7 winners, 1 loser from the Broncos 18-12 win over the Patriots

‘Tis never a bad day when the Denver Broncos leave Foxborough with a win.

And that’s exactly what Drew Lock, Vic Fangio and the Broncos did on Sunday after their 18-12 victory over Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Hmm, 18-12. That, as Adam Malnati said to end the MHR Radio Podcast, just feels right.

It was far from perfect or beautiful, but all that matters is the win. The fact Denver (2-3) is able to work on its issues after a victory is a heck of a lot better than doing so had it lost this game.

As Adam and I said on the podcast, Broncos Country can see the light at the end of the tunnel after this win. For the first time in five years. Five long years.

Per the usual, I’m bound to forget someone or leave them off, so please mention them in the comments.

Winners

Brandon McManus

To be fair, it’s really McManus 18, Patriots 12. In all seriousness, the Broncos kicker was McMoney, going 6-for-6 on the day.

Vic Fangio & Ed Donatell

Masterful defensive game plan from both Fangio and Donatell. To hold an NFL offense to 12 points is credit to the coaches for putting the players in the position to have success; especially with the game on the line. And Fangio deserves credit for his team getting the win in a close game.

Broncos defense

Instead of listing every player individually, which would take forever, this whole unit deserves credit. And to be honest, there are a lot of guys who deserve a shoutout after this type of showing. Denver’s defense not only won the turnover battle but also hit, pressured and sacked Cam Newton all game long. In the end, the Broncos had three turnovers and four sacks. Helluva game from Denver’s defense. Every member of the unit is a winner after Sunday. So, in a sense, this is like 20 winners.

Phillip Lindsay

The Broncos running back finished with 23 carries for 101 yards and helped the Broncos win the time of possession. It would have been nice to see offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur use Lindsay to run the ball and use some clock late in the game, but as I mentioned, better to have that issues after a win. What Lindsay brings isn’t just yards and carries, but passion. It can’t be overstated how much that helps fuel Denver’s offense.

Tim Patrick

Ho-hum, four catches for 101 yards for the Broncos receiver. Patrick helped Denver move the ball efficiently and effectively against a defense that held Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in check.

Drew Lock

The Broncos quarterback cannot have those late interceptions. He knows that. But he’s on the winners list because he still led the offense on six scoring drives. When was the last time you could say that about the offense in the Mile High City? Yes, imagine if those were touchdowns. But, guess what, as a Denver fan, we can finally imagine. These are all correctable issues and when they get them figured out? Watch out. I like the way Lock played and how Shurmur had Lock use his arm to test the New England defense. This was also Lock’s first game back from his shoulder injury. Not too bad.

Losers

None from the Broncos

You get a big win on the road over Belichick and the Patriots, no one is a loser. Great team win. Build on this and bring on the Chiefs.

The broadcast crew

Kevin Harlan is one of the best play-by-play announcers in the business, but he and Trent Green had a rough day. Yes, the names of Albert Okwuegbunam and Michael Ojemudia are not easy to pronounce, but the producers, directors or people back in New York for CBS should have helped them out. For the future, as Albert O says on Twitter, it’s “Oak-woo-aye-boo-nom.” And for the Broncos rookier cornerback, it’s “oh-jayMOO-dee-uh.”