Just like that, your Denver Broncos are back in the Super Bowl hunt.The lights of Sunday Night Football showcased a matchup between two AFC powerhouses; the Broncos and the undefeated New England Patriots. Denver came into the game a three-point underdog to the defending Super Bowl champions, and just like last time Denver was a home underdog, the Broncos prevailed. They handed Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick their first loss of the season.
It was not an easy win for the orange and blue by any stretch of the imagination, as it took overtime to finally come to the final score of 30-24, Broncos.
Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler completed 23-42 passes for 270 yards and one touchdown; Osweiler also had one interception on a tipped ball at the line of scrimmage. He was also under pressure all night long and sacked three times by the Patriots.
“Yeah, real concerned,” Kubiak said of Osweiler taking too many hits. “We just left the meeting. I think Brock has been sacked I want to say 11 times in his 10 quarters—maybe 10 times—so that’s way too many. Some of those are his that we’ve got to get corrected. A couple of those are protection issues, but they came after us, especially in the second half they came after us, blitzed us a little bit more and he’ll learn from that. Yes, protecting him and doing a better job—that’s important right now. It really is.”
“You have to dust off all the snow,” Osweiler said when asked about playing in the harsh weather. Osweiler said that is reminded him of playing in the backyard in his hometown of Kalispell, Montana. “Fortunately, when you play in the NFL, there are guys on the sideline that dust off all the snow. But, yeah, it was fun.”
It was not all the young deputy who put a blemish on the the Patriots season, Denver’s defense came up big in crucial situations; like many times this season already.
Linebacker Von Miller had a game-saving sack in overtime to force the Patriots to an opening drive three-and-out, which was accompanied by a huge hit on Brady by rookie standout Shane Ray.
With an overall team win and the possibility of obtaining the overall No. 1 seed in the AFC, head coach Gary Kubiak is feeling optimistic, but also grounded.
“My belief hasn’t changed,” Kubiak explained. “I say this all the time. I think every team is different and it’s always changing. Our team is going to change the next week because we’ve got some other issues going on. You’d like to feel like at the end of the year that we’re as good as we can be. Are we playing as good as we can play? We’re not there yet.”
“We’re doing some good stuff,” the head coach said Monday. “Being down 14 points twice to the world champs last night and still battling and finding a way to get it done is a big step in the right direction. We’re really trying to stay focused just on our football. There is so much we can learn from last night. We won’t go any further than that, I promise you.”
Some notable injures occurred Sunday night in the win; safety T.J. Ward and guard Louis Vasquez both went down on the same play early in the first quarter with high ankle sprains. Backup guard Evan Mathis played in replaced of Vasquez, even though Kubiak had planned to keep him off the field the entire game.
“We had hoped to get through without him. We had a decision to make before the game whether we would suit Evan,” Kubiak was happy with his decision. “Evan moved around good enough. We felt like he was probably the most important guy to suit up if we had a problem, and we’re really lucky that we did. He came in, played well, and didn’t have any setbacks on his ankle, so hopefully he’ll be better this week.”
Osweiler has the approval of coach Kubiak. “I think the No. 1 thing that’s impressed me is I think he understands exactly what he needs to do for the team to be successful,” Kubiak said of Osweiler. “What I mean by that—sometimes guys will get put in situations and they’ll try to do too much. I think he understands he’s on a good football team. If he’ll just do his job, handle the ball well, handle the team well, and then our football team will have a chance to be successful.”
Osweiler has officially made a case to retain the starting job as QB for the Denver Broncos, even after all time great Peyton Manning is healthy. If that is the main problem for the Mile High crew; this team will be playing in San Francisco come February.
