CINCINNATI — The tipped-ball win spilled the glory on wide receiver Brandon Stokley in the Riverfront heist Sunday, but the heavy lifting was done by the Broncos’ front seven on defense.
The new 3-4 defense did one of the most difficult things a unit can do in these pass-happy, spread-it-out times. It defended the run largely with only six or seven defenders along the line of scrimmage, holding the Bengals to 86 yards on the ground. The Broncos didn’t have to bring eight or nine players up front, didn’t have to tip their formation too far one way or the other, didn’t have to gamble much.
“(I) thought our plan was solid. We wanted to stop the running game with six or seven guys up there, take away the big plays,” coach Josh McDan-iels said after the Broncos’ 12-7 victory. “Which I think we did for the most part.”
“That’s big,” said linebacker D.J. Williams. “We played it straight up and got it done. That’s not something we could do before too often.”
The Broncos’ ineptitude on offense almost forced the team’s defense to be on the field too long, as the Bengals drove 91 yards in the last six minutes of the game for a touchdown that gave them a 7-6 lead with 38 seconds to play.
But this defense in Week 1 did something rarely seen in the past two years: pitch a shutout for most of the game by shutting down the run.
Last season the Broncos allowed 150 yards rushing to Oakland in the season opener — also a victory. Then they tweaked some things to handle the run game and San Diego’s Philip Rivers threw for 377 yards and three touchdowns the next game. New Orleans’ Drew Brees threw for 421 yards and a touchdown the week after that.
Faced with those dismal pass numbers, Denver coaches tipped the formation again and the next four teams in 2008 rushed for 213, 130, 155 and 257 yards, totals the Broncos never really recovered from.
It wasn’t until Nov. 2 last season that the Broncos held an opposing quarterback without a touchdown pass while not allowing 100 yards rushing — a 26-17 loss to Miami. They are now 1-for-1 in the new year. Carson Palmer did not throw a touchdown pass Sunday and the Bengals finished 14 yards shy of 100 on the ground.
“That’s a different deal,” linebacker Elvis Dumervil said. “We’re a different deal.”
What went right: run defense
Good defenses disrupt the pace and rhythm of an offense. The Broncos were able to do that.
The Bengals, who gave the ball to running back Cedric Benson on first down 12 of his 21 carries, obviously wanted to pound him at the defense on early downs, then throw in favorable down-and-distance situations.
The Broncos held Benson to 3 or fewer yards — including two carries for losses — on six of those first-down carries when the Bengals often ran out of a two-back or two-tight end look, power on power. That left Palmer often facing long-yardage situations. Benson had only two carries over 6 yards on first down, and only one in the second half — a 20-yarder on the Bengals’ lone scoring drive in the final minutes.
What went wrong: time of possession
Because of the offense’s troubles, the Broncos’ defense was on the field for more than 33 minutes on a humid, 80-degree day. The Bengals went 91 yards in 5 minutes, 43 seconds to take the lead with less than a minute to play.
“I think maybe we kind of wore down a little bit on that last drive,” McDaniels said.
The Broncos used plenty of combinations in the defensive line to try to keep players fresh, but the last three minutes of the game proved to be almost three minutes too many.
Up next: the Browns
The sharpest teeth in the Broncos’ schedule await, but the team may not get a real answer to how good it is for a few more weeks. Cleveland, which plays in Denver this coming Sunday, rushed for only 89 yards to go with five first downs rushing against Minnesota’s beefy run defense.
“(Cincinnati’s) a real good offense, and we did some good things,” Dumervil said. “We’re not saying everything’s fixed and that’s that; we’re saying we showed we can line up and play tough.”
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
