Lonestar
10-04-2010, 01:35 PM
Paige: Luck smiles on Broncos
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 10/04/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On the west bank of the calm Cumberland River, in a most curious wind, the accidental tourists from Denver pulled off a fortuitous coup d'eTitans.
Quirky and lucky count in victory.
Last season Cincinnati, this year Nashville.
The best cure for a sick running game and a fourth-quarter deficit is happenstance.
How else can the Broncos explain away a non-intentional short kickoff that was misplayed, muffed and made a mess of by the Titans? How else can it be rationalized that an illegal formation penalty on first down at the 1-yard line turns out to be the perfect mistake?
How else can the Broncos vindicate themselves after allowing six sacks, converting only 3-of-15 third downs, being blow torched for a 98- yard kickoff return, scoring only twice in seven journeys to the red zone and reeking for 19 yards in 20 rushes?
"No, I don't think it was luck," quarterback Kyle Orton said.
All right, resilience, perseverance, persistence. And finding a winning Powerball ticket in a dumpster.
To wit: After all the silly stuff that went down on Sunday afternoon, the Titans were behind 26-20, the ball on their 23 with only 16 seconds left and everybody packing up, when Vince Young threw the football nearly 70 yards toward a streaking Kenny Britt, who was double-defended. Britt should have made the catch, and the Titans could have scored the winning touchdown.
Only he didn't, and they didn't, and the Broncos won.
When they were in danger of being finished in the season, the Broncos found a way and a means to finish.
"When you win one on the road against a team like this, you don't give it back, and we're certainly not going to," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.
No, the Broncos slipped softly out of the South, grateful to be 2-2.
They'll need considerably more good fortune in Baltimore this Sunday. They'll need Orton — who has thrown 107 passes the past two games — to continue to be tough and concentrated, but they definitely don't need him to be the team's leading rusher again. He had three scrambles for 11 yards. The two running backs combined on 17 attempts for 8 yards. Eight is not enough. Eighty is not enough. McDaniels even admitted he gave up on the running game with 9:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Everyone else had given up on the Broncos' running game on 9/27.
After the game, Laurence Maroney and Correll Buckhalter dressed and talked at their adjoining cubicles. As they were attempting to leave the locker room, the two were pushed back 2 yards.
The Broncos need for somebody other than Orton & The Four Centaurs — receivers Brandon Lloyd (11 catches for 115 yards), Eddie Royal (eight for 113), Jabar Gaffney (five for 51) and Demaryius Thomas (who has become a kick returner; four for 144 yards) — to factor.
The Broncos need to play better on the offensive line, the defensive line and the special-teams chorus line.
The Broncos got lucky.
McDaniels got lucky with a victory despite erring by seeking a premature timeout before a field goal just prior to halftime. The Titans were able to respond with a last- second tying field goal.
The Broncos got lucky when a Titans running back had a questionable fumble in the first half at the Broncos' 29. The referee didn't overturn the call, he told Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, because he didn't have an opposite-field TV angle.
The Broncos also got lucky in the first half when the Titans missed an easy field goal and self-destructed with 10 penalties — most on encroachment — for 111 yards.
The Broncos got lucky when Orton threw an interception, and the Titans couldn't do anything, and when Orton's pass on fourth-and- goal at the Titans' 3 was incomplete, and the Titans couldn't do anything.
The Broncos got real lucky when they had second-and-25 at midfield with 2:14 showing, and the Titans were guilty of pass interference at the 1-yard line. The Broncos got even luckier on first-and-goal when Orton — the Broncos' only running option — was stopped shy of the goal, but an illegal formation violation was called. The Broncos were at the 6 — right where they wanted to be. They could pass. Touchdown to Buckhalter, who can't run or hide, but can catch.
The Broncos — mirror, mirror on the wall — got luckiest of all when Matt Prater's kickoff was knocked down by the 15 mph wind, on a 50-degree day, at the Tennessee 25. Titans rookie Marc Mariani looked like he was trying to snag a balloon.
"The wind. That was it," McDaniels said.
"I should have made the play. It was a (bad) feeling," Muff Mariana said.
The Broncos recovered the ball, got another field goal and survived the Young-to-Britt bombarooski.
On the kickoff, "we got a lucky play," Lloyd said. "We don't want it to have to come down to that, it being the game, but we will take it."
For a second year, the Broncos had a fortuitous victory on the road, but luck only helped the rabbit until he lost his foot.
Woody: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 10/04/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — On the west bank of the calm Cumberland River, in a most curious wind, the accidental tourists from Denver pulled off a fortuitous coup d'eTitans.
Quirky and lucky count in victory.
Last season Cincinnati, this year Nashville.
The best cure for a sick running game and a fourth-quarter deficit is happenstance.
How else can the Broncos explain away a non-intentional short kickoff that was misplayed, muffed and made a mess of by the Titans? How else can it be rationalized that an illegal formation penalty on first down at the 1-yard line turns out to be the perfect mistake?
How else can the Broncos vindicate themselves after allowing six sacks, converting only 3-of-15 third downs, being blow torched for a 98- yard kickoff return, scoring only twice in seven journeys to the red zone and reeking for 19 yards in 20 rushes?
"No, I don't think it was luck," quarterback Kyle Orton said.
All right, resilience, perseverance, persistence. And finding a winning Powerball ticket in a dumpster.
To wit: After all the silly stuff that went down on Sunday afternoon, the Titans were behind 26-20, the ball on their 23 with only 16 seconds left and everybody packing up, when Vince Young threw the football nearly 70 yards toward a streaking Kenny Britt, who was double-defended. Britt should have made the catch, and the Titans could have scored the winning touchdown.
Only he didn't, and they didn't, and the Broncos won.
When they were in danger of being finished in the season, the Broncos found a way and a means to finish.
"When you win one on the road against a team like this, you don't give it back, and we're certainly not going to," Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.
No, the Broncos slipped softly out of the South, grateful to be 2-2.
They'll need considerably more good fortune in Baltimore this Sunday. They'll need Orton — who has thrown 107 passes the past two games — to continue to be tough and concentrated, but they definitely don't need him to be the team's leading rusher again. He had three scrambles for 11 yards. The two running backs combined on 17 attempts for 8 yards. Eight is not enough. Eighty is not enough. McDaniels even admitted he gave up on the running game with 9:27 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Everyone else had given up on the Broncos' running game on 9/27.
After the game, Laurence Maroney and Correll Buckhalter dressed and talked at their adjoining cubicles. As they were attempting to leave the locker room, the two were pushed back 2 yards.
The Broncos need for somebody other than Orton & The Four Centaurs — receivers Brandon Lloyd (11 catches for 115 yards), Eddie Royal (eight for 113), Jabar Gaffney (five for 51) and Demaryius Thomas (who has become a kick returner; four for 144 yards) — to factor.
The Broncos need to play better on the offensive line, the defensive line and the special-teams chorus line.
The Broncos got lucky.
McDaniels got lucky with a victory despite erring by seeking a premature timeout before a field goal just prior to halftime. The Titans were able to respond with a last- second tying field goal.
The Broncos got lucky when a Titans running back had a questionable fumble in the first half at the Broncos' 29. The referee didn't overturn the call, he told Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, because he didn't have an opposite-field TV angle.
The Broncos also got lucky in the first half when the Titans missed an easy field goal and self-destructed with 10 penalties — most on encroachment — for 111 yards.
The Broncos got lucky when Orton threw an interception, and the Titans couldn't do anything, and when Orton's pass on fourth-and- goal at the Titans' 3 was incomplete, and the Titans couldn't do anything.
The Broncos got real lucky when they had second-and-25 at midfield with 2:14 showing, and the Titans were guilty of pass interference at the 1-yard line. The Broncos got even luckier on first-and-goal when Orton — the Broncos' only running option — was stopped shy of the goal, but an illegal formation violation was called. The Broncos were at the 6 — right where they wanted to be. They could pass. Touchdown to Buckhalter, who can't run or hide, but can catch.
The Broncos — mirror, mirror on the wall — got luckiest of all when Matt Prater's kickoff was knocked down by the 15 mph wind, on a 50-degree day, at the Tennessee 25. Titans rookie Marc Mariani looked like he was trying to snag a balloon.
"The wind. That was it," McDaniels said.
"I should have made the play. It was a (bad) feeling," Muff Mariana said.
The Broncos recovered the ball, got another field goal and survived the Young-to-Britt bombarooski.
On the kickoff, "we got a lucky play," Lloyd said. "We don't want it to have to come down to that, it being the game, but we will take it."
For a second year, the Broncos had a fortuitous victory on the road, but luck only helped the rabbit until he lost his foot.
Woody: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com