At 6-0, the Denver Broncos enter their bye week with plenty of confidence in their defense, but lingering questions about the offense. A 26-23 overtime win in Cleveland didn’t do much to reassure Broncos fans who expected to see their team steamroll one of the weakest defenses in football.
The Denver-Cleveland matchup was supposed to offer Peyton Manning a chance to get his offense back in sync. That didn’t happen as expected, as the Broncos scored just one touchdown – their first in eight quarters – and needed a pick-six and two other turnovers from the defense to make up for a pick-six and two other interceptions thrown by Manning.
But despite another week of sub-standard play (at least according to what we’ve come to expect over three years), Manning managed to avoid our “duds” list for the first time in three weeks. His 53.3 passer rating was the worst on the year, but even that wasn’t enough to land him in hot water heading into the bye week.
And, as we’ve become so accustomed to through the first six weeks, the defense again dominated the “studs” list. Though they didn’t escape without some reason for criticism…
Dud No. 3 & 3a – Derek Wolfe & Malik Jackson
If there has been one weakness of the Broncos NFL-leading defense on the year, it has been their propensity for taking bad penalties at bad times. They’ve managed to escape those mistakes and convert big plays late in games, but on Sunday one of those penalties almost cost Denver the game.
Wolfe’s roughing the passer penalty late in the fourth quarter gave Josh McCown a first down after knocking the Browns QB to the ground well after he’d thrown a pass out of bounds and given up on the play. Instead of a third down and four, Cleveland moved the ball 15 yards and eventually into field goal range to tie the game. It was an unnecessary and careless penalty that could have been worse had Denver not held Cleveland to a field goal.
Earlier in the game, Malik Jackson was flagged for a 15-yard facemask penalty, also on a third down stop. The infraction was less egregious than Wolfe’s, as it was in the heat of a play, but the penalty again moved the chains instead of forcing a punt. It was his second straight week with a personal foul penalty that came at an inopportune time. Jackson was bailed out by Aqib Talib, who made a huge play to end the drive for Cleveland.
In fact, it made him one of our three “studs” on the day…
Stud No. 3 – Aqib Talib
After back-to-back weeks in which he struggled (by his Pro Bowl standards), Aqib Talib responded on Sunday against Cleveland with a huge interception return for a touchdown that put the Broncos up 10-0 at a time when it looked as though the Browns offense might be getting some rhythm.
Josh McCown had engineered a 51-yard drive to counter Denver’s first scoring drive, a field goal, and had been given the benefit of an untimely penalty by Malik Jackson (see Dud No. 3) to put Cleveland just a few plays away from being in scoring range themselves. But Talib read McCown like a children’s book and jumped a second-and-12 route, taking it 63 yards to the end zone for a touchdown.
The score was Talib’s second on the year on his third interception. He added two passes defended on the day and held wide receiver Travis Benjamin mostly in check; the bulk of Benjamin’s 117 yards came against coverage by linebackers. Against Benjamin and in coverage on Duke Johnson out of the backfield, Talib accounted for three tackles and allowed just 24 yards.
Our second “dud” is a guy whose job is becoming more important with each passing week…
Dud No. 2 – Britton Colquitt
When the Broncos went on their incredible run under Tim Tebow in 2011, two special teams players were a big part of their success. Matt Prater routinely nailed clutch (and very long distance) field goals that were often as miraculous as some of Tebow’s unorthodox plays. Almost lost in the Prater and Tebow drama was the fact that Britton Colquitt was routinely pinning opposing defenses inside their own 20, heck, even inside their own 10 or five yard line.
This year, the miracles have been coming from the defense. And while new Broncos kicker Brandon McManus has been stellar – 16-for-17 on the year including 4-for-5 from 50+ yards – Colquitt hasn’t exactly been his coffin-corner self when the Broncos need him to be.
On Sunday in Cleveland, Colquitt punted seven times and never once pinned the Browns inside their 20-yard line. Late in the game he was particularly bad, with a 35-yard kick that put the ball in Cleveland’s hands at their own 40 with less than 5:00 to play in the game. He followed that with 37 yarder that put the Browns in the exact same spot, this time with the game tied, with just 1:06 remaining. On the two kicks Denver needed him the most, Colquitt came up short in a big way.
Our second stud had a big day that was overshadowed by one bad play…
Stud No. 2 – Ronnie Hillman*
For the fourth time in his career, Ronnie Hillman on rushed for more than 100 yards, but it almost went for naught. On a second-and-11 with 8:18 on the clock and Denver trying to respond to a Cleveland field goal that put them within two points of the Broncos, Peyton Manning threw a short pass just a shade behind Hillman, who bobbled the throw. It ended up in the hands of Karlos Dansby for his second interception of the game, this time for a touchdown that gave the Browns the lead.
It was a pass that turned Hillman around somewhat and went into his shoulder pads, but one that an NFL running back should catch every time. After the game, Hillman went to bat for Manning, telling critics to lay off the quarterback who has led the team to six wins.
On the day, Hillman ran for 111 yards on 20 carries with a long of 26 yards. He didn’t find paydirt, but he did convert four of Denver’s 21 first downs. On multiple occasions Hillman’s patience payed dividends, as he turned potential no-gain plays into pickups of three or four yards.
*C.J. Anderson gets an assist on Hillman’s honor because on the game-winning drive he produced 20 yards on three carries to put the Broncos in range to kick the winner. It was nearly half his total (41) yardage on the day.
By no means was it a pretty day for Hillman or the rest of the offense, but his grind-it-out mentality netted him another 100-yard tally and helped the Broncos pick up another win.
A more prominent member of the offense earned our No. 1 “dud” distinction this week…
Dud No. 1 – Demaryius Thomas
We’ve been giving Demaryius Thomas the benefit of the doubt so far this year because, well, he’s managed to come through in some pretty major moments (see Kansas City). And he did so again on Sunday in overtime against Cleveland with two big catches on the Broncos’ game-winning drive, one of which moved the Broncos into Cleveland territory.
But Thomas is one of the highest-paid wide receivers in football and his propensity for dropping passes is becoming a major problem with the Broncos offense. Thomas dropped what should have been a touchdown pass last week against Oakland and on Sunday against Cleveland had several drops, including two on third downs.
Thomas entered the game with the second-most drops in the NFL (5), according to sportingcharts.com. That number will climb after Sunday’s effort, one that saw Thomas eclipse the 100-yard mark, but convert only 10 of 17 targets into receptions and once again kept him out of the end zone. Are we being greedy? Maybe.
But the wideout who signed a $70 million contract this offseason has just one touchdown through three games. Yes, much of it can be blamed on the wider struggles of the offense, but the drops aren’t helping. That’s a high price to pay for that kind of productivity.
Finally, our No. 1 “stud” for the week didn’t even get his first start until Sunday…
Stud No. 1 – Shaquil Barrett
If you’re one of those Broncos fans who prefers to wait until the regular season to start tuning in to games, you had some idea of what Shaquil Barrett can do. After all, the guy already had two forced fumbles and two sacks heading into Sunday’s game at Cleveland. But Barrett, the linebacker out of CSU, had been a wrecking ball throughout the preseason as well and had yet another huge day against the Browns.
Getting his first NFL start in place of the injured DeMarcus Ware, Barrett not only logged quality “replacement” minutes, he had arguably the best game of anyone on the defense. On the day he logged nine tackles (seven solo), 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Oh, and he forced (and recovered a fumbled).
Barrett’s three forced fumbles lead the team. Not bad for a guy who’s primary role entering the season was thought to be a rotational piece along with Shane Ray to spell Ware and perhaps Von Miller as needed. Instead, Barrett has asserted himself as on-par with the rest of the dominating players on the Denver defense.
With the loss of Shane Ray for up 4-6 weeks with a MCL sprain, and the veteran Ware’s back issues that could linger into the season, Barrett is showing no signs of a dropoff in production opposite Von Miller. That’s a comforting thought for a team that’s needed its defense to secure wins through the opening stretch of the season.