The play: Down 38-31 to San Diego with 29 seconds remaining, the Broncos had fourth-and-goal at the Chargers’ 4-yard line. They bunched three receivers to the left — tight end Tony Scheffler at the lead, Brandon Stokley in the slot and Eddie Royal out wide — with Brandon Marshall and his 18 catches out to the right. As quarterback Jay Cutler took the shotgun snap, Scheffler ran to the back left corner of the end zone. Royal cut inside in front of Stokley, who cleared to the shallow left end of the end zone. Royal crossed a couple feet inside the goal line, easily clearing a defensive tackle, before catching Cutler’s throw for the touchdown with 24 seconds left. With the score 38-37, the Broncos went for two, calling the same play. Cutler hit Royal again for the winning two-point conversion.
Point/counterpoint: The only difference in the two plays is Royal went slightly in motion the second time and had to adjust his route. On the two-point conversion, he was picked up at the snap by Chargers safety Eric Weddle. Royal initially stopped just inside the goal line, then took off again toward the goalpost. His second move cleared Weddle, who also had his fingertips grazed by Jake Delhomme’s winning touchdown pass on the final play of the Carolina-San Diego season opener.
Future prospects: This may be hard to believe, but the Broncos with Cutler have a more powerful passing attack than they ever had with John Elway. Elway never had a set of four receivers like Marshall, Royal, Scheffler and Stokley. Plus, Elway had a sensational running back in Terrell Davis, who brought balance to the Broncos’ offense. Cutler doesn’t have a T.D.-type back behind him, but why bother running when the passing game has so far been unstoppable?
