Miami – Back in August before the Broncos played their first preseason game against the Texans, the team traveled early to Houston. Remember? The idea was to practice in a handful of sessions against the Texans. The hope was to get a grip in Houston on the kind of foul heat and humidity they would encounter in their real debut against the Dolphins.
Sam Madison, Miami’s splendid and suave cornerback, laughed when he heard that.
“I’ve got a condo in Houston,” Madison said. “When I go there and work out, I have to put on two pairs of long pants and two pair of shirts just to try to create the heat we have in Miami. This heat is totally different here.”
Temperatures easily topped 100 degrees on the field Sunday.
The Broncos wilted. It crushed them. The Dolphins did their part, punishing the Broncos 34-10.
Miami got the first laugh. It got the last one.
“They practiced in Houston a few weeks ago, huh?” asked former Bronco and current Dolphin Keith Traylor. “We practiced in this heat this whole week.”
Miami’s safety Tebucky Jones offered the wisest crack.
“It wasn’t even that hot to me,” he said, eyebrows raised, head cocked. “We have some days here when it’s burning. They looked like they were exhausted. I felt a little breeze out there.”
Denver knows that harsh elements and bold atmosphere can lead to home cooking.
The Broncos enjoy their high altitude.
The Dolphins enjoy merciless, penetrating, oppressive early-season Miami heat.
The kind that on a football field makes your legs cramp and your lungs burn. The kind that makes your body limp.
I was not ready to put much stock in this being such a colossal factor Sunday until Nick Saban, Miami’s new coach, started talking about how much it was part of his team’s plan. He said he wanted to tire the Broncos as much as outplay them so that his team could then subdue them. Mike Shanahan said his team “knew it was going to be difficult to come in here and deal with the elements in their backyard.”
Everyone kept talking about the heat.
Cornerback Lenny Walls said it made his legs cramp so badly that he sat out the early part of the second half while on an IV. And then he entered a couple of plays later and was beaten on Marty Booker’s 60-yard touchdown reception.
Linebacker Patrick Chukwurah said the Broncos had plenty of fluids available but could never seem to get enough. He said there were plays to be made and, like Walls, said there are no excuses; enough were not made.
“Some guys grow up playing in stuff like this every day; for others it’s more difficult,” said Champ Bailey, a sling on his arm and his shoulder injured, for how long, he said, who knows? “It depends on the individual. But the thing it comes down to is finding ways to win the game.”
That is where Miami excelled. Its game plan was exacting and was executed with flair. Short stuff completed. Crossing routes that kept giving the Broncos defense fits. Just enough punch from the run. Eight-of-15 third-down conversions. Five drives of eight plays or more, with one of those for 10 plays and another for 14.
Miami complemented that with a stout first-half goal-line stand against a Denver offense. Miami forced the Broncos into a sorry 1-of-12 on third-down conversions.
As much as the heat, I saw Miami impose its will on Denver.
Saban characterized it beautifully: “I think there’s a little bit about respect in terms of how we play, how you physically play, how you compete. From an intangible standpoint, it’s things like effort, toughness, mental toughness, the ability to stay focused and execute, and be a little relentless in the way you try to go about your work. We’re gladiators out there. It’s got to permeate your team.”
That is the concern for the Broncos.
For the heat to sap them and cause a meltdown is one thing. For Miami to have more heart, desire and will is quite another.
Let’s give the Broncos this game to sort through the mess.
Here is another concern.
Teams are buying into the idea that if they stop the Denver running game early, the entire offense collapses and begins to question its competence on the Denver sideline and in the huddle. The Broncos must learn to deal with that.
Miami knocked Mike Anderson (ribs) out of the game early, and the entire offense looked jumbled and raw afterward. It was like holding a steel bar into a motorized fan. Clank!
No offense should be so suspect that a couple of early 3-and-outs where the run game is stuffed leads to chaos.
The Broncos left the preseason feeling good, the lone unbeaten team, a team that looked as if it had established traits it could count on.
The Dolphins reminded the Broncos that winning in the preseason sometimes means nothing.
And that there is a time to be hot.
Staff writer Thomas George can be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
