Broncos Roll Past Cardinals 41-20 and Week 6 Quick Picks

The 2014 Broncos looked like the 2103 Broncos after they dropped 41 points on the then unbeaten Arizona Cardinals in route to a 41-20 win at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday. It was a vintage performance in which the Broncos put up a lot of points, their defense forced some key mistakes, and they ambushed their opponent to finish the game. Here are my thoughts and observations on the victory….

1)    The Broncos decided to forget about the running game early, and let Peyton Manning spread out the Cards defense and pick them apart. That is exactly what he did. Manning finished 31-47 for 479 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He threw his 500^th career touchdown pass to Julius Thomas to give the Broncos the 7-3 lead early. It was vintage Manning and it was about time that the Broncos let him do his thing.

2)    Welcome back Demaryius Thomas! Thomas broke out with an 8 catch 226 yard performance with 2 touchdowns. When Manning and Demaryius are on their game, they are pretty much unstoppable. His 86-yard touchdown reception was just amazing down the sideline to make it 21-13.

3)    The Broncos defense brought the pain on Sunday. We knew backup Drew Stanton would have some trouble against the Broncos defense, but the Broncos made sure he didn’t have too much success. Von Miller added 2 sacks and looked like the 2012 version of Von Miller. Demarcus Ware added another half of a sack. They pressured Stanton a lot on third down, and they forced 11 punts in the game. The Broncos defense was helped a little by some key drops on Arizona’s part, but they cranked it up in the second half and left no doubt that this defense is going to get better and better as the year goes on.

4)    With at 24-20 lead going into the 4^th quarter, the Broncos didn’t let the Cards hang around, and they finished them off in style. A Brandon McManus field goal made it 27-20, then a sweet Manning to Julius Thomas 12-yard fade made it 34-20, then Juwan Thompson capped it off with an 8-yard touchdown run to put it away at 41-20.

5)    This was probably the most complete game the Broncos played all year. Both units, the offense and defense, played at a high level, and it was the type of game that they should play like at home. The receiving corps finally clicked with all four big-play guys (Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Wes Welker, and Emmanuel Sanders) having really good games. The Broncos are now 3-1 and head to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets next week.

Here are my quick picks for Week 6....

Last Week's Record: 6-7-2

Overall Record: 32-40-4

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

CLEVELAND (-1) over Pittsburgh

Jacksonville (+5) over TENNESSEE

Chicago (+3) over ATLANTA

Green Bay (-3) over MIAMI

Detroit (+2) over MINNESOTA

CINCY (-5) over Carolina

New England (-2) over BUFFALO

Baltimore (-3) over TAMPA BAY

OAKLAND (+7) over San Diego

SEATTLE (-7) over Dallas

Washington (+4) over ARIZONA

NY Giants (+3) over PHILLY

San Francisco (-3) over ST. LOUIS

NY JETS (+8.5) over Denver: I think the Broncos are going to get a really tough test with the Jets this week. On the road, early start, and the Jets season is basically on the line. We know the Broncos won't be able to run the ball on them, so that will give Rex Ryan a chance to get after Peyton Manning. I just have a feeling that the Jets will somehow, someway pull the upset.

Final Score: Jets-24 Denver-22