Mile High Monday: The Broncos make a statement with win over Cowboys

The Denver Broncos made a huge statement on Sunday. With the entire football world doubting them on the road against the Dallas Cowboys, the Broncos almost shut out – and certainly shut down – the high-powered Cowboys offense and won 30-16.

I like when the Broncos get back on the winning track. They have two wins in a row, and let’s see if they can make it three against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10.

I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ! The following is a result of those trips during the week.

Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.

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First 100

Javonte Williams was my No. 1 graded running back in the 2021 NFL Draft. I said the Broncos should draft him after the North Carolina pro day where he dazzled the scouts in attendance. I was elated when the Broncos selected him – and moved up – in the second round of the draft.

I have not been happy with his usage. Williams has flashed most every week with the Broncos, and there are jarring runs where it takes multiple defenders to bring him down in each game. Even with the rookie making plays, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur abandons the run at the drop of a hat. This means Williams doesn’t get enough work to be productive.

On Sunday, that all changed. The Broncos leaned on their rushing attack, won the game easily against the Cowboys, and Williams registered the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. I hope it’s the first of many because this kid looks special. The Broncos had a lead, so Shurmur stuck with the run, and it worked to perfection However, if they fall behind by seven or maybe even 10 points, I still think they can run the ball.

I could watch this all day. #Broncos – no.1 RB in this class IMHO, hopefully he gets fed more and keeps leading the charge! @1043TheFan I'd love for him to get 1,000 yards as a rookie, and still quite possible in final half of the season (see Gary Brown, Kevin Jones, etc) https://t.co/FoPX3wUw8B

— Cecil Lammey (@CecilLammey) November 7, 2021

Now that we’ve gotten a taste of what Williams can do with a larger role, let’s hope this train keeps rolling. He’s a powerful back who can get stronger as the game goes on. The Broncos have a keeper in Williams, and he’s the future of the position for the Broncos with Melvin Gordon on an expiring contract. It would be nice for Williams to get featured and push for 1,000 yards as a rookie.

After the slow start, due to Shurmur’s unwillingness to stick with the run, Williams would need around 650 yards over the final eight games. That’s certainly doable, and something we’ve seen in year’s past from guys like Gary Brown (Houston Oilers), Kevin Jones (Detroit Lions) and Derrick Henry (Tennessee Titans). If the Broncos want to keep winning, they need to keep giving the rock to Williams.

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Pick a Cliche

The Broncos wanted to prove the doubters wrong, and they did just that with their convincing win over a good Cowboys team. Nobody outside of the locker room felt they would win, especially in the way they did. So, after the game we media types are left picking cliches when we write and talk about this big win.

There’s no doubt the Broncos “backs were against the wall” on Sunday. Even though they were .500 going into Week 9, there was a feeling that the season was slipping away. Now, the Broncos are 5-4 and a half game back in the AFC West. This is an unusual spot for the post Super Bowl 50 Broncos.

They had an “us against the world” mentality to be sure. Vegas had the Cowboys as 10 point favorites, and in our King Soopers Fan Football Pick Em only six percent of participants chose the Broncos to win – and those must be the most diehard fans in Broncos Country!

It certainly is “any given Sunday” in the NFL on a weekly basis. This was a weird Sunday of football action. The Jaguars beat the Bills in a game where Josh Allen sacked Josh Allen. The Vikings took the Raven to the brink, only to lose in overtime. The hapless Falcons beat the Saints in a nail-biter and of course the Broncos win shocked the NFL world.

Hard to over estimate how much the Broncos wanted to prove the haters wrong. Wow. As impressive a win as I’ve seen in a long , LONG time. Congrats!!!! Think of whatever cliche you want. Back against the wall, us v the world, any given Sunday. What a w!!!! Love it. Playoffs?

— Darren McKee (@dmac1043) November 7, 2021

What can they do for an encore? They are undefeated against the NFC East (Giants, WFT, Cowboys) and finish out their schedule against that division with a home game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10. Let’s see if they can make it three in a row, and then we can start using another cliché – the Broncos are in the zone!

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Emotion in Motion

Fangio isn’t a man who shows many emotions. This is his third season as the Broncos head coach, and he rarely shows much personality. Instead, Fangio says lots of “coachspeak” and will speak with a vague tone to give nothing away. If we ever get a smile or grin out of him, it usually has to do with Italian food or baseball – two of his passions outside of football.

Against the Cowboys, you could see this game meant a lot for Fangio. To that I say, GOOD! This game needed to mean something to him for multiple reasons.

Fangio is no doubt on the hot seat and his job status for 2022 with the Broncos is up in the air. He knows that, everyone knows that, and that’s why it was so good to see him animated on the sidelines. Broncos fans were excited and surprised by the Broncos performance, and it was fun to see Fangio having fun.

With the trade of Von Miller, many in the fan base felt the Broncos were tanking on the season. That group of players in the locker room did not feel that way. Fangio didn’t feel that way. Instead, they’re still fighting for more wins to give themselves a chance at the postseason. If Fangio gets this team to the playoffs, then he likely saves his job. It’s almost the middle of November, and the Broncos are still in it – that’s a win for Fangio and his staff.

VICTORY MOOD. pic.twitter.com/IjdEBi6NfB

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 7, 2021

It was good to see the coach fired up, especially early in the game when the Cowboys kept trying to go for it on fourth down – and his Broncos defense kept stopping them. This was a signature win for Fangio – the only one of his coaching career. You could say the Texans game in 2019 (Drew Lock’s first start), but this game has more meaning as the Broncos are still in a playoff hunt.

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Posterized

We get so excited over the smallest news in the comic book community. On Sunday, a new poster for the upcoming Spiderman movie “No Way Home” was released to much fanfare. Not only do Spiderman fans get a glimpse at the movie, but this poster also fueled more speculation about what we’ll see when the film is released.

I know quite a bit about the movie, things I won’t spoil in this article, but this might be the best Spiderman movie of all time. I’m old enough to remember when we would just speculate on if they could ever make a Spiderman movie in the early 90s. When technology finally caught up with comic books, we’ve now seen seven feature films of the webslinger – with varying quality.

This upcoming film “No Way Home” is likely to be the type of movie I see multiple times in the theater. Since COVID hit, I’ve been back to the movie theater to see a handful of movies – but I have not repeated my viewings like I did for movies like “The Force Awakens” (10 times) or “Avengers: Infinity War” (five times) pre-pandemic. If “No Way Home” is as good as I think it will be, then I’ll grab my bottle of water (no more popcorn or Milk Duds for me, I’m on a diet!) and get comfortable in the theater.

Update – latest I’m hearing is it will be tonight around 8pm ish.#SpiderManNoWayHome Poster https://t.co/tfsAqEq19N

— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) November 7, 2021

What did you think of the “No Way Home” poster? Hit me up on social media and let me know!

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