Demaryius Thomas (88) of the Denver Broncos in the fourth quarter. The Denver Broncos played the Cincinnati Bengals at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver on Dec. 28, 2015. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
The best and worst from the Broncos’ 20-17 overtime win against Cincinnati in their Week 16 game on Monday…
Anderson’s run pumped life into team. CJ Anderson’s sprint through the line and snap-cut to the outside for a 39-yard, go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter more than tripled his yardage total to that point. And it gave the Broncos some life with some very much needed running prowess. Anderson had just 12 yards on three rushes before the game-turning run.
Tackling machine. Inside linebacker Danny Trevathan quietly held together Denver’s defense. He nabbed a game-high 10 combined tackles in the first half, more than twice as many as the next nearest player for either team.
Playing it safe. He might not light up your fantasy league, but Osweiler continues to not mess up. He threw only four interceptions in his six previous games and had a clean sheet through three quarters Monday.
Slow first half. Maybe the Broncos heard so much chatter about their second-half ineptness in December that they forgot about the first half. The Bengals dominated it. They ran more than twice as many plays (38 to 16) for nearly three times as much possession (21:14 to 8:46).
Balance bad. Chicken or the egg? Couldn’t set up the pass because the run game stalled? Or vice versa? The Broncos gained only 16 yards on the ground before halftime. And Brock Osweiler threw for a slim 89 yards.
D.T. struggles. Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos’ No. 1 receiver, was a ghost again, with only two catches on four targets in the first half. He had five catches last week at Pittsburgh, his worst showing since catching four passes total in back-to-back games against the Bears and Patriots in November.
