Wind games, snow games, fast games, slow games, high or low scoring, entertaining or boring, the Denver Broncos have found a way to win them all. It’s the mark of a winning team and now it’s the mark of a team on its way to an AFC Championship Game.
“That’s exactly what we’ve been about all year,” head coach Gary Kubiak said after the game. “There hasn’t been one way that we’ve won, we’ve won all kinds of different ways, a lot of different players contribute to our success. We’ve been through a quarterback ordeal, with two quarterbacks playing but, you know, here we are. That’s what our team is all about.”
This time around, it was a wind game, one that involved an anemic offense and a healthy helping of adversity.
“I think the wind was a big factor in the football game,” Kubiak said. “It really was, the ball was moving, we had about four or five drops in the first half that could have been big plays. It made a difference but we just kept our poise, we kept grinding, that’s what our team does. We found a way to win.”
It seems cliche, it seems like coach-speak but it’s really true, the Broncos have been the kings of hanging around through the rough patches and making a big play when it mattered most.
In this instance, it was Bradley Roby, who stuck his helmet on the ball, not only stopping a promising Steelers drive but kickstarting the Broncos offense with a huge momentum shift.
“We’ve had a lot of different players contribute to our success when we’ve been successful,” the head coach noted.”They were around the 45-yard line, it was looking pretty good for them, that was a big, big play.”
“It was a great feeling,” Roby said of the game-changing play. “We were all stressing that we needed a turnover, that we haven’t had a turnover all game. I was one of the guys saying it and stressing it, and I just got the opportunity and I capitalized. I just saw him kind of holding it out, and we were just talking about getting turnovers, so I just punched it out.”
The ball bounced right to DeMarcus Ware, he secured it and the Broncos were off and running on a game-winning touchdown drive.
A measly 324 yards of offense, five field goals, crushed in yards per play and the Broncos found a way. They just find a way.
