night Football. But the two teams, led by future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, presented some great entertainment. The home team, in front of 77,043, simply stole the show.
The Broncos, led by a razor-sharp Peyton Manning, showed flare, daring and execution as they dismantled the Packers from Green Bay. Ronnie Hillman showed off his speed, Demaryius Thomas caught everything in sight and, outside of some key penalties, the defense swarmed with a relentless recklessness.
The Broncos jumped out to an early lead after both teams punted on their opening drives. A 16-yard run by Hillman and 30-yard reception by Thomas set up the game’s first score. Hillman ran up the middle for a one-yard touchdown and the Broncos would not relinquish the lead the entire night.
The offense went on to score another touchdown and a field goal to increase the score to 17-0. Virgil Green and Owen Daniels had catches of 19 and 16 yards, respectively, and Hillman had his second touchdown of the day. This time he showed off his speed and got to the outside for a 15-yard run.
The Broncos defense matched the offense’s efficiency and simply dominated the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers. Broken plays and penalties gave the visitors a glimmer of hope in the second quarter.
The Broncos brought their signature edge pass rush but initially could not get to the quarterback. After shutting down the Packers first three drives, a Rodgers scrabble, two untimely Broncos penalties set up Eddie Lacy’s 1-yard touchdown run. The Broncos final drive of the half was cut short by a two penalties on backup guard, Max Garcia. The Packers then came out of halftime and again, benefited from a long Rodgers scramble and a lengthy pass interference penalty by T.J. Ward. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby kicked a 56-yard field goal to close the gap to 17-10.
From then on it was all Broncos. Manning continued to pick apart the struggling Packers secondary that suffered multiple injuries throughout the game. Thomas was constantly wide open and shook off would-be tacklers for extra yards. When Thomas was not open, Virgil Green was a surprising target from Manning. He finished the evening with three catches for 61 yards.
Rodgers was fantastic at eluding the Broncos pass rush in the first half but soon the Broncos finally corralled him. They sacked him three times in the second half, including a Demarcus Ware sack that resulted in a fumble and a safety.
Anderson had a breakout game as well. He answered the Packers’ 10 straight points with a 28-yard touchdown run to increase the home team’s lead to 24-10 and finished the game with 101 yards.
The Broncos took a drive into the start of the fourth quarter and capped it off with another McManus field goal. While the game was never in doubt, the increased lead to start the last quarter was all the team needed to relax and put the Packers away.
When it was all said and done, the meeting of two undefeated teams finished with a truly complete team effort for the Broncos. The offense tallied 500 yards of offense while the defense held the Packers to an incredible 140 net yards.
Best quotes of the game
“Well, you’ve got to compliment Denver. It was clearly, like I said, that was a humbling loss. I haven’t had my ass kicked like that is a long time. They covered us very well,” Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said of the game.
“We are crazed dogs chasing a cat. That’s it, trying to go get something to eat. This is our livelihood. This is how we eat,” Malik Jackson said of the mentality the defense played with in pursuit of Rodgers on Sunday.
Chris Harris Jr. had this to say in reference to any “doubters”: “We just thank them for the motivation. Everybody that’s saying we’re not the real ‘no fly zone’ or anything like that, that motivates us. Ray Lewis saying we’re not great. That motivated us. We just want to continue to be the best. Everybody on this team is starting to be great. As long as we continue to push each other, have this competition that we’re having, everybody is going to continue to play well.”
Play of the night
The Broncos had just given up 10-straight points to the Packers from the late second quarter and into the first drive in the second half. The 17-10 score was as close as the game would ever come but they needed to rebound.
After a Packers timeout, Manning went over to the sideline and to discuss the Broncos next move as they inched closer to the end zone. From 28 yards out, Kubiak called a run play over the left guard, Evan Mathis. The whole between he and center Matt Paradis was huge and Anderson cut up the field and split the secondary for a touchdown.
Offensive MVP
Thomas and Manning immediately connect and impacted the game Sunday night. Either player could be the MVP, but Thomas was sensational on both good and slightly poor passes. The two connected on eight passes for 168 yards, three of which were for over 15 yards. He eclipsed 100 yards receiving before halftime and he looked worth all $70 million he signed for in the summer. He caught every ball within his wing span and made the Packers cornerbacks look silly. His presence as Manning’s go-to receiver opened up things in the running game and passes to the tight ends as well.
“It was good to have a game like this, running-wise and passing-wise. We put up 500 yards on a good defense. It was big. It was one of those nights and hopefully we can continue to do it,” Thomas said.
Peyton Manning, was precise, efficient and conservative and that is just what the Broncos needed. He had only a few throws that did not find their way to receivers hands, including an inconsequential, late interception. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 340 yards and finished with a 96.9 passer rating.
Honorable mention: The offensive line was dominant in both the pass and rushing game. They didn’t give up a sack to the Packers, who trailed only the Broncos in sacks entering Sunday. Also both running backs had impressive evenings. Anderson’s 101 yards was aided by Hillman’s 60. They also combined for all three of the team’s touchdowns
Defensive MVP
It is hard to pick an MVP from such a complete domination of an opposing offense. The biggest play of the game came from Ware. His sack and forced fumble continued the defense’s streak of putting points on the board. He finished the game with three combined tackles, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a sack. He has 5.5 sacks of the season and his sack Sunday night put him in a tie with Leslie O’Neal and Lawrence Taylor for 11th all-time.
Honorable mention: Bradley Roby held the Packers receivers he covered to only one catch in the contest. Rodgers notoriously picks on younger cornerbacks but could not take advantage of Roby. Derek Wolfe also had a fine performance. He led the team with seven combined tackles, one for a loss while shoring up the middle of the defensive line.
Offensive LVP
Finding “least valuable players” in a such a great win is nit picking but two plays on both sides of the ball were big penalties. Max Garcia came into the game for brief stints at both guard positions to give breathers to Louis Vasquez and Evan Mathis. On the Broncos’ final drive of the first half, on back-to-back plays, he was called for holding and illegal hands to the face. It completely stalled the drive and the team’s momentum.
Defensive LVP
David Bruton Jr. has been a huge part of some key wins this season for the Broncos and Sunday night he certainly didn’t play a terrible game but his penalty in the second quarter could have potentially changed the outcome of the game. On 3rd-and-6 the Broncos brought Bruton a safety blitz and he came in untouched. He then made contact with Rodgers’ neck and head area while trying to sack the quarterback. The result was a roughing the passer penalty that gave the Packers a crucial first down and helped them on their way to their first scoring drive.
Best stat of the night
The Broncos offense stepped up in several categories Sunday. They nearly doubled their 30th-ranked rushing average of 85 yards a game with 160. Also, they were 50 percent on third downs (6 of 12) and were 2-for-3 in the red zone, which is drastically better than their 29th-ranked 37.5 percent season average. According to Manning, their offensive success Sunday could be contributed to their execution.
“We had some good calls tonight. We had some good play calls, had some options and some things that we could do and that I could get to. Like I said, you can have a great play call and have a great audible, but if you don’t execute, it doesn’t come to fruition. Our execution was, I thought, what was sound tonight. In really all phases of the run game and then the pass game, as well.”
Worst stat of the night
Penalties once again could have really hurt the Broncos in a closer game. They were penalized 11 times for 93 yards to the Packers two penalties for only 15 yards. The talent on defense has truly masked some inherent problems with discipline and hopefully they can continue to work on the only glaring deficiency this team showed versus the Packers.
Up next
The Broncos will travel to the Indianapolis Colts and try to avenge their January playoff loss. The Colts (3-4) have yet to play their Week 8 game. They take on the undefeated Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football. The Colts struggled in their first few games but have found some offensive success as of late. Defensively, they are porous and if the Broncos continue to show balance, as they did Sunday night, they will have a lot of opportunities in Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday.
The 7-0 Broncos appear to have turned a corner Sunday night. They ran the ball well, looked sharp through the air and continued to shut down another opposing offense. The team’s performance showed, for the first time, that the Broncos can be the threat they believed themselves to be since this summer. The big win came at the right time as they embark on a very difficult schedule in November.
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