The Good and the Bad from the Denver Broncos Opening Night Win

Sep 7, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos safety Rahim Moore (26) reacts after catching an interception during the second half against the Indianapolis Colts at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos won their opener on Sunday night over the Indianapolis Colts. It’s true the fourth quarter got a little too interesting but the Broncos beat a good team. It’s also a win that could have playoff implications and now the Broncos hold the tiebreaker over the Colts.

We started this in the preseason and will continue the feature the day after every Broncos game; it’s what I liked and what I didn’t like.

What I liked:

• First half offense: The offense came out ready to play and scored on all four possessions to take a 24-0 lead. Peyton Manning exposed a mismatch with tight-end Julius Thomas that led to three touchdowns. Manning also got newcomer Emmanuel Sanders involved in the offense.
• Bradley Roby: The rookie cornerback played a lot and played well. He got beat a couple of times early but then settled into the game. Roby made a great play on the goal line that kept a Colts receiver out of the end zone on third down. That stop led to a fourth down stop, keeping the Colts from scoring. Roby then made the play at the end of the game to clinch the win. He covered veteran receiver Reggie Wayne and made a great play on the ball to knock it away.
• Nate Irving: Irving continued his strong play from the preseason with several key stops in the run game, and was a huge factor in the Broncos red zone defense.
• Rahim Moore: It’s hard not to root for Moore after all he’s been through with the gaffe versus the Baltimore Ravens, and then almost losing his leg to a bizarre injury last season. He’s a humble kid who does things the right way and on Sunday night he came up with two big interceptions. The first one led to the Broncos opening touchdown and the second stopped a Colts drive in the fourth quarter. Moore could be in for a big year because he finally has a real strong safety in TJ Ward playing alongside him.
• The win: As Manning said following the game, “Never take winning for granted.” I know we are all getting spoiled with Manning and the Broncos but that was a good win over a very good football team.

What I didn’t like:

• The pass rush: The lack of pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck was disturbing. That was supposed to be a strength of the Broncos defense and it was lacking on Sunday night. This defense is built around getting pressure on the quarterback so when it doesn’t happen; they are going to struggle as they did in the fourth quarter.
• Second half offense: Many are people are pointing to the defense as the reason for the Colts getting back into the game in the second half. There’s little doubt that they need to play better but the offense put them in some bad spots. The offense could not get anything going in the second half when one scoring drive probably puts the game away. Not only could the Broncos not score, they couldn’t even sustain drives and that led to the defense being on the field for far too long. Going forward, I wouldn’t be too concerned about this but it almost cost the Broncos on Sunday night.
• Running game: There are two things that bothered me as it relates to the running game. One being the Broncos refusal to run the ball on the goal line when they had first and goal from the three in the first quarter. They threw the ball three times with no success and that led to a short field goal. The second thing is just the execution in the running game. There were very few holes and Montee Ball struggled to see them when they were there. If the Broncos are going to get where they want to get to, then they have to run the ball better.
• Demaryius Thomas: I’m not going to go crazy on this one but Thomas struggled on Sunday night. He had some drops and just looked disengaged. For now I’m going to chalk it up to one of those nights, but he needs to play well next week.
• Play calling: This somewhat relates to the running game but it was not a great night for offense coordinator Adam Gase. He got away from the running game and really botched the Broncos last possession that gave the Colts a chance to win the game. We all understand that Manning is the quarterback but Gase needs to be more balanced, especially with a late lead.

It was a typical opening game, some good and some things to work on but the Broncos got the win and that’s what matters. It’s on to week two and a key divisional game versus the Kansas City Chiefs.