The Denver Broncos opened their season with a victory, against Peyton Manning’s former team, the Colts, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday. Here’s what Manning and other players from both teams had to say after the Week 1 matchup.
JOHN FOX, BRONCOS COACH
On injuries:
“Really the only injury to report, (S) David Bruton left the game with a shoulder injury, did not return. I think it’s mostly bumps and bruises. We will know more tomorrow.”
On the Colts:
“I think everything — I think the coaches, the players, the game plan, the execution of the game plan. They’re an explosive offense (the Colts) and I think they proved as the game wore on. They’ve got a great, young quarterback (Andrew Luck) and they’re a playoff team from a year ago. We’d seen a similar type game in the playoff game against Kansas City a year ago — they fell behind. Hats off to them, they played well and our guys found a way, really in all three phases.”
On the Colts’ toughdown at the end of the first half:
“I think what’s interesting with first games, going into them — I think it’s everybody in the league’s dilemma — is there is nothing to gauge it on yet. There a lot of new players, we had new players back, we hadn’t played a fourth-quarter game yet. So we will learn a lot from it.”
On the play of rookie CB Bradley Roby:
“I thought that was a real big play there at fourth down (to force a turnover on downs by the Colts with less than two minutes left). We had some big stops on fourth down as well as some turnovers tha treally helped the cause. No doubt that was a big spot, I like the way the young man has improved since he’s gotten here.”
On the Broncos’ defense:
“I’ve mentioned before that we feel as good about this bunch going into a season as we have in our tenure. But as far as the pitch count and what not, like I said, I think both teams were fairly gassed. You see tha typically in the first game of the regular season because we haven’t played four quarters yet. But you fight through it and it shows a lot about your team’s heart and their character and how they fight through it.”
On RB Ronnie Hillman and CB Kayvon Webster being inactive:
They fell behind in the game plan — it’s purely a football thing. We do a lot of things in both phases, and they were two days behind. The other guys got the practice time and we felt more comfortable having them active for the game.”
On whether their absence was a “punishment”:
“No. I don’t know what you mean by “punishment, but no.”
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PEYTON MANNING, BRONCOS QB
On TE Julius Thomas:
“I don’t know if you talk about mismatches. Julius is the guy we got to try to find a way to get the ball to him no matter what defense they’re playing. I just really think he can be a match up problem for certain defenses but a couple of good calls by [Offensive Coordinator] Adam Gase—the third down the one down there by the end zone. Good call, man to man, Julius beat him on the crossing route then the long one got him man to man again. It’s tough to cover a guy who runs as well as he does. Then the third down was an audible when we got man again and he ran a good route. So good game by him, good start. I think all the work he put in to this off season paid off tonight for him.”
On if him beating all 32 teams is an honor or if it means he’s old:
“I think it means you have to be old. You have to be 38 years old probably at least to beat all 32 teams. I don’t think I will have that one up on my mantle or anything like that to put it that way.”
On the timing and patterns with his receivers:
“I have to see the film. Overall our execution wasn’t as good. I can’t point to one particular thing but our execution wasn’t as sharp in the second half as it was in the first half.”
On if he thinks Andrew Luck still has a ways to go to be the greatest quarterback:
“That’s a little deep for a Tennessee graduate. I know I am on the record a number of times talking about what a great quarterback he is and what a great career he’s going to have. Our defense was in for a tough challenge tonight stopping their offense but they did a good job. They are going to be a team to reckon with all season in the AFC. For me, like I said, it was good to get off the season with the win. It was a perfect game by any means but I had an old coach, Jim Mora, who said, ‘Don’t ever take winning for granted’ and sometimes people do it. So I’ve learned not to do it, we will learn from it, from the mistakes that we made and hopefully be better next week than we were this week.”
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DEMARCUS WARE, BRONCOS DE
On if he feels the defense is going in the right direction:
“I think it’s [headed in] the right direction. We have to always put four quarters together. We were able to do that. It wasn’t the perfect four quarters that we wanted, but we can improve on it next week.”
On the play of Colts QB Andrew Luck in the second half:
“He did the same things (as the first half). They ran the same passes and did the same stuff, but he did it really quickly. He sort of keyed on some of our mistakes. He’s a great quarterback. You’ve always got to give him that. He was able to score some points on us in that third and fourth quarter.”
On what he saw when he was able to sack Luck:
“You’ve got to look at their pass protection, where they’re protecting at. Sometimes they’ll chip you a little bit and leave Von (Miller) one-on-one so he was able to get some pressure. The main thing is you have to get some pressure on a guy like Luck. He’ll sit back there, string plays out and make big plays on you. We were able to collectively hold him in the pocket.”
On the importance of this performance for the defense:
“It’s always the first impression. We weren’t perfect. We have a lot of things we do need to improve on. On the game as a whole, we played really well all through four quarters. The third quarter was a little bit shaky on a couple plays, but me, (Aqib) Talib and (T.J.) Ward coming in, (Terrance) Knighton and all of us, we played a game that was good enough to win. With a W, it’s easier to correct things. We’re going to go in next week and correct those and get ready for our next game.”
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JULIUS THOMAS, BRONCOS TE
On his first of three touchdowns:
“On Wednesday you’re always saying, ‘Man, look at this game plan. There’s five touchdowns.’ It doesn’t always happen but the first one was a play just down in the low red (zone)—something that we do a lot of. Was able to just cross that ‘Sam’ linebacker’s face. It’s all about the speed of that front pylon, that’s what we coach. Peyton threw a good ball. I was able to fight through a holding penalty and bring it in for a touchdown.”
On the move he put on the safety during his third touchdown:
“We work on our one-on-one routes a lot. It’s something that I like to pride myself on. I believe that if you get in man coverage, you have to win. If you want to be a playmaker and you want to be one of the best players at your position, you can’t allow yourself to be covered in man coverage. He was playing pretty tight press coverage. He gave me the right signal and was able to get a third touchdown.”
On if the game should have been over much earlier:
“Yeah, absolutely. Offensively, for all the good we did, we also have some things we need to coach up and improve upon. When we get the ball back from that fourth quarter running out, we have to do our job and that’s to pick up first downs and to run that clock out. Hats off to our defense, they did a tremendous job of bailing us out time and time again in this game. We couldn’t have done it without them and I was excited to see those guys getting after it.”
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CHRIS HARRIS, BRONCOS CB
On CB Bradley Roby’s debut:
“He’s playing the nickel from (the start of the season). That’s tough to do—to play the slot. That’s the role we’re looking for him to play with me playing outside this year. We’re looking for Roby to shut down the inside. I think he did a good job tonight. As I continue to get in shape and continue to feel better and feel like myself, the defense is going to keep getting better as I continue to get better.”
On tips he’s given Roby about playing in the slot:
“I’m out there telling him everything, everything I see. I’m telling Roby ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this. You’ve got to do that.’ He’s done a great job catching on. He really didn’t know when he was going to play the slot. He just got thrown in and did a great job of it.”
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RAHIM MOORE, BRONCOS S
On where Colts QB Andrew Luck ranks among QBs in the league:
“He’s at the top. I was doing my quarterback report on him yesterday. I see his growth. I’ve been playing against him since college. I’ve known him since high school in the U.S. Army All-American game. I remember when he was a third-string (quarterback), but I’ve seen his growth. He’s at the top of the game. When Manning retires, Andrew Luck, I believe, is going to take over the game. There’s nothing he can’t do. There’s no throw he can’t make. He’s so strong. He can run. He has no weaknesses to me. He played good today.”
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CHUCK PAGANO, COLTS COACH
On the loss:
“Obviously, a disappointing loss. We came here for one reason and one reason only and that was to win the football game. There are a lot of positives that you can take from this. You look at the two-minute drive at the end of the first half, two-minute drives in the second half. The defense getting stops in the second half, the onside kick to give us another possession in the second half. But obviously, when you start the way that we started, when you dig that hole that we dug for ourselves it’s hard to come back.”
On playing better after halftime:
“What changed? Well, I think we protected better, we ran better, we tackled better. Our assignments—we played assignment football. Guys did their job better in all three phases, and usually that’s what the difference in those two halves. Guys just did their job and did it better.”
On facing Broncos TE Julius Thomas:
“He’s a monster, a really, really good player. He is a match-up and a nightmare and it’s tough to—but again, credit them, they did a nice job of moving him around and getting him in position to make the plays. Of course No. 18 (Broncos QB Peyton Manning) was really good again and got the ball to those guys and found those matchups. “
On not giving up when they were down 24-7:
“You’re never out. You’re never out when you have a quarterback like (QB) Andrew (Luck), and the playmakers that we have around him, and guys who are going to play 60 minutes. We don’t look at the scoreboard, we just play and take it one play at a time, and when the guy goes off we just look up and see where we’re at. We know where we’re at—we’re 0-1. We’ve got a big game coming up—Monday Night Football at home against Philly. But we’re going to get back, watch these tapes, make the corrections and move on. “
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PHOTOS: Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos in 2014 season opener
ANDREW LUCK, COLTS QB
On the opportunities in the first drive:
“Didn’t take advantage of them early in the game. We had a bunch of opportunities later in the game and didn’t do anything. We were down on the goal line, and it was a stupid decision of mine to go for that QB-sneak and get stoned. In those early ones especially, not taking advantage of those, we put our defense in a really tough position. We must have played what seems like 90 snaps in that first half, and that’s as much of the offense’s fault as anything, for not putting some drives together and getting something out of it. A lot of mistakes were made, especially those early ones, not taking advantage of those third downs and getting points. It’s tough.”
On the difference in the halves:
“I think we did manage to take advantage of some opportunities in that second half that we didn’t in the first. It was good to get that two-minute drive right at the end of the half to get points; to find a little bit more of a rhythm I guess. I really don’t have an answer. We just seemed to make more plays.”
On the effect of the Broncos’ pass rush:
“I think our guys did a great job. I have a lot of respect for not only (DE) DeMarcus Ware and (LB) Von Miller, but everybody that’s up there. It’s a good front seven. I thought our guys did a heck of a job. I really do.”
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or at twitter.com/nickijhabvala
