Initial thoughts from Broncos’ 29-12 win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 12 at Empower Field at Mile High:
Old memories: For those of us old enough to remember the 1980s, Broncos-Browns was appointment viewing once upon a time. This was, of course, before Art Modell committed crimes against humanity by moving the Browns to Baltimore and turning them into the Ravens. The fumble. The drive. Clay Matthews. John Elway. Bernie Kosar. Dan Reeves. Marty Schottenheimer. Sad, sad Marty Schottenheimer. It’s hard not to think about all those moments — all Broncos triumphs, mind you — whenever these two teams come together … and then curse Modell’s name for ruining it all.
Garett vs. Garrett: How do you make the Browns defense look ordinary? It starts by neutralizing superstar defensive end Myles Garrett, the No. 1 overall draft pick who entered Sunday’s game as the front runner for NFL defensive player of the year. That’s exactly what veteran left tackle Garett Bolles did in the first half, holding the pass rusher to zero QB hits and just one tackle for loss. Granted, head coach Sean Payton made sure Bolles had plenty of help with chips and double teams. But it was an impressive half all the same — punctuated by Bolles’ pancake block as a pulling tackle on a 10-yard Javonte Williams run.
Is this football? Or no?: The most difficult job in pro sports? Being a hard-hitting NFL defender. If it wasn’t clear after all the flags thrown at Kareem Jackson’s feet earlier this season (and, yes, some were legit), it certainly was after Sunday’s third quarter. First, there was the unnecessary roughness penalty on P.J. Locke that extended a Browns touchdown drive. OK, fine. Maybe an argument could be made there. But the roughing the passer flag on Baron Browning? Let’s face it, that doesn’t get thrown if Dorian Thompson-Robinson isn’t writhing on the turf in the immediate aftermath. That it took the official several seconds to throw it made that obvious.
Team Takeaway: Of course, in the ultimate show of football karma, that last flag didn’t end up mattering, even if the impact of Browning’s hit did (DTR didn’t return). Why? Because defensive tackle D.J. Jones blew up a reverse run two plays later and recovered the fumble in Browns territory — setting off an Empower Field explosion with another Denver touchdown soon thereafter. All told, the Denver D came up with three takeaways Sunday, with Locke getting a measure of redemption with a strip sack of his own. The Broncos’ total through the last four games: 15. And now they’re 6-5 and right back in the playoff hunt. To quote an in-game texter: Ball. Don’t. Lie.
Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.
from The Denver Post https://ift.tt/cDREAlo
via IFTTT
Comments
Post a Comment