LANDOVER, Maryland – Let’s review the past 30 hours for the Denver Broncos.
Their beloved owner Pat Bowlen was nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Case Keenum got in a nice passing rhythm in the first half and the Broncos decisively beat Washington, 29-17 here Friday on a comfortable late-August night near the nation’s capital.
"I’m happy with where we’re at and I’m happy with what we did tonight,'' Keenum said. "Move the ball, score points like I said earlier in the week. But there’s stuff we can work on and keep getting better. That’s what you have to do, you have to keep getting better because the competition gets tougher and tougher as the season goes on.''
The Broncos were up 26-3 until their reserves allowed Washington third-string quarterback Kevin Hogan to threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.
The Broncos’ offensive line not only gave Keenum all night in the pocket but opened a gaping hole for rookie running back Royce Freeman, who ripped through one would-be tackler on his way to a 24-yard touchdown run, and receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who cut his way in for a 27-yard touchdown off a reverse.
“I was running like a Pop Warner football player,’’ Sanders said.
“I think the offensive line played great,'' Keenum said. "Starting off, establishing the run like we did was really important. I think it opened up a lot of those passing lanes down the field. ... I thought they played really really well tonight. I thought they played well all preseason so I’m excited as a quarterback you always like an offensive line that plays well.’’
Broncos kicker Brandon McManus nailed five field goals of 50, 45, 34, 56 and 34 yards. McManus not only was making them, he was drilling them down the middle of the uprights.
“It feels good,'' he said. "I know it doesn’t count but it’s the second time ever I’ve gone 5 for 5. Case (Kreiter, the longsnapper) and Marquette (King, the holder) did a good job. We’re still working on it every single day. Marquette’s not used to holding for a righty kicker so he’s been working so hard. Before practice he catches 50 Jugs a day. So he’s doing a great job trying to make me comfortable.’’
His kickoff coverage unit held a Washington return to its own 13-yard line. Isaiah McKenzie cleanly caught all three of his punts.
The Denver defense allowed a few nice runs by reborn Hall of Fame-bound running back Adrian Peterson, but it also held nemesis quarterback Alex Smith to 33 yards on 3 of 8 passing and 3 points.
All this at sparsely attended FedEx Field, the site of the Broncos’ previous road trip on Christmas Eve, 2017. In that game, the Broncos were dominated by Kirk Cousins and the Washington defense in a 27-11 loss.
“We’re a lot better (than last year's team),'' said Broncos left tackle Garett Bolles. "We’re starting to figure out our groove and figure out the things we need to work on. We haven’t arrived yet, but I felt like tonight was the first time we officially are starting to get on the train and move up the tracks. We’ve got to continue to build on what we did tonight and continue to work on the little things so that when it comes to September 9th, we’re ready to rock-n-roll.’’
The new Broncos’ front-line units that just had their final tune-up for the 2018 season appear determined to put last season behind them.
Whether during play last season, this year's OTAs, training camp, the preseason, whatever, it’s been a while since the Broncos offered this much encouragement. The greatest improvement seems to be on offense where Keenum distributed his 12 completions to six receivers,including Sanders who is rediscovering how difficult he is to cover from the slot. Sanders caught a 15-yard curl-in to convert a third-and-15 and made a snag off a sideline-and-go route for a 33-yard gain.
The only problem with the Broncos' diversified offense is the running game has been so good in finishing off drives, Keenum finished the preseason without throwing a touchdown pass.
"“Yeah what the heck,'' he said with a smile. “When you’re getting everybody involved, man, that’s a great feeling. I think that’s unselfish football by everybody. Getting everybody going -- that’s when you get creative and you’re finding different guys get open.
"There’s certain routes when guys know they’re not getting the ball but they have to run those routes to get other guys open. When you see guys hauling butt down the field, clearing out the coverage over the top, that’s when you know you’re offense has some chemistry and really trust, and you care about each other and you want each other to succeed.’’
Bring on the Seahawks! The Broncos still have one more preseason game for their backups Thursday at Arizona. But for Keenum and the Broncos’ starters, that’s a wrap on preseason preparations for the September 9 opener. Keenum was 12 of 18 for 148 yards. Sanders had not only the 27-yard touchdown run but four catches for 61 yards.
Chad Kelly and the Broncos' second-team offense came out for the start of the second half. He led his team to field goals on his only three drives, completing 7 of 11 passes for 70 yards. Kelly didn't have to drive far on McManus' 56-yard field goal.
“I was mad at that one because the linemen had to cover in case it’s short,'' McManus said."Fifty-six yards, I better never kick it short. If you do, then you can fire me. I was mad because when I made it I had no one to celebrate it with because they were covering the kick.’’
Paxton Lynch finished the game at quarterback for the Broncos. He had an 8-minute, 13-second drive that ended with McManus' fifth field goal. The previous time he was 5 of 5 in field goals in a game was the Broncos' 23-16 playoff win against Pittsburgh during their 2015-season run to the Super Bowl 50 title.
The only negative for the Broncos was the eye injury suffered by special teamer Shamarko Thomas, who was taken to a local hospital for evaluation of a possible detached retina. Thomas was signed two weeks ago to replace Jamal Carter, who suffered a season-ending torn hamstring.
