DENVER (AP) -Correll Buckhalter came to the sidelines in the second half Sunday after running an inside zone play and told his fellow Denver Broncos running backs one of them was going to eventually bust a run for a touchdown.
Buckhalter then went out and did the honors himself.
His 45-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter capped a 17-point second half for Denver and was the finishing touch in a 27-6 victory over the Cleveland Browns at Invesco Field.
Buckhalter cut right, then burst into the open field on his longest scoring play in the NFL since Dec. 7, 2003. He completely turned around safety Brodney Pool in space, then rode cornerback Eric Wright into the end zone for the final eight yards or so.
“That’s called heart, man,” he said. “You’re that close to the end zone, you’ve got to get in.”
t. Denver finished with 186 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
“It starts out like that a lot – with guys flying to the ball, flying around, and we kind of get a shot to see what they’re going to do,” right guard Chris Kuper said. “But as long as we’re persistent and stick with it we can run the ball.”
Buckhalter’s TD was one of six plays of 25-plus yards for the Broncos’ offense, one week after the team had five possessions without a first down, allowed three sacks, dropped five passes and committed four offensive penalties against Cincinnati.
Denver in the opener also had failed to advance past Cincinnati’s 30-yard-line before a late 87-yard tipped TD reception by Brandon Stokley won the game.
“Any time you can get those explosive plays it helps your offense,” said receiver Jabar Gaffney, whose 49-yard reception set up Peyton Hillis’ 2-yard TD for a 20-6 Denver lead. “I don’t know what the statistics are, but whenever an offense has a big play like that, the chances of scoring goes up, and we showed that today.”
Stokley added a 37-yard catch, Buckhalter a 30-yard reception and Brandon Marshall a 25-yarder for a Denver offense that still is struggling to maintain drives, despite compiling 449 yards against the Browns.
“We played a lot of better. It’s encouraging,” Stokley said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
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third quarter without wide receiver Eddie Royal, who received intravenous fluids at halftime.
“I was fine. It was just running around a lot in the first half. It was something to get me extra loose so I didn’t start cramping up. It was more precautionary,” Royal said. “And those guys were making plays, the offense was moving, so that’s who we went with.”
Until Royal’s departure, he had been playing in both base formations alongside Gaffney and, in three wides, with Gaffney and Stokley into the slot.
That configuration meant Marshall was reduced to an interested spectator. Marshall spent the second quarter wearing a baseball cap on the sidelines after making his only catch for 3 yards on the final play of the first quarter.
Marshall had a 14-yard end-around and a 25-yard reception in Royal’s absence.
When asked about Marshall’s second-quarter sit-down, coach Josh McDaniels said the Broncos were “moving people in and out” the whole game.
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OLD HOME WEEK: Broncos inside linebacker Andra Davis could barely contain himself in pregame warm-ups, letting out his pent-up emotions with some spirited shouts.
He then went out and harnessed that energy into an impressive performance against his former team. Davis led Denver with eight solo tackles and 10 combined stops. That total was racked up even with Davis coming out in his team’s nickel package.
I was playing against my former team, it was having fun with my new team. That’s what it’s about,” he said. “And to go out and do it against my former team, it felt good.”
Denver’s defense has now allowed just one offensive touchdown and 13 combined points in two weeks. For a unit that’s breaking in seven new starters, has largely revamped its personnel and is playing a new 3-4 scheme, it’s so far exceeded expectations from an outside perspective, at least.
Davis maintained that the degree of experience the new players add is a key reason the turnaround has been immediate, without a litany of communications errors.
“We’ve played a lot of football. The secondary guys are eight years and above. Me, I’m in my eighth year. D.J. (Williams) is in his sixth year. Mario (Haggan)’s in his seventh. So we’ve all got years,” Davis said, citing his fellow linebackers. “We’ve all seen a lot of football, and our coaches do a great job of having us prepare.”
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le Orton (19 of 37, 263 yards, 1 TD) continued to play with a glove over his right, throwing hand in order to protect the right index finger he dislocated against Chicago on Aug. 30. He hasn’t thrown an interception in 65 pass attempts this season, despite the outerwear.
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