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Week 10 Game Recap: Denver Broncos 34, Cleveland Browns 30
What you need to know
| Denver Broncos |
QB Jay Cutler had a monster game as he threw for 447 yards passing and three touchdowns. The Broncos lost their top two running backs in this game and had to turn to the passing game exclusively to move the ball in what was a high scoring game against a weak Cleveland defense. Cutler had plenty of time all night and this was key in the game since the Broncos struggled running the ball after RB Ryan Torain left the game with an injury. But Cutler carved up the Browns defense most of the game despite a lack of running game. In particular, Cutler dominated the fourth quarter throwing for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Cutler made some good decisions and stayed poised despite being down most of the second half.
RB Ryan Torain lived up to the hype early in this game as he rushed for 68 yards on 12 carries and scored a touchdown through less than a quarter and half of play. Unfortunately, his left knee got injured in the second quarter on run where it looked like he pulled down in an awkward way. Early reports were that knee injury could be serious. Torain did not return after that play but, looked pretty good in limited action and busted off some nice runs. RB Selvin Young reaggravated his groin injury on his only carry of the game and did not return after that play, leaving the running back duties to seventh round draft pick RB Peyton Hillis, who handled running back duties the remainder of the game.
WR Eddie Royal had the play of the game as he caught a pass from Cutler early in the fourth quarter in which he shed a tackler to take the ball 93 yards for touchdown on what was a game changing play for the Broncos. Royal finished with big numbers thanks to that play as he had six catches for 164 yards to lead the game in receiving. WR Brandon Marshall had a nice game also with six catches for 89 yards, including a late touchdown pass that put Denver up for good in the game. Marshall may have had a bigger game but, he had some drops in this game including one in the end zone in the first half of the game.
| Cleveland Browns |
QB Brady Quinn made his first start and despite losing the game, he looked very good throughout the contest and finished with solid numbers with 239 yards passing and two touchdowns passes. Quinn did a good job of moving around in the pocket and making good decisions to his checkdown receivers when things were not open down the field. He hit most of his receivers underneath the coverage and did a good job of moving the ball around as he hit eight different receivers in the game. Despite the loss, it's safe to say the Brady Quinn era in Cleveland is off to a good start as he looked confident and poised throughout the game, and did not make any big mistakes, having no turnovers in the game.
RB Jamal Lewis had a great match up this week against Broncos run defense that has struggled against the run all season but, he only managed 60 yards on 19 carries, and 29 of yards came on one carry. Lewis did get a touchdown late in the game and did add two catches for 24 yards.
TE Kellen Winslow had a huge night finishing with two touchdowns and 111 yards receiving on ten receptions. He was clearly Quinn's favorite target in this game as a lot of the Browns' passes were short throws underneath the coverage or on checkdowns. WR Braylon Edwards was big disappointment in this game as he caught only one pass for 15 yards and was a non-factor.
What you ought to know
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 24 - 42 - 447 - 3 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 7 - 29 - 0 |
Cutler played a great game as threw for 447 yards passing and three touchdowns, and 203 of those yards and all three touchdowns came in the fourth quarter. He got good protection all game and did a pretty good job of protecting the ball. He did have one interception but that appeared to be the receiver's fault when he ran the wrong route. Cutler did have a few passes that came close to being picked off and he seemed willing to try and throw the ball in tight spaces. His biggest play came early in the fourth quarter when he hit WR Eddie Royal for 93 yard touchdown pass. He came back on the next drive and found TE Daniel Graham for 28 yard score and scored with less then two minutes left when he threw an 11 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall.
| RB Ryan Torain, Rush: 12 - 68 - 1 |
Torain got his first NFL start as RB Michael Pittman and RB Andre Hall were both put the IR this week with season ending injuries. The rookie Torain looked a little rusty early but got some nice runs as the game went on. He scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a one yard carry where he was able to stretch the ball over the goal line. His best carry came on a run to the left for 19 yards as he showed some burst. Unfortunately, Torain hurt his left knee on a carry in the second quarter and did not return. He may have had a very good game had he not got injured.
| RB Peyton Hillis, Rush: 8 - 24 - 0 (1 targets) |
Hillis came in as the third string running back but became the main ball carrier after both RB Ryan Torain and RB Selvin Young went down with an injury. The rookie from Arkansas had eight carries for 24 yards. His best carry came on run to left side for ten yards late in the game in which he got a first down.
| RB Selvin Young, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Young has been battling a groin injury for several weeks and game into this game backing up RB Ryan Torain. He reaggravated his groin injury on his only carry of the game and he did not return to the game.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rec: 6 - 89 - 1 (14 targets) |
Marshall was targeted 11 times in the first half as Cutler looked to him a lot. He dropped some very catchable passes including one in the end zone in the first half. He and Cutler seemed to be off the same page at times as he appeared to run the wrong route on the only interception of the game. Marshall did not do much in the second half until the very end when he caught an 11 yard touchdown pass late in the game.
| WR Eddie Royal, Rec: 6 - 164 - 1 (7 targets) |
Royal had the biggest play of the game in the fourth quarter as he caught a pass in one and one coverage and broke a tackle to take it 93 yards for a touchdown. He wasn't targeted as much as WR Brandon Marshall but, he was definitely more reliable, catching six of the seven balls thrown his way. He finished with a game high 164 yards receiving.
| WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (4 targets) |
Stokley only had two catches for 16 yards in this game.
| WR Darrell Jackson |
Jackson did not catch a pass in this game.
| TE Tony Scheffler, Rec: 4 - 92 - 0 (6 targets) |
Scheffler game up big in this game making a couple of big plays for the Broncos. He caught a 39 yard pass deep down the middle on Denver's first play of the game that kind of set the tone for the Broncos' passing attack for this contest. He caught a 24 yard pass deep down the left side in the second quarter and another 24 catch over the middle in the third quarter in which he got injured again. He did not return to the game.
| TE Daniel Graham, Rec: 3 - 50 - 1 (5 targets) |
Graham had a very nice game and had a big 28 yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter where he broke a tackle and got into the end zone. He got a lot more targets in the second half after TE Tony Scheffler went down with an injury.
| TE Nate Jackson, Rec: 3 - 36 - 0 (5 targets) |
QB Jay Cutler targeted his tight ends early and often, and that included Jackson who had three catches for 36 yards.
| PK Matt Prater 2 - 3 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points |
Prater made fields goals of 30 and 35 yards in the game, and missed a 38 yard kick on the first drive of the game.
| DEN Rush Defense |
The run defense held RB Jamal Lewis to only 60 yards but gave up 96 yards to RB Jerome Harrison and WR Josh Cribbs on eight carries. The Denver run defense didn't look good as they gave up many big plays.
| DEN Pass Defense |
The pass defense did not force a turnover but did not give up any big passing plays either. The Broncos did not have any sacks even though they got some pressure on QB Brady Quinn at times.
| QB Brady Quinn, Pass: 23 - 35 - 239 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 |
The Browns made a major change this week by going with Quinn this week as their starter and he made a very solid debut. He took what the defense gave him making most of this throws underneath the Broncos coverage on shorter routes or on checkdowns and not trying to force the ball deep. A departure from how the Browns ran their offense with QB Derek Anderson as the starter. Quinn's passes seemed more accurate, especially the shorter one's then those of Anderson's. He had no turnovers in the game and made good decisions even when under pressure and used his second and third options often in the game. Quinn's first touchdown came in the first quarter when he found TE Kellen Winslow over the middle for a five yard score. He would go back to Winslow in the third quarter on 16 yard strike for his second touchdown of the game.
| RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 19 - 60 - 1, Rec: 2 - 24 - 0 (2 targets) |
Lewis only average three yards a carry on 19 attempts despite breaking off a nice 29 yard run early in the game. A bit of disappointment considering Denver has one of the worst run defenses in the league. Lewis still has a little burst as showed in one and only long carry of the game but, he just didn't seem to get into a grove. He did run hard and made a big first down on a fourth and short situation in the second half where it looked like he'd be tackled for loss. His ability to break tackles paid off toward the end of the game where Lewis was able to record a touchdown after stretching the ball over the goal line.
| RB Jerome Harrison, Rush: 5 - 48 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Most of Harrison's carries came in one series late in the first quarter and early in the second quarter as he relieved RB Jamal Lewis. He speed on edge was very effective against a poor Denver rush defense as he had five carries for 48 yards. He also added one catch for nine yards in the game.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 4 - 48 - 0 (4 targets) |
Stallworth made his biggest plays, catches of 18 and 19 yards, both on short crossing routes where he was able to use his speed and turn up field. He still seemed like an after thought most of the game as the Browns rarely threw the ball deep in the game.
| WR Josh Cribbs, Rush: 3 - 48 - 0 |
Cribbs made his biggest contribution as a kick returner and as a runner via some very successful reverses or misdirection plays.
| WR Braylon Edwards, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (6 targets) |
Edwards made only one reception for 15 yards on his six targets.
| WR Syndric Steptoe, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Steptoe had one catch for seven yards in the game but there were few targets to wide receivers outside of WR Braylon Edwards and WR Donte Stallworth.
| TE Kellen Winslow, Rec: 10 - 111 - 2 (14 targets) |
No one benefited more from QB Brady Quinn's start then Winslow as he had a season high ten catches and career high two touchdowns. He was clearly Quinn's favorite target in the game and they seemed to have good chemistry right away. His first touchdown came early in the game as Quinn squeezed the ball into Winslow over the middle of the field for a short five yard score. His second touchdown came in the second quarter when Quinn found Winslow open down the left side of the field for 16 yard score. Winslow looked like a star receiver again in this game as he made some very tough catches.
| TE Steve Heiden, Rec: 3 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Because the Browns threw under coverage most of the game, Heiden some looks despite fellow TE Kellen Winslow's 14 targets in the game. He caught three of the four passes that went his way for 24 yards.
| PK Phil Dawson 3 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 12 points |
Dawson had three field goals in the game from ranges of 24, 52, and 33 yards in the game.
| CLE Rush Defense |
The Browns rush defense did not look great early in the game as they gave up 68 yards to rookie RB Ryan Torain in the first 20 minutes of the game before he went out with an injury. The Broncos didn't really run the ball much after that since they were very thin at the position.
| CLE Pass Defense |
The Browns gave up 447 yards passing including 203 yards in the fourth quarter. They only forced one interception and had only one sack off of 42 pass attempts by Denver. Quite simply the poor pass defense of Cleveland late in the game cost them a win.
