They heard it all. They heard that the Packers were supposed to come in their house and beat up on an unproven, flawed Broncos team. They heard Aaron Rodgers would expose their defense in ways that hadn’t been done before this season. They heard they were “good, not great.”
With Denver’s 29-10 beatdown of Green Bay Sunday night, they pulled their best .
“It reaffirms who we believe we are,” Broncos defensive end Antonio Smith said about the win. “Whenever anybody calls you out you might not speak out on it, but you can rest assure you’re packing that on your shoulders. You’re carrying that chip just waiting to unleash it. I think today was the first day that we really as a team unleashed that we believe we possess.”
That ability was displayed in every aspect of the game, but specifically on defense. The Broncos held Aaron Rodgers to just 77 yards passing, the lowest total of his career in a game that he started and finished. The Packers had 140 yards of offense compared to Denver’s 500.
Sure, some people had the Broncos beating the Packers. But, raise your hand if you had Denver beating Green Bay by 19. Put your hand down, I don’t believe you.
“You hear people say this, you hear people say that and slowly but surely those thoughts get in your mind,” Smith said. “Like are we the worst 6-0 team in the league?”
Sunday night’s performance should halt all of that talk and focus toward how far can this Broncos team truly go. Is there even a limit?
Still, Smith hopes folks keep telling them what they can’t do.
“The more naysaying we get, the more fuel we get,” he said. “So keep on doubting, keep on saying we’re the worst 7-0 team all the way to the playoffs.”
Count me among the folks that are done doubting, if Denver plays like they did Sunday night. They can and will beat any team in the league, that includes the New England Bradys, too.
CHEW ON THIS
• Check out how the Broncos sent .
• C.J. Anderson ran in .
• How the the Broncos offense.
• , columnist Woody Paige writes.
• The Sunday, beating the New York Mets in 12 innings. As is tradition, World Wrestling Entertainment presented the Royals .
• ESPN’s 30 for 30 on airs at 7 p.m Tuesday.
WATCH THIS
Miami with an to beat Duke. However, the after omitting several errors.
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Cameron Wolfe: cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe
Online sports producer Joe Nguyen contributed to this story.
