LANDOVER, Md. — There is now a mirror image to the tortoise and the hare fable.
It was the Broncos’ Game 9 story of Kyle Orton.
No rabbit, Orton started fast against the Washington Redskins on Sunday, but couldn’t finish. Tackled from behind on essentially the final offensive play of the first half, Orton limped off with a sprained left ankle and didn’t return.
With backup quarterback Chris Simms struggling to shake off nearly 3 1/2 years of rust, the Broncos suffered a disheartening 27-17 loss to the Redskins before another sellout crowd at FedEx Field.
“Anytime your starting quarterback goes out, it’s difficult,” Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter said. “Obviously, Chris had a few kinks he needed to work out. It’s the first real action he’s had in a while. So we’re going to prepare this week, rally behind Chris and get ready to play a tough division game against the Chargers.”
Given Orton’s iffy status — it ranges from playing next Sunday against the San Diego Chargers to missing the next two or three games — the loss was a potentially critical blow. Not long ago, the Broncos were 6-0 with a 3 1/2-game lead on the 2-3 Chargers in the AFC West.
Today the Broncos and Chargers are both 6-3, with the division rivals meeting next Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High.
“It’s a wake-up call,” said Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler.
A wake-up call from nightmare recurrence. The Broncos entered their final three games of the 2008 season with a three-game lead in the AFC West. Three games later, the Broncos stayed home for the playoffs and the Chargers played on.
The difference this time is the Broncos have a chance to correct their swoon.
“We’ve got to win a dang football game,” said Broncos center Casey Wiegmann. “We’re not out of anything. There are no timetables that say we have to win so many games in a certain period. We’ve just got to win one game. And get back on track.”
There are no gimmes in the NFL. The Redskins, starved for victory while taking four consecutive defeats and a 2-6 record into this game, refused to show mercy when the once- storybook Broncos lost their leader.
Orton could not have passed his way to a better start. He threw long and twice found a wide-open Brandon Marshall for touchdown passes of 40 and 75 yards. Orton completed 4-of-4 passes for 124 yards and a 158.3 passer rating in the first quarter.
But the offense struggled from there and the Broncos’ defense, so stellar during the team’s 6-0 start, continued to demonstrate vulnerability.
Orton suffered his injury on a third-and-10 play from the Redskins’ 10 with nine seconds remaining in the first half. His receivers covered, Orton took off and picked up three yards before he was tackled low by two Redskins. Orton limped off the field, then hobbled into Denver’s locker room while Matt Prater kicked a short field goal to give the Broncos a 17-14 lead.
Complicating the injury is it occurred to the same left ankle that nearly crippled Orton’s season last year when he was with the Chicago Bears.
“It’s a tough sport and it happens,” Orton said. “You’ve got to try to play through it. I was hoping to come back out and just wasn’t able to, so hopefully I’ll be ready to go next week.”
Orton tried to throw off the ankle during halftime warm-ups, but the discomfort was too great. Simms went in for his first significant playing time since a season-ending spleen injury in the third game of the 2006 season while playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs.
The layoff was noticeable as Simms completed only 3-of-13 passes for 13 yards. He was also intercepted and took three sacks. Simms said he felt prepared even though it’s been a while since he took many practice snaps with the starting offense. And it had been even longer since he took meaningful snaps in a regular-season game.
“There’s nothing that can prepare you for live bullets except for live bullets,” Simms said. “It was good for me to get out there. I know it didn’t go the way I wanted it to or other guys in this locker room wanted it to. But we’ll do a lot of things better next week. We’ll see what happens to Kyle and me and the situation this week.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
