dragondawg
12-25-2006, 02:05 AM
By Jim Benton, Rocky Mountain News
December 24, 2006
For most of two quarters, the Broncos offense was almost as frightful as the chilly, cold weather at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Then the Broncos found themselves trailing 17-14 and backed up at their 1-yard line for their second possession of the third quarter.
The Broncos, sparked by the running of Mike Bell, moved 99 yards on their longest scoring drive of the season, which pushed them back into the lead.
"It was a big drive," fullback Kyle Johnson said. "We just got the momentum going. We worked together.
"Boom, we had 11 people working together and, really, that's just what coach (Mike) Shanahan talks about.
"When you get yourself going, it really is 11 people working together. That's what happened and we ended up scoring. It wasn't easy. We ended up scoring on third down in the red zone."
Mike Bell gained 32 yards during the drive, including a 2-yard touchdown run that came on second down.
The Broncos also were aided by a pass-interference call on Johnathan Joseph on a pass that appeared to be overthrown to intended receiver Stephen Alexander.
It was a third-and-4 play, but the penalty gave the Broncos a first down at the Bengals 18-yard line.
Quarterback Jay Cutler completed 3-of-7 passes for 50 yards during the scoring drive.
He threw a 17-yard completion to Javon Walker on third-and-11 that gave the Broncos a first down at the Bengals 2.
His earlier 25-yard completion to tight end Tony Scheffler gave the Broncos a first down at the 41.
"It was a tough spot for us," Cutler said. "We had a big third down. We hit Tony and kind of got us out of our own end zone and got rolling. Our offensive line took over in the second half, and we were moving the ball well."
Shanahan said the 99-yard drive was an indication of why Cutler could become an elite quarterback.
"Quarterbacks are going to grow every time they take a snap," Shanahan said. "Like I said from Day 1, this guy is something special.
"There's going to be some growing pains along the way, but you watch a guy, how he handles himself in practice, how he handles himself in games and kind of watch how he operates, and you know you've got a guy who's going to get to the next level.
"And you could see (Sunday) today he made some mistakes, but when it was on the line, he made some big plays."
The Broncos had 120 yards during the first half. Take away pass plays of 39 and 36 yards, the Broncos managed only 45 yards.
"It was one of those games where we felt like we had them, but they started to get going on offense in the second half," Bengals defensive end Justin Smith said. "It's just frustrating. Their main stuff was trick plays because they couldn't get anything going. But that 99-yard drive hurt us, and you have to give them credit on that."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5236707,00.html
December 24, 2006
For most of two quarters, the Broncos offense was almost as frightful as the chilly, cold weather at Invesco Field at Mile High.
Then the Broncos found themselves trailing 17-14 and backed up at their 1-yard line for their second possession of the third quarter.
The Broncos, sparked by the running of Mike Bell, moved 99 yards on their longest scoring drive of the season, which pushed them back into the lead.
"It was a big drive," fullback Kyle Johnson said. "We just got the momentum going. We worked together.
"Boom, we had 11 people working together and, really, that's just what coach (Mike) Shanahan talks about.
"When you get yourself going, it really is 11 people working together. That's what happened and we ended up scoring. It wasn't easy. We ended up scoring on third down in the red zone."
Mike Bell gained 32 yards during the drive, including a 2-yard touchdown run that came on second down.
The Broncos also were aided by a pass-interference call on Johnathan Joseph on a pass that appeared to be overthrown to intended receiver Stephen Alexander.
It was a third-and-4 play, but the penalty gave the Broncos a first down at the Bengals 18-yard line.
Quarterback Jay Cutler completed 3-of-7 passes for 50 yards during the scoring drive.
He threw a 17-yard completion to Javon Walker on third-and-11 that gave the Broncos a first down at the Bengals 2.
His earlier 25-yard completion to tight end Tony Scheffler gave the Broncos a first down at the 41.
"It was a tough spot for us," Cutler said. "We had a big third down. We hit Tony and kind of got us out of our own end zone and got rolling. Our offensive line took over in the second half, and we were moving the ball well."
Shanahan said the 99-yard drive was an indication of why Cutler could become an elite quarterback.
"Quarterbacks are going to grow every time they take a snap," Shanahan said. "Like I said from Day 1, this guy is something special.
"There's going to be some growing pains along the way, but you watch a guy, how he handles himself in practice, how he handles himself in games and kind of watch how he operates, and you know you've got a guy who's going to get to the next level.
"And you could see (Sunday) today he made some mistakes, but when it was on the line, he made some big plays."
The Broncos had 120 yards during the first half. Take away pass plays of 39 and 36 yards, the Broncos managed only 45 yards.
"It was one of those games where we felt like we had them, but they started to get going on offense in the second half," Bengals defensive end Justin Smith said. "It's just frustrating. Their main stuff was trick plays because they couldn't get anything going. But that 99-yard drive hurt us, and you have to give them credit on that."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_5236707,00.html