Denver Native (Carol)
10-20-2009, 02:04 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13597293
SAN DIEGO — Perception could be different from reality.
It's possible the Broncos don't become stronger, faster and better in the second half. Maybe what happens is as the Broncos pound, blitz and attack the game of football like a pack of dogs who missed dinner, their opponents eventually get weaker and slower.
Those big, bad, lippy San Diego Chargers don't seem so tough anymore. Not around the new brand of rugged, aggressive, contact-loving Broncos, they don't.
Realizing Eddie Royal couldn't return every kick or punt for a touchdown, the Broncos beat and beat down the Chargers in an AFC West showdown 34-23 on Monday night by once again dominating the second half.
In what has to be the stat of their 6-0 season, the Broncos have annihilated their opposition 76-10 in the second half. They whipped the Chargers 17-3 after halftime Monday.
"They're going to start testing us to see what's going on in here," said a smiling Broncos pass-rusher Elvis Dumervil, who has nine of his 10 sacks this season in second halves, including two against Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. "But no, man, the coaching staff has done a great job of coming in and making adjustments. And you've got to give a lot of credit to our offseason conditioning program."
This was a two-game swing that put the Broncos in control of the AFC West. With the loss, the second-place Chargers (2-3) are now 3 1/2 games behind the undefeated Broncos.
The Chargers aren't yakking today. Before the game, some of the Broncos' defensive and offensive linemen got into a shoving and yelling match with a group of Chargers defensive players.
The Chargers had their way with the Broncos the previous three years, but not anymore.
"There's a lot of bite in this team," said Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler, who caught the go-ahead touchdown pass late in the third quarter.
"It's a great win for the organization, because we've been embarrassed here the last couple of years," Dumervil said.
Is it too early to ask whether Josh McDaniels can do it again? He was New England's offensive coordinator in 2007, when the Patriots became the only team in history to finish the regular season with a 16-0 record.
At one point that season, the Pats were 6-0.
"I don't know when they started talking about it," said McDaniels, who is now the Broncos' coach. "But it's a silly question to ask now."
The Broncos will take their undefeated record into the bye week.
Given those two-a-day, full-pad training camp practices that have been at the root of the Broncos' second-half play, it's difficult to remember when a Denver team was more deserving of a vacation.
Counting return yardage — and return yardage counted in this game as in few others — the teams combined for 695 all-purpose yards. By halftime.
It was hardly the most dominant half the Broncos have played, but it was easily the most entertaining. There were three touchdown returns — two by Royal, on a kickoff and a punt — and another when the Chargers' Darren Sproles brought back a Brett Kern punt 77 yards.
It was the first game in NFL history that had such a special-teams sequence of each team getting a touchdown off a punt return, plus a kickoff return score.
"I think on the kickoff return, I had to stiff-arm a guy," Royal said. "But otherwise, I don't think I was touched.
The guys did a great job."
Even with the offenses combining for only one touchdown — a short pass from Rivers to Northern Colorado product Vince Jackson — the Chargers led 20-17 at the intermission.
The Chargers didn't have near enough cushion. Rivers was harassed by Dumervil and blitzing Broncos linebackers in the second half. Besides beating down their opponents, the Broncos also seem to play the second half with greater poise.
Quarterback Kyle Orton threw two touchdown passes in the second half: a beautiful 19-yarder to Scheffler, who made a terrific catch; and a 5-yard pass to a rolling Brandon Stokley.
"We stay the course, don't hit the panic button if things don't go right in the first half," said Orton, who has a 127.2 passer rating in the second half, 81.7 in the first. "We'd love to start off fast, and we have started off fast, but we realize these are 60-minute games are going to come down to a few situations."
SAN DIEGO — Perception could be different from reality.
It's possible the Broncos don't become stronger, faster and better in the second half. Maybe what happens is as the Broncos pound, blitz and attack the game of football like a pack of dogs who missed dinner, their opponents eventually get weaker and slower.
Those big, bad, lippy San Diego Chargers don't seem so tough anymore. Not around the new brand of rugged, aggressive, contact-loving Broncos, they don't.
Realizing Eddie Royal couldn't return every kick or punt for a touchdown, the Broncos beat and beat down the Chargers in an AFC West showdown 34-23 on Monday night by once again dominating the second half.
In what has to be the stat of their 6-0 season, the Broncos have annihilated their opposition 76-10 in the second half. They whipped the Chargers 17-3 after halftime Monday.
"They're going to start testing us to see what's going on in here," said a smiling Broncos pass-rusher Elvis Dumervil, who has nine of his 10 sacks this season in second halves, including two against Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. "But no, man, the coaching staff has done a great job of coming in and making adjustments. And you've got to give a lot of credit to our offseason conditioning program."
This was a two-game swing that put the Broncos in control of the AFC West. With the loss, the second-place Chargers (2-3) are now 3 1/2 games behind the undefeated Broncos.
The Chargers aren't yakking today. Before the game, some of the Broncos' defensive and offensive linemen got into a shoving and yelling match with a group of Chargers defensive players.
The Chargers had their way with the Broncos the previous three years, but not anymore.
"There's a lot of bite in this team," said Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler, who caught the go-ahead touchdown pass late in the third quarter.
"It's a great win for the organization, because we've been embarrassed here the last couple of years," Dumervil said.
Is it too early to ask whether Josh McDaniels can do it again? He was New England's offensive coordinator in 2007, when the Patriots became the only team in history to finish the regular season with a 16-0 record.
At one point that season, the Pats were 6-0.
"I don't know when they started talking about it," said McDaniels, who is now the Broncos' coach. "But it's a silly question to ask now."
The Broncos will take their undefeated record into the bye week.
Given those two-a-day, full-pad training camp practices that have been at the root of the Broncos' second-half play, it's difficult to remember when a Denver team was more deserving of a vacation.
Counting return yardage — and return yardage counted in this game as in few others — the teams combined for 695 all-purpose yards. By halftime.
It was hardly the most dominant half the Broncos have played, but it was easily the most entertaining. There were three touchdown returns — two by Royal, on a kickoff and a punt — and another when the Chargers' Darren Sproles brought back a Brett Kern punt 77 yards.
It was the first game in NFL history that had such a special-teams sequence of each team getting a touchdown off a punt return, plus a kickoff return score.
"I think on the kickoff return, I had to stiff-arm a guy," Royal said. "But otherwise, I don't think I was touched.
The guys did a great job."
Even with the offenses combining for only one touchdown — a short pass from Rivers to Northern Colorado product Vince Jackson — the Chargers led 20-17 at the intermission.
The Chargers didn't have near enough cushion. Rivers was harassed by Dumervil and blitzing Broncos linebackers in the second half. Besides beating down their opponents, the Broncos also seem to play the second half with greater poise.
Quarterback Kyle Orton threw two touchdown passes in the second half: a beautiful 19-yarder to Scheffler, who made a terrific catch; and a 5-yard pass to a rolling Brandon Stokley.
"We stay the course, don't hit the panic button if things don't go right in the first half," said Orton, who has a 127.2 passer rating in the second half, 81.7 in the first. "We'd love to start off fast, and we have started off fast, but we realize these are 60-minute games are going to come down to a few situations."