The Broncos’ offensive line, which long took pride in its anonymity, truly has become a “Who’s that?” assembly line.
The line, which had played well in the first month of the season, began a transition through a major change Sunday night as it was forced to play without unit leader Tom Nalen. The five-time Pro Bowl center went down after the San Diego game Oct. 7. He suffered a torn biceps that required surgery and will sideline him the rest of the season.
Despite the adjustment to the loss of Nalen, Denver had its highest offensive scoring output of the season in an emotional 31-28 victory over the favored Pittsburgh Steelers at Invesco Field at Mile High.
“We knew what we had to do with Tom out,” new left guard Chris Kuper said. “We were all very comfortable. We knew the job we had to do, and we practiced for the past two weeks and felt very comfortable tonight. We just went out and did our job.”
The Broncos had two weeks to get used to life without Nalen and the players said the preparation time helped immensely. Since 1995, the only other player to snap to a Denver quarterback was guard Ben Hamilton, who spelled the injured Nalen five years ago. Compounding the line issue was that Hamilton also is out for the season with post-concussion symptoms. Hamilton has been out since the first week of training camp.
With Nalen and Hamilton out, the pressure was on youngsters, new starting center Chris Myers and Kuper. Myers, a third-year player, was inserted into the lineup at guard when Hamilton went out. As part of the multi-duty responsibilities held by most Broncos offensive linemen, Myers made the move to replace Nalen while Kuper was given the start at left guard.
Thus, the Denver line, long regarded as one of the best in football, entered Sunday night’s game against Pittsburgh with a unit consisting of left tackle Matt Lepsis, Kuper at left guard, Myers at center, Montrae Holland at guard and Erik Pears at right tackle. Only Lepsis, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament and was lost for the season a year ago today in Cleveland, had extensive ex- perience as a Denver offensive lineman.
The youth and inexperience of the Denver offensive line seemed to loom large going into the game. Now it seems the worry was for naught. The Broncos’ offense clicked against a strong Pittsburgh defense.
“This line is all about adjusting to change,” Pears said. “We did it last year and we did it again. There was no doubt that we all felt comfortable as a group out there.”
Quarterback Jay Cutler had plenty of time to throw. Cutler completed 22-of-29 passes for 248 yards and made three touchdown passes.
Denver, which relied on the pass more than the run Sunday night, rushed for 90 yards on 24 carries. Travis Henry, who suffered bruised ribs in the third quarter and did not return, gained 51 yards on 17 carries. Cutler had a 31-yard run in the second quarter that set up a Denver touchdown.
Daniel Graham, one of the premier blocking tight ends in the league, said he knew the new line would have no problems because it had two good weeks of practice.
“Chris came in at center and we just went like it was business as usual,” Graham said. “That’s what we do. We go out and work as a unit, and that showed tonight in this win.”
Bill Williamson: 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com
