The Broncos were held scoreless in the first half Thursday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The offense nearly got on the board at the end of the second quarter, thanks to a big play on defense.

Linebacker Steven Johnson forced a fumble by Cardinals wide receiver DeMarco Sampson, and fellow linebacker Nate Irving pounced on the loose football.

Two plays later, quarterback Caleb Hanie hit tight end Virgil Green for a 22-yard gain. The tight end broke two tackles and got the ball all the way down to the 7-yard line, where the Broncos called timeout with 11 seconds remaining.

On first-and-goal, Hanie lofted a pass to Andre Caldwell in the end zone, but Arizona’s A.J. Jefferson was in tight coverage and forced an incompletion.

With seven seconds still on the clock, the offense looked one more time to the end zone — but Hanie was sacked and time ran out in the half.

In the half, the Broncos were outgunned 136 to 108 yards, but outrushed the Cardinals thanks to a strong effort by Knowshon Moreno. He finished the half with 49 yards — the most by a Bronco this preseason — picking up seven yards per carry.

Arizona leads 7-0 at halftime.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Arizona Cardinals got on the scoreboard first.

On the second play of the second quarter, Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley threw a pass toward rookie Michael Floyd in the end zone.

The wide receiver tipped the ball with one hand, took a hit from Broncos safety Jim Leonhard and then regained control of the ball for an acrobatic, 22-yard touchdown.

It capped off a 10-play, 76-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters. Arizona leads 7-0.

The drive was prolonged due to a roughing the passer penalty on Robert Ayers — cornerback Drayton Florence came away with an interception on an underthrown pass from Lindley, but the refs deemed Ayers’ hit just a little late, so the Cardinals retained possession.

A quick look at the stats from the first quarter show that the Cardinals picked up six first downs to the Broncos’ one, outgained Denver 86 yards to 26, and held Caleb Hanie to zero passing yards in the period.

At the end of the first quarter, Arizona held a time-of-possession advantage of more than six minutes. Cardinals kicker Jay Feely hit the uprights with a missed field goal in the frame.

The second quarter is now underway.

To open the team’s final preseason game, six captains went to midfield for the coin toss. Zane Beadles, Joel Dreessen, Lance Ball, Chris Gronkowski, Rahim Moore and Ty Warren represented Denver.

The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to receive.

After the kickoff, the offensive starters jogged onto the field, led by Caleb Hanie at quarterback. From left to right, Chris Clark, Adam Grant, C.J. Davis, Philip Blake and Ryan Harris made up the offensive line. Knowshon Moreno and Gronkowski were in the backfield, Jason Hill and Andre Caldwell were the two receivers and Virgil Green lined up at tight end.

After a punt, it was the defense’s turn. Starting on the line were Jeremy Beal, Sealver Siliga, Kevin Vickerson and Robert Ayers. At linebacker were Nate Irving and Danny Trevathan. Drayton Florence, Tony Carter, Omar Bolden, Quinton Carter and Jim Leonhard rounded out the group in the secondary.

A little more than three hours from tonight’s kickoff, several Broncos are going through a workout on the field with Strength and Conditioning Coach Luke Richesson.

The team has announced that those players will not participate in tonght’s game:
QB Peyton Manning
C J.D. Walton
G Manny Ramirez
G Zane Beadles
T Ryan Clady
T Orlando Franklin
RB Willis McGahee
WR Eric Decker
WR Demaryius Thomas
WR Brandon Stokley
TE Joel Dreessen
TE Jacob Tamme
S Mike Adams
S Rahim Moore
DL Derek Wolfe
CB Champ Bailey
CB Tracy Porter
CB Chris Harris
LB Von Miller
LB Joe Mays
LB Wesley Woodyard
LB Keith Brooking
DE Elvis Dumervil
DT Justin Bannan
DT Ty Warren

For the Cardinals, these players will not suit up tonight:
WR Stephen Williams
SS Adrian Wilson
CB Greg Toler
S Rashad Johnson
G Adam Snyder
TE Rob Housler

-Stuart Zaas