Pritchard: Motivated Broncos earn big win in front of loyal fans
Dec 10, 2017, 9:12 PM | Updated: 9:12 pm
The Denver Broncos snapped an eight-game skid Sunday with a 23-0 win over the New York Jets. Here’s “Pritchard & Cecil” co-host Mike Pritchard’s big three observations from the Broncos shutout:
1. A complete game from a motivated Broncos team
A motivated Broncos squad finally played a complete game and got a much-needed victory at home against the Jets.
Denver’s offense played with an edge, and its defense dominated.
From where did the inspiration come?
Linebacker Von Miller said head coach Vance Joseph’s speech to the team last night wasn’t a “rah-rah” speech but more of a challenge to a team of “ballers” to go and do what they do best.
“The ballers are just going to ball, regardless of the circumstances, the score, or the game. They’re just going to go out there and ball,” Miller said of the speech. “He challenged all the ballers, which we have a team full of ballers. He challenged everybody to go out there and ball, and we did that.”
2. Offense countered Jets man coverage challenge
The Jets challenged the Broncos offense by playing man-to-man coverage. And Denver responded with quick passes, along with contested passes Broncos receivers made plays on.
Once again, Denver had trouble converting in the red zone, with only 25 percent scoring conversion percentage, primarily because New York played zone coverages in the condensed are of the field.
3. Broncos Country showed up in a big way
Even though it’s been a tough season for Denver, Broncos Country still loves its team.
There was a great crowd on hand for Denver’s victory over New York, one that the players and coaches appreciated.
“The fans have been great through this eight-game losing streak. They never left us,” Jopseh said after the game. “It’s been frustrating for all of us involved here; players and fans alike. But the fans came out today. They were loud. They made a difference today.
“Big props to the fans, 70,000 strong.”
