The Denver Broncos are 1-0.

How sweet does that sound Broncos fans?

After the longest verbal beating I can remember, the Denver Broncos proved their skeptics wrong on Sunday, and they did it with an unexpected strength: their defense.

In fact, the Broncos’ defense was so on point that the home team Bengals only reached the red zone twice in the entire game, and did not score a point for 59 minutes, 19 seconds (as Henry Gula earlier pointed out).

The new-look Broncos defense forced three turnovers, seven punts, and sacked Carson Palmer three times.  Steelers fans and Giants fans may laugh that the Broncos are proud of those statistics, but one must realize that this kind of defensive performance is not commonplace for the Broncos over the last three years.

In addition to the great play of the defense, the Broncos had stellar play from their special teams, namely Matt Prater who made both of his field goals from 48 and 50 yards.

The low spot of the game for the Broncos was the abysmal play of their offense, which was only able to get 10 first downs the entire game.

While those who did not watch the game will blame the ineptitude of the offense on quarterback Kyle Orton, anyone who actually saw the game knows that the offensive struggles came from an inability to effectively run the ball and a large amount of dropped passes.

This was a very boring game to watch until the last two drives of the game if you were an unbiased third party. Neither team scored a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, but the scoring was totally worth the wait.

After a long drive by the Bengals culminated in a one yard touchdown run by Cedric Benson, the Broncos defied incredible odds.

Trailing 7-6, the game clock read 0:20 and Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels realized that the time remaining should be nearly doubled because of a failed challenge attempt by the Bengals with 41 seconds remaining. The ensuing touchdown play only took three seconds off the clock, and McDaniels’ pleading paid off.

The game clock was reset to 0:38 and that proved to be absolutely crucial for the Broncos.

After a pass by Orton that was nearly intercepted by Jonathan Joseph, he heaved up a pass to Brandon Marshall that was tipped in the air by Leon Hall and subsequently caught by fellow Bronco Brandon Stokley who ran 87 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

The game-winning drive took 27 seconds off the clock, so it was huge that Denver got the clock reset to 0:38 before the game resumed.

A crazy finish, and one for the ages to be sure.  Broncos fans will remember this one for a long time, and unfortunately, so will Bengals fans. 

Kyle Orton did about as expected with his stat line which saw him complete 17-of-28 passes for 243 yards, a touchdown, a 100.7 QB rating, and most importantly:  no interceptions.

Orton effectively managed the game, and the Broncos did not make any mistakes, and it is even more impressive that he did it all with a dislocated pointer finger on his throwing hand.

The Broncos were absolutely shut down in the running game, partly because they did not run it very much, and had a lot of trouble with dropped passes.  In fact, every Broncos receiver had a dropped pass today except for Daniel Graham.

Defensively, there is a lot to talk about for the Broncos. 

The team finished the game with three sacks from Andra Davis, Mario Haggan, and Darrell Reid, all of whom are from the linebacker position.

Denver also forced three turnovers, two interceptions from Wesley Woodyard and Tony Scheffler, and a botched field goal attempt by Cincinnati.

This game has to be looked at as somewhat of a reality check for the Broncos who will host Cleveland in week two. They did some great things defensively, but the defense can only hold so much weight on its shoulders. Eventually, the offense is going to need to be able to score points on a more consistent basis, and eventually means by next week. 

Cincinnati’s defense looked vastly improved from what we have seen in recent years, and they were very stingy against the pass. Their defensive backfield is very solid, and they were able to get three sacks on one of the best pass protecting defensive lines in the NFL.

Granted, Kyle Orton’s indecision and inability to get rid of the ball at times were the cause of those sacks, it is still an impressive feat by the Bengals.

A lot of the offensive struggles can be attributed to a pure lack of chemistry, as the team welcomed for the first time at the same time a group that included Knowshon Moreno, Brandon Marshall, and Russ Hochstein as irregulars.

The Broncos should come out more aggressive offensively against the Browns next week who were absolutely crushed by the Minnesota Vikings 34-20. Adrian Peterson had his way with the Cleveland run defense, and the Broncos need to take advantage with their new group of backs.

This was one of the best finishes to a game the NFL will see all season long, and it helps that the Broncos got win number one off their chests, and if the defense continues to play like they did today, there will be many more wins to come. 

It also helps that the only people who thought Denver would win this game were fans of the team, and even some of them were skeptical because of the loss of quarterback Jay Cutler.

By the way, Cutler threw four interceptions in his Chicago Bears debut against Green Bay, and the Bears lost 21-15. I know it is only the first game of the season, but Kyle Orton and the Broncos are heading home winners, and the Bears are staring Pittsburgh in the face at 0-1.

Somewhere Josh McDaniels is smiling, and he should be.

Read more Denver Broncos news on BleacherReport.com

Sponsored Links

Buy Denver Broncos Tickets, NFL Tickets, Football Tickets and Sports Tickets at StubPass.com.

BroncosZone Latest

• The Denver Broncos Must Face Their New Reality
• Denver Broncos: The Beginning of a New Era, Or The Beginning of the End?
• Hey Denver, Where’s the Love for Josh McDaniels?
• Josh McDaniels Is the Poster Boy for “Too Much, Too Soon”
• Denver Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall: “I Love Being a Bronco”