Five takeaways from the Broncos' 24-15 win against the Arizona Cardinals

DENVER, Colo. — The Denver Broncos beat the Arizona Cardinals 24-15 Sunday afternoon at Empower Field at Mile High. Prior to Sunday, the Broncos had lost nine of their previous 10 games and hadn’t won in Denver since September. The Broncso are 4-10 with three games remaining on the schedule.

Here’s what went down:

Brett Rypien holds his own

Despite clearing concussion protocols on Friday, Russell Wilson didn’t get a uniform on Sunday. The Broncos wanted to protect their big-money quarterback from himself, which left backup Brett Rypien to take over for an afternoon.

The results were just fine.

The 26-year-old completed 21 of his 26 passing attempts. He picked up 197 yards. He threw a touchdown and an interception. And he did it all despite being sacked seven times behind a broken down offensive line.

If not for the interception, Rypien could have had a great day. The Broncos had the ball just outside the red zone and Rypien thought he saw a lineman jump offside. He tossed a ball up to the end zone to let Eric Saubert have a chance to catch it through double-coverage. On a free play, the throw makes sense. Otherwise, it absolutely does not. The ref didn’t throw the flag.

Denver put up 24 points behind Rypien, its second most of the season. If the Broncos had scored a touchdown on that drive and everything else stayed the same, they would have had a new season high.

For the most part, Rypien was clinical with his underneath throws. He worked with some tempo on a few occasions. He did just about everything you can ask a backup quarterback to do.

The defensive backs step up

In the first quarter, Justin Simmons picked off a pass in Arizona territory that gave the Broncos an easy scoring opportunity. (Brandon McManus missed the 38-yard field goal attempt.)

Then, in the fourth quarter, Simmons picked off another pass when the Broncos led 17-9. He set the Broncos up five yards from the end zone, and two plays later, they took a two-possession lead.

Finally, when the Cardinals were making a last-ditch comeback bid, Pat Surtain picked off a pass that ended the game.

Simmons is now the first Bronco to have two games with multiple interceptions in the same season since Champ Bailey in 2006. He’s the only player in the NFL with at least four interceptions in each of the last four seasons.

Surtain now has interceptions in back-to-back weeks.

The Broncos have intercepted three passes in consecutive games for the first time since 2000.

Latavius Murray breaks out

When the Broncos signed 32-year-old power back Latavius Murray during the season, they needed him to serve as a steady hand who can eat up carries. He’s done exactly that.

On Sunday, though, Murray looked like the 2015 version of himself.

Murray carried the rock 24 times for 130 yards, his first 100-yard performance of the season. He also scored his fifth touchdown as a Bronco.

The Broncos’ offensive line opened up holes left and right against an undermanned Cardinals front, and Murray capitalized. The best example was a 35-yarder through the right side of the line that set up the Broncos’ first touchdown drive.

Marlon Mack also had a solid day, with 37 yards and a touchdown on five carries. He’s scored in back-to-back weeks.

DeShawn Williams has a career day

Veteran defensive lineman DeShawn Williams has been a key piece of the Broncos’ defensive front all season. He’s played the best football of his career.

But he’s made a serious impact on the stat sheet in December.

The 29-year-old picked up his first two sacks of the season in Baltimore two weeks ago, which matched his career high for sacks in a season. On Sunday, he added 2.5 more sacks, bringing his total to 4.5 for the year.

The 12-game starter could be playing himself into a decent contract this offseason.

Jerry Jeudy stays hot

The Broncos’ wide receivers’ room is among the most beat up on the team. The top trio consists of undrafted rookie Brandon Johnson, new addition Freddie Swain from the Dolphins’ practice squad, and third-year blue-chipper Jerry Jeudy.

For the second-consecutive week, the honus was on Jeudy to carry the passing game.

The former first-rounder was a frequent target, with catches in the screen game, down the field and along the sidelines. He caught the first two balls of the game. By the end of the day, he had 76 yards on seven receptions.

Jeudy didn’t make as much noise as he did against the Cheifs last week when he caught three touchdown passes, but he put up a solid performance, especially considering the Broncos were without their starting quarterback.