Broncos vs. Buccaneers: Five keys

By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 2, 2008 at 7:55 p.m.

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No. 1: Avoid the deju vu. The Chiefs' Larry Johnson, big plays or no big plays, still piled up 198 rushing yards Sunday, and if the Broncos let the Buccaneers find any similar comfort in running the ball, the scoreboard will look the same.

No. 2: Hold it. The Buccaneers are one of the league's best teams at forcing turnovers and already this season they have turned three into defensive touchdowns. They are tied for the league lead with eight interceptions and are among the league leaders in points off turnovers.

No. 3: Find a way. The Broncos haven't looked all that confident in their own run game of late, but they have to grind out at least something against the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay hasn't surrendered a rushing touchdown this season.

No. 4: Calm and collected. The Buccaneers will test Jay Cutler's patience in the pocket by dropping plenty of folks into coverage. Cutler said this week he knows he has to take what's there and not get jumpy. To do that, though, his line has to give him enough time to wait against a team that has 11 sacks in four games.

No. 5: Protect the house. The Broncos won't be in the playoff mix if they let home games get away, especially because half their home schedule will be in the books before October is half over.

• October 4, 2008

  11:40 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Dynamicdave writes:

  Yep, that's the secret, protect home field. We need to get back that "Mile High Magic". Remember when teams HATED coming to our turf? They should have stayed at home and mailed the score in. We have the tools, now we just need to put it all together. One step at a time, one game at a time.....

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