The Cincinnati Bengals entered Sunday with one goal: Make Trevor Siemian beat them. And that’s exactly what he did.
After relying on the run through the first two weeks of the season, the Broncos were forced to air it out, as Cincy did a fantastic job of clogging up the line. As a whole, Denver’s backfield averaged just 2.3 yards per carry on 23 attempts. Conversely, Siemian was asked to produce a trifecta of career-highs: most attempts (35), most yards (312) and most touchdowns (4).
There’s no question that many around the league were unsure of whether Siemian was capable of such a performance — including both teams in this game — but he stepped up and proved himself in a big way.
After the game, it was clear that he earned the respect and trust of his team.
Gary Kubiak on Siemian’s fourth quarter:
“We had to be aggressive. We didn’t run the ball at all today — they took it away and did a good job. We gave Trevor an opportunity to make some throws. He’s growing. The guys around him did a good job.”
Kubiak on Siemian’s poise:
“His numbers were terrific. He’s very composed. That’s a strength of his. We continue to work on decision making. He got away with a few tipped passes today, and he hasn’t gotten away with that before, but that’s part of playing quarterback. He works hard.”
Emmanuel Sanders on Siemian’s performance
“Trevor played outstanding. Obviously going in, no one knew about him. But now everybody started talking about it. Demaryius said several times that he’s always calm, cool and collected. Even today in the fourth quarter, you should have seen it. The guy came in and took command of the huddle. He was confident. Even on the deep ball to Demaryius he said, ‘We’re about to go for the guts.’ So we definitely believed it. What a day for him, four touchdowns and 300 yards. That’s amazing.”
Demaryius Thomas on his 55-yard touchdown
“Mine was a double move too. It was called against Pacman, but he wasn’t in. I got the chance of one-on-one. I had to make a play. I actually caught the ball at the beginning of the third quarter and they called it a fumble. I still had it in my head, so I had to go out and make a play for my team, for the offense. It put us in a great position, so I was wondering when Trevor was going to give me a chance. And I took advantage of it. The main thing was catch the ball first, and he didn’t tackle me, so I just went into the end zone.”
Chris Harris on the offense carrying the weight:
“We’ve been waiting for it. We’ve been waiting for the offense to finish the game, and they finished today. That’s a huge step forward for our team to do that on the road versus a playoff-contending team every year. You’ve got to tribute that to the offense. They did a great job today, and that’s what we need.”