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Broncos' offensive spigot suddenly goes dry

By John Akers, Special to the Rocky

Published December 14, 2008 at 8:09 p.m.

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Carolina's Jon Beason lands on Denver quarterback Jay Cutler after Cutler scrambled out of the pocket on a broken play in the second quarter Sunday. Cutler, who completed 21-of-33 passes for 172 yards, a touchdown and an interception, was sacked three times.

Photo by Joe Mahoney / The The Rocky

Carolina's Jon Beason lands on Denver quarterback Jay Cutler after Cutler scrambled out of the pocket on a broken play in the second quarter Sunday. Cutler, who completed 21-of-33 passes for 172 yards, a touchdown and an interception, was sacked three times.

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The Broncos seemed headed for a shootout with the Carolina Panthers. And then, suddenly, they weren't.

Two first-quarter drives that produced 10 points and 115 yards - and a 10-10 tie - were the best the Broncos would do for the rest of a 30-10 loss to the Panthers on Sunday.

And few among the Broncos could come up with much of an explanation as to why the offense came to a sudden halt.

"I thought early in the game, on the first and second drives, we were moving the ball," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "From that point on, we had too many three-and-outs. We couldn't get any momentum going."

There were a trio of three- and-outs in the Broncos' five drives in the second half. And though there was none in the first half, an interception by Jay Cutler on the first play of the final first-quarter drive and a fumble lost by Selvin Young during the Broncos' final drive of the first half were more critical, leading to two Carolina field goals.

"We kind of had them off-balance those first couple of drives," Cutler said. "(Then) we had a turnover - we had two turnovers. We couldn't get the running game going again. They started to bring some heat, so we had it hard."

The Broncos covered 61 yards on the first drive, when Cutler kept the chains moving with passes of 9 yards to Brandon Stokley, 11 yards to Eddie Royal, back-to-back completions to tight end Daniel Graham for a total of 25 yards and a 7-yard touchdown pass to running back P.J. Pope.

It was more of the same on the second drive as he threw 19- and 12-yard completions to Brandon Marshall and a 13-yarder to Royal.

Cutler completed 9-of-12 passes for 93 yards after those first two drives. He was 12-of-21 for only 79 yards the rest of the way.

Julius Peppers, the Panthers' dynamic defensive end, thought the key to shutting down the Broncos was limiting Marshall, who finished with five receptions for 48 yards.

"When you take Marshall out of the game, it's hard for them to get rolling," Peppers said.

But what, exactly, the Panthers did also remained a mystery to Marshall.

"They really didn't do anything special," Marshall said. "They just mixed up coverages. I probably saw one or two different coverages. They did a good job of pressuring the quarterback, and they just mixed it up a little bit.

"The best team won today. Hat's off to them."

Comments

  • December 14, 2008

    8:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Panthersfan writes:

    Duh !
    Your right, We didn't do anything special,
    We just swept all the AFC west
    and went undefeated at home this season.
    You prepared for our ground attack
    but we killed you in the air.
    We shell shocked your QB
    He had a dazed look on his face all night.
    Merry Christmas

  • December 15, 2008

    8:48 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    denver_warrior303 writes:

    Panthersfan, I wouldn't be too excited about sweeping the AFC West, it's the weakest division in the NFL. It wasn't a big deal beating the Broncos either, you were supposed to win, we were the underdog. We had a practice squad running back, who by the way scored on you guys, and a 5th string, former bronco, former lion, former cell phone salesman as a running back. Champ Bailey was out, who would of most certainly contained Steve Smith, who was being covered by rookies. Had we had at least Peyton Hillis, and Champ in the line up, the outcome may have been different. Merry Christmas!!

  • December 15, 2008

    9:27 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    maverick7 writes:

    Panthersfan: Whats this 'we' stuff. Were you on the field? Did you suit up and play for Carolina? Granted I give the Panthers their props, they beat Broncos soundly. The Panthers played to win and the Broncos didn't show. 'You' actually had nothing to do with their win. And by the way, the Broncos also beat the rest of 'your' division.

  • December 15, 2008

    9:44 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    baylinorcrush writes:

    maverick, don't be so tough on the guy, he may be a Die hard Panther fan, like I have been a Bronco fan for over 30 years.
    Those kind of fans have stuck with their team forever trough thick and thin, no matter what, and I believe they earned the right to refer to their team as "we". I do and I always will, wether we stunk up the place like yesterday or are playing great. Now he might be a bandwagon type of fan, in which case, to call himself we, would be laughable.

  • December 15, 2008

    10:04 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    myerda00 writes:

    Peppers is right, take Marshall away and Jay seems lost. First drive Jay was on target to Royal, Graham, and Stockley. Second drive did see Marshall but then two forced passes and of course no running.
    Then the forced throw for an interception and Jay started looking for Marshall. How many balls did Scheffler get? And Graham for the rest of the game? Right 0.
    115 passing yards in the first 15 minutes then 63 for the rest of the game. What happened to the dynamic offense? Is Carolina that good, I do not think so.
    Turnovers then the offense goes into a shell.

  • December 15, 2008

    11:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Dynamicdave writes:

    Pantherfan. get over yourself. You were nowhere to be found, before the game, to support your team? Nope, you show up only after the game when you knew you wouldn't have to eat crow, should your team lose. Cowardly and very "bandwagon". How old are you, 12? Now go to bed, you have school tomorrow, young man.

  • December 15, 2008

    12:16 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Squatch writes:

    Panthersfan is Rickylee in disguise.

  • December 15, 2008

    12:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    BigRedCelt writes:

    DRE BLY MUST GO!!!!! How in the world do you let Steve Smith drag you for 5 yards? Explain that to me. Outrun you, yes. Fake you out of your jock, yes. OVERPOWER you come on man!!!!

    Ok that rant over.

    Long, long, long time fan here, but very realistsic. This team is about where I'd hoped it would be at this time. I was hoping for 10-6 and a wildcard spot. A solid showing in the playoffs even if it was a loss. I didnt think the D would be as bad as it is. I'm always a fan so I don't need the SB predictors after the first few games to blast me for not being a fan. (funny how those posters only show up on here after a win)

    Anyway, I love the direction of this team. Offence is set for years to come. I do have a few concerns on that side of the ball though, mostly with play calling. Wheres the long ball to stretch the field? What is with the third down calls the last few weeks. Yesterday two third and long running plays. Against the Chiefs a third and short reverse????? It used to be Denver made great half time adjustments and I don't see that anymore.

    The offense is saddled with having to drive the length of the field because the D can't stop anyone or take the ball away. Luckily the offese is set so full attention can be given to the D via free agency and the draft. I like the move of Woodyard to safety. Leave him there.

    A win at home against the Bills and we get a home playoff game. A few steps forward.

    BTW...When you see highlights of Ed Reed making a play does anyone else get sick thinking of Ashley Lelie???

    GO BRONCS!!!!

  • December 15, 2008

    1:54 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Nick_Shadow writes:

    Big Red, Steve Smith has been doing what he did to Bly to a lot of people for a lot of years, I have spent a few idle moments over the years wishing he was playing for the Broncos. He is one tough mother. I have to recalibrate every time they mention his height/weight, I see him as about 230 lbs.