ST. LOUIS — Denver Broncos, meet the other half.
This is how defenses play on teams which don’t possess an elite quarterback. The margin for error is thinner than Flat Stanley, simple mistakes magnified.
The Broncos’ defense accepted blame for the 22-7 loss Sunday, even if the unit was the only reason Denver had a pulse through three quarters. The Broncos limited St. Louis to three field goals in three red zone appearances.
But it was a long passthat haunted Denver. Peyton Manning threw incomplete to Emmanuel Sanders on fourth-and-5 from the Rams’ 37-yard line in the first quarter. A crowd splashed with orange suddenly turned loud for the home team. The Rams pounced. Former starter, former backup, current starter Shaun Hill dropped back and delivered a 63-yard scoring strike to Kenny Britt, making it 10-0 and leaving Denver scrambling, fully aware it was going to be in a physical brawl.
Britt beat nickel cornerback Bradley Roby, who dived in an attempt to deflect the pass. Britt finished with 128 yards on four receptions. The Broncos insisted that Britt didn’t surprise them.
“He’s not dangerous,” cornerback Chris Harris said. “He just made a couple of plays.”
Harris drew the assignment of taking out Tavon Austin. One of the NFL’s fastest players, Austin finished with two catches for 10 yards. The Britt play stung because it represented one of the Broncos’ few mistakes in coverage. At least according to Hill, who replaced Austin Davis, who was benched because of his propensity to commit turnovers.
“I just saw the safety come right, driving on Tavon,” Hill said. “I saw Kenny’s angle and launched it. He ran right under it. Obviously, Kenny’s got a great skill set. He had an opportunity to use Tavon as a decoy to get open.”
On the Rams’ first drive, Britt raced behind Aqib Talib on a 33-yard gain. It might have been a touchdown had Hill not thrown the ball behind Britt.
What hurt the Broncos’ defense was its inability to get off the field. Tre Mason became the first player to rush for 100 yards on Denver this season. St. Louis held the ball for 35 minutes, 50 seconds. The Broncos’ defense showed elasticity on a day when the opposing defense already was ripping at the seams.
“We’ve just got to tighten the screws up as a team. We didn’t play well on either side of the ball,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “We did hold them to five field goals, but in a game like this on the road you’ve got to find a way to spark the team. We could have created turnovers to change momentum, and we didn’t.”
