CANTON, Ohio — Broncos head coach Vic Fangio is not going to cause sports historians to forget Willis Reed or Kirk Gibson.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is little more than an exhibition. Reed heroically limped into Game 7 of the NBA Finals and Gibson hobbled his trot around the bases to win Game 1 of the World Series.
And while a kidney stone should never be trivialized, it does not usually have the long-lasting ramifications at the elite level of sports as serious knee injuries.
Still, it was impressive that Fangio -- just three weeks before his 61st birthday -- was hospitalized from kidney stone pain Thursday afternoon and showed up for his first game as NFL head coach on Thursday evening.
“I went to sleep last night and at about 1 a.m.'' Fangio said after his Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 14-10, before 21,802 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in a preseason game that was won, and lost, by backups and third- and fourth-stringers. "I had some pain. It woke me up and I thought it was an upset stomach. I was able to fall back asleep for another hour or so. I woke up again and I knew it was not an upset stomach.''
It was also impressive that Fangio didn't settle for a game-tying field goal in an exhibition game. Facing fourth-and-15 from the Atlanta 16 and down 10-7 with less than 2 minutes left, Fangio didn't take a Brandon McManus' chip shot. Instead, he had fourth-string quarterback Brett Rypien try to win it from long range.
Rypien did, too, with essentially a jump-ball pass to the end zone that deflected off Falcons' cornerback Ryan Neal and into the arms of Broncos' receiver Juwann Winfree for a touchdown.
Fangio's dedication and gumption were rewarded with a 14-10 victory in the NFL's preseason opener. No matter how meaningless the game,if they're going to keep score, you might as well score more than the other guys.
“Nobody is in there doing cheetah flips and cartwheels about that, like they would in a regular season game,'' Fangio said. "But winning's cured more ills than penicillin.”
Kidney stones can be extremely painful, but Fangio showed up about two hours before the Hall of Fame Game. He coached from the sidelines and if he was in pain, he hid it well.
“It wasn't too bad,'' he said. "By the time I left the hospital, things were under control. I don't believe I’ve passed them, yet. It's done most of its traveling by the time I left there.”
For their first score, the Broncos took advantage of midfield starting position. Starting quarterback Kevin Hogan – No. 2 on the Broncos’ depth chart behind Joe Flacco, who did not play – completed passes of 7 yards to first-round rookie tight end Noah Fant, 15 yards to receiver Fred Brown and 8 yards to Brendan Langley, who was a third-round cornerback two years ago but is now attempting to convert to receiver.
The drive finished with diminutive running back Khalfani Muhammad exploding through a huge hole opened up on the right side of the Broncos’ offensive line for a 3-yard touchdown. Muhammad finished with 50 yards rushing on just seven carries.
Hogan completed 5 of 8 for 37 yards in his lone quarter of work. Two passes were dropped.
“I think Kevin is the winningest quarterback in the history of Stanford football, so he’s been around of a lot of good football, played good football and I’m not surprised,'' Fangio said. "But I think he could have played better, too. Some of the drops he had, the ball placement was not great.''
Drew Lock, a second-round rookie and the Broncos' No. 3 quarterback, played the second and third quarters and part of the fourth. He was 7 of 11 for 34 yards. The game seemed to be moving too fast for him at first, although he seemed to become more comfortable with each series.
Rypien, and undrafted rookie, played the bulk of the fourth quarter.
The Broncos played their first two series with pretty much their starting offensive front. Projected starting left tackle Garett Bolles, left guard Dalton Risner and center Connor McGovern played two series as did top backup right guard Don Barclay and right tackle Elijah Wilkinson.
Starting tight end Jeff Heuerman also played as Fangio, Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach Mike Munchak wanted to set the team’s running game.
Meanwhile, Fangio’s second-string defense – defensive linemen Adam Gotsis and Shelby Harris were the only projected starters who played and only for one series – held Matt Schaub, Kurt Benkert and the rest of the Atlanta backups scoreless through all but the final seconds of the first half. Benkert finished off a touchdown drive with a 1-yard flip to Brian Hill.
The Falcons took the lead 10-7 in the third quarter on a short field goal.
Prior to the game, the eight members of the Hall of Fame class of 2019 were introduced. Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey received a huge hand from the Broncos-heavy crowd. Walking out to represent late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen were six of his seven children – Amie, Beth, Patrick III, Brittany, Annabel and Christianna.
The Broncos play their next preseason game on August 8 in Seattle. Flacco, Von Miller and the rest of the starters are expected to play in that game, if only for a series or two.
Bronco Bits
Denver suffered two possible serious injuries in the game. Special teamsstandout and linebacker Joe Jones and defensive lineman Billy Winn, who is trying to make an NFL comeback after a two-year absence, were going to take MRI exams Friday. The fear is each suffered partial triceps tears. ...
Undrafted rookie Malik Reed,defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker and safety Shamarko Thomas each had a sack in the game. Cornerback Trey Johnson had an interception off Schaub at the Atlanta 38 that put the Broncos in position for their game-winning touchdown drive. ...
Fangio utilized a new rule and challenged a pass-interference call against his own Linden Stephens. It didn't work as the call was upheld. ...
Muhammad was not only the Broncos' leading rusher with 50 yards, he was also their top receiver with four catches for 24 yards.
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