Broncos

DENVER (CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) ― Champ Bailey could scarcely believe his eyes.

At one of the most crucial junctures of Monday night's game with the Baltimore Ravens -- one which could well determine the eventual winner and loser of this duel among contenders with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations -- Bailey faded back in coverage, looked and saw exactly the pass he'd prepared for.

Clarence Moore, the Ravens' 6-foot-6, 230-pound receiver, sprinted to the end zone on a play from the 10-yard-line. The math was easy, because Bailey had prepared: big receiver plus red-zone equals fade route.

"What else is he going to do in the red zone?" Bailey said. "Throw him the ball and hope he can out-jump me."

This was exactly the kind of play Bailey had scant chance to make in the season's first three games -- mainly because the football simply wasn't flying in his direction. He'd made tackles -- 19 solo stops and one assist before the Week 4 bye -- but the majority of those had come in run support.

But with 36 seconds remaining before halftime, the ball floated in Bailey's direction. As it turned out, so too did the game. He leapt for the ball, cradled it, preserved a halftime stalemate and kept the padlock on the end zone for another possession.

And it happened because he was prepared.

"It's a little film study there that got me that pick," Bailey said. "Every time they put that guy in the game, they throw him a fade route. They tried it on me."

Baltimore wouldn't come within 30 yards of the end zone from that point forward, and the defensive momentum established by Bailey's interception allowed the Broncos offense time to build towards back-to-back scoring drives that eventually sealed a 13-3 win.

It was a turning point.

"I think Champ's interception was the play of the game," fellow cornerback Darrent Williams said.

It was also a welcome development for Denver's defense, which had accounted for two takeaways in the season's first three weeks.

"I was glad to see them throw one at him, yeah," Broncos defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "Yeah. That'll work for me. Yup."

And what's working most of all for Coyer is his defense as a whole -- which in the Broncos' sole Monday Night Football appearance of 2005 showed the nation for a second consecutive game that it isn't merely an effective unit, but a dominant one, capable of dismantling an opposing offense with two P's: playmaking and perfectionism.

SECONDARY PROVES PRIMARY

Williams and Domonique Foxworth see Bailey's career and performance as an ideal model to follow. So it should stand to reason that the pair of second-year cornerbacks watched Bailey snag McNair's pass in the north end zone and think to themselves, "I need to get some of that."

"Being on the other side of Champ obviously puts more pressure on me," Williams said. "I want to be at Champ's level one day. That's why I work every day to get better."

Williams' turn came in the fourth quarter, with the Broncos nursing a 6-3 lead and the game hanging in an uncertain realm that stemmed not only from the close score, but in the come-from-behind ability Baltimore demonstrated in the previous two weeks, when it rallied from final-quarter deficits to upend the Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers.

Then McNair rolled left, looked for Mark Clayton and found Williams instead. Familiarity with an opponent had again favored the Broncos. This time, though, it didn't just have to do with tape study; Williams and Clayton played on opposite sides of the "Bedlam" rivalry between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma, respectively.

Nevertheless, the week of preparation paid dividends.

"All week we worked on that. It's a 'smash route,'" Williams said. "The one receiver would go in and the two receiver would run a corner route. I just read (McNair's) eyes and settled back in the zone. I think he thought I would bite on the shorter route."

Williams didn't. His reward was the football. His team's was good field position with which it would begin its final scoring drive.

Bailey's interception had prevented a touchdown. Williams' set one up. Foxworth's -- on a pass that was tipped by Gerard Warren -- sealed Denver's third consecutive win and second straight over the Ravens after three consecutive regular-season defeats.

"It was easy," Foxworth said, "but I'll take them any way I can get them."

TURNOVER TOUCH

If the cliché is true and luck is indeed the intersection where preparation meets opportunity, then the Broncos made their own luck in recapturing the ability to force turnovers that they displayed so prominently last season.

"I knew once we got one pick, they'd start coming," Bailey said.

They did more than come. They helped the Broncos get the better of the game's turnover margin -- finishing plus-1, an outcome that seemed unlikely after the Ravens recovered a Tatum Bell fumble and snagged an interception on back-to-back first-quarter possessions.

"We've been preaching that we need to come back as far as turnovers were concerned and we need to stand up as a defense and make some plays," Foxworth said, "so it came to fruition."

But that only proved meaningful because of the eventual result. Three interceptions in a 10-point loss would have been a moot point.

"All that matters is that they don't score points," Bailey said. "That's all that matters. If you come out on top in the end, forget the takeaways."

But the Ravens couldn't forget them. Not when it was the Broncos' takeaways that snatched victory from their talons.

HIGHER STANDARD

Here's where the afore-mentioned second "p" comes into play.

Last month, the 2006 Broncos became the first team since the 1942 Chicago Cardinals to go 11 quarters into a season without allowing a touchdown. Then the Broncos became just the second team since 1940 to permit just one touchdown in its first four games while getting through a third consecutive home game (dating back to last year) without allowing a touchdown. For that matter, the Broncos have allowed just 12 points in their past three regular-season home games and 22 in their last five, averages of 4.0 and 4.4 points per game, respectively.

Why, then, weren't they smiling and giddy over their accomplishments? Probably because it was only Week 5 -- even though the 39-degree temperatures and chilling rain made it seem more like mid-December than early October.

"We feel like we're a step ahead, but at the same time, we also feel like there's some room for improvement," linebacker Al Wilson said. "We're going to go back and watch the film tomorrow, be hard on ourselves, be critical of everything we've done, and hopefully we can clean up the mistakes we made."

"We've got a few things to tighten up. A few loose ends we can tighten up," defensive tackle Gerard Warren said.

Asked to elaborate, he focused on technicalities. Minute details? Yes. Important ones? Definitely.

"As a player and individual, you know the technique errors that you made, the technical errors you made on the field," Warren said. "You might have had your hand in the wrong place. We pay attention to small details, so we might go out and not give up any rushing yards, but we come back and still have something negative to coach ourselves off of and that's what we look at after a victory. We know the things that we can do.

"It's the things we messed up on that we want to correct and not let that occur again."

All in the name of accomplishing the defense's simple but clear standards.

"It's all about keeping them out of the end zone and winning games," Bailey said. "That's what it's all about."

Two goals which the Broncos have accomplished so far this season. Two goals that will help the defense slither closer to its goal -- to save its best game for last.

"I think we'll play our best game down in Miami (at Super Bowl XLI)," Warren said.

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