DENVER – Brandon McManus has his kicking groove back.
“Last year, I never felt I lost my groove,’’ he said this week. “The stats showed that I lost it. I’m always confident out there every time I come on the field.’’
Including his perfect postseason of 2015, McManus was 44 of 44 on field goals from inside 40 yards in the 2015-16 seasons. He then missed three field goals from inside the 40 last year, and overall he slumped to a .750 conversion rate after posting .857 and .853 the previous two years.
McManus has been true again this year. He was 9 of 9 in field goals and 8 of 8 in extra points during the preseason until he missed a final, 57-yard field goal attempt at Arizona.
In the regular-season opener against Seattle last week, the Broncos don’t win 27-24 if not for McManus. He made field goals of 51 and 53 yards while Seattle’s Sebastian Janikowski missed from 46 yards.
Do the math in the Broncos’ 3-point victory and McManus won the game.
“D.T. won it with that catch,’’ McManus said of Demaryius Thomas’ tiptoe, end zone snag for the game-winning score. “I’ll take some credit.’’
