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Week 1 Game Recap: Denver Broncos 15, Buffalo Bills 14
What you need to know
| Denver Broncos |
The Broncos unveiled a balanced offense attack, but still needed Jay Cutler to engineer an Elway like nail biting drive at the end of the game to escape Buffalo with a victory. Still, Cutler is a young QB experiencing growing pains. Late in the third quarter he was lined up in shotgun formation. He dropped the center snap, panicked, and sailed a pass over Brandon Stokley's head that was intercepted. Later, he fumbled again and threw a desperate lateral over the head of Selvin Young, but the rookie alertly batted the ball out of bounds which allowed the Broncos to retain possession.
Travis Henry made his Denver debut by gaining 183 total yards. Javon Walker caught nine passes for 119 yards, and Cutler went 23 of 39 for a career high 304 yards. Denver controlled the ball for 33:12, out gained Buffalo 470 yards to 184, but could only score one touchdown. Second year WR Brandon Marshall caught five passes for 55 yards and scored the lone Bronco touchdown.
Jason Elam had one of his shakiest days in the NFL but still came out the hero. He missed two kicks early and barely made a 48 yard FG when the ball caromed off the right upright and over the cross bar.
Trailing 12--14 late in the fourth quarter, Denver got the ball back with 2:13 left at their own 34 yard line. They put together a 12 play drive, converted two fourth down plays along the way, and moved to the Buffalo 35 yard line. With :18 left and no time outs, Cutler hit Walker at the Bills' 24 yard line. The field goal team rushed onto the field, line up, and Jason Elam kicked the ball with barely :01 on the clock. It sailed through the uprights from 42 yards with no time on the clock, earning the Broncos a thrilling 15 -14 victory.
| Buffalo Bills |
Reserve TE Kevin Everett was severely injured on the opening kickoff of the second half. He remained motionless on the ground, was eventually immobilized, and removed from the field in an ambulance. He reportedly has suffered a spinal chord injury and is in the Intensive Care Unit following a "lengthy" surgery.
Rookie Marshawn Lynch had a thrilling home debut at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills opened the game with three consecutive runs by Lynch and he responded by picking up 18 yards. He later dashed 23 yards and drove Denver CB Jeff Shoate into the end zone from four yards out for his first NFL touchdown. On a fourth a two play, Denver safety John Lynch hit him behind the line, sent the rookies' helmet flying, but he still managed to break the tackle plow ahead for a first down.
Outside of Lynch, the Bills' offense was moot. Rian Lindell, who hit 92% of his field goals in 2006, saw his lone FG attempt sail wide left from 45 yards.
Champ Bailey and Dre Bly were able to shut down the Bills' receivers and limited Lee Evans to just two catches for five yards. Losman totaled 97 passing yards, even though Buffalo used three and four wide receivers. Josh Reed led the Bills with four balls for 37 yards. The banged up Buffalo defense began the game without DE Ryan Denny and LB Keith Ellis. At 5:33 of the first quarter, starting free safety Ko Simpson suffered a broken ankle. The Bills also lost LB Coy Wire, who was replacing Ellis, with a sprained knee, and CB Jason Webster with a broken arm.
What you ought to know
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 23 - 39 - 304 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - 18 - 0 |
Cutler threw for a career high 304 yards, completed 23 of 39 passes and staged a late fourth quarter come back to win the game. His only touchdown pass went to second year wide out Brandon Marshall in the third quarter. It was a perfect fade pass near the back corner of the end zone that the 6'4" receiver was able to grab over the shorter CB. He played well enough to lead his team to a victory but he clearly is still a young quarterback. He made several mistakes that could have been very costly. Late in the game, he desperately pitched the ball to RB Selvin Young. With the live ball on the ground, Young made a fantastic play to bat the ball out of bounds. Young drew a penalty for it, but saved possession of the ball. With the game on the line, Cutler was able to lead his team down the field and just barely set up Jason Elam for the game winning field goal before time expired.
| RB Travis Henry, Rush: 23 - 139 - 0, Rec: 3 - 44 - 0 (6 targets) |
Henry ran hard in his Broncos debut and prevented the Buffalo defense from keying on Cutler. He carried 23 times for 139 yards and added another 44 yards with three receptions. He showed no ill effects from the knee injury that kept him out of preseason games and looked to be all the Broncos had hoped he'd be. The Broncos expect a lot out of him and he seems ready to accept the challenge, although he's the seventh different RB to open for Denver in the past seven years.
| RB Cecil Sapp, Rush: 3 - 7 - 0 |
Sapp ran from the fullback slot and was used in short yardage situations.
| RB Selvin Young, Rush: 2 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
It came as a shock to some that this free agent from Texas beat out Mike Bell to backup Travis Henry. Young saw limited action, although he made a heads up play that may have saved the game. Cutler fumbled and then threw a lateral over Young's head. The rookie alertly hustled to the loose ball, arrived before two Buffalo players could recover it, and batted it out of bounds to retain possession.
| RB Mike Bell |
Bell was moved to fullback during preseason and currently backs up Cecil Sapp.
| WR Javon Walker, Rec: 9 - 119 - 0 (15 targets) |
Walker is clearly the number one option in the Denver passing attack. On the final 12 play game winning drive Walker caught four passes, including a fourth down grab for a first down and the final catch that set up the winning FG. He looked to be injured on one play late in the game but shook it off and was back on the field soon after. He was the intended receiver on the failed two point conversion attempt from Cutler.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rec: 5 - 52 - 1 (8 targets) |
The second year receiver from Central Florida is 6'4" and scored the only Denver TD. The Broncos were at the Bills five yard line and Cutler hit him with a fade pass near the back corner of the end zone where he used his physical advantage to score.
| WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 3 - 65 - 0 (5 targets) |
Stokley looked right at home in the Denver offense and he is still a guy that defenses have a hard time covering.
| TE Daniel Graham, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Graham was only targeted in the first half. Denver opened with a two tight end formation in the second half to help open up some running lanes.
| PK Jason Elam 3 - 5 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 9 points |
Elam started out having a shaky game and missed two early field goals. Another kick hit the right upright and dropped in over the cross bar. With 00:18 on the clock in the fourth quarter and no time outs, Cutler hit Javon Walker for an 11 yard gain. With Denver unable to stop the clock, the field goal team raced onto the field to attempt the game winner. With 00:01 on the clock, they got the snap off and Elam coolly drilled a 42 yarder to win the game as time expired.
| DEN Rush Defense |
Marshawn Lynch was basically the entire rushing game for Buffalo. He gained 99 total yards and scored one touchdown as the Broncos were stiff against the run.
| DEN Pass Defense |
New defensive coordinator Jim Bates was able to shut down the Buffalo passing offense. WR Lee Evans was held to two catches for five yards and Losman only hit 14 of 21 for 97 yards. The Bills only picked up 13 first downs all game. Losman was intercepted once and sacked twice. He only threw for 97 yards and no touchdowns. Both Champ Bailey and Dre Bly were smothering.
| QB J.P. Losman, Pass: 14 - 21 - 97 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 13 - 0 |
Losman had a tough day against the aggressive Broncos defense. He only completed 14 of 21 for 97 yards and no touchdowns and could only find his favorite receiver Lee Evans twice for five yards. He was sacked once. Corners Champ Bailey and Dre Bly were extremely effective at blanketing the receivers.
| RB Marshawn Lynch, Rush: 19 - 90 - 1, Rec: 2 - 9 - 0 (3 targets) |
Lynch made his NFL debut with 19 attempts for 90 yards, including a 23 yards touchdown dash in the third quarter. He is big and fast and the Bills need to get him even more involved in this offense in a hurry, but he needs to work on pass protection. Lynch is the first rookie RB to open for the Bills since Travis Henry in 2001. Leading 14 -12, Buffalo had the ball at their own 33 yard line with 3:32 left in the game. Lynch gained three yards on first down and two more on second down. One more first down would have helped seal the victory, but the Bills went for the bomb. They sent Lee Evans deep down the right sideline but the pass was off target and fell incomplete. Buffalo had to punt.
| RB Anthony Thomas, Rush: 3 - -1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Thomas saw limited action and wound up with negative yardage, but he's a better blocker at this point than Lynch. There was a good bit of talk that Thomas would share more time with Lynch at least early on but from this game, it looks like the Bills are going to go with Lynch as their featured guy.
| WR Josh Reed, Rush: 1 - 12 - 0, Rec: 4 - 37 - 0 (4 targets) |
Reed led all Buffalo receivers with 37 yards on four balls. He also took a reverse 12 yards and was able to show off the fact that he was a running back at LSU before being converted to WR.
| WR Roscoe Parrish, Rush: 1 - -2 - 0, Rec: 2 - 25 - 0 (3 targets) |
Parrish caught two passes for 25 yards and lost two yards on a reverse. The Bills are trying to find ways to get the ball to Parrish who showed off serious big play ability with a 74 yard punt return for a touchdown.
| WR Lee Evans, Rec: 2 - 5 - 0 (5 targets) |
Evans got the Champ Bailey treatment, so they switched him to the left side where he got the Dre Bly treatment. It added up to one of his worst days as a pro. He simply could not get open.
| WR Peerless Price, Rec: 1 - -2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Price barely showed up on the score sheet because he couldn't get open.
| TE Robert Royal, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (1 targets) |
Royal is a good blocker and that is where Buffalo needed him in this game.
| PK Rian Lindell 0 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Lindell, who kicked field goals at 92% clip last year, missed his only try from 45 yards.
| BUF Rush Defense |
The Bills' run defense was ranked 28th in 2006, and the unit lost London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes. Travis Henry ran for 139 yards and the injuries are starting to pile up.
| BUF Pass Defense |
Buffalo managed to intercept Cutler once and sack him once, but he threw for 309 yards. With the game on the line they couldn't stop Denver from driving down the field for the winning field goal. Ko Simpson's replacement, Jim Leonhard, picked off the sole Buffalo interception when Cutler over threw Brandon Stokley. The Bills only sack was registered by second year DT John McCargo on a busted play.
