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Week 4 Game Recap: Denver Broncos 20, Indianapolis Colts 38
What you need to know
| Denver Broncos |
The Denver Broncos came into the game with a plan to keep Indianapolis Colts off the field with a run heavy ball control offense. That plan worked for just about a half before the Colts ran away with the game in the second half.
The oft-injured Travis Henry left the game in the third quarter with a minor ankle injury, but returned in the fourth quarter and posted an impressive 131 yards on 26 carries, but registering no receptions and no touchdowns. Undrafted rookie RB Selvin Young did well on his ten touches, posting 81 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving to reach the century mark.
QB Jay Cutler was held to just 131 yards through the air and committed two turnovers, although he did add a one yard QB sneak for a TD in the third quarter.
| Indianapolis Colts |
The Indianapolis Colts once again looked nearly unstoppable, utilizing a short passing game to set-up the run in the first half, and switching to a more run-centered offense in the second half to stay unbeaten. The Colts had 18 passes in the first half to just 11 rushes. In the second half, The Colts switched it up and ran 23 times with just 11 passes.
Marvin Harrison was diagnosed with a 'bruised knee' during the second quarter, and did not play in the second half, posting just one catch for eight yards.
Joseph Addai left the game early in the fourth quarter with a 'bruised shoulder', but could have returned had the game not been in hand. Despite playing just over three quarters, Addai posted 146 total yards from scrimmage and a score.
What you ought to know
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 13 - 21 - 131 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 11 - 1 |
Without Javon Walker as a receiving threat, Cutler only had one deep pass attempt, a broken play incompletion towards Brandon Stokley. Cutler had two turnovers to go with his two touchdowns. One score was a seven yard pass to Brandon Marshall, the other a one yard QB sneak. While only in his second season, Cutler looked a little uncomfortable in the pocket, and was quick to check down on most passing plays.
| RB Travis Henry, Rush: 26 - 131 - 0 |
Henry started the game as though he was going to carry the team on his shoulders to victory, carrying the ball nine times in the first quarter and 11 times in the second quarter. His fourth carry in the third quarter saw him hobble off to the sidelines, although he did return in the fourth quarter. Henry was on the bench in the third quarter when Cutler scored on the QB sneak. The ankle injury was considered mild and not a factor going forward.
| RB Selvin Young, Rush: 8 - 81 - 0, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (2 targets) |
Young made a strong case for more carries, posting 81 yards on eight carries and pulling in two catches for ten more yards. Young's biggest run came on a reverse-type play for 32 yards. He came in as the running back whenever Travis Henry went out of the game.
| RB Cecil Sapp, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
Playing fullback this game, Cecil Sapp was primarily a blocker, although he did post one reception for ten yards, early in the third quarter.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rec: 3 - 23 - 1 (7 targets) |
The main focus of the Denver Broncos passing attack in the absence of Javon Walker, Brandon Marshall posted three catches for 23 yards with a seven yard touchdown in the first quarter. Marshall did drop one easy catch and allowed Marlon Jackson to step in front of him for an interception. Walker's hold as the number one option in the Broncos passing game is still secure when he returns from injury.
| WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (3 targets) |
Stokley was bottled up for most of the day, just registering 20 yards on two catches. Stokley appears recovered from his Achilles injury from last season, but has yet to establish a rapport with Cutler.
| WR Nate Jackson, Rec: 1 - 24 - 0 (2 targets) |
In terms of yardage, Jackson was the second leading receiver in this game on the Denver Broncos squad, posting 24 yards on his one catch. Both of his targets came in the second quarter, none in the second half.
| TE Daniel Graham, Rec: 4 - 35 - 0 (4 targets) |
Graham continues to get the lion's share of targets at the tight end position for the Denver Broncos. Graham led the team in receptions this game with four for a modest 35 yards. When the Broncos got behind in the third quarter, Jay Cutler targeted Graham three times, but when the game was getting out of hand in the fourth, Graham had no targets.
| TE Tony Scheffler (1 targets) |
Scheffler continues to play behind Daniel Graham and only had one target, thrown at his feet by Jay Cutler.
| PK Jason Elam 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Elam had a solid game this week, hitting both of his field goal attempts and extra points. Elam was seen stretching his hips on the sideline at the trainers table after his longer field goal, 35 yards, but is not thought to be injured.
| DEN Rush Defense |
The Denver Broncos rush defense was mediocre in the first half, and got ran over in the second half. Joseph Addai posted 136 yards rushing, while backup Kenton Keith added another 80. Throw in fan favorite Luke Lawton's 13 the Bronco's gave up 229 yards on the ground, including two rushing touchdowns.
| DEN Pass Defense |
To their credit the Denver Broncos pass defense did a fair job on Peyton Manning, holding him under 200 yards passing. Unfortunately they gave up three passing touchdowns and registered no sacks.
| QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 20 - 27 - 193 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - -3 - 1 |
Manning had a very efficient game, going 20 of 27 for 193 yards. Three short touchdown passes made his outing look strong on the stat sheet, while the biggest smiles came from his one yard rushing touchdown, a QB sneak early in the third quarter. Manning's numbers might have been slightly deflated by not having Marvin Harrison in the second half. Manning did manage to target eight different receivers, completing passes to all eight.
| RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 19 - 136 - 1, Rec: 3 - 10 - 0 (4 targets) |
Addai had some nice slashing runs in the first half, before turning to more of a bulldozing style in the second half. His 136 yards rushing could have been much more if he had carried the ball more than twice in the fourth quarter, but what was reported as a "bruised shoulder" kept him out with Kenton Keith taking over. Addai pulled in three receptions on four targets to give him an extra ten yards of offense.
| RB Kenton Keith, Rush: 10 - 80 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Keith ran very well when given the opportunity, showing why he beat out DeDe Dorsey in the preseason. Keith had 80 yards on ten carries, and had one reception for four yards. Many of Keith's touches came in the fourth quarter when the Colts were running out the clock after Joseph Addai had left the game with a minor injury.
| RB Luke Lawton, Rush: 4 - 13 - 0 |
Running to cheers of "Luuuuuuke", fan favorite Luke Lawton posted 13 yards on four carries, mostly in mop-up duty late in the fourth quarter when the game was in hand for the Indianapolis Colts.
| WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 5 - 38 - 1 (6 targets) |
Wayne posted 38 yards on five receptions, including a five yard fade pattern for a touchdown, early in the fourth quarter. Playing against the Denver Bronco's version of the Tampa Two defense, the Indianapolis Colts chose to work underneath the safeties, not utilizing Wayne's deep threat, leading to his low-yardage game.
| WR Anthony Gonzalez, Rec: 1 - 19 - 0 (2 targets) |
Gonzalez managed 19 yards on one reception, and was not able to generate more offense in Marvin Harrison's absence in the second half. As a first round draft choice, expectations might be higher for Gonzalez, but Tony Dungy seems to have Gonzalez locked in as only a slot receiver this year.
| WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (1 targets) |
Posting a meager eight yards on one catch was a product of Champ Bailey's defense and a knee bruise in the second quarter that kept Marvin Harrison out of the second half. No other information was given during the game other than a "bruised knee". The injury happened while Harrison was blocking on a running play and the pile rolled up on the back of his legs.
| WR Aaron Moorehead, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
Helping to pick up the slack of the injured Marvin Harrison, Aaron Moorehead was able to register one catch for five yards. With the Colts running the ball in the second half, Moorehead was used mostly as a perimeter blocker.
| TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 6 - 76 - 2 (11 targets) |
In an interesting twist, Dallas Clark lined up many times in the second half as the right wide receiver, a position usually occupied by Marvin Harrison, when Harrison went out with an injury. Clark managed to beat Champ Bailey for a 27 yard gain in a man coverage situation. Clark posted 76 yards on six receptions, including touchdown grabs of nine and three yards.
| TE Bryan Fletcher, Rec: 2 - 33 - 0 (2 targets) |
Fletcher got a few plays in at TE with Dallas Clark playing more plays split out with the injury to Marvin Harrison. Fletcher managed to put up 33 yards on his two receptions, both in the third quarter.
| PK Adam Vinatieri 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Vinatieri was his usual steady self, hitting his one field goal attempt from 22 yards and all five extra points.
| IND Rush Defense |
The Indianapolis Colts run defense did not show up early in the game and was fortunate that the Colts offense posted enough scores in the second half that the Denver Broncos became more one-dimensional, allowing the unit to focus more on pass rush. The Colts allowed 222 rushing yards for the game, forcing just one fumble.
| IND Pass Defense |
The Indianapolis Colts pass defense held Jay Cutler to just 131 passing yards and had one interception. Employing Tony Dungy's Tampa Two defense, the secondary kept the Denver Bronco receivers in front of them, allowing just one reception over 20 yards.
