They quietly yet methodically closed their lunch pail, snapped the top shut and walked into the locker room, subtly smiling at the thought of another opponent tidily packed inside.
The Broncos’ defense is playing some good old fashioned football.
The Broncos beat down the Browns 27-6 on Sunday and the defense turned the Browns black and blue, limiting Cleveland to 200 yards of total offense, forcing three turnovers and getting a franchise record-tying four sacks from Elvis Dumervil. The only points the Broncos allowed were two harmless field goals.
Someone tell those guys they aren’t supposed to be this good.
“I was able to go in there and make a couple of plays,” Dumervil told 850 KOA after the game. “(I was) just trying to set the guy up, do different moves. It was a chess match and I was able to win some.”
Checkmate, Cleveland.
The Broncos have surrendered 13 points in their first two games, which through two games ties for the second lowest total in franchise history to start a season. I don’t care whom they played, that is impressive. If the Broncos keep this up, Katie bar the door.
I can already hear that Broncos have only played Cincinnati and Cleveland, not exactly great teams. Tell that to the Green Bay Packers, who lost to the Bengals at home. And the Vikings saw the Browns score 20 points in a win on opening day.
The fact is the Broncos defense has completely shut down its opponent on two straight occasions. Two games does not a season make. But this is a really, really good start.
In two games, the Broncos have allowed a total of 13 points, given up only 507 net yards, come up with seven sacks, recorded five takeaways while turning the ball over just once, and allowed opposing offenses to convert only 9-of-31 times on third and fourth downs (29.0%).
This not only appears to be a talented group but also a tight-knit one.
“(We’re) very close,” linebacker Andra Davis told 850 KOA. “We developed this bond way back in OTA’s (organized team activities) and training camp. Everybody’s close; everybody knows their roles. We’re just trying to build upon these W’s and see where it goes.”
I’m not ready to say it’s the second coming of the Orange Crush but there is no denying the Broncos’ defense is off to a rousing start.
It is mind-bogglingly delicious. Just weeks ago, nobody thought the Broncos had any top-notch defensive linemen, there were questions about linebackers who were adjusting to new positions and the rebuilt secondary was too old to be worth a darn. And oh yeah, the Broncos were trying to get used to yet another defensive coordinator.
Yet here we sit, two games into the season and suddenly the Broncos’ defense is developing a suffocating, stingy and rough-and-tumble identity. They attack, they fly around, they make plays and they seem to enjoy being on the field together.
Their leader appears to be the ever-emotional yet highly intelligent Brian Dawkins, one of the free agents the Broncos are counting on this year.
This is a unit that comes to work and doesn’t make excuses. So far, they haven’t had many to make.
Rumor has it there will be a Silver and Black snack in the ‘ole lunch pail next Sunday.
I’d love to get your thoughts on the Cleveland game. Thanks for reading and for posting.
Sincerely,
Mike
Tags: Cleveland Browns, Postgame
i love the defense so far.
i’d really like to see the offense though get in more of a rhythm sooner. it looked good in the second half, but if we could do that in the first, we wouldve dominated even more! whatever gets a win!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!
What just happened?
ditto meisner
Florio, what are you talking about?
That was weird. it wasnt showing my posts. great article
I watched the game today. A solid effort by everone and you are complaining about Orton.
because I want more wins like that. beating the Bengals and Browns isnt saying much. and even in those wins, we didnt look good. maybe you should watch the game.
“plus the fact that he cant throw a football over 40 yards and he kills recievers with his inaccurate throws”
Thats not negative?
So you want the score to be 74-0 then? Thats the only way you’ll be pleased?
but its true, have you seen Orton throw?
He may not have the skills other QBs have, but he gets the job done.
A win is a win. no matter how you look at it.
are you kidding me?????
whoa whoa,,easy guys,,i’m sure its all a misunderstanding…we just won in good old powerhouse fashion..thats what matters..
sorry but to more important stuff, Thanks Mike for post.
you’re absolutely right about those two teams, now critics will say “oh its only the Bengals and the Browns” well look how their first two opponents fared compared to us…..
I’d like to see how our defense ranks after this week, not that i’m all worried about it, just to see how the “experts” rate it…
correct me if I’m wrong, I think our defense allowed the fewest points in the first two weeks and the fewest this week (pending Colts and Miami’s game)….
awesome game
Look, McDaniels is a great QB teacher, he helped Brady and helped Cassel make a name for himself. That doesn’t mean he can turn water into wine. Orton has done very good thus far in the season. Way back in the offseason, there were a lot of people that were already baggin’ on Orton. He’ll have 6 INTS in the first game, 0 TDs, blah blah blah. Orton may not have the talent of Cutler or some of the other upper caliber QBs in the league. He gives this team a chance to win. That’s what counts, he hasn’t turned the ball over, makes good decisions when to throw it away, and he has put up good numbers. Orton may or may not be the guy but he’s doing much better than expected, the whole team is doing much better than expected. That’s making some of the people that thought that they wouldn’t even win 3 games mad. Mad that they are doing good, and better than expected. Still mad about the Cutler trade, still mad about firing Shanny. Orton is our QB and so far he’s played better than Cutler. Everyone wants us to win, so why can’t we be happy with the win? Let’s just take the season one game at a time.
Good post Mike. What else can you say about the D. They have been awesome so far, and I expect it to continue next week in Oakland. The offense started to gel in the second half. We should see them improve more and more each week. Orton is still fighting through his injury. I think once he is completely healed and can throw the ball without that glove we’ll really start to see what he can do. Was anyone else impressed with Orton’s mobility in the pocket? He avoided sacks and made some pretty good moves when he had to. I don’t think many people knew he could move like that.
Florio and Chris,
You guys need to take it outside!
Great game!! The Broncos were solid on all phases. What can you say about the Defense? Amazing!! So glad they’re playing so well for all the crap they had to listen to all offseason! Let’s go Broncos, beat those Raiders!!!
100% Raider Hater!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!
Well said brian!
The defense has been playing very well. I LOVE IT! The naysayers will continue to bash the team, despite the obvious successes, because they refuse to admit that maybe they were wrong. I know it’s early, but this team is not nearly as bad as everyone has made them out to be.
Go Broncos!!
I’m loving it! Go BRONCOS! THE D IS BACK IN DENVER! WAY TA GO DOOM AND DAWKINS!
i was feeling mad towareds Orton in the game also, but the one thing that matters is Orton did not turn the ball over….and Orton still has a glove on that hes never played with…hopefully the glove will be off, and he can show mnore consistency, and be in his third game…things will hopefully start to gel on the offense, but would like to see some 4 wr sets, with marshall, royal, stokley, gaffney…and love the 2 headed monster of knowshon and buckhalter…does anyone know why Brandon Marshall was out most of first half?…we need him in there…
Defense is ranked number 3 right now.
WOO!
GO BRONCOS!!
Finding holes, open field jukes, speed, stiff arms, carrying dudes 5+yards, any chance of getting Buck a few more carries returning kicks.
Defense leading the way. I love what I see. I don’t think the defense is even playing up to their full potential and they’re still doing great. When the offense comes around, look out.
Go orange!
Hey Mike, great post!
The single biggest improvement I’ve noticed so far is the 3rd down defense. For far too long now I’ve been screaming at our defense doing great on 1st and 2nd downs, holding the other team to 3rd and long, only to give up a big play of 10 or more yards. I could never understand how you could look so great for 2 downs then fall apart on the third.
This year though, it seems like they have the personnel on the field and schemes drawn up to keep attacking and force the play. I’m loving what I’ve seen so far and essentially this can only help the O gain confidence knowing they might not have to score 30+ points a game in order to win.
I’m looking forward to how they handle the elite teams! I think they’re gonna shine!
Some of you must be real recent fans. Shanny’s first year as head coach, 1995. New system, QB was some guy named Elway. Not a winning season, didn’t make the play offs. This is a new system for almost everybody, and many players are 1st yr. Broncos. Fans should be supporting their team. If you want to be a coach, contact Mr. Bowlen. Armchair QB’s give us fan’s a break. Get on Chief’s blog, you’ll be in whiner heaven. Cutler is still on there crying about being too important to be traded like those slackers, Montana, Favre, and Brees. And, give Orton a break, Mc D might be smart enough to know what skills a QB needs to make his system work.
Brian i dont think orton has out played cutler so far. Cutler beat the defending champs yesterday on not only one scroing drive to tie the game in the fourth but the game winning drive a few minutes yesterday.
But non the less a win is a win. Defense looks great, but im not being negative but when these so called experts say well look who they played…its the truth weve played cleveland and cinncy
Orton is doing exactly what i knew they were going have to do and what that is…is just saying “hey kyle just go out out there and dont lose the game for us” hes a manager just like hes always been..so yeah hes going to look good all year if our defense holds everybody to 7 points each week.. hes not ever going to be the QB with 350 yards 3 Touchdowns and wins you the game even if he has nothing but hall of fame recievers..so for the people expecting that get over it and stop complaining about it..
were winning thats all that matters..but still im lookin forward to some more hefty competition and thats going to start after week 3 agianst oakland..
Go Broncos!!!!!!!
Mike, thanks for your positive thoughts on the D, here are my thoughts about the whole game:
The good, the bad and the ugly
The good:
Fantastic aggressive D, couldn’t ask for more, always what I’ve wanted. Andra Davis is the best LB after 2 games, amazing considering how little we saw of him in pre-season.
Good game by D.J.. Dawkins, Defense MVP so far… Doom, getting to like the 3-4, don’t you? 4 SACKS!!!!, enough said.
Orton, no turnovers, much better movement in the pocket than what we’ve seen so far. Developing quite confidence, threw it further downfield and with more zip than we’ve seen so far (the finger is getting better). Hopefully, no “Brandstater for starter” comments this week (I doubt it…). Super TD throw and catch Orton to Sheffler. Buckhalter and Moreno, over 150 yds on the ground, we’ve wanted a running game all along and finally got it. Both explosive at times. Jordan coming in in the 4th with fresh legs to run the clock out. Gaffney is the key catch guy so far and in my eye will be the go to guy on tough 3rd downs, if not already. Equally good game for Royal and Stockley, tons of balls. Marhall helping out in the 2nd half. ST was spectacular in controlling Cribbs, had absolutely zero impact. Coaching was nothing short of amazing as far as changing game plan on O. Totally different from last week. No Graham, last week he was everywhere. Heavy running game, last week, opposite. Royal and Stockley everywhere, last week other than Stockley TD, nowhere to be found. I mean the Raiders Sunday and every other team on our schedule have no idea what we’re coming with, GENIUS.
The bad:
Opening kick off, fumble by Hillis while untouched! No wonder he didn’t return another one after that. Marshall, 1 catch for 3 yds in the 1st half I believe. On TV I saw him more on the sideline than on the field. Prater missing two FG’s because of the wind. They’re perfect without it, but he made no correction to his aim for the wind. Something to keep in mind for future windy games. Practice in a wind tunnel or something… On all out blitz, we had absolutely no blocking on the right side of the O line, that Orton was even able to get rid of it on those occasions was nothing short of miraculous.
The ugly:
For the 2nd week in a row, the use of Time Outs was horrendous. No Time Out left with nearly 9 minutes to go in the 1st half!!!! I know it’s a new team and it’s early and it turned out we did fine without the Time Outs, but this will come back to bite us if we don’t seriously improve with our choices of Time Outs, both on O and on D.
Conclusion:
Best thing of all, THEY PLAYED FOR 60 MINUTES AGAIN!!!! We haven’t done that for years. 2nd mission accomplished, 2-0. This week Raider game should be a win according to my predictions for the year. These early games are the ones we need to take advantage of, the rest of the schedule will become tougher, but you never know, momentum is starting to build, but let’s not get carried away yet, both wins were against the cellar of the AFC North.
Some of you people on here are ridiculous, what do our boys have to do to make you happy? To put up 2 impressive Ws back to back in the NFL is tough, yes I said it “IMPRESSIVE”…we have a long way to go, but if the D can keep up their tenacity I think we have a good shot at the division. We didn’t only play Cinncy, Cleveland played us tough last year if don’t remember they both have good offenses-Cinncy scored big against GB and a lot of experts have the Pack going all the way on the strength of that new D. If we go 12-4 on the season and win the SB who cares if our Ws came 7 pts or less, the point is we got ‘em. The next 3-4 weeks will show us a lot…but I think we’re gonna surprise a lot of people who are so called experts.
Keep it up Broncos don’t let off the gas, keep the pressure on!
listen guys, everybody needs to give orton a break. 1. he’s wearing a glove that he usally never wears an hates it. 2. HE HASNT TURNED OVER THE BALL!! he hasnt thrown a intercpetion yet. so give orton a break. and yes we havent really played good teams but look what the bengals did to the packers putting up 31 points agiasnt that defense an we only held them to 7. There are no words to tell u how happy i am that the defense is playing this well. And im looking forwrd for them to keep it up agaisnt the Raiders on suday
my quick 2 cents…. defense? what defense… more like i brick wall!! offense wins games, but defense wins championships!! offense? if they continue to improve, hell just play like they did in the 2nd half, then i have no concerns for the season! if we continue to play with the intensity that we have been, for 60 MINS EVERY SUNDAY, then we are going to be in the hunt come november and december!!
plus, i think moreno looked way more comfortable yesterday than last week. ive been saying for the last few weeks that i dont think we will see our running game at full potential till bout week 3 or 4. here we go!
GO BRONCOS….
BLUE CRUSH…..
“DOOM AND GLOOM”
bring on the Raiders………
DOOM!!!!! YEAh!. credit to the whole defense for kicking butt.
Defense ranked 3rd !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
offense ranked 8th!!!!!!!!
Nice to see the defense playing good.
wow those are pretty high rankings….now “experts”(Lombardi) are telling us that a 2-0 start isnt something to get excited about..i.e., last year started 4-0…well what the heck do they know about the Broncos’ passion. Everyone seems so lively this new season. I can sense it in the way the players have each spoken..I have great respect for Shanahan…sthe players have greater respect playing under him, but they appeared to less inclined to open up about things, share laughs, probably because of 2-3 disappointing seasons…IDK..thats what I think.
Anyways, I too would like to see Marshall more, he may be on the bench more because he missed so much of the off season and preseason he hasnt had the time to digest the playbook.IMO
The Broncos really looked good, i’ve been on the bandwagon of mcdenver, and Orton since the trade. I can’t help but tell you all, that orton was making GREAT Decisions, i have a seat where i can see who’s open constantly. I had people around me booing, every decision they thought was bad, i HATE Fair Weather fans, they make me so angry. Doom, rocked brady quinn, in fact i dont think its fair that he didnt take quinn out to lunch before hand (wink wink). But I mean, lets be honest there was some miscommunication on offense, but thats understandable in a new system. i mean we can’t expect perfection, 24/7. The Broncos are a Good Football team right now, all players in the NFL are in the NFL because they are the best, when you say “look at the teams we played” i say, “yeah what about em”. because they have not been successful does not mean that they are a bad team. Cleveland rocked out 20 points and the Bengals beat the PACKERS, THE PACKERS! Any time a team can stop the run and make a team 1 dimensional, that makes us win games because the pass will soon turn to mistakes and interceptions or sacks/turnovers. The bottom line is i predict the broncos go at least 10-6, or around there. i mean, how can we not with the talent on this team? if buck and bronco aka (moreno). can keep up there 1-2 punch and keep teams on there toes. the SKY is the LIMIT. We will seriously do some damage and i cant wait to hear all the “wow, i was wrong about the Broncos”.
The Fact is you can be disappointed in the play calling but booing, doesnt help the confidence of the qb, or coach, and they need all our support.
GO BRONCOS
28932038402 PECENT RAIDER HATER
32042384U82 PERCENT CHARGER HATER
where are the chiefs? well, nobodies known that for years…..
Patrick Smyth – @VicLombardi Many wouldn’t expect it… Most 25-yd comps, NFL: 1. E. Manning (8), 2. K. Orton (7) 3. D. Brees (6) 4. P. Rivers (6). 09-21
from twitter tracker on KFFL.com
I’m not used to seeing Denver play the 3-4 style but I’m lovin it. Time to beat down the chokeland failures.
WE WON AND WE WON RIGHT, PLAYING 60 MINUTES OF FOOTBALL. WE ARE HAVING THE PERFECT START TO BUILD MOMENTUM AS THE SEASON GOES ON, WE CAN ONLY GET BETTER WE HAVE TO BE SUPPORTING OUR TEAM, I FEEL FOR LEARNING A NEW SYSTEM THEY SEEM TO DOING GREAT. AFTER DENVER GOES TO OAKLAND AND RUNS THEM OVER, THEN WE WILL MAYBE HAVE SOMETHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT BECAUSE OF THE FOLLOWING TEAMS WE PLAY. BUT I FEEL I SEE POTENTIAL IN THE PROGRESS OUR TEAM IS SHOWING ON BOTH SIDES. 3 DOWN 13 TO GO ONE GAME AT A TIME THATS THE ONLY WAY TO GO ABOUT THIS.
60 MINUTES OF FOOTBALL GO BRONCOS!!!
“Brian i dont think orton has out played cutler so far. Cutler beat the defending champs yesterday…”
how many ints has orton thrown? oh yeah 0.
and cutler? 4 in one game
why does it matter anyway we should worrie about our team not cutler
and if your a fan for life(80) you don’t trash your QB if he wins games as a team player and doesn’t whine
and orton has won 23/34 games he has started which is FAR BETTER than cutler’s winning record
and brian hit the nial on the head.
I may be wrong but thats close
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU BRONCO’S#1FAN, CUTLER IS GONE LETS NOT MAKE THIS AN ISSUE ALL THIS SEASON, WE HAVE EVERYBODY WE NEED IN OUR TEAM, THIS IS NOT A ONE PLAYER TEAM THIS IS A TEAM WITH A LOT OF TALENT, THAT EVERYBODY WILL ENVY AT THE END OF THE SEASON, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO SURPRISE EVERYBODY!!!
60 MINUTES OF FOOTBALL GO BRONCOS!!!
I dont bring cutler up here all of you do every week if you go back far enough even into the offseason ive said the only 3 Qb’s we need to worry about is orton, simms, and brandstater…but it never fails i come on here the littler time i do and i see comments about cutlers game as if he was still playing for us..
and also get your facts straight i didnt trash our QB…saying hes a game manager is an insult??????? im tired of certain people on here expecting orton to put up huge numbers and then they get mad when he dosent..hes never been that QB and never will…those are just facts..
and comparing records are apples to oranges…orton made most of those starts with the best defense in the NFL playing on his side while cutler had one of the worst playing on his side cutler is 13-3 when his defense holds opponents to 24 points or fewer..
Read what i have put carefully before you criticize me
There will always be haters who refuse to acknowledge the good. The Broncos will simply overcome them until they’ve placed themselves in serious title contention. Our victory over the Browns was awesome as was the Monday nighter between the Dolphins and Colts. It’s time to smack the Faiders around. GO BRONCOS!!!
IS THIS THE DEAL?
According to some of you “expert” fans, I can only be “content” with our QB if he throws multiple 30+ or 40+ yard passes? That’s your logic? A good QB that throws 30+ to 40+ yd. passes? Anyone hear Royal’s comments of Orton? Yeah, I’m thinking he doesn’t want any part of Cutler!
As my wonderful partner above DLCHRIST has already pointed out, Orton ranks 2nd in that category. Furthermore, go pull up Orton’s QB rating thus far and see who is behind him. Want me to give ya some insight?
He is ahead of Romo, CUTLER (4 INT will not help you in that category), Rothlesburger, Rodgers, Rivers…..should I keep going?
I know, it’s only 2 weeks in. 263 yds passing, 1 TD, 150+ rushing yards, AND ZERO QB OR OFFENSIVE TURNOVERS!!!! still not happy? Well niether was my 3 yr old when I made her go to bed last night. But guess what? you and her both got over it.
Here’s the difference though. She woke up a refreshed, beautiful and a ready for life little girl this morning. I see via some post’s today that some of you weren’t so fortunate.
That’s to bad, because it’s a GREAT time to be a BRONCO FAN!
Here’s a sippie cup toast to the warriors of the orange and blue!
GO GET EM’ BOYS!
I want a sippie cup to toast to The Warriors of The Orage and Blue.
Your right Broncfalls! “it’s a GREAT time to be a BRONCOS FAN!”
I LOVE THE DEFENSE!!!FINALLY WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY LEARNED HOW TO TACKLE!!!LAST SEASON ALL WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT WAS MAKING A BIG POP WHICH HARDLY EVER HAPPENED, AND THIS YEAR WE HAVE LEARNED HOW TO WRAP!!GOOD JOB NOLAN!!!I LIKE OUR D SO MUCH THAT I HAD THE RAVENS D ON MY FANTASY LEAGUE I DROPPED THEM AND ADDED THE BRONCOS!!!THEY ARE GONNA KILL THE RAIDERS!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!
Hey Mike,
I agree with your thoughts about the “D” returning to Denver. 2005 was the last time I was truly proud of the defensive unit we put on the field, but after the loss to the Steelers in the AFC Championship game, things fell apart. I feel like the top brass of the Broncos have wanted to make the switch to the 3-4 ever since–maybe even before that. There were always rumors and snippets of Denver making the transition partway, but rarely did it manifest itself on the field. I am glad that Denver brought Mike Nolan aboard; in fact, his hiring might be as important as Josh McDaniel’s hiring. In any case, this year’s defense is stopping the run, stopping teams on third downs, hanging tough in the red zone, and forcing turnovers–all hallmarks of an elite defense. I’m quite pleased and hope this continues!