Broncos vs. Cardinals: The No Bull Review

We have been lost, parched, and crawling through the desert of losing NFL football for so long.

And Sunday were treated to a rare oasis in the desert with a 9-point win over the hapless Arizona Cardinals.

So now we rejoice, right?

We get excited about what an excellent job the team did in putting forth a winning effort, right?

Sorry, Broncos Country. That’s bull.

Let’s be honest. We finally played an opponent at our sad, pathetic level of capability. We got some lucky bounces and turned them into a solid win at home.

I’m glad that the team got to feel the feeling of victory. I’m proud of the effort the coaches, players, and organization put forth in getting that win this week.

But at the end of the day, this team is still miles away from anything that looks like a standard of competitive football that fans can cheer about (just ask the 18,000+ no-shows).

Offense

This is probably coming from me being desensitized to good offensive football from the turd sandwich the Denver Broncos have been trotting out on the field for the first 13 games of the season, but that was some of the best offensive football we’ve seen from this team all season long.

The coaches finally got something out of the run game (though most of that probably came from the level of competition on the other side of the ball).

Our backup quarterback looked pretty darn decent overall and managed the game well enough to get 24 points on the board (which to a Broncos fan is the equivalent of a normal team scoring 40).

The earth moved. It was astounding.

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

I’m honestly most excited about this game seeing Latavius Murray pop off along with Brett Rypien getting a win. A close second was the 3rd and 4th stringers that had to come in and play on our piecemeal offensive line. They held it down well.

Defense

With an opponent also using a backup quarterback, it was good to see the Broncos get some turnovers on defense. You should be able to do that fairly consistently when you are facing a backup.

Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

Justin Simmons reminded Broncos Country why he got the extension by making two awesome interceptions.

DeSawn Williams had a hell of a day as well with 2.5 sacks, 2 TFLs, and a whopping 4 QB hits.

Special Teams

I am questioning the future of the special teams guys in Brandon McManus and Corliss Waitman. Both of them are having a bad year and the Broncos should probably look at serious competition at both kicking spots this offseason.

Final Thoughts

I did have a pretty entertained moment when Kliff Kingsbury had his team go for 2 early against the Broncos. It is nice to see a coach outside of our own make a bone-headed mistake as a coach. The analytics will tell you that you should go for it early there as if you get the 2-point conversion, it somehow makes it more likely you win later. The flaw with that thinking is that if you miss, it tanks your chances as well as your team’s emotional momentum (which sadly analytics doesn’t have a way to measure which is why coaches coach and computers pull up stats).

I’d love to be more cheery, but this team is 4-10. They are a joke. Talking up a win like this is disingenuous at best. I’m not a guy who can rah-rah a team who has already lined up 10 losses.

I’ll hope to see a similar effort on Christmas day against the Rams, but I won’t expect it.