With one simple exercise, the Broncos can continue to carry hopes of winning the Super Bowl this season.
All the Broncos have to do is click the heels of their cleats and repeat three times: It’s only the preseason. It’s only the preseason. It’s only the preseason.
Faith must be taken wherever it becomes available. Bad as the first-team Broncos looked at times during the preseason, evaluation of their performance will not be worth the bother once the regular season begins in two weeks.
Besides, it wasn’t all bad tonight at Invesco Field at Mile High, where the Broncos lost 17-16 to the Cleveland Browns.
Down 10-3 with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half, Jay Cutler needed just seven plays to lead the Broncos 80 yards for a game-tying touchdown.
There were other plays against the Browns when Cutler looked like a second-year quarterback with only five games of NFL experience. He telegraphed a pass or two. He started the game by fumbling the snap from center Tom Nalen — a supposedly rudimentary exercise that has been anything but since Cutler became the Broncos’ starting quarterback last year.
But when it was time to get it done fast or not get it done at all, Cutler completed 4-of-4 passes for 44 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown flip to fullback Kyle Johnson. Cutler finished his first preseason as the Broncos’ starting quarterback by completing 17 of 31 passes (54.8 percent) for 197 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
The Broncos also underscored their reputation of being able to run the ball no matter who was running. From Olandis Gary to Selvin Young, little known running backs are known to have quality games when operating behind the Broncos’ offensive line. Against the Browns, the Broncos’ two most proven tailbacks, Travis Henry and Mike Bell, were out nursing leg injuries.
Yet Cecil Sapp, who has played mostly fullback when he’s played at all in his four previous NFL seasons, gained 54 yards on 11 carries. Young, a free-agent rookie from the University of Texas, had 63 yards on eight carries through the first three quarters.
That’s 117 combined yards, at 6.2 yards a rush, for the Sapp-Young duo.
Young also scored what appeared to be a game-tying touchdown with 2:56 remaining. But because Broncos coach Mike Shanahan wasn’t about to play overtime in a preseason game, he went for the two-point conversion. It failed, but perhaps an injury was avoided by not playing an extra quarter.
By far the most encouraging element taken from their final dry run was that, at long last, the first-string defense showed glimpses of understanding the system of new coach Jim Bates.
This has been a painful preseason for Bates. His defense surrendered 34 points in three quarters through the first two preseason games. The Broncos then gave up a game-opening touchdown drive to a Browns team that ranked 31st in total offense last year and had just two first-half field goals through their first preseason games.
But in their next five defensive series, the Broncos’ defense gave up yards but only three more points.
For now, the Broncos appear a good distance from becoming a playoff-caliber team, much less one that can win Super Bowl XLII. There is cause for concern, because Shanahan’s teams normally demonstrate top-end precision on both sides of the ball in the preseason.
But the regular season is two weeks from starting. Considering all the new coaches and players, this may be one year when it takes a while for the Broncos to gel.
The Broncos may not have to worry about a fast start and late-season swoon this year.
Remember, it’s times like these when there is only three things to say: It’s only the preseason. It’s only the preseason. It’s only the preseason.
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
