DETROIT — The omnipotent Orange defense and the Pistol Peyton offense coalesced to keep the wacky, weird, wild ride alive.
The Broncos went all metaphysical for the third straight game while jolting the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, two dozen to one dozen.
Another opposing coach shook his head in disbelief. The Broncos “made some big plays,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said, “and we didn’t make enough.”
HUGE plays: David Bruton, Mr. Special Teams, pulled off the second interception of his seven-season career — zipping in front of Calvin Johnson and tipping the pass.
Another reserve, Shaquil “Shaq Attack” Barrett, did a strip sack on Matthew Stafford, and the Broncos got the fumble.
Bradley “Big Play” Roby intercepted a pass. Aqib Talib didn’t have his third interception, but he blocked a critical extra-point kick.
And there was Ol’ No. 18. Mark Twain would say that reports of Peyton Manning’s demise are greatly exaggerated.
Peyton completed 31-of-42 passes for a normal 324 yards and two magnificent touchdowns — without a running game again.
The Broncos’ quarterback morphed into Pistol Peyton Manning.
Against the Lions, Gary Kubiak stepped back from his under-center mind-set, and Manning stepped up out of his comfortable shotgun formation.
It was a snap judgment.
The coach-quarterback compromise was the pistol offense.
Manning lined up 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage instead of his usual 7.
Only once the entire evening did Manning line up under center. That was to take a knee on the final play.
The change had mixed results. It didn’t produce an outpouring of points, and the running game still was stifled. But, in another game as tight as those Velcro-like football gloves, Manning looked mostly effective in the pass-happy offense.
Manning, not wearing a glove, finished off the night and the Lions with a blimp (on purpose) to Emmanuel Sanders, then a true touchdown pass to Owen Daniels. Manning hit Demaryius Thomas on a 45-yarder beauty to end the first half. This was not the Broncos’ offense of 2013, but it wasn’t the offense of early 2015, either.
When the Lions cut the lead to 14-12 in the fourth quarter, it was here-we-go-again time. There are no laughers around here, but there’s no crying in Denver football.
The Lions’ early conversion kick was blocked. The second, a two-point run, was squashed.
“Run” was a four-letter word: “joke.”
The Broncos outrushed the Lions — ha! — 18 yards to 12 in the first half, and it was just as ugly in the second half. The longest run of the night for the Broncos was 9 yards — by a tight end. Ronnie Hillman got a touchdown with a 1-yard burst through right tackle. Then, Joique Bell replied with a 1-yard TD in a jump over the line.
Neither offensive line distinguished itself creating holes. No matter what the Broncos preach and practice, the run is extinct. Kubiak understood in the third. Live by the pass, thrive by the pass.
The half was pass, pass, pass — 41 in all.
Manning and Thomas connected on a the touchdown pass just five seconds before halftime.
From the pistol.
Pistol Pete Maravich was a prolific scorer at LSU in the 1960s, but he wasn’t responsible for the pistol.
Chris Ault popularized the formation, which had been floating around for years, in 2005 when he was the coach at the University of Nevada. The concept was supposed to let the quarterback read defenses and have more time to throw, but also allowed the offense to run more efficiently than in the shotgun.
Kubiak used the pistol sporadically when he was coaching the Houston Texans, and ex-Broncos coordinator Adam Gase had the pistol in his offense for Manning “just to give us another look sometimes,” he said last year.
But the Broncos have been either/or this season — either under center or shotgun.
After opening the first play Thursday night in the shotgun, Manning moved up on the next play. He stayed there.
And in crunch time once more, with gusto, the Broncos’ defense, and the offense were magical.
Woody Paige: woody@woodypaige.com or @woodypaige
