Poetic justice: Two home wins and Broncos are in

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Poetic justice: Two home wins and Broncos are in

December 19, 2006
Home is where the heart now must be for these Broncos.
Despite all their warts and an uncommon four-game losing streak, they have done enough on the road this season to be in the postseason mix.

After a rather tidy dismantling of the perennially rebuilding Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Denver finished its road work for the 2006 regular season at 5-3. Such a record belongs to somebody with larger playoff ambitions than the Broncos had shown the past month.

But in the comfortable confines of home, the Broncos have gone only 3-3 this season. The Broncos have a big-time road win at New England this season, a not-bad one at Pittsburgh and the expected ones at Cleveland and Oakland.

At home? Well at home, where they have won fewer than five games in a season only once since Mike Shanahan became the team's coach in 1995, the Broncos have lost to San Diego, Seattle and Indianapolis.

Granted, those three teams lead their respective divisions and the Broncos led all three of those games late enough to have won. Still, their only home win with some teeth at this point is the slugfest against Baltimore.

But with a two-game finish to the season to be played at Invesco Field at Mile High, the Broncos need to muster a little bit of their past. They have been the league's best home team through the years.

They will have Cincinnati, which is coming off a road appearance Monday night into a road appearance Sunday afternoon. And they will have San Francisco, which still is trying to refortify after a salary-cap cave-in that has lasted the better part of a decade.

The Bengals and 49ers do have the ability to pick at what has ailed the Broncos when things have gone badly this season.

The Bengals can wing it around and pile on the points. They have multiple targets in the passing game. So, even if quarterback Carson Palmer decides throwing toward Champ Bailey is little more than a migraine waiting to happen, the Bengals still can move the ball.

The 49ers have Frank Gore, who leads the NFC in rushing despite two reconstructed knees. But Gore is an equalizer because he can run the clock as he pounds the ball.

He also has done his best work against the better teams, having rushed for 356 yards in two games against Seattle and 111 yards at Chicago.

So, all in all, the Broncos left San Diego on Dec. 10 hoping for an opportunity, that the postseason mathematics would smile on them if they could only throw together some kind of afternoon in suburban Phoenix.

They did that. They dominated a team that wasn't yet ready for that type of affair.

So now they have the coveted puncher's chance. Two home wins, and they're in.

Two. Not a great effort in one and a stumble in the other. Two home wins - in a row.

That's something that hasn't come easy for the Broncos this season. In fact, it's something they haven't done since October.

MATCH GAME

Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams vs. Bengals wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Even if Williams doesn't play Sunday because of the toe injury that sidelined him in Arizona, any Broncos matchup against Houshmandzadeh will bear watching.

The previous time the Broncos faced the Bengals - a disappointing Monday Night Football loss in Paul Brown Stadium in 2004 - Denver matched up Champ Bailey on Chad Johnson.

Johnson made some plays that most haven't against Bailey, finishing with 149 yards on seven catches to go with a touchdown. But Bailey hasn't surrendered anything close to that since, and opposing quarterbacks, for the most part, have chosen to stay away.

That puts the cornerback on the other side - either Williams or, if he can't play, Domonique Foxworth - in the zone. Houshmandzadeh is strong and quick and, despite being held to 49 receiving yards and no touchdowns by the Colts on Monday night, has three 100-yard games this season and five with at least 90 yards to go with his eight TDs. Carson Palmer looks for Houshmandzadeh plenty in the scoring zone as well because he usually has single coverage.

BREAK IT DOWN

With a single pass, Cutler shows why he's the bomb

In the end, all the answers came in one swing of Jay Cutler's right arm.

Certainly there is a long way to go in what Cutler and the Broncos hope is a long and fruitful career, but the rookie's 54-yard touchdown pass to Javon Walker on Sunday had all the elements to explain why Cutler had shoved his way into the argument about the top quarterbacks in last April's draft.

Matt Leinart and Vince Young had battled for a national championship. But Cutler had flashed potential in his last two seasons at Vanderbilt.

And the draft has always been more about potential than production.

The scouts who had argued that Cutler had the most long-range potential of the top passers on the board were vindicated on his first pass attempt against the Cardinals:

• He showed mobility on a nice roll to the left. The right-hander showed footwork as he planted, switched the ball from his left hand to his right and got his hips around to throw.

• He showed toughness and patience as he got hit just after his release.

• He showed his arm strength. The ball traveled roughly 64 yards in the air despite the fact Cutler did not get a full stride into the motion before he was hit.

• He showed accuracy under duress. And for a young quarterback, accuracy might be the biggest hurdle - hitting receivers in the correct shoulder to get the maximum from a play.

Consistent accuracy under duress is the mother lode. Again, it was only one play of many Cutler will be asked to make, but it was worth far more than a touchdown.

GET IT DONE

Pass rush disrupts Cardinals

If you take defensive tackle Gerard Warren at his word, the Broncos' defensive coaches on Sunday simply waved the big guys on in.

"The coaches came in and said, 'We're tired of searching for things to work, let's just go back to the things we know how to do,' " Warren said. "They decided we're not going to outsmart them or anything like that, we're just going to let you go after the quarterback."

So the Broncos did. They rushed four much of the time against the Cardinals - because they had to, because they needed to.

With safety Nick Ferguson already on injured reserve and cornerback Darrent Williams out of the lineup because of a toe injury, the Broncos were trying to cobble together packages in the secondary to overcome a list of injuries against a team with plenty of zip at wide receiver.

They needed a day when the front four got to the quarterback, a day when the season's original plan, one that had gone awry at times over the past three months, came together. They got it with three sacks and plenty more hits.

Warren continues to be the key when the Broncos are able to do that. And if he lifts his game in the season's final weeks, the ripple effect will be felt across the Broncos defense.

HOT SPOT

Fast start vital against Bengals

The Broncos' comfort level in playing with an early lead has been easy to see.

They spent most of their run to 13-3 in '05 well out in front. They made Terrell Davis a league MVP by throwing their way to an early lead and slamming the door with the running back's romps in and around opposing defenses.

It is what they do best.

"And that's something we've not always had this year," wide receiver Rod Smith has said. "And we've got to find a way to help our defense. . . . Let the other guys chase us."

That will be of the utmost importance against the Bengals on Sunday. The Bengals have plenty of pop on offense, and they understand they must overcome their defensive shortcomings with what they can do with the ball.

As a result, they are aggressive and will push the ball down the field early.

The Broncos' offense, which hasn't always come out of the gate quickly this season, needs to stay away from field goals. It went 0-for-3 in the red zone in the first half Sunday.

A repeat performance against Cincinnati will cost Denver more than a game this time around.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Broncos adapt

The past three seasons, the Broncos appear to have adjusted to having a player like Champ Bailey in their secondary. After going 3-5 in games in which the opponent had a wide receiver with at least 100 yards in receptions in '04 - Bailey's first with the Broncos - they have gone 8-3 in those games the past two seasons through Sunday's win in Arizona. The rundown since the start of the '05 season:

Date Receiver Team Catches Yards TDs Result

Sept. 11, 2005 Marty Booker Dolphins 5 104 1 L, 34-10

Sept. 26, 2005 Eddie Kennison Chiefs 8 112 0 W, 30-10

Oct. 2, 2005 Jimmy Smith Jaguars 5 109 1 W, 20-7

Oct. 9, 2005 Santana Moss Redskins 8 116 0 W, 21-19

Oct. 30, 2005 Terrell Owens Eagles 3 154 1 W, 49-21

Dec. 4, 2005 Eddie Kennison Chiefs 4 108 0 L, 31-27

Dec. 11, 2005 Mark Clayton Ravens 7 105 1 W, 12-10

Dec. 17, 2005 Eric Moulds Bills 9 110 0 W, 28-17

Jan. 14, 2006 Deion Branch Patriots 8 153 0 W, 27-13*

Oct. 29, 2006 Reggie Wayne Colts 10 138 3 L, 34-31

Nov. 5, 2006 Hines Ward Steelers 7 127 0 W, 31-20

* Afc Divisional Round

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