DENVER—Many in the crowd came hoping to get a glimpse of the future in Tim Tebow and instead got a peek at the past when Dre’ Bly’s 47-yard interception return set up Detroit’s first touchdown in the Lions’ 25-20 win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday night.
Detroit third-stringer Drew Stanton’s 25-yard touchdown on a quarterback draw with 1:53 left was the difference. Brady Quinn drove the Broncos into Lions territory in the closing seconds before Willie Young stripped the ball away and Korey Bosworth recovered.
Tebow’s home debut will have to wait at least another week. He sat out with bruised ribs he suffered in the exhibition opener a week ago, much to the disappointment of throngs of Broncos fans donning his No. 15 jersey at Invesco Field.
Kyle Orton, fresh off signing a one-year extension that bought some time for the Broncos to formulate their long-term plans at quarterback, completed 16 of 22 passes for 177 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in four first-half possessions.
Orton has thrown four TD passes in seven drives this preseason.
One of them Saturday night was caught by tailback Lance Ball, who earlier bobbled a pass that Bly picked off, leading to a 20-yard Matthew Stafford-to-Calvin Johnson TD connection.
Stafford was 13-of-20 for 130 yards, guiding the Lions to scores on all four of their first-half drives.
Bly played two seasons in Denver before his unceremonious release after Josh McDaniels was hired as Broncos coach in 2009.
The game also marked the return to Denver of Lions tight end Tony Scheffler, who was traded from Denver in the offseason after a falling out with McDaniels.
Scheffler caught a couple of key passes but another went off his hands in the end zone.
His replacement in Denver, Marquez Branson, snared an 11-yard TD from Orton with three seconds left in the first half, pulling the Broncos to 16-14 at the break.
Top draft pick Ndamukong Suh was on the sideline for that last-minute drive, his day done after causing havoc along the Broncos’ makeshift offensive line.
Steven Hauschka, filling in while Jason Hanson recovers from minor knee surgery, kicked field goals of 28, 27, 29 and 27 yards after Detroit’s offense repeatedly sputtered around the 10-yard line.
Rookie Perrish Cox returned a punt 65 yards to the Lions’ 10 in the third quarter but the Broncos, too, settled for a chip shot field goal as Matt Prater’s 30-yarder gave Denver its first lead at 17-16.
Prater’s 33-yarder put Denver up 20-19 with 5:23 left.
Tebow missed most of the Broncos’ practices during the week, undoubtedly contributing to the nearly 8,000 unused tickets Saturday night.
Several other Broncos sat out, including Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Daniel Graham, Chris Kuper, Spencer Larsen, Brandon Stokley and Demaryius Thomas, the team’s top draft pick.
NOTES: Broncos LT Ryan Clady, who is recovering from offseason knee surgery, did footwork drills with strength coach Rich Tuten on the field a few hours before kickoff. … FS Louis Delmas (groin) sat out for Detroit (1-1). … The Broncos (0-2) opened the second half with rookie Zane Beadles at left tackle instead of left guard.
