Three observations from the Broncos win over the Cowboys in Week 9
Nov 8, 2021, 6:12 AM
The Denver Broncos shocked the world with a 30-16 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys – on the road – in Week 9. Nobody outside of that locker room expected Denver to win, and they traveled to Dallas and dominated the game. Things weren’t as close as the score indicates – and the score isn’t close.
After the game, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio commented on the play of his defense.
“Those guys had the right mindset, which you have to when you’re playing against an offense that is that good. I mean, they were ranked in the top three in damn near every category that there was. I don’t remember seeing such a good offense that was balanced like they were, watching them all week. And for us to come in here and do that, it’s just kudos to the players. They had the right mindset. They bought in to what we had to do to have a chance to slow them down, and we did more than slow them down,” Fangio said.
Here are the top-three observations from the Broncos-Cowboys game.
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Fourth and Stuffed
The Broncos defense showed up in a big way against the Cowboys. Everyone knew it was going to be a tough order for Denver, because of their defensive struggles and because the Cowboys offense scores around 30 points per game. Early in the game, the Cowboys had no problem moving the ball against the Broncos.
However, on fourth down they had zero success – not just early but the entire game. On two first quarter drives, the Cowboys went for it on fourth down – and both drives were stunted by the Broncos. For the game, Dallas tried four times to move the chains on fourth down and all failed.
Their third-down efficiency wasn’t much better. The Cowboys went 5-for-13 on third down and they only had 14 first downs – most of those in garbage time when the Broncos had called off the dogs.
Fangio was proud of his defense’s performance. “They’re big. Everybody wants to go for it on fourth down, right? Fourth-and one, fourth-and-two, they cite all of the numbers and so on and so forth, but when you don’t get them, it hurts, and we were the beneficiary of the hurts.” Fangio said.
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Run. The. Ball.
For the love of God, every single week I beg the offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to run the ball more. On Sunday, my wish was granted. The Broncos were able to dominate the Cowboys on the ground with Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams.
Gordon had 21 carries for a hard-fought 80 yards rushing with one rushing touchdown. Williams had the first 100-yard game of his career, carrying the ball 17 times for 111 yards. As a team, the Broncos ran the ball 41 times for 190 yards and two rushing touchdowns. By comparison, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater only threw the ball 28 times against the Cowboys.
Hammering the Cowboys on the ground helped the Broncos dominate the game and the time of possession. In a 60-minute game, the Broncos had the ball for 41 minutes and 12 seconds. That’s an amazing feat, and it showcases why they were able to pull away from the Cowboys. Sure, Dallas scored 16 points but those were garbage time points. When the game was at hand, Denver curb-stomped them – thanks to their rushing attack.
Teddy Bridgewater loved the support he got from the ground game.
“Those guys just stayed patient. We knew that we could scheme up some good runs for us as an offensive unit. The more we can eliminate the negative plays and the going backwards, I think we can be a pretty good offense. You saw Javonte and Melvin just mixing it up today, a one-two punch, the defense didn’t really know what was coming. We did a great job just getting them going on the edge, guys were perimeter blocking, it was a team effort,” Bridgewater said.
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Sense of Responsibility
Without Von Miller, the Broncos had no problem getting after superstar quarterback Dak Prescott. Losing Miller stings, as he’s the best defender in Broncos history and fans will always love the Super Bowl 50 MVP. However, life goes on and football doesn’t stop because of hurt feelings. The team had to move forward without Miller, and they did that with contributions from new players and inexperienced players.
Prescott was under duress for most of the game, and the Broncos registered 2.0 sacks and five quarterback hits. New guy Stephen Weatherly in his second game with the Broncos was bringing pressure from the edge. He had a quarterback hit as did Baron Browning (1) and Dre’Mont Jones (1). Both sacks belonged to rookie Jonathon Cooper – the player filling in with Miller traded away.
Cooper was one of my favorite players at the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl and on film. I thought he was a fit for the Broncos back in January, so I was thrilled when the Broncos picked him up in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL draft.
After the game, Cooper was clear about his motivation against the Cowboys. He was specific about what it means to be the guy who is playing in place of Miller. “I just wanted to go out there and make them (Miller and Chubb) proud,” Cooper said.
