As the final seconds expired in St. Louis on Sunday, no Broncos fan would have been surprised by this fictional Las Vegas line: Gravity minus-7.
“No, the sky is not falling,” assured receiver Emmanuel Sanders, fully aware of the external hand-wringing. “Right now, we’re first in the AFC West, and we’re a couple of games behind New England. There’s no need to panic. We know what we’ve got to do. Obviously the goal is to hopefully win home-field advantage, but the real goal is to get in the playoffs and stay alive and win a championship, so obviously we’re still more than capable of attaining our goals, so we’re not going to panic around here.”
Home is sweet. The Broncos have played poorly over the last three weeks, aside from two quarters in Oakland. However, none of those games was at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where the Broncos are 5-0 this season and winners of 14 of their last 15.
It’s not like the Broncos feature the Rockies’ splits, but they are much better in Denver. It starts with quarterback Peyton Manning. He has completed 121-of-170 passes (71.2 percent) for 1,594 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. He owns a 128.9 rating.
On the road, he’s 152-for-237 (64.1 percent) for 1,707 yards, 13 scores and seven interceptions with a 91.8 rating.
The Broncos are more balanced offensively at home, and able to take a punch. All five of their home victims own winning records. The Broncos are 2-3 on the road, their wins against the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders, who are a combined 3-18.
“Yeah, a long road trip and we get to come home. Fans (are) excited. We (are) excited. We have a good team coming in here, though,” cornerback Aqib Talib said. “We just have to execute and keep the fans pumped up.”
Ware falls ill. Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware didn’t hold his weekly meeting with the media. Turns out he wasn’t feeling well. He was sent home before practice Saturday. Ware was added to the injury report and listed as probable, meaning he is expected to play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
Animal instinct. Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio uses video to inspire players before “Turnover Thursday.” Talib has a favorite.
“Definitely was the lion one; lions running down deer and stuff like that,” Talib said. “They just go changing direction and stuff like that.”
Footnotes. Linebacker Brandon Marshall has posted 28 tackles over his past two games, the most by a Bronco over a two-game stretch since 2007. … Manning has thrown a touchdown pass in 49 consecutive games.
