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Broncos turn over new grief

Five giveaways, ineffective Cutler lead to third loss in row

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 4, 2006 at midnight

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In a season when leads have been squandered and opportunities lost, the Broncos watched things slip away once again Sunday night. And this time, a large piece of what are fading playoff hopes might have gone with it.

A late charge, including 16 fourth- quarter points, by the Seattle Seahawks left a now teetering Broncos team with some key injury questions and a disheartening, well- chilled 23-20 loss at Invesco Field at Mile High that wasn't official until Josh Brown hit a 50-yard field goal with 5 seconds to play.

The loss in Jay Cutler's debut as starting quarterback dropped the Broncos to 7-5, featured five Broncos turnovers, pushed them back into a growing crowd in the AFC wild-card chase and left them three games behind the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West race.

The Chargers, who play the Broncos on Sunday in San Diego, improved to 10-2 with a 24-21 victory against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Having lost their past three games, it also is the first time the Broncos have lost three in a row since the middle of the 2003 season and only the team's third three- game losing streak in coach Mike Shanahan's tenure, which began in 1995.

"You can't have five turnovers in the football game in the National Football League and expect to win," Shanahan said. "We battled, we fought, we just made too many mistakes."

The Broncos are in a group of five AFC teams, one that includes the Kansas City Chiefs, at 7-5 with four games to play.

And on a night when most were looking to the sky to see where Cutler's rare right arm could take the Broncos in the rookie's first career start, it was what the Seahawks did when things got down and dirty that put a significant dent in the Broncos' playoff hopes.

Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander rushed for 37 of his 90 yards in the fourth quarter while Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw for 103 of his 168 passing yards in the final quarter.

The Broncos sacked Hasselbeck just once, and the Seahawks went 54 yards in 10 plays in the final minutes to set up Brown's winning field goal.

"I have gone into the last 2 minutes of other games with a lot more confidence than I had (Sunday)," Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said. "The kicker we have definitely helps out a lot."

For his part, Cutler, who officially had been told the starting job was his Monday, completed 10-of-21 passes for 143 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

One of the interceptions was returned for a touchdown by Seahawks linebacker Darryl Tapp with 5 minutes to play in the first half. Cutler also lost a fumble.

Cutler had rallied the Broncos to a 20-20 tie with 2:37 remaining in the game when he flipped a short pass to fellow rookie Brandon Marshall that turned into a 71-touchdown. Marshall broke through Seahawks tackles - Cutler called it "all Brandon Marshall."

However, the Seahawks moved quickly for Brown's field goal and the win.

"I made some mistakes and we had a lot of mistakes," Cutler said. "I kind of blame myself, though, and those turnovers hurt us."

The Seattle field goal meant Cutler became part of a rather ugly slice of recent history. He failed to break the chain and become the first rookie quarterback since the Dallas Cowboys' Drew Henson in November 2004 to win his debut.

Cutler's loss was the 12th in a row by rookie quarterbacks in their first starts, including the previous three (Vince Young, Matt Leinart and Bruce Gradkowski) this season.

"It never really overwhelmed me," Cutler said. "We had a few miscommunications, but that's going to happen. We just have to go back to work."

All in all, it certainly was not an optimum night for Cutler to cut his NFL teeth behind center. The announced temperature at kickoff was 16 degrees, the second-coldest home game in franchise history.

Cutler missed his first two pass attempts, got sacked the third time he dropped back to throw and was intercepted on his sixth pass attempt - a one-he-wishes- he-had-back toss that was snared by Tapp.

And the record will show his first completion went to fullback Cecil Sapp for 1 yard with 13:14 remaining in the first half.

"I think he did pretty good for his first game," Shanahan said. "I'm a little disappointed in myself; I think we maybe put a little too much in the game plan."

Also significant was linebacker Al Wilson being taken from the field on a backboard with what was called a sprained neck, Jason Elam suffering a hamstring injury to his left (nonkicking) leg and running back Tatum Bell leaving the game after having the wind knocked out of him.

Wilson was injured during the fourth quarter after a pooch punt by Brown - the Seahawks had lined up in field-goal formation. Wilson got caught awkwardly in the scrum after Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams initially had fumbled the kick before the Broncos recovered the loose ball.

Wilson initially was sitting up after the injury but then was placed on a backboard and taken from the field. He went by ambulance to Sky Ridge Medical Center and was being kept for observation.

Shanahan said after the game Wilson could move all of his limbs but was taken to the hospital as a "precaution" because Wilson had felt some numbness at first.

Elam was injured when he ran the ball 2 yards on a fake field-goal attempt with 24 seconds before halftime. He then kicked a 41-yard field goal on the next play to end the half to go with an extra point in the fourth quarter but appeared to be laboring.

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