Editor’s note: NFL reporter Jeff Legwold analyzes the Broncos’ 23-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders and looks ahead to Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys:
Sure, everybody wants to win the lottery. Everybody wants sunshine, no waiting and plenty of spare time.
And in the NFL, everybody wants to be physical.
It’s not like folks wake up and decide how nice it would be to get shoved around every week, pick the grass out of their teeth, then get fired for it in January.
But Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has been preaching the toughness doctrine since the day he was hired. He wants a “tough, smart team that plays under pressure,” he said.
Now sitting at 3-0, it is clear the Broncos were a little luckier than Cincinnati as well as quite a bit smarter, tougher and more able to play under pressure than Cleveland and Oakland.
In Sunday’s victory, the Broncos controlled the tempo from their first possession. Although they did not score, it was a 12-play affair, and the Raiders never recovered.
The offense dominated the line of scrimmage, then the defense dominated the line of scrimmage. A team that consistently pulls off that double will win consistently.
“We had the pads on every day in camp,” linebacker D.J. Williams said. “It was clear what the intentions were.”
In recent years, the Broncos’ defense has struggled to defend the run. This one does not, having surrendered 86, 54 and 95 yards rushing in its three games.
In recent years, the Broncos’ defense has struggled to sack opposing quarterbacks. This one is tied for the league lead with 10 sacks.
In recent years, the Broncos’ defense didn’t get turnovers and the offense made them. Now they are plus-6 and have forced eight turnovers, five behind the total for last season.
So, while McDaniels captured Broncos owner Pat Bowlen’s fancy because of his work on offense, it was McDaniels’ promise and plan to repair the defense that got him the nod.
And in the flurry of three- and four-wide receiver sets, quarterbacks in the shotgun and the oft-empty backfield look, McDaniels still offered a glimpse at what he wants on the bottom line of all this.
Asked about the physical nature of the Raiders and how the Broncos dealt with that, McDaniels said simply: “We’ve got tough guys on our team too.”
Tough enough for 3-0.
Key matchup with top QBs. The Bengals’ Carson Palmer had nothing to go on, and what the Broncos showed in the first week would be the first look anyone had at the team’s refurbished defense.
The Browns’ Brady Quinn was overmatched in Week 2 in Denver and was benched in Week 3 as the Browns have scored one offensive touchdown in their past nine games.
As for JaMarcus Russell? Sunday was just another day in the historic slump of Raiders quarterbacks.
Now, however, the Broncos’ veteran, savvy and highly decorated secondary will be in the hot zone during the next five games.
The Cowboys’ Tony Romo is first this Sunday, and even with his mercurial ways, he has been named to the Pro Bowl. Then it’s the Patriots’ Tom Brady with three Super Bowl rings in the safety deposit box, followed by the Chargers’ Philip Rivers, who has a Pro Bowl history to go with 12 touchdowns and three interceptions in his six career starts against the Broncos. After that it’s the Ravens’ Joe Flacco, then two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger.
That’s just during the next five games. Toss in Eli Manning on Thanksgiving night, just four days after the second meeting of the year against Rivers, to go with the elder Manning brother Dec. 13, and the bar for opposing quarterback play isn’t just getting raised, it’s being launched.
“We know that, but we just have to keep doing what we’re doing, not worrying about anything past, (just) what’s right in front of us,” cornerback Champ Bailey said. “Mistakes are big plays in the secondary. And we don’t make mental mistakes, we get in the right place. We have to keep that up because, and I tell everybody this, if you aren’t in the right place in the secondary, it’s a touchdown.
“And a good quarterback will find it and score the touchdowns.”
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
