Champ Bailey was finishing the knot on his tie 20 minutes after another season-opening flop. He shook his head and offered a disgusted chuckle.
“Deja vu,” Bailey said. “The only good thing about this time is I didn’t cramp up and I didn’t separate my shoulder. Other than that, it’s the same thing as last year.”
John Lynch called it the opening-day buzz saw. For the second consecutive season, the Broncos must prepare for their home opener by finding ways to correct errors they committed in a folly-filled road opener. Sunday’s 18-10 loss at St. Louis wasn’t as pitiful as the overall destruction that was opening day 2005 at Miami, but the result was the same. Both were games the Broncos should have won.
The Broncos did themselves in by committing five turnovers at St. Louis, while the Rams did not turn it over once. Denver’s offense stumbled over itself for four quarters in the heartland, but its defense kept it in the game. St. Louis settled for six field goals by Jeff Wilkins.
In 2005, the 34-10 loss at Miami included several Broncos players wilting in the South Florida humidity and Bailey separating his shoulder in his team’s worst performance of the season. The Broncos went on to win 13 of their final 15 regular-season games.
“You can’t count on that happening,” Denver tight end Stephen Alexander said. “But it happened last year. … No one is sitting around here worrying. It was one game. We’re not going to fall apart over it.”
Monday, the team watched film, had a meeting, then ran in the afternoon. There was no pouting. Coach Mike Shanahan made it clear he expects the team to have a strong practice Wednesday, put this loss behind it and prepare for the Kansas City Chiefs, who will play the Broncos on Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High.
For newcomers such as rookie tailback Mike Bell, the attitude Monday at Dove Valley was refreshing.
“It was a big difference from college,” said Bell, who played for a troubled Arizona program. “In college, guys would have gone into the tank. Here, no one was down. … You could tell this is a winning team.”
Still, the team realizes stumbling in Week 1 isn’t the best formula for a winning season. The Broncos survived it last year, but didn’t want to repeat it.
“We have a tough schedule,” defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban said. “Just because we lost to Miami last year and had a good year doesn’t mean we’re going to do it again. … We have to get better.”
The pressure is on the Broncos to beat the Chiefs, then steal a road win at New Eng- land in a nationally televised Sunday night game Sept. 24. Then comes a bye week, and they don’t want to ponder a losing record during their time off. Denver has had a losing record during its bye week just once under Shanahan – in 1999. That was his only losing season in Denver.
The mistakes that cost Denver the game Sunday are correctable. Quarterback Jake Plummer threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. Tailback Tatum Bell also lost a fumble.
“We definitely think we’re a better team than the Rams,” Alexander said. “I’m not talking trash, either. We think we’re a better team. … But we lost, and we have to move on. We have to make like last year and forget about that first game.”
Staff writer Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
