Miami – Early in the fourth quarter, Miami Dolphins veteran linebacker Junior Seau broke up a Jake Plummer pass on third-and-long and beat his chiseled chest in celebration. There was plenty of time left on the clock – 12 minutes – but the game was over.
Leading 20-3, the Dolphins had forced Denver punter Todd Sauerbrun into action once again. Sauerbrun was the most productive Bronco on Sunday, punting seven times for 318 yards. That’s an ugly stat if you’re a Broncos fan. Here’s another: That legendary Broncos running game? It opened the season with 70 total yards. The beating – which included a second-quarter goal-line stand – seemed far worse than the final score: Miami 34, Denver 10.
“Our front seven knew we had a challenge ahead of us today,” Dolphins left end Kevin Carter said. “We knew we had to stop that great Denver running game everyone is always talking about.”
Led by veteran linebackers Zach Thomas and Seau, the Dolphins went to work early, knocking Broncos running back Mike Anderson (ribs) out of the game on his fourth carry.
“I think we all knocked (Anderson) out,” Seau said. “We all got a piece of him.”
Anderson finished the game with 5 yards. His replacement, Tatum Bell, managed 47 yards on 13 carries – an inflated number considering 30 of his yards came on one carry.
“The running game was very important to stop when you have to play the Denver Broncos,” Seau said. “Everything plays off the run with them: the play-action, the boots. When you stop that, they have to get rid of the script and do things they don’t want to do.”
With nowhere to run, Denver went to the air, and neither Plummer nor the Broncos’ receivers were up to the challenge. Plummer finished with 251 yards passing, but most of his completions (14) and yards (162) came in the afterthought fourth quarter. In many instances in the first three quarters, Denver’s receivers couldn’t get open. Pressure from Miami’s front seven and a secondary bent on disguising its coverage kept Denver out of the end zone until only 9:24 remained. Forced to throw downfield, Plummer threw two interceptions late in the fourth quarter. Miami defensive backs Lance Schulters and Travis Daniels came up with the picks.
“We switched stuff up,” said Schulters, who was named a starter Monday. “We didn’t always play the same coverage, and we were able to disguise and confuse them a little bit.”
In the end, a Miami gift – a fumbled punt return inside the red zone – was the only thing that could get Denver into the end zone. Even then, the Broncos needed four plays from the 1-yard line to score a touchdown: a 2-yard Plummer pass to fullback Kyle Johnson.
Miami’s defense demoralized Denver early with two stops inside the 10-yard line. The first – a goal-line stand – set the tone for the game. Denver had five chances to score from inside the 3-yard line and failed.
