And the streak rolls onward to nine.

The Denver Broncos have now beaten the Cleveland Browns in their last nine meetings.

The game began with legendary Broncos tightend Shannon Sharpe parachuting into the stadium. Sharpe was officially inducted into the team Ring of Fame today.

Also worthy of note, the Broncos won their tenth straight home opener, and have now started 2-0 for the third straight season.

Today’s win, 27-6 over the Browns, was an outstanding team effort by all members of the Broncos. Everyone did their job, and the team looked very impressive playing in front of it’s fans at Invecso Field.

The game opened with a disastrous play, during which Peyton Hillis fumbled (and lost) the kickoff and gave Cleveland excellent starting field position. However, the Broncos defense held fast, and forced the Bronwns to settle for a field goal.

After a Broncos three-and-out gave Cleveland the ball, newly acquired linebacker Darrell Reid was able to recover a Brady Quinn fumble, giving the Broncos excellent field position. Kyle Orton capitalized with a nice two yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Scheffler.

The rest of the first half was uneventful, with the Broncos adding three more points on a Matt Prater field goal.

The second half opened with the Broncos defense making more big plays.

Elvis Dumervil tackled Browns wideout Joshua Cribbs and forced a fumble that was recovered by Brian Dawkins. The Broncos were able to capitalize with another Prater field goal.

The Broncos entered the fourth quarter up 13-6, but were not done by any means. The offense was ready for their “best quarter” of the young season.

On a second down and eight from the Denver 49-yard line, Kyle Orton hit Jabar Gaffney on a deep-out route. Gaffney ran away from the defenders and sprinted all the way to the two yard line. Peyton Hillis then bull-rushed his way into the endzone to put Denver up 20-6.

After another Browns three-and-out, Correll Bucklhalter put the game out of reach. Taking a handoff at midfield, Buckhalter ran easily into the secondary, where he put a beautiful move on two defenders.

He had to stiff-arm and fight cornerback Eric Wright for the final five yards, but was able to make it into the endzone, putting the game away for the Broncos.

Brady Quinn’s final, last ditch effort pass was intercepted by rookie safety Darcel McBath.

This game, in addition to being another solid Denver win, was a very promising sign for fans. The Broncos defense turned in a lights-out performance, holding the Browns to just 11 first downs and 200 net yards on offense.

On the other side, the Broncos offense woke up in a big way, tallying 449 net yards of offense.

Elvis Dumervil had a career day, getting to Quinn for four sacks and forcing a fumble.

The Denver rushing attack also looked excellent. Correll Buckhalter led the way with nine touches for 76 yards, including the big 4th quarter run. He was followed by rookie Knowshon Moreno (17 for 75 yards) and LaMont Jordan (seven for 19 yards).

Kyle Orton also had a solid day, finishing 19 for 37 with 263 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to throw an interception.

The Denver offensive line did not allow any sacks.

Overall, today was a very good day in Broncos Country. The defense backed up last week’s performance and showed that they might just be “the real deal”. Mike Nolan’s defensive playcalling was excellent once again.

The offense made up for last week’s sluggish start, and the team looks confident and ready.

Coupled with a Chargers loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Broncos now sit alone atop the AFC West.

Next Sunday, the team will travel to Oakland to take on an improved Raiders team. It is very important for the Broncos to open the season 3-0, and they will work all week to accomplish that goal.

Read more Denver Broncos news on BleacherReport.com

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