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Week 7 Game Recap: Denver Broncos 7, New England Patriots 41
What you need to know
| Denver Broncos |
The game got off to a painful start for Jay Cutler as he injured the index finger on his throwing hand on the first Denver play from scrimmage. What followed for the Broncos' signal caller was a game in which he threw for only 168 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Obviously affected by the injury, a number of Cutler's passes came out weak and were off the mark. The Broncos' starting quarterback left the game for a series near the end of the second quarter to apply ice to his injury, but he did return to take all of the snaps in the second half.
Playing from behind for the majority of the contest, the Broncos' running backs had a limited number of opportunities to rush the ball in this game. Michael Pittman led the Denver ground game with 88 yards on 20 attempts, but only ten of those attempts came after the first quarter. Backup running back Andre Hall fumbled his only two carries of the game, which the Patriots were able to turn into two field goals.
Wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal combined to be targeted 24 times and the pass catching duo turned those targets into 15 catches for 148 yards. The remaining Broncos' pass catchers combined to catch only four passes, but tight end Daniel Graham scored the only Denver touchdown of the game when he caught a 10 yard pass in the fourth quarter that he was able to take into the end zone.
| New England Patriots |
On a night in which the New England rushing attack picked up yards at ease, Matt Cassel had a good game throwing the football as well as he helped lead an offense that accumulated 404 yards and put up 41 points. Completing 75% of his passes, the Patriots passer had his best game of the year as he finished with 185 passing yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The touchdown passes to Randy Moss (two) and Wes Welker were Cassel's fourth, fifth, and sixth scoring tosses of the year.
The New England running backs gashed the Denver defense to the tune of 256 yards on 34 carries for an average of 7.52 yards per rush. Sammy Morris led the way for the Patriots' running attack as he finished the first half with 138 yards and a touchdown. Morris left the game with a knee injury, but backups Kevin Faulk and BenJarvus Green-Ellis filled in nicely combining to gain 115 yards on the ground. Green-Ellis found the end zone in the fourth quarter on a one yard scoring run.
Randy Moss led all Patriots' receivers with 69 yards and found the end zone twice in this game for his third and fourth touchdown receptions of the year. It was his 30th career game with at least two scoring receptions, but it was his first this season. Fellow wide out Wes Welker hauled in all six of his targets and found the end zone for the first time this year when he took a short pass for the six yard score.
What you ought to know
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 17 - 26 - 168 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - 18 - 0 |
On the Broncos' first pass play of the game, Cutler hit his hand on a defender's helmet and appeared to hurt the index finger on his throwing hand. Despite the injury, the quarterback stayed in the game for much of the first half, but had a tough time move the offense as his throws sailed and wobbled on their way to the intended receiver. After throwing an interception on an under thrown deep ball in the second quarter, Cutler was shown on the sidelines with ice on his hand and was replaced on Denver's final series of the first half by Patrick Ramsey. Cutler returned to the field for the second half, but his second interception ended a drive with Denver operating from the New England 37 yard line. His ten yard touchdown pass to TE Daniel Graham was his 13th scoring toss of the season.
| QB Patrick Ramsey, Pass: 2 - 3 - 19 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Ramsey replaced Cutler late in the second quarter for one series and completed a couple of passes that brought Denver into New England territory. A fumble by the back up quarterback killed the drive though and gave the ball back to the Patriots.
| RB Michael Pittman, Rush: 20 - 88 - 0 |
Pittman was busy on Denver's first drive as he picked up 34 yards on seven carriers, but his rushing attempts dwindled as the Broncos' fell further and further behind. He finished the first quarter with ten carriers for 55 yards, but only averaged 3.3 yards on his final ten carriers of the game.
| RB Andre Hall, Rush: 2 - -7 - 0 |
Hall had a forgettable night as he turned the ball over on fumbles on his only two carries of the game. In addition to his rushes on offense, he also averaged 21 yards on seven kick off returns.
| RB Selvin Young |
Young was inactive for the game because of a groin injury.
| WR Eddie Royal, Rec: 9 - 71 - 0 (12 targets) |
Royal led all Denver pass catchers with nine receptions, but those nine catches only went for an average of 7.9 yards. Six of his grabs resulted in first downs and he found himself the intended targeted on a deep pass in the fourth quarter, but the pass fell incomplete. In addition to his duties on offense, Royal also returned one punt for eight yards.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 6 - 77 - 0 (12 targets) |
Marshall caught half of his 12 targets for a total of 77 yards, but for the third game in a row the wide out failed to find the end zone. His night could have been better, but penalties wiped out two catches that went for a total 33 yards. Marshall also was open on a number of pass plays, but inaccurate passes by QB Jay Cutler resulted in incomplete passes. In addition to the targets in the passing game, he also took a backward pass for a seven yard rush.
| WR Darrell Jackson, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Jackson's only catch of the game came near the end of the second quarter. He was the intended target on a deep pass that was intercepted by New England.
| WR Brandon Stokley |
Stokley missed the game as he continues to recover from a concussion.
| TE Daniel Graham, Rec: 2 - 27 - 1 (2 targets) |
Graham's first catch of the game went for a 10 yard touchdown near the beginning of the fourth quarter. The tight ends' night could have been better, but a holding penalty negated a 21 yard pickup on his only other target of the game.
| TE Nate Jackson, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jackson's only catch of the game came on Denver's first series. He was the intended target on Jay Cutler's second interception of the game.
| TE Tony Scheffler |
Scheffler missed the game because of a groin injury.
| PK Matt Prater 0 - 0 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 1 points |
Prater had no field goal attempts in the game, but did connect on his only extra point attempt.
| DEN Rush Defense |
The Broncos' defense was gashed in this contest as the Patriots' ground game racked up 257 yards on 38 attempts. New England RB Sammy Morris scored on a four yard run in the second quarter while backup ball carrier BenJarvus Green-Ellis found the end zone on a one yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
| DEN Pass Defense |
Denver allowed Patriots' QB Matt Cassel to complete 18 of his 24 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. The Broncos did record six sacks that went for a combine loss of 38 yards. It was announced near the start of the second half that Champ Bailey (groin) and Boss Bailey (knee) were out for the remainder of the game.
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 18 - 24 - 185 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 1 - 0 |
Cassel spent the game throwing a lot of short and medium passes to his receivers as he finished the night averaging just over 10 yards per completion. Misfiring on only six passes, the New England signal caller did an effective job moving the chains as he helped lead the Patriots on six scoring drives that resulted in 41 points. Despite the three touchdown passes and 75% completion percentage, Cassel did seem to hold onto the ball longer than he should have as he was sacked six times by the Denver defense.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 16 - 138 - 1 |
Morris received all of the New England first half rushes and spent the first two quarters breaking tackles and eluding tacklers as he accumulated 138 yard on only 16 carries. In addition to picking up longer gains of 14, 20 and 34 yards, the running back scored his fourth touchdown of the year on a four yard run in the second quarter. It was reported near the start of the third quarter that Morris had an injured knee and he did not return to the game.
| RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Rush: 13 - 65 - 1 (1 targets) |
With Sammy Morris missing the second half because of a knee injury, Green-Ellis received the majority of the carries in the second half as all 13 of his rushes came over the final two quarters. A punishing and physical runner, the New England backup had four runs of eight yards or more as he finished the game averaging five yards per carry. Green-Ellis' one yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 4 - 50 - 0, Rec: 3 - 6 - 0 (4 targets) |
Faulk didn't get his first touch of the game until early in the third quarter, but he finished the night with a total of 56 yards on four rushes and three receptions. He had two separate rushes that went for 16 yards and he also took a 15 yard run down to the Denver one yard line. Faulk was also the intended receiver on a pass down near the goal line, but the pass fell to the ground incomplete.
| RB Heath Evans, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 (1 targets) |
Evans got his only touch of the game on a fourth quarter rush.
| RB LaMont Jordan |
Jordan missed his second game in a row because of a calf injury.
| RB Laurence Maroney |
It was announced before the game that Maroney was put on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 6 - 63 - 1 (6 targets) |
Welker led the Patriots in receptions as he hauled in all six of his targets. The majority of his catches and yards came on short passes, but he did take a longer pass for a pickup of 27. Welker scored his first receiving touchdown of the year when he caught a short pass on a third and two play and dove into the end zone for a six yard touchdown. In addition to his contribution in the passing game, he also averaged 21 yards on three punt returns that included a 44 yard return in the third quarter that gave the Patriots the ball at the Denver 28 yard line.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 5 - 69 - 2 (6 targets) |
Moss had trouble early on as he was blanketed by Denver CB Champ Bailey, but the wide receiver heated up after Bailey left the game with an injury. Taking advantage of a depleted secondary, the New England wide receiver made four of his five catches and scored both of his touchdowns after Bailey was on the sideline. On his first touchdown reception of the game, Moss went up for a high pass and brought it down in the end zone to give the Patriots a 17--0 lead. His second score came when he took a short pass on a wide receiver screen and sprinted through the secondary for a 27 yard score.
| WR Sam Aiken, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (1 targets) |
Aiken's only catch of the game went for a first down on a second quarter pickup of seven yards.
| WR Jabar Gaffney (1 targets) |
Gaffney's only target of the game fell incomplete.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 3 - 40 - 0 (4 targets) |
Watson's first target of the game went for a big gain of 29 that took the ball down to the Denver 16 yard line. The tight end showed good effort on a third down play when after appearing to be stopped a few yards short of the first down, he fought and stretched to come within a yard of the sticks. Watson's effort paid off as on the next play, New England scored a touchdown on a Sammy Morris four yard run. His other catch in the game came in the fourth quarter and went for a gain of four.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 2 - 2 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 11 points |
Gostkowski connected on his first field goal of the game from 31 yards and then made good from 40 yards out on his second attempt. He also made all of his extra points.
| NE Rush Defense |
The New England run defense gave up 106 yards on 26 carriers for an average of just over four yards per carry. The Patriot's did recover two fumbles by Denver RB Andre Hall that were turned into two field goals.
| NE Pass Defense |
The New England pass defense allowed Broncos' QB Jay Cutler to complete 17 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots also recorded three sacks, forced a fumble by QB Patrick Ramsey, and intercepted two Cutler pass attempts.
