Denver Native (Carol)
11-27-2009, 02:11 PM
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=9622
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Playing on a Thanksgiving stage, Brandon Marshall put together a highlight-reel performance that likely won't soon be forgotten by the announced crowd of 74, 896 fans on hand at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Thursday night.
Marshall, who finished Week 12's 26-6 win over the New York Giants with six receptions for a game-high 86 receiving yards, made not one, but two acrobatic catches worthy of top play consideration -- not just for the week, but probably for the season.
"Kyle (Orton) believed in me and I went to coach and got in his ear," Marshall said. "I said 'Coach, let me make a play.' And he said 'Hey, we're going to call it.'"
Marshall's first spectacular play came midway through the second quarter, moments after Denver had swayed momentum in its favor following a forced fumble by Mario Haggan and an ensuing recovery by Brian Dawkins.
After that play, Denver's offense trotted onto the field and set up shop at the New York 38-yard line. Quickly, Orton and the Broncos set out to capitalize on that turnover, and they accomplished that goal.
On first down, Orton went play-action, faking a handoff to Knowshon Moreno and instead lofting a pass in the direction of Marshall, who was streaking down the right sideline.
The lengthy 6-foot-4 receiver leaped in the air and pulled the ball into his possession with his right hand at the New York 10-yard line. When all was said and done, Orton and Marshall had connected on a 28-yard pass-and-catch play. Three plays later, Moreno was in the end zone and the Broncos were in business with a 13-0 lead.
Moments into the third quarter, Marshall made yet another dazzling catch. On the Broncos' second offensive play from scrimmage in the second half, Orton -- operating out of the shotgun -- threw deep to Marshall, who ran a go route along the left sideline.
With Corey Webster covering the route tightly, Marshall tipped the ball to himself with his left hand and then corralled the ball while remaining in bounds. When the play was over, Marshall had netted a 33-yard gain down to the New York 36-yard line.
"I told him on the one (pass) on the sideline he was trying to make me look bad (by) catching it with one hand like that," Orton joked about that play. "He had a great game and had a couple really good catches. I thought we got a nice production out of the pass game."
While those impressive catches will be remembered by the masses for quite awhile, Marshall was pleased to help the offense move the chains all night long.
"It just felt good to be able to move the ball up and down the field and help the offense," he said.
SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS
Following Thursday night's win, players throughout the locker room talked about how the victory truly was a team effort. While the offense and defense certainly made their share of big plays during the Week 12 matchup, players on both sides of the ball understood that a number of special-teams standouts played an important role in the game as well.
At the top of that list? Matt Prater, who accounted for 12 of the team's 26 points by connecting on fields goals of 24, 26, 32 and 47 yards, respectively.
"That's what I'm supposed to do," Prater said. "When I go out to kick a field goal, they don't send me out there if they think I could miss it. So when I go out to kick I should make them all."
"I feel like most of my kicks were pretty close to the same coming off my foot, so it felt good," Prater continued. "I'll try to keep it up for the rest of the year."
Prater's field goal attempts were not the only kicks that looked good off of his foot. His kickoffs were equally as effective. On the evening, Prater notched seven kickoffs. All seven landed in the end zone, and a career-high five kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
"It was a pretty calm day," Prater said. "I had a little wind behind me -- it felt like every time I kicked -- and it felt good. Even the ones I didn't hit in (deep in) the end zone, the guys tackled them inside the 20, so those guys are doing a great job, too."
Indeed, Prater was far from Denver's only specialist to convert when special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and the Broncos called his number.
Mitch Berger had arguably his best game as a Bronco, booming his three punt attempts an average of 48.3 yards, including a 57-yard punt five minutes into the game.
Two of Berger's punts landed inside the 20, and some of that credit must go to the team's gunners, such as David Bruton, for being in proper position during their punt coverage assignments.
On Berger's second punt of the evening, which occurred with five and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, Bruton sprinted downfield and made a low tackle on returner Domenik Hixon at the New York 14-yard line. With just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Bruton hustled downfield once again, this time getting his hands on the ball and preventing the punt from going into the end zone. It was eventually downed at the six-yard line by Darrell Reid.
Prater said those special team's efforts were important, as they helped put the Denver defense in a favorable position throughout the contest.
"Their offense had to drive the ball I think at least 80 yards every time," he said. "Mitch punted awesome tonight, pinned them inside the 10, and those guys downed it awesome, too."
TWO MORE FOR DUMERVIL:
With two more sacks on Thursday night, Elvis Dumervil now leads Minnesota's Jared Allen by 3.5 sacks for the NFL lead in that category.
Dumervil's second-quarter sack of Manning gave the outside linebacker/defensive end a new career high with 13 sacks this season. His previous career high came in 2007, when he recorded 12.5 sacks.
The fourth-year player added to his total with a sack and forced fumble in the fourth quarter, giving him 14 sacks through Week 12. With those 14 sacks to his name, Dumervil ranks second in club history for a season behind only Simon Fletcher's 16 sacks in 1992.
Dumervil, who has five regular season games left to tie or break Fletcher's record, credited the aggressiveness of his teammates as well as the hometown faithful for helping him get to the quarterback on Thursday.
"It's all about a want-to," Dumervil said. "It's all about wanting to get to the ball, flying around. That comes with the crowd being there. The fans were great tonight, so I want to thank those fans. But the atmosphere was set and we had fun tonight."
NOTEWORTHY:
* Dumervil also ranks first in both sacks on third down (9) and sacks inside the opponent red zone (3) in 2009.
* Ty Law made his first start as a member of the Broncos on Thursday. The Thanksgiving matchup with New York marked Law's 200th regular-season contest. He is just the 11th cornerback in league history to reach that mark.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Playing on a Thanksgiving stage, Brandon Marshall put together a highlight-reel performance that likely won't soon be forgotten by the announced crowd of 74, 896 fans on hand at INVESCO Field at Mile High on Thursday night.
Marshall, who finished Week 12's 26-6 win over the New York Giants with six receptions for a game-high 86 receiving yards, made not one, but two acrobatic catches worthy of top play consideration -- not just for the week, but probably for the season.
"Kyle (Orton) believed in me and I went to coach and got in his ear," Marshall said. "I said 'Coach, let me make a play.' And he said 'Hey, we're going to call it.'"
Marshall's first spectacular play came midway through the second quarter, moments after Denver had swayed momentum in its favor following a forced fumble by Mario Haggan and an ensuing recovery by Brian Dawkins.
After that play, Denver's offense trotted onto the field and set up shop at the New York 38-yard line. Quickly, Orton and the Broncos set out to capitalize on that turnover, and they accomplished that goal.
On first down, Orton went play-action, faking a handoff to Knowshon Moreno and instead lofting a pass in the direction of Marshall, who was streaking down the right sideline.
The lengthy 6-foot-4 receiver leaped in the air and pulled the ball into his possession with his right hand at the New York 10-yard line. When all was said and done, Orton and Marshall had connected on a 28-yard pass-and-catch play. Three plays later, Moreno was in the end zone and the Broncos were in business with a 13-0 lead.
Moments into the third quarter, Marshall made yet another dazzling catch. On the Broncos' second offensive play from scrimmage in the second half, Orton -- operating out of the shotgun -- threw deep to Marshall, who ran a go route along the left sideline.
With Corey Webster covering the route tightly, Marshall tipped the ball to himself with his left hand and then corralled the ball while remaining in bounds. When the play was over, Marshall had netted a 33-yard gain down to the New York 36-yard line.
"I told him on the one (pass) on the sideline he was trying to make me look bad (by) catching it with one hand like that," Orton joked about that play. "He had a great game and had a couple really good catches. I thought we got a nice production out of the pass game."
While those impressive catches will be remembered by the masses for quite awhile, Marshall was pleased to help the offense move the chains all night long.
"It just felt good to be able to move the ball up and down the field and help the offense," he said.
SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS
Following Thursday night's win, players throughout the locker room talked about how the victory truly was a team effort. While the offense and defense certainly made their share of big plays during the Week 12 matchup, players on both sides of the ball understood that a number of special-teams standouts played an important role in the game as well.
At the top of that list? Matt Prater, who accounted for 12 of the team's 26 points by connecting on fields goals of 24, 26, 32 and 47 yards, respectively.
"That's what I'm supposed to do," Prater said. "When I go out to kick a field goal, they don't send me out there if they think I could miss it. So when I go out to kick I should make them all."
"I feel like most of my kicks were pretty close to the same coming off my foot, so it felt good," Prater continued. "I'll try to keep it up for the rest of the year."
Prater's field goal attempts were not the only kicks that looked good off of his foot. His kickoffs were equally as effective. On the evening, Prater notched seven kickoffs. All seven landed in the end zone, and a career-high five kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
"It was a pretty calm day," Prater said. "I had a little wind behind me -- it felt like every time I kicked -- and it felt good. Even the ones I didn't hit in (deep in) the end zone, the guys tackled them inside the 20, so those guys are doing a great job, too."
Indeed, Prater was far from Denver's only specialist to convert when special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and the Broncos called his number.
Mitch Berger had arguably his best game as a Bronco, booming his three punt attempts an average of 48.3 yards, including a 57-yard punt five minutes into the game.
Two of Berger's punts landed inside the 20, and some of that credit must go to the team's gunners, such as David Bruton, for being in proper position during their punt coverage assignments.
On Berger's second punt of the evening, which occurred with five and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter, Bruton sprinted downfield and made a low tackle on returner Domenik Hixon at the New York 14-yard line. With just under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Bruton hustled downfield once again, this time getting his hands on the ball and preventing the punt from going into the end zone. It was eventually downed at the six-yard line by Darrell Reid.
Prater said those special team's efforts were important, as they helped put the Denver defense in a favorable position throughout the contest.
"Their offense had to drive the ball I think at least 80 yards every time," he said. "Mitch punted awesome tonight, pinned them inside the 10, and those guys downed it awesome, too."
TWO MORE FOR DUMERVIL:
With two more sacks on Thursday night, Elvis Dumervil now leads Minnesota's Jared Allen by 3.5 sacks for the NFL lead in that category.
Dumervil's second-quarter sack of Manning gave the outside linebacker/defensive end a new career high with 13 sacks this season. His previous career high came in 2007, when he recorded 12.5 sacks.
The fourth-year player added to his total with a sack and forced fumble in the fourth quarter, giving him 14 sacks through Week 12. With those 14 sacks to his name, Dumervil ranks second in club history for a season behind only Simon Fletcher's 16 sacks in 1992.
Dumervil, who has five regular season games left to tie or break Fletcher's record, credited the aggressiveness of his teammates as well as the hometown faithful for helping him get to the quarterback on Thursday.
"It's all about a want-to," Dumervil said. "It's all about wanting to get to the ball, flying around. That comes with the crowd being there. The fans were great tonight, so I want to thank those fans. But the atmosphere was set and we had fun tonight."
NOTEWORTHY:
* Dumervil also ranks first in both sacks on third down (9) and sacks inside the opponent red zone (3) in 2009.
* Ty Law made his first start as a member of the Broncos on Thursday. The Thanksgiving matchup with New York marked Law's 200th regular-season contest. He is just the 11th cornerback in league history to reach that mark.