With a Week 9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Denver Broncos have the 1972 Miami Dolphins that much closer to popping their celebratory champagne. Falling 27-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Denver’s perfect season is no more. Now, Mercury Morris and Larry Csonka can shift their focus to the Panthers, Patriots and Bengals who all remain unbeaten at 8-0.
Denver’s loss to the Colts was a near-complete one. Denver never led in the game, and trailed 17-0 with just moments to go before the end of the first half. Denver allowed 27 first downs, including seven by penalty and generated just 35 yards of offense on the ground. Peyton Manning was intercepted twice.
The Denver defense, which had been so dominant – allowing just 16.0 points per game entering the contest – surrendered nearly double that amount and committed several egregious penalties.
Still, there were some players who put forth solid individual efforts in the loss. We’ll try to keep our focus on those players as we catalog the a “Nobody’s Perfect” edition of “Studs and Duds.”
