Drew Lock, Broncos surprise us in a good way in first preseason game

Good morning, Broncos Country!

That was a helluva first step for the Denver Broncos.

Drew Lock was better than I expected.

The offense was sharp.

Teddy Bridgewater was steady and also played well.

Javonte Williams is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Pat Surtain II was equally, if not more, impressive.

KJ Hamler could become a serious offensive weapon.

Trinity Benson carried over his strong training camp with a two-touchdown performance.

Caden Sterns flashed in his first NFL game.

I could keep going, but you get the idea. When it comes to first preseason games, it doesn’t get any better than for Denver. It certainly beats the alternative.

And how nice was it to see 33 points? Yes, even against a Minnesota Vikings defense that didn’t play most of its starters. It feels like forever since the Broncos scored 33 points, let alone 26 in the first half. In fact, per Dave Logan on the radio call of the game, this is the most points they’ve scored in a preseason game since they beat the Los Angeles Rams 40-31 in 1988.

No doubt it was the first preseason game against a team that didn’t play its starters. Some will choose to focus on that aspect of the game. Others will enjoy what they saw and hope Denver builds off this heading into next week, the week after that and into the regular season. It’s certainly not a bad thing that Lock and the Broncos looked as good as they did, right?

I’ve been skeptical of Lock all offseason, but even I can admit he looked really good and was in control of the offense on Saturday. To have Lock and Denver carry this over to the regular season ...

That’s the key in all of this, for Lock, Bridgewater and the Broncos to play the same way come Week 1 against the New York Giants. Now Bridgewater gets his chance to start against the Seattle Seahawks and see if he can match what Lock threw out there against the Vikings. The bar has been set in this competition.

In the meantime, Broncos Country has a lot to like right now. When it comes to first steps, it doesn’t get any better.

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