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Oct 6, 2008 5:19 am US/Mountain
Rivers: Sunday Win Was Best So Far For Broncos
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DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Michael Pittman on Sunday.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
The Broncos win over the Buccaneers was their most impressive victory of the season thus far. Sure, they scored a lot more points in their first three outings. Yes, the last-second heroics in the victories over San Diego and New Orleans were more exciting, but today's win was better.
First, Jay Cutler demonstrated a maturity that is beyond his years. Last week in Kansas City, Cutler tried too hard to force the ball to Brandon Marshall and threw two preventable interceptions.
Marshall had only two receptions because Cutler recognized that his superstar receiver was double-covered and threw the ball elsewhere. Nine different Broncos caught passes from Cutler.
That's exactly what Cutler should do every time Marshall gets doubled. He should punish teams for focusing so heavily on the receiver. In the process, he moves the ball up and down the field, without inviting the risk that comes with trying to squeeze passes into Marshall.
On the defensive side of the ball, we saw a vast improvement. Against the run, the Broncos were aggressive on the front side, while maintaining disciplined pursuit on the backside.
The problem that they've had in the past is that all of their fast linebackers and safeties run sideline to sideline in pursuit of the ball. That heavy pursuit invites a running back to cut back against the grain and gash them for huge gains.
Repeatedly, we saw defenders on the front-side of the play charge straight up the field to get penetration and disrupt the flow, while the defenders on the back-side, pursued with discipline so that when the ball-carrier made the cut-back, they were in position to make the tackle.
That type of front-side aggression is a critical component of run-stopping, and the Broncos executed it perfectly. Along the way, the D also generated 3 sacks and an interception.
So the discipline that the Broncos offense and defense showed Sunday afternoon made this their best win of the season. This is the performance that they want to replicate week after week.
The Broncos improve to 4-1, and they have a commanding lead over everyone else in the division. The Chargers lost today, so their record is 2-3; the Chiefs lost, so they fall to 1-4, and the Raiders had a bye, so they have to wait until next week to lose another game.
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