The Broncos went into Tampa Bay on Sunday as favorites and walked out of there with a convincing 27-7 victory and a 4-0 start to the 2016 season. Denver's defense once again forced turnovers, dominated Jameis Winston, and got help from their offense to secure the easy road win. The Broncos did what a good team does: They took care of an inferior opponent and won the game. It was a decisive victory on a hot and humid day in Tampa, and the Broncos established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the NFL in the first quarter of the season. Here are my thoughts and observations on the win....
1) Aqib Talib set the tone for the game when he picked off Jameis Winston twice in the first half. The first interception on the third play of the game set up a Trevor Siemian to Demaryius Thomas 11-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 Denver early in the first quarter. His second interception early in the second quarter set up a C. J. Anderson 1-yard run to give the Broncos a 14-7 lead. Both interceptions set the tone for the game, and both plays gave the offense a huge boost. Talib has been really good this season and those two plays really affected the game. He might end up getting suspended at some point because of his stupid gun incident in June, but let's hope that his suspension will be appealed and it goes into the 2017 season.
2) Once the Broncos defense got a lead and the game wore on, the defense took over and suffocated the Broncos and the Bucs offense. The Broncos recorded 5 sacks, 2 interceptions, and basically harassed Jameis Wintston the entire game and made his life miserable. Hats off to Derek Wolfe, who recorded 2.5 sacks and was a dominating presence in the backfield all day long. Shaq Barrett added a sack and Von Miller added a 1/2 sack. The Broncos are like sharks. Once they smell blood in the water, they attack. Once they got up 14-7 and 17-7, they attacked the Bucs and never let up. It is a joy to watch every week just like it was a joy to watch Peyton Manning run this offense from 2012-2014.
3) The turning point for me was when Charles Sims fumbled down 14-7 late in the 2nd quarter with the Bucs driving at the Denver 26. After the Broncos defense stuffed him on a short yardage play, he looked like he tried to lateral the ball to Winston, but Billy Winn jumped in and recovered the ball. That was a huge sequence of plays right there.
4) Trevor Siemian looked good in the first half and was moving the team well before he suffered a shoulder injury when he got slammed down to the ground on a sack. In comes Paxton Lynch and the offense never missed a beat. Lynch looked really good. He finished 14-24 for 170 yards and 1 TD. Lynch looked comfortable, threw the ball down the field really well, and moved the team into position for two field goals and a touchdown early in the 4th quarter. It was very encouraging to see him play and he did a really nice job. It didn't look like the Broncos and Gary Kubiak even altered the play-calling. They just kept going with their game plan. Lynch drove the Broncos for a field goal to make it 17-7 right before the half, and then took them down the field to get a field goal to make it 20-7 on the first drive of the second half. He then did a nice job moving the Broncos down the field and hit Emmanuel Sanders for an easy 5 yard touchdown pass on a naked bootleg and the Broncos had a 27-7 early in the 4th quarter. I understand that if Siemian is healthy, then he should start, but Lynch's time is coming.
5) Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas had another strong outing. Thomas had 6 receptions for 94 yards and 1 TD, and Sanders had 8 catches for 88 yards and 1 TD. Both made really big catches down the field, and it is very important to see them get involved like that every week.
6) Overall, it was a solid win, and this team is on a roll right now. They expect to win and as a fan, I expect them to win. Their defense is obviously their strength, but their offense is playing at a very solid level, and they just have a confidence about them. I just trust that they will somehow find a way to win every week, and when they play a weaker team like the Bucs, they take care of business. It really is stunning to me how they have come out this season and have started 4-0. I did not expect that to start this year.
7) Think about where this franchise was in 2011 after five games. They were 1-4, and they were starting Tim Tebow in a game at Miami. It looked like the franchise was destined for another non-playoff season for the sixth straight year. Since that game including the playoffs and this year, they are 67-22 including five AFC West tiles, the Tebow to Thomas playoff win over the Steelers, the Peyton Manning signing, two AFC Championship wins over the Patriots, two Super Bowl appearances, three #1 seeds in the AFC, and one Super Bowl victory. People tend to forget how bad this franchise was from the last part of the 2009 season to the second month of the 2011 season. It is remarkable to see how this franchise has been transformed the past five seasons.
8) The Broncos head home to Denver to take on the 3-1 Atlanta Falcons, who are on a tear offensively the last three weeks. It should be a really fun matchup between the Broncos defense and the Falcons offense. This has all the makings of a really good early season game. Go Broncos!
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