Key’s in the ignition for Broncos bandwagon

The Cleveland Browns are simply a bad football team. But this is how a good team is supposed to beat a bad team.

The Browns have scored one offensive touchdown in their past eight games, but it didn’t come against a suddenly stalwart Denver defense.

Shaun Rogers is a Pro Bowl nose guard, but the Broncos rushed for 186 yards on five yards per carry, including 107 in the fourth quarter.

The 2009 NFL season is only two weeks old, but the Denver Broncos are in sole possession of first place in the AFC West. Only nine of the 32 teams in the league have unblemished records, and Denver is among them.

With a dominating 27-6 defeat of the Browns on Sunday, the Broncos opened the eyes of the Invesco faithful with a victory, and a resounding one at that considering Josh McDaniels’ squad was only a three-point home favorite over a team many are predicting to finish with the NFL’s worst record.

And for the second week in a row, it wasn’t always pretty, it was just effective.

Matt Prater missed two seemingly simple field goals. Kyle Orton completed barely half of his passes. Heralded rookie Knowshon Moreno was held to 33 yards on 12 carries, until the final quarter. And with the game’s fate still whipping in the autumn wind, the Broncos were feebly grasping a 13-6 lead with 15 minutes left on the clock.

And then, nearly a full quarter earlier than last week, Denver woke up. In fact, Orton found his groove from the opening ticks of the second half. After 30 minutes of heady throw-aways and a few missed targets, Orton completed 8 of 10 passes for 143 yards, finally giving fans a peek of how this offense is supposed to operate.

The rest of the team took note. A seven-play, 82-yard drive straddled the final two stanzas, culminating in a two-yard plunge from Peyton Hillis. On the following drive, former Brown Andra Davis stuffed Cleveland running back Jerome Harrison for a loss on first down, and Elvis Dumervil helped the visitors leave the building with a sack on each of the next two snaps. The Browns finished the drive in three plays, losing a total of 18 yards, and Dumervil notched Nos. 2 and 3 of his four-sack day.

For the second week in a row, Denver held its opponent to only a touchdown’s worth of points and less than 305 yards. The Browns managed only 200 total.

After all of the scrutiny, and all of the armchair ownership, McDaniels is starting to prove his worth. The season is young, but McDaniels’ hiring of Mike Nolan may soon shine brighter than the darkness of losing Jay Cutler. Maybe he knew what he was doing all along.

Nolan certainly seems to, at least so far. Ask any coach and they’ll tell you that transitioning to a three-man front from a 4-3 is, well, hard as hell. Many fans will tell you the same.

In fact, many did. The complaints about Robert Ayers’ perceived inability to fit in a hybrid position and the anger voiced over the lack of marquee signings in the front seven were nearly as loud as the boos rained down on Orton after failing to score at the end of the first half. But after allowing only 13 points in two games (good for second in the NFL behind only the Indianapolis Colts, who won’t play their second game until Monday night) and ranking fourth in total yards allowed, the nomadic veteran signings are beginning to soothe the concerns.

Despite fears that a short passing system would lead to short gains and a shorter lifespan for the new head coach, the Broncos converted more than half of their 15 third downs on Sunday. Brandon Marshall’s public fit over a thin wallet has been washed away by an apology and a knack for clutch catches. Even with the cameramen attempting to stir controversy into an otherwise lucid day by shooting No. 15 standing on the sidelines, Marshall still came up big enough, moving the chains twice in the second half. Brandon Stokley dropped one pass but caught five others for 70 yards. And when the game needed to be iced, the running backs took turns embarrassing the Cleveland defense.

The offense may have needed a game and a half to work out the kinks, but the defense has been there since the opening contest of the preseason.

Cleveland managed a paltry 2.6 yards per rush. Brady Quinn finished with a 58.7 passer rating. The Browns compiled all of 72 yards and four first downs in the second half.

Now it’s time to put it all together for a full 60 minutes. The toughness of a quarterback who has yet to turn the ball over despite sporting a bone that split the skin on his throwing hand. The determination of the offensive line to maul the way for a ground game that knows how to finish. The underrated violence of a pass rush that has notched nearly a third of last season’s sack total in only two games.

The pieces are there for a surprise year. The pessimistic clicking of keys on a laptop hasn’t stopped the Broncos from believing. A tipped ball on a desperation pass wasn’t able to pock Denver’s record. A chunk of marrow slicing through a knuckle hasn’t given the ball to the other team. And an anemic Oakland Raiders offense surely can’t stand in the way of a 3-0 start.

Wake up early this week. The bandwagon may be arriving a bit prematurely, but you don’t want to miss the ride.

See more from Hunter Ansley at DraftZoo.com