The Denver Broncos improved to 2-0 in the preseason. They defeated the Houston Texans on Saturday 14-10. Peyton Manning started at quarterback for the first time in the preseason. He played the whole first quarter and one drive in the second quarter. He finished 8 of 14 for 52 yards but he didn’t throw a touchdown. Those aren’t great numbers, but they aren’t bad either. His receivers dropped some of his passes. Most experts are wondering if Manning can run Gary Kubiak’s offense and the answer so far is yes.
Brock Osweiler took over for Manning for the rest of the second quarter and the third quarter. He was 7 of 16 which means he completed 43% of his passes. That’s not a good percentage. If he wants to be a respectable quarterback in the league, that has to rise to at least 60%. Even though he struggled, he had the highlight of the night. He threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell. Osweiler also threw an interception. The Texans returned it 69 yards for a touchdown. He still needs to work to show Denver he can lead them once Manning decides to retire. At least for him, there are still two more preseason games.
The biggest surprise so far in the preseason has been Ronnie Hillman. He has been the forgotten running back since last year when Montee Ball and C.J. Anderson were the main running backs. He rushed for 54 yards on eight carries. That’s an impressive 6.8 yards per rush. Another running back who had a decent day was Juwan Thompson, running for 32 yards on 5 carries. He had 6.4 yards per rush on the average.
Denver’s defense has been a bright spot in the preseason. They lead the league in sacks with 12 total and had 5 sacks in this game. They seem to be blitzing on every play. If they do that in the regular season, not only are they going to sack the quarterback but opponents may throw the ball quicker than they want causing mistakes and turnovers for the defense.
The kicking game didn’t have to do much. Connor Barth and Brandon McManus both kicked one extra point, which they made.
The special teams were much improved. Houston only returned one kick for 22 yards. The Texans couldn’t do much on the punt return either with an average of 6.4 yards per return. That was one area of concern and they answered with a great performance.
The Broncos next preseason game is Saturday. It’s the first time home fans will have a glimpse of their team. They host the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM Mountain Time.
What do you think of the Broncos performance against the Houston Texans?
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