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Three stars from the Denver Broncos' blowout of the San Francisco 49ers

Dennis Best

August 21, 2017

The Denver Broncos looked sharp in just about all aspects of the game on Saturday night, blowing out the San Francisco 49ers 33-14.

With the preseason half-way over and Denver playing host in their pivotal Week 3 matchup against Green Bay, there are of course some questions that still need to be answered, but, with their play on the field Saturday, there is no question which players deserve our picks for this week’s three stars.

Brandon McManus

Since winning the starting job in 2015, kicker Brandon McManus has been the poster child of consistency, and it’s looking like that trend will continue. McManus was a perfect 4-4 Saturday night with kicks of 40, 42, 45, 51 yards respectfully; the latter coming off his leg while Denver was facing a 4th-and-9 after a Paxton Lynch sack.

It is not only in games where No. 8 shines; this is the same guy who booted the rock a whopping 73-yard field goal, just because head coach Vance Joseph wanted to see if he could.

Shelby Harris

Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2014 draft, defensive end Shelby Harris has seen somewhat of a rocky path to be where he is today. After being placed on Oakland’s practice squad, Harris eventually found himself on the field before being released and picked up by the New York Jets.

After the Jets and Dallas Cowboys both released the former Illinois State Redbird, Denver gave him a reserve/futures contract to see what the experienced player could do, and he has made the most of it.

On Saturday night, Harris recovered a fumble from San Francisco quarterback Brian Hoyer to stop their most promising drive to that point dead in its tracks, one of his two recoveries for the evening. Harris would also get his hand on the ball to initiate a fumble by 49ers running back Tim Hightower which was recovered by teammate Dymonte Thomas.

“You know, Shelby made some plays in the pass game tonight, as far as rushing and he had one PBU on a big third down,” head coach Vance Joseph said after the game. “Shelby’s been consistent the entire camp. He works hard. He’s a veteran player that’s played in this league, so I’m not surprised he’s playing well.”

Trevor Siemian

No. 13 played one-and-a-half quarters in the deceive victory and look like the best quarterback for either team, going 8-for-11 with 93 yards and one touchdown, including a beautiful pass to Jordan “Sunshine” Taylor while avoiding pressure. Siemian had five passes of over ten yards in the contest, while his counterpart Lynch had just one pass that was for ten, which was his longest of the day.

The performance was the final nail in the coffin of the quarterback competition as Siemian was named the starting quarterback on Monday afternoon.