Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib gets some oxygen in the fourth quarter of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016.
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One week after his gutsy two-point conversion lifted the Raiders in New Orleans, Del Rio’s questionable fourth-quarter decision to go on fourh-and-2 at midfield, trailing by a touchdown, helped bury Oakland. Frank Gore scored on a short pass, shrinking the Broncos’ cushion to 23-20. And that interception was taken to the house by Denver’s Aqib Talib.
In his illustrious five-year career plus two games so far in the sixth, the outside linebacker has never gotten the best of Andrew Luck in their previous meetings.
“(It’s) because I practice it, ” Talib said.
The defense couldn’t stop the Detroit Lions from driving down the field and kicking the game-winning field goal in the final 37 seconds of the Week 1 loss.
Not so risky this time.
Seven months after his sack-strip of Cam Newton led the Broncos to the Super Bowl title, Miller did it again Sunday, punching the ball from Andrew Luck’s grasp in the closing minutes and sealing Denver’s 34-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts. We gave ourselves, we gave ourselves a chance to win that game. At this point past year, we didn’t think we were this solid like we were today. Coming into this year, same thing. We wait for the lack of offensive firepower to finally drag the Denver defense down like an anchor.
The Broncos rode that defense all the way to a championship a season ago.
Moncrief didn’t return for the rest of the game and is believed to have gone through the league’s concussion protocol. He also threw an interception and lost a fumble in addition to being sacked five times. His ninth career pick-6 was his fifth for Denver, a franchise record.
“How many sacks did Von have?”
Three of them actually, one of which caused a fumble that Shane Ray could scoop up and take in for the “nail-in-the-coffin” score.
Miller noted last week that Luck has often complimented him on a good take-down. It’s what I’m supposed to do. That’s what I do.
Miller’s response? He looked at me like I was insane. “That’s what I live for”.
Cornerback Darius Butler immediately clutched his right hamstring after intercepting Trevor Siemian in the flat. After being stopped on 3rd down, the Colts were forced to also settle for a field goal, Adam Vinatieri nailed a 48-yard field goal giving the Colts a 3-0 lead. His afternoon was done.
“It’s encouraging we are moving the ball, but there is stuff we need to clean up and get better at”, Siemian said. Only Rod Woodson (12), Charles Woodson (11) and Darren Sharper (11) have more pick-sixes. “He was one of the guys on there and I wanted to have a great game against him”.
Talib was gradually worked into things in training camp and has started the Broncos’ two regular-season games. Only twice before have they recovered to make the playoffs.
“There is only one level of frustration with losing, and that is, wanting to win”, Luck said. He aggravated the injury after returning to play in the third quarter. But establishing the run early and using it consistently was always a priority for Kubiak, and he didn’t vary his approach Sunday.
He was just 5-of-16 when targeting his two fastest receivers – T.Y. Hilton and Dorsett – and the longest completion went for 30 yards. Instead of punching it in to take a 17-6 lead, the Broncos had to settle for a field goal making it 13-6 at half. (The others: Marlin Briscoe, Craig Penrose and Brock Osweiler.) “I don’t think you are ever going to be ideal”, Siemian said. There was many good performances by Denver defensive players.
WRITE THAT CHECK: Safety Darian Stewart was called for a roughing penalty when he hit Luck in the head as the quarterback slid late in the game. I don’t know how much of it was just his accuracy being off and how much of it was Denver playing great defense. “I hope we break this injury curse or whatever it is”.
They delivered by hitting Newton 17 times in their win over Carolina in the National Football League opener.
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“I was going to score, without a doubt”, Ray said.
