Denver Broncos 30, New England Patriots 2 (OT)
It took a herculean effort and extra time for the Denver Broncos to beat the undefeated New England Patriots Sunday night.
Down a touchdown early and losing until the final minutes fo the fourth quarter, the Broncos never gave up. Finally, on a simple pitch play to C.J. Anderson, the team changed the momentum, won in overt time and possibly turned a proverbial corner on their season.
As in most monumental victories, several people needed to come up big and incredible moments were made. Here are just a few of the best plays, reactions and details from the Broncos 30-24 win Sunday night.
Best quotes of the game
Head coach Gary Kubiak on his team’s makeup: “We’ve got a long way to go. I love the way they compete. They never get down on themselves in certain situations. They continue to battle. I just think they’re growing in their strength as a group because of some of the adversity that we’re having – missing this guy, missing that guy, things happening, but yet they keep going. That’s a positive thing in this league because this league is about overcoming adversity many, many times over, not just once.”
Von Miller on how the team is taking the big win Sunday night: “We’re staying in the moment. We got a great team over here; great guys; great character guys most of all and it’s just a blessing to be in the locker room with these guys to experience the win and be on the other side of these games and win. It’s primetime television and Brock [Osweiler] is blossoming and the defense is playing great; that’s what you watch the NFL for.”
Brock Osweiler on the similarities of Sunday’s weather to how it was playing in Montana as a kid: “Very similar. In fact, I remember when I was a kid you would go in the backyard to play football in the winter, if your receiver didn’t catch it, it would go into a snow bank. You would grab the ball and you had to dust off all of the snow. Fortunately, when you play in the NFL, there are guys on the sideline that dust off the snow. It was fun.”
Emmanuel Sanders on Osweiler: “He’s a big-time player. I tell you what, I’m not going to shoot the gun to early but I think the Broncos have found their guy obviously for the long haul. I know that [John] Elway is excited and I know the whole Broncos organization is excited. I am just happy to be a part of it.”
Best play of the game
The Broncos led the game Sunday night for just 1:11 of the contest. Their first three touchdowns came in thrilling fashion and kept hope alive that they could beat the Patriots who had won four out of their last five meetings. Tom Brady almost dashed those hopes in the last drive of regulation. He quickly led his team down the field to tie the game on a Gostkowski 47-yard field goal. After a spectacular display by the defense in the Patriots’ opening drive of overtime, it was the Broncos offense’s turn to try and take the victory. After two plays and timeout, Osweiler lined up under center but he quickly changed the play at the line of scrimmage.
“It was a check that we had worked on all week in practice. We were trying to run the ball [to the] weak [side]. They gave us a specific defensive front that we can’t run that ball into, so I checked to our second play that we called in our huddle. The line did a hell of a job and C.J. [Anderson] did the rest.”
What the line did, Ryan Harris and Evan Mathis in particular, was get out in front of Anderson on a sweep left. He made a defender miss, gained the edge near the Broncos sideline and ran in for a 48-yard touchdown and the victory.
“I said, ‘Man, this has a chance.’ And as I got a toss and I just saw Ryan [Harris] deep for me, and I thought, if he can get to the hole, I better be able to get to the hole,” Anderson said of the game-wining play. “You just got to get it to the big boys up front, they pretty much create the play and got me a chance to get on the safeties and make them miss, and the next thing you know is history.”
MVP
There were several candidates for MVP of the enormous win Sunday night but one player was vital to the offenses success. Emmanuel Sanders returned from injury and saved the offense from sputtering to a halt versus the Patriots. Sanders grabbed six receptions for 113 yards and averaged 18.8 yards per catch. Of his six catches, five resulted in first downs, nearly half of the team total (12).
“Emmanuel just had the hot hand. Sometimes it’s all about recognizing when somebody has those hot hands,” Osweiler said when asked why Sanders played such a big role Sunday. “You could just tell by his body language in the huddle and how he was on the sideline that he wanted the football. When you have a guy like that who is as talented as Emmanuel is and he’s calling for the ball, you’re going to try to find a way to get him the ball.”
Sanders and Thomas have taken turns being the hero in big games. When the Broncos defeated the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers it was Thomas, not Sanders that made an impact. Sunday night, Thomas struggled mightily. He was targeted 13 times and only caught one pass for 36 yards. He dropped several passes but to his credit his one catch came in the fourth quarter and set up Sanders’ 39-yard catch. Without Sanders Sunday, it is hard to believe the Broncos could have won the game.
Honorable mention: On top of running the ball in for the game-winning touchdown, Anderson provided the power running that was needed to keep the Patriots defense honest. He ran the ball 15 times for 133 yards and had two touchdowns. Kubiak was pleased with what the saw fro the young back.
“I saw confidence. He was very confident,” Kubiak said. “Actually, he said something to me on one of the drives down there when we had like third-and-three at the three [yard line] – ‘Coach, give it to me.’ I love players like that. That’s what you want to here. I think C.J. has gained confidence in what we do offensively as the season has gone on and should continue to gain some more.”
Defensive MVP
Derek Wolfe led the team in tackles and what it more remarkable is he did it from the interior defensive line on an evening in which the Patriots only ran the ball 16 times. He has played well the last two weeks and believes he is just getting started after missing the first four games due to suspension:
“I’m starting to feel where my fellow linebackers are, my fellow defensive lineman are going to be so that is really helping. I’m starting to real get a feel where the ball is going to be at and where the cutbacks are.”
He recorded a sack for the second consecutive week and amassed eight total tackles, six solo, two for a loss and had one quarterback hurry.
“He’s just a hungry dog,” Malik Jackson said when asked about his teammate. “He was out the first four games so I think he just wanted to come back and show people who he is and what he brings to this team. He’s a helluva player and a helluva guy.”
Honorable mention: Von Miller dominated wherever he was placed on defense Sunday night. He lined up on both sides, dropped in coverage and finished with four tackles, three solo and one for a loss. He added a crucial sack and was in Brady’s face all night. To accompany his sack he collected five quarterback hits. He did however have two penalties on the evening, an offsides and ill-timed roughing the passer.
“He’s a playmaker, a A+ player, a Pro Bowler. He is going to step up when we need him to step up and he did that tonight,” Shaquil Barrett said when asked about Miller.
Best statistics
The Broncos offense rushed the ball 32 times for 179 yards, a 5.6 average per carry. The balance that it created Sunday night and was visible in last week’s win, forced both defenses to respect the ground game and it surely opened up the passing game.
“That makes the game a lot easier for us on the outside when you have two guys like that running that well. It makes the defense soften up and gives us more opportunities outside,” Andre Caldwell said after the win Sunday.
The running game’s consistency has been elusive for Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison all season and it appears that it is finally coming along. Kubiak spoke to his team about its importance at halftime:
“We preached at halftime that physical was still going to win the football game, and ultimately it did. [I am] just proud of the coaches for sticking with it. Rick [Dennison] did a great job of sticking with it. The coaches did a really good job.”
Defensively, the Broncos held an explosive offense to only 301 net yards, 110 yards shy of their season average. They also held the Patriots to 15 percent third down efficiency which if drastically lower than the 46.5 percent average they came to town with. Lastly, they only gave up 39 rushing yards the entire game and only one yard came after the third quarter.
“I think we played well, we played sound and I think we play sound every week; that’s just what we want to do. Facing a great quarterback like Tom Brady, you have to be sound and I think we played well,” Brandon Marshall humbly said following the impressive performance.
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