Broncos Recap - Week 7
This was easily (3-4) Denver’s best game of the year, featuring total dominance at every phase of the game. They routed the Cardinals 45-10 in Phoenix to put them right back into divisional contention.
On offense, Emmanuel Sanders was the star of the game yet again. He caught 6 of 7 targets for 102 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown. In addition, he also threw a 28 yard touchdown to Courtland Sutton!
SMU->SMU baby! Phillip Lindsay had another monster game, rushing 14 times for 90 yards and a hard fought TD.
It’s impossible to hate how this kid runs. Pure speed and power with fantastic vision and awareness for someone that went to a small school (Edit: Got some tweets about this. I mean small school relative to the NFL, where the award for most notable name in the last 2o years is a tie between Nate Solder and Rae Carruth. Don’t shit your pants, CFB fans) As it stands right now, he is 7th in the league in rushing yards (436) on only 75 attempts. Gurley is #1 at 623 with 129 attempts, nearly double Lindsays. It’s worth noting he also has a higher Yds/Att than all of the running backs above him as well. Royce Freeman struggled this game, rushing 13 times for 37 yards, but he did power in a goal line touchdown. Case Keenum didn’t turn in a great game, but he game managed fairly well outside of a terrible interception. He finished the day 14/21 with 161 yards, that one pick, and a 64-yard busted-coverage BOMB to Sanders.
On defense, they gave Josh Rosen his “welcome to the league” game. They sacked him 6 times, hit him 11 times, and picked him off 3 times, returning 2 to the house.
Wooo! Von Miller heard everyone bitching about his “slump”, and guess what?
He had 5 of the teams 11 QB hits, and strip sacked Rosen twice! Also worth noting was that the first one was right after he had one called back for forward-motion.
MONSTER. No player in the NFL has more forced fumbles since he entered the league. BUY A SHIRT!
Takeaways: Like I’ve been saying most of the year, when this team clicks on defense like they should they are a really good team. The problem remains that it doesn’t seem like the offense will ever be able to bail them out on an off-night. Lets focus on the positives, though! Miller is leading the league in sacks with Bradley Chubb tied for fourth! Sanders is fourth in the league in receiving yards! Lindsay is 7th in rushing yards and Freeman is 19th! This is a good team with a chance of securing the wildcard provided their defense can maintain this level of chemistry.
Notes: Adam Jones, Dymonte Thomas, Alexander Johnson, Shane Ray, Ron Leary, and Jared Veldheer were all inactive. DaeSean Hamilton was hurt on a return and did not return, and Darian Stewart left the game with a neck injury. Sanders and Freeman both left the game with ankle injuries and did not return as well. The Broncos NEED to carry this momentum as they go to Arrowhead next Sunday.
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