The entire world thought the Broncos would come out conservative, running the ball, playing the field position game and relying on their all-world defense. That wasn’t the case. In fact, that before-mentioned all-world defense didn’t exactly pick up where they left off last season. That’s not to say they won’t return to form — there’s plenty of season left — but it forced the offense to carry their fair share of weight on Thursday.
The Broncos found themselves down 17-7 after the first half, though it could have been a lot worse given their two first-half turnovers. The first came on DeVontae Booker’s first career carry, and the second came on a great play by Thomas Davis, who intercepted Siemian on a deflected pass.
Siemian finished the half 8-12 with 92 yards and the one interception.
The Broncos finally forced a three-and-out to start the second half after the Panthers dominated on third down in the first, and then Kubiak went right back to Trevor.
Unfortunately, Trevor subsequently threw another interception. He was under pressure, but if he had a little more air under the ball, it’s probably six, a problem Siemian displayed in the preseason as well.
Gary Kubiak coached the hell out of this game and did everything he could to have his team prepared, putting Trevor Siemian in great position to manage the game. The old K.I.S.S. acronym — Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I’m not calling anyone stupid down at Dove Valley, because we all know the football knowledge runs deep down there; I’m simply giving credit where credit is due, to Gary Kubiak and his coaching staff.
Denver’s defense didn’t get off to the best start on Thursday night; they weren’t terrible, but we have all come to expect much better than we saw throughout the first half. We want to and expect to see the defense that we saw in the second half, the defense that held the same Panthers team that scored 17 in the first to just three points in the second.
We should all also keep in mind that the Carolina Panthers are really, really good at playing football. They lost just one game last year and have now lost two straight games dating back to February, both at the hands of your Denver Broncos.
The season opener went about as well as Denver fans could have hoped for — well, aside from a 49-3 blowout where Trevor Siemian threw for three or four touchdowns and Von Miller scored twice, but you know what I mean.
We found out that this Denver defense is sti will be just as good as they were last year, if not better. Think about that, them being better than they were last year! It’s possible if Von plays the way he played in the post season for the majority of the season, the secondary does their part as they do and the young/old combo of Ware, Ray and Barret pick up the Malik Jackson slack and then some. It won’t be easy, but it’s possible, and they showed that Thursday night.
Is Trevor Siemian the answer at quarterback for the Denver Broncos? That’s still to be determined, but right now he is 1-0 and just beat the defending NFC Champions and reigning NFL MVP!
