The Broncos opened the season with a complete nail biter of a victory against the Panthers on Thursday, and Trevor Siemian looked as if he had played more then just one snap in his NFL career before. And the defense did what they were expected to do: take over and seal the deal.

Ken Lanier, retired right tackle for the Broncos, loved the call by Coach Kubiak with the timeout to ice the kicker on the potential game winning field goal.

“You had the home field factor,” Lanier told Gil Whiteley on Mile High Sports Radio. “The first time he kicked it good and the second kick he had a high snap and had to bring it down. Hey, the whole thing is, we won by a point. When you see the W and the loss, that’s all you’re going to see, the big W that we got.”

The Broncos offense, led by Siemian, was consistent all night. There were times the offensive line collapsed and Siemian was rushed to make a play but that didn’t seem to rattle his cage. Facing the sixth ranked defense in the league, the offensive line held strong.

“I thought it was good. They did a lot of great things,” Lanier said. “Of course you had some breakdowns, but that’s natural. It’s the first game of the season and you opened up against a tough opponent with a good defensive line that your going against. Along with a good set of linebackers, too. It shows that you know you have room for improvement and you make those improvements and get some people healthy, we’re going to have a good team.”

The first game of the season can show some a team what they did well and what needs to be worked on. Time and practice will only allow the relationship between teammates to grow and play better together; Lanier knows this all to well.

“Right now, every one is kind of in the spot they’re going to play and get a chance to settle in,” Lanier said. “You get locked in and get this sense of feel of what the guy next to you is going to do. He gets the feel of what you’re going to do, too.”

As well as the Broncos offense played in week one, look for them to only get better as the season continues.

“A couple of blitzes were missed, but it’s one of those situations, as they get to playing, they’ll see it coming and at least be able to get a hand on the linebacker. You know, so they can slow them up,” Lanier said. “It’s all about working together, getting to practice and know each other.”

The outlook after the game against the Panthers is very exciting. With a defense like that and the talent the offense showed, Denver is looking for a repeat of 2015.

To catch the full discussion with Ken Lanier, including his thoughts on the Broncos defense, click the podcast below…

https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/9-9-16-ken-lanier-joins-gil-to-talk-about-the-broncos-big-win

Catch Gil Whiteley Monday-Friday from 11a-12p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.