The defense again proved to be the difference for the Broncos on Sunday, as Wade Phillips’ unit posted seven sacks, 11 quarterback hits, nine tackles for loss and a critical fumble recovery to seal a 23-20 victory over Minnesota.
Despite the defensive dominance, two of this week’s studs come from the offensive side of the ball. Sound crazy? You’ll have to read on.
Dud No. 3 – Bradley Roby
After back-to-back games with impact plays (fumble recovery at Kansas City, interception at Detroit), Bradley Roby came back down to earth against Teddy Bridgewater and the Minnesota Vikings.
Denver’s efforts to stop the run put all three Broncos cornerbacks on an island and Bridgewater was able to take advantage (somewhat). Roby was his primary victim.
Bridgewater going right at Bradley Roby today.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 4, 2015
Roby allowed 86 of Bridgewater’s 269 yards passing on the day, the most yards allowed by any player in the game.
Stud No. 3 – Demaryius Thomas
After taking a nasty helmet-to-helmet hit in the third quarter, Demaryius Thomas headed to the Broncos locker room to have his neck evaluated by trainers. A tremor went through the crowd at Sports Authority Field, as it appeared Peyton Manning would be without his No. 1 target for the remainder of the game.
It was a wave of relief when the bruising wideout came out of the tunnel, apparently ready to go.
Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas upgraded to probable. He's back out there with his teammates.
— Raul Martinez (@RaulNBCBoston) October 4, 2015
Thomas ended the day with 93 yards on nine receptions. Both were game highs. His presence on the final drive meant Minnesota had to commit two defenders to him, thus opening up the field for the rest of the offense and helping to set up the game-winning field goal.
Dud No. 2 – Peyton Manning
There are plenty of people defending Peyton Manning after another game with a sub-70 passer rating, because the Broncos got the win after all. But it was the second game of the year in which Manning had more interceptions than touchdowns and one of those picks was nearly a go-ahead pick-six in the fourth quarter. The other changed the tenor of the game, coming late in the half and letting Minnesota back in the game instead of giving Denver back-to-back scoring chances.
What’s more, his in-play decision making seems to have lost its edge compared to years past.
Peyton Manning no longer reading the defense like he used. All pre-snap now. Just throwing to spots.
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) October 4, 2015
Denver no longer needs Manning to go out and single-handedly win games. But his telegraphing of passes and recent penchant for throwing pick-sixes at tide-shifting moments has to be a concern for Broncos fans.
Stud No. 2 – T.J. Ward
T.J. Ward somehow didn’t land on Pro Football Focus’ top performers list from this game, despite posting six solo tackles, two tackles for loss, one QB hit and two sacks, including the game-sealing strip sack.
And it seemed like he was in on virtually every other play on Sunday.
#Broncos T.J. Ward is everywhere #understatement
— Arran Andersen (@arranandersen) October 4, 2015
Ward was the tip of the spear for a Broncos defense that posted a season-high seven sacks and held the league’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, to under 100 yards. Oh yeah, and did we mention he had the play that locked up the win? We might mention it again.
Dud No. 1 – Aqib Talib
Since beginning the year against Baltimore with a 12.5 cornerback rating according to Rotoworld, Aqib Talib has seen a decline in every game, dipping all the way down to a 1.5 rating on Sunday – the league average for corners was a 2.4 this week.
According to PFF, on Sunday Talib gave up 70 yards on six of seven targets against four different receivers. Talib was giving Mike Wallace huge cushions all day and got turned around by rookie wide Stefon Diggs.
Check out this move that former Terp Stefon Diggs puts on Broncos corner Aqib Talib http://t.co/ogiBFIpgDD pic.twitter.com/NUggshgjCq
— Testudo Times (@testudotimes) October 5, 2015
Talib was getting little help all day, as Denver was committed to stopping Adrian Peterson, but he allowed some big plays that could have hurt the Broncos if the d-line hadn’t been so dominant.
Stud No. 1 – Owen Daniels
After three weeks of being put in the corner, Owen Daniels showed up and had the best game of his early Broncos career.
The wide-open touchdown reception on fourth-and-one was a brilliant play call and Daniels executed it perfectly. It also put him in sole possession of an impressive streak.
Broncos TE @owendaniels w/TD catch for 2nd consec game. He has a catch in 107 consec games, marking the longest active streak by an NFL TE.
— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) October 4, 2015
But that wasn’t the reason he earned our No. 1 stud ranking.
The block he threw on Terence Newman that freed Ronnie Hillman for a 72-yard touchdown run was a huge momentum changer. But it’s not why Daniels tops our list.
The play that earns him our No. 1 honor of the week was a tackle. After Peyton Manning threw an interception to the Vikings’ Anthony Barr late in the second quarter, Daniels chased down the linebacker and prevented a potential touchdown (only Manning was left to defend the rest of the field).
Yes, the Vikings went on to score the touchdown anyway, but the tackle was part of an all-around effort by Daniels that exemplifies the kind kicking and screaming attitude that John Elway asks of his team.