NBC's Sunday Night Football game was billed as a shootout between two of the NFL's top quarterbacks: Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. The Saints came marching into Denver with a 2-4 record, and a chance to turn their season around. The Broncos were 3-3 and looking to get on a run to the AFC West title. It had all of the makings of a classic scorefest with Manning and Brees trading touchdown passes all night long. Well, much to my delight the Broncos took control of the game near the end of the first half and never looked back on their way to a convincing 34-14 win over the Saints in Denver. The shootout never materialized, and Peyton Manning continues one of the greatest runs by a quarterback in NFL history, and the Broncos buried the Saints to get to 4-3 and first place in the AFC West. It was a surgical performance by Manning and the Broncos offense, and the Broncos defense played fantastic against Brees and that offense. If the Broncos can get more of these types of games from their defense, then the rest of the AFC needs to be put on notice. Here are my quick thoughts on this week's victory..........
1) The Broncos offense was pretty damn efficient. After another slow start, the Broncos proceeded to get a touchdown and a field goal to end the half with a 17-7 lead. Then, they received the ball to start the half and scored another touchdown to make it 24-7 and put the game away. We knew that the Saints defense was really bad, but the Broncos were able to exploit them in both the running game and in the passing game. Willis McGahee and Ronnie Hillman were terrific on the ground. McGahee had 122 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown, and Hillman added 86 yards on 14 rushes. If the Broncos can get balance running the ball, then everything in the passing game will open up even more. Denver totaled 530 yards of offense on the night.
2) The story of this game was the Broncos defense. They forced the Saints to punt 8 times, picked off Brees once, and held the Saints to 252 total yards and 1-12 on third downs. Brees was limited to only 213 yards in the air. At home, the Broncos defense has been really good the last two games against the Raiders and in this game against the Saints. Chris Harris and Tony Carter continue to impress, and the Broncos rush defense played really well all night long. This is not a great defense, but from the second half of the San Diego game through this game, they have only given up two touchdowns (one was in garbage time to New Orleans), and forced six turnovers. They aren't a great defense, but they are playing better and that is a great sign for Broncos fans.
3) Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker are becoming quite a one-two combo for Peyton Manning. Thomas caught seven passes for 137 yards and one touchdown. Decker caught four passes for 43 yards but added two touchdowns. The Manning to Thomas touchdown was a thing of beauty where Thomas faked a fade route and turned it into a quick out pass in the front corner of the endzone. Manning put it exactly where it needed to be put. Thomas also caught two long balls from Manning. Once the Broncos got humming on offense, there was no way the Saints were stopping them.
4) Peyton Manning was simply awesome once again. He finished 22-30 for 305 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He is the first quarterback to throw complete at least 70% of passes, over 300 yards and at least three touchdowns in four consecutive games in NFL history. Forget about the fussing over his arm strength because Manning looks great. He methodically picked apart the Saints, and twice he completely fooled the Saints when he checked out of a play to throw to an uncovered Virgil Green for a big gain. Manning leads the NFL with a 109.0 passer rating. He is completing 68.5% of his passes with 17 touchdowns and only four interceptions. I'm sure he is going to have some bad games in front of him, but right now Manning is in the zone. That's good news for Broncos fans and bad news for the rest of the AFC.
5) Denver put together another solid, blowout victory at home. They got through their rough seven game schedule to start the season at 4-3 and hold a one game lead over the Raiders in the AFC West. There will be some rough sledding ahead for sure, but the Broncos will be a tough team to deal with at home the rest of the way. The defense plays better at home, and Manning seems to get into a real rhythm too. They travel to Cincy for a tricky game next Sunday, but the Broncos will go in favored to get to 5-3.
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