GLENDALE, Ariz. — Prior to the game that meant little to the rest of the country, but had enormous consequences for the contestants involved, Broncos president Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway met privately, and seemingly ominously, in front of their team’s bench.
They didn’t seem to be talking about how nice State Farm Stadium looked with its roof opened. Although maybe a little.
"Actually, we did talk about that,'' Elway said, laughing and in a fine mood after his Broncos whipped the Arizona Cardinals, 45-10 here Thursday night at State Farm Stadium. "I had never seen a roof open like that before. No, Joe had been gone (to the NFL owners' meetings in New York) so we just wanted to get caught up.’’
LIVE COVERAGE | Broncos at Cardinals
Entering the game, there was rampant speculation Vance Joseph was in danger of losing his head coach position if the Broncos lost to the lowly Cardinals.
Perhaps, understanding the gravity of the situation, Broncos star pass rusher Von Miller premeditatedly stepped up to the podium Tuesday and vowed “we’re going to kick their ass.’’
By halftime, Joseph was safe, smart and sound in his coaching position, while Miller had every right to pronounce, “told ya.’’ The Broncos went on to route the Arizona Cardinals here Thursday night before a large percentage of Broncos’ fans. Apparently, a few Broncos fans over the years decided to retire in the desert for they showed up in force to take over the crowd.
"I mean it felt like a home game there for a lot of it,'' said Broncos quarterback Case Keenum. "That was impressive. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had to go on a silent count for a few series. That was really cool. I haven’t been around that very much.’’
The Broncos were up 35-3 at halftime, the third-largest lead at the intermission in team history. Despite all the noise surrounding his job status, Joseph had his team ready to play. Did the coach feel a sense of relief by the dominant win?
“Me? No,'' Joseph said. "That's more about our football team. I’m not concerned about me. It’s a good win for our football team. It has been a tough, tough two weeks. We had a tough loss on Sunday. We had a short week, so it’s really good for our football team to win a game. These guys work so hard. They came in on Monday night and practiced and didn’t complain about a short week and played their best football game of the year. So, it was never about me, it’s about our team.”
Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay added a 28-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that was set up by a Miller sack-fumble of Cardinals' rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, who looked nowhere near ready to play at an effective, NFL-caliber level. Miller added a second, strip sack of the overmatched Rosen in the fourth quarter that set up a 41-yard field goal by Brandon McManus.
The heretofore maligned Denver defense had two pick sixes, five takeaways overall, and six sacks -- two each by Miller and rookie Bradley Chubb, who now has 5 sacks in his last two games -- while Emmanuel Sanders came up two with huge big-play touchdowns for the offense as the Broncos could not have played much better, even if their opponent is now 1-6. The Broncos are 3-4 after snapping their four-game losing streak that had warmed the head coach's seat.
“They’re struggling right now but we didn’t play to their level, we played to our level,'' Elway said. "That’s what we’ve been working on, playing the way we know how to play. Create turnovers, make big plays. Everybody played well, we got after it and played hard. Five turnovers helps. We have to continue to get after it.’’
Now, it seems Joseph may have fired Mike McCoy for a second year in a row. McCoy was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator last season until he was fired after the 9th game. McCoy got himself another offensive coordinator gig, this time with the Cardinals, who rank No. 32 in the 32-team NFL.
And they played even worse than that in the first half. On the second play of the game, Denver defensive end Derek Wolfe swatted a pass by rookie quarterback Josh Rosen in the air. The ball landed in the arms of inside linebacker Todd Davis, who caught it with his back to the line of scrimmage, turned, and rumbled into the end zone from 20 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
“We were just us, we were the Denver Broncos,'' Davis said. "I feel like we weathered the storm for four games. I feel like we needed a win like this, a dominating win, for four quarters to really inspire ourselves and let everyone know who we really are as a team.”
Then it was Keenum and the Broncos’ offense’s turn. Keenum smartly moved the Broncos down the field, converting a third-and-6 with a nice, right roll pass to Demaryius Thomas.
On first down from the Arizona 28, Keenum flipped a reverse to Sanders moving from his left to right. Sanders sent a spiral toward the goal line where rookie Courtland Sutton made a nice diving catch for a touchdown. It was 14-0 Broncos.
After the Cardinals managed a 43-yard field goal by Phil Dawson, the Denver D stepped up again. This time cornerback Chris Harris Jr., playing off his man, intercepted a Rosen pass that was intended for another receiver. A determined Harris made a couple cuts and returned it 53 yards for a touchdown.
The Broncos were up 21-3 after getting two, pick sixes in the same game since the 1989 opener when Tyrone Braxton and Randy Robbins had TD returns against Kansas City’s Steve DeBerg.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Keenum off a misdirection, play-action, rolled right and threw a deep ball to Sanders, who was wide open on a post pattern. Sanders caught it and – even though he said he would never do it again – did a running, forward somersault across the goal line to complete a one-play, 64-yard touchdown drive.
“I caught it and I was like ‘screw it, we’re having fun out here right?''' Sanders said. "That’s what it’s about, man. Having fun and playing football. That’s how you win games. To catch that pass, I didn’t have to do anything but run straight. It was probably one of the easiest touchdown passes I’ve caught in terms of a deep ball. He made it easy for me.”
It was 28-3 and with the ineffective Arizona offense and rookie quarterback having no chance against the Denver defense, the game was essentially finished.
Sanders became the first Broncos player since Elway was a quarterback in the 1986 opener to have thrown a touchdown pass and caught a touchdown in the same game. The Broncos then culminated their most dominant half in memory with a 15-play drive that took more than 6 1/2 minutes and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Royce Freeman.
The Broncos did suffer two significant injuries in the game. Starting safety Darian Stewart left with a neck injury and rookie DaeSean Hamilton suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury after he was run into while making a fair catch on a punt. Arizona's Brandon Williams was penalized 15 yards for the infraction but it was Hamilton who suffered far worse.
The Broncos not only snapped their four-game losing streak, they will be rewarded with the weekend off before returning Monday to begin preparations for a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 28.
