Broncos ‘D’ Makes It’s First Appearance In 08′

How bout’ them Broncos? Sure, it may not have been an offensive thriller, but it was good to see the defense finally step up! Elvis Dumervil got his first sack of the season, the Broncos only gave up 139 yards on the ground, there was no big kick/punt return against Denver, and the Buccaneers only managed to score 13 points. It was a nail biter, but it was the kind of game that I wanted to see. The kind of game where the Broncos’ offense wasn’t as productive, but the defense showed what they were really capable of doing. They proved that they do have the hard-nosed game that it takes to win Super Bowls. Now, we just need to get the offense and the defense on the same page during the same game.

Not that the offense had a horrible game by any means. Jay Cutler may  not have had his usual 300 yards passing, but he didn’t turn the ball over, and he still had 227 yards and 1 TD. It also helps to have Jason Elam, er, I mean Matt Prater on our side. He went 3-3 on field goals and gave fans a lot more confidence in the kicking game. Nine different Broncos caught a pass today, and the running game had a few big third down conversions. The longest run for the Broncos came from Cutler as he had a 12 yard run against Tampa Bay’s very aggressive defense.  It doesn’t matter that the leading rusher, Michael Pittman, only had 39 yards on 6 carries. When a team is able to move the ball down the field and convert on important plays that keeps the drive going, then they’ve got a good shot at winning the game. Today proved just that.

Maybe it was the 98′ Super Bowl alumni on the field that motivated the defense to perform well. Maybe the defense smelled the 10 year-old Super Bowl rings, and realized that this team is good enough to win an 08′ ring if they play a little defense.

What do you think the Broncos chances are of winning a Super Bowl ring this year? Leave your comments below.