Denver Broncos Vs Cincinnati Bengals Post-Game Victory Thoughts

The Denver Broncos have defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24-22. There were a lot of positives, but of course with a team that is rebuilding like we are, there were a lot of negatives as well. Lets start with what is going to be talked about anyways. 

Kyle Orton in my honest opinion, played an excellent game. There were no turnovers(EDIT: MEANT NO INTERCEPTIONS my apologies) , and he made a lot of plays when he needed to. Our third down conversion was pretty good. Of course he did not look flashy or even as good as we have seen him in other games, but you have to think about what Kyle Orton had to work with. 

Kyle Orton had three receivers on the roster today. Think about that for a second. Three receivers. Early in the game, Eddie Royal was injured. So then he was down to two. I think he did a great job with Decker getting him into space to to complete passes.  I think we found out that Matthew Willis can be a good substitute when top guys need a rest, but you can expect Willis to play more in the upcoming weeks because it looks like Eddie Royal could be out for a little while. 

Another top target of Kyle Orton is Tight End Julius Thomas. Early in the game, Thomas left the game with an injury. What did anyone expect Orton to do? In fact, I am SHOCKED that Orton was able to make the throws that he did. He did not force much and I think that goes to show you that a good running game and an average passing day can win. That being said, Kyle Orton has to stop the fumbles because we won't get away with that against Tennessee or Green bay.

Willis McGahee looked like he wanted to take the number one job. He played hard and lowered the boom when he needed the short yardage. The Broncos ran the ball today 35 times. Orton passed 25 times. This sets up play-action very well and allowed us to control the clock. I think one of the more overrated stats people look at is yards per carry. McGahee had 3.6 but he had 101 yards. I will take a 10 play drive to score than a two play drive with a huge play. It opens up your playbook and tires out the opposing defense. 

Lets talk about the fourth wide receiver. Tim Tebow played out wide a bit today. Tebow played on the scout team during practice instead of standing around.  I think two things about this:

1) Tebow is just a decoy. If the Broncos were serious about using Tebow, he would of been out there a bit more than he was. If you are a defensive coordinator, you can't ignore that Tebow was out there because of his abilities. or....

2) This could be part of a new package. Tebow is wide out and maybe eventually they will add more in that he will take a reverse or take the ball to throw it. Just a thought and probably wrong.

We better hope that Brandon Lloyd is back soon because right now we have no deep threat. Our receiving core is hurting and if Eddie Royal is out for a long time, might have to look at someone like......dare I say it....Terrell Owens.

Lets talk about defense. It was not great today but it played well when it had to, in the fourth quarter. I thought the defensive tackles played well today. Also, Ayers played alright. Someone who I noticed in todays game with hard hits and being all over the field was Joe Mays. I think Mays will continue to be a good depth linebacker. 

But holy crap, do we miss D.J. Williams. D.J Williams is one of the better tacklers on the team. We could seal the edge and that is what helped Cedric Benson early on. 

Our corners were also picked on today. But I was not surprised. I have not been an Andre Goodman fan as of last season and Cassius Vaughn played like what he is, an undrafted rookie. Of course a top 5 draft pick will annihilate an undrafted rookie. The mismatch was so obvious, I don't blame Andy Dalton for it for throwing at Vaughn all day.

Lastly, how about Wesley Woodyard? Wow! he played well and was making tackles everywhere. He had one of the best plays of the game on that pass bat down late in the game on third and long on the Bengals last possession. 

But hey, the Broncos won. I think we should be happy. Forget the QB controversy because we won. That is what we should be celebrating. Celebrate the break out of Eric Decker. Celebrate Von Miller's first sack. Von Miller played great. He is so fast and comes off the edge moving the quarterback. He looked good in coverage except for the long pass play near the end.

Game ball for me goes to Eric Decker and Wesley Woodyard.

Thoughts on the game?