DENVER--Finally, a possible answer to what had gone wrong.
The Denver Broncos were not a terrible team that had lost eight in a row. Their convincing 23-0 whipping of the New York Jets here Sunday on a spectacular warm and sunny December afternoon seemed to suggest the Broncos were really a decent team that had been underperforming.
“It definitely should have been like this the last eight weeks,'' said Broncos inside linebacker Brandon Marshall, whose strip of Jets' quarterback Josh McCown early in the game may have been the most pivotal play. "It’s tough because the last two months we played bad football.’’
Long live the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse.
As Vance Joseph said Friday, it’s not where you practice. It’s how you play the game.
After the Broncos’ head coach raised eyebrows this week by holding consecutive practices at the team’s $35 million indoor facility despite playable-to-gorgeous outdoor conditions, Denver played its best game in nearly 2 ½ months by playing zero-turnover ball on offense and special teams, while the Denver defense held the Jets to an absurd 100 total yards of offense at eventually-to-be-renamed Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
“I saw that (criticism of practicing indoors) and I was like, that’s garbage,'' said defensive end Shelby Harris, who has been a quarterback-sacking machine since he replaced the injured Derek Wolfe three games ago. "It’s crazy because people are looking for reason to get on us and tell us we (stink) and we’re soft. You have a problem with it now?''
The win snapped the Broncos’ winless skid that went back to their 16-10 win on October 1 against Oakland. It had been the second-longest longest streak within a single season in franchise history.
“Shows you when you have no turnovers and you're smart with the ball -- we didn’t beat ourselves today,’’ said Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr.
“Of course it’s a little embarrassing losing so many games in a row, especially some games you felt you should have won,'' Shelby Harris said. "But this is the effort we give every week. The D-line, we don’t know any different. Everyone always goes out there and gives it their all. It’s just finally we got the result we wanted.’’
Sorry about this, Buffalo, but it was 60 degrees and sunny at kickoff here on just another beautiful December day in Colorado. The Broncos announced 5,186 no-shows among its paid crowd of 75,518 – the highest number of empty seats this season but the business department may have been bracing for more given the team’s horrific slump entering the game.
“As tough as it is on us the last two months, we understand how tough it is on the fans,'' said quarterback Trevor Siemian. "It stinks. So for those guys to be how they were today was pretty awesome.They're good fans.They're smart and they know the game. That was cool, that was really cool to see..’’
The Broncos are slumping no more. Siemian was sharp. The Denver defense has been stingy, suffocating and opportunistic. Just like the recent days gone by. Last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Jets put up 488 yards of total offense and 38 points.
Against the Broncos, they had just 100 yards and zero points. It was the Broncos' first shutout in 12 years. That 2005 blanking was also against the Jets.
“Their receivers had been hot and we shut them down,'' Harris said. "We’re still the best, man. That’s how I feel.’’
Siemian finished 19 of 31 for 200 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. In Siemian's previous four starts, all losses, he had thrown 9 interceptions and lost a fumble. Against the Jets, Siemian had no turnovers.
“You don’t really go into a game saying I’m not going to turn it over, I’m not going to get strip-sacked,'' Siemian said. "You just say, “I’m going to have a good, smart process.' There’s going to be times in the game when you’re smart and you’re aggressive at the same time. There’s been a couple times this year where I’ve been stupid and aggressive. So you’re going to want to have a good process.’’
His counterpart, McCown, was only 6 of 12 for 46 yards and was intercepted by Darian Stewart. McCown was knocked out of the game twice with injuries -- once with a hip pointer, the other with a broken left hand -- and replaced by Bryce Petty, who was 2 of 9 for 14 yards.
"They outcoached us, they outplayed us, they outhit us and they beat us in every phase,'' said Jets' head coach Todd Bowles.
It's fair to wonder after a win like this: Maybe the Broncos' biggest problem during their eight-game slide wasn't their head coach. Joseph had been taking the brunt of the blame during the team's slide, but whether it was practicing indoors on a nice day last week, or sticking with Siemian as his starting quarterback despite a rough performance last week at Miami, or permanently replacing fumbling rookie punt returner Isaiah McKenzie with the sure-handed Jordan Taylor, he made all the right moves Sunday.
"Don’t get on our coach,'' Shelby Harris said. "If you want to get on anyone, get on us. Our coach doesn’t deserve any of that. He’s doing everything he can every week. But if we’re going out there making the mistakes, how can you get on him?’’
Von Miller had one of the Broncos' four sacks. Miller now has at least 10 sacks in six of his seven NFL seasons. Only the great Reggie White had seven, 10-sack seasons in his first seven years.
“It’s amazing. It just shows you the type of patience the Broncos and my teammates have for me and the type of belief they have in me to go out there and do my job,'' Miller said. "It’s a great feeling. It really just tells you I’ve been in this league a long time. It’s scary and it’s dope at the same time. Time flies. I was talking to James Carpenter, the guard for the Jets. We were at the Senior Bowl together and that was in 2011. It’s a great accomplishment. It shows you the type of leaders and type of rushers I’ve had around me, from Elvis (Dumervil) to Shaun Phillips to Shane (Ray) to DeMarcus (Ware).”
Siemian opened the game with a 12-play drive that took up nearly the first 6 minutes of the game. His 27-yard completion down the left sideline to Cody Latimer was the key play in the march that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Brandon McManus.
“I wish we would have thrown a couple more of those to be honest with you,'' Siemian said. "But we wanted to throw some go balls to our guys this week, especially knowing these guys were going to challenge us.’’
On the first series by the Denver defense, Marshall blitzed and stripped the ball from McCown. Broncos defensive end Adam Gotsis recovered the fumble at the New York 20.
Two plays later, Siemian threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas who snagged it over cornerback Morris Claiborne in the right front of the end zone. Siemian was escaping from a heavy pass rush on the play before throwing it up in Thomas' direction.
“Early in these games when the D-line is fresh, that rush no matter what your offensive line, they’re going to get there pretty quickly,'' Siemian said. "That’s just how the game unfolds. So you want to get the ball up and out pretty quickly, especially early in games and not hang on to it too long.’’
It was the 56th career receiving touchdown for Thomas, moving him past Shannon Sharpe for No. 2 on the Broncos’ all-time list. Rod Smith is the all-time Broncos’ leader with 68 touchdowns.
Thomas also had 93 yards receiving, enough to pass Sharpe again, this time with 8,475 receiving yards for No. 2 on the team’s receiving yard list. Smith is again the leader with 11,389 yards.
"I still won't call Shannon,'' Thomas said smiling while referring to the Hall of Fame tight end he passed and loquacious personality he knows. "You don't want to talk to Shannon, especially as a player that's going to play for the Broncos and the way our season is going right now. He'll take the subject from one thing to another, so I won't call Shannon.''
Although McManus missed a 29-yard field goal to start the second quarter, he made a 53-yarder in the final seconds of the half to give the Broncos a 13-0 lead, and a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for a 23-0 lead.
The Broncos looked good all day. Their first series of the second half was a 13-play drive that lasted more than 6 minutes and was capped by fullback Andy Janovich’s 1-yard touchdown plunge to give Denver it’s 20-0 lead.
The Jets entered the game with a 5-7 record that had exceeded expectations. They were no match for the Broncos on Sunday.
"Any time you get you get your butt kicked like that and don't execute -- they did a good job and we'll take out hats off to them,'' Bowles said.
The win prevented the Broncos from tying the longest losing skid in franchise history. In 1967, the Broncos with first-year head coach Lou Saban and 22 rookies on their 40-man roster, lost nine in a row. Although the 2017 Broncos improved to 4-9, they were officially eliminated from the playoffs.
The Broncos' draft order also slipped from the No. 4 overall draft pick into a four-way tie for No. 5.The Broncos next play Thursday night in Indianapolis against the Colts, providing the Colts get out of snowy Buffalo. The Colts are 3-10 after losing in overtime at Buffalo on Sunday.
“You hear a lot of guys upset about the Thursday games, but in our case, it’s perfect,'' Siemian said. "It’s our first win in what feels like hundred years. Hopefully it carries some momentum going into Thursday. I think it sets up pretty nicely for us.'’
