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Published on 11/30/2008 at Sun Nov 30 17:55.
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Broncos Bounce Back on the Road; Defeat Jets 34-17

Posted Sun Nov 30th by

Peyton Hillis (AP Photo)
Denver Broncos rookie RB Peyton Hillis finished with a career-high 129 yards rushing. (AP Photo)

Peyton Hillis earned his first 100-yard game on the ground, the defense stopped Brett Favre and company on three 4th downs, and the Denver Broncos (7-5) bounced back in a big way to defeat the red-hot New York Jets (8-4) on the road Sunday, 34-17.

The surprising rout started when safety Vernon Fox recovered a first quarter fumble by Thomas Jones 23 yards for a touchdown on a Jets’ trick play. The players switched roles on the next offensive play, when Jones took a 59-yard run past Fox for a touchdown, tying the score 7-7.

From there, it was all Broncos. Jay Cutler was efficient and at times spectacular, the running game took control, and the special teams made enough plays in field position to seal the convincing win.

Combined with the San Diego Chargers‘ loss to the Atlanta Falcons, the Broncos now have a three-game lead in the AFC West heading into Week 14. The Broncos will host the Kansas City Chiefs, while the Chargers host the Oakland Raiders.

  • AKscott

    What a big bounce-back after an awful loss last week. Hillis was a beast today, and the defense, i think, played alot better than what Thomas Jones’ stats look like against the run. Woodyard was all over the place, and Dre had a few nice plays, especially at the end of the game when he stood up Coles, and in the back of the endzone on a pass deflection to save a touchdown. We just might be able to stun someone when (if) the playoffs roll around.
    And Brandon, PLEASE hold on to the freakin ball ma.. geeez, starting to look like Braylon Edwards

  • kerry

    ill give credit where its due. great game and played very well on both sides of the ball. why is it we play so good on the road and so bad at home??

  • Dakota fan

    Kerry, are you feeling okay?????

    I’ll take the blame for last week, family- I skipped church to stay home and watch the Broncos-Raiders game. Tonight, I left at the start of the second half and DVR’d the game and I’ll be damned if they didn’t win.

    Seriously now- what a great win, but I’m at 4:29 in the 3rd on DVR and Larsen, Ekuban and Bly have all gone down with injuries. Anyone hear any updates on them? Of all of them, I’d hate to lose Larsen the most.

    Through good or bad, I’m in their corner. When I get razzed about being a Broncos fan, I have only one saying:

    QUESTION MY SANITY, BUT DON’T QUESTION MY LOYALTY.

  • jchase8410

    I often wonder that same thing Kerry. They lose games that they should dominate at home, then go on the road and play very good teams and beat up on them. I think since they are so young and lack experience, they play to the level of their competition instead of playing THEIR own game. Aside from the 59 yard run, which was the worst dowb ever played by a safety, the DB’s played very well. The D line couldn’t get to Favre at all, but even with 7 seconds to throw the ball, a lot of times there was absolutely nobody open. Good win broncs!

    Will someone fire the strength and conditioning coach already? An injury on every play is ridiculous.

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    Bly and Ekuban were both seen in the game after the injury. Ek’s injury was called a pinched nerve, so it’s probably not too serious.

    I haven’t heard anything about Larsen yet.

  • kerry

    yeah im feeling fine. thanks for asking. i have no problem giving the team credit when they earn it. id sure like to see us play that well at home. we will see against the Chiefs at home. the Broncos won this game because they have been doing exactly what they did during the games they won, using the pass to set up the run. damn shame that none of our defensive players can get pressure on the QB.

  • Socal Den Fan

    Andrew Weiss wrote,
    I don’t have to tell you why you’re wrong about Sunday’s contest. We’re scoring 30+ per game against the best defenses in the AFC. You won’t be able to run against our base D. We’ve got a shutdown corner on one side and an improving secondary everywhere else. When it counted, Tennessee had less than a hundred yards passing and Collins isn’t prone to mistakes anymore, the way Cutler is. Favre is the best short passer in the history of the game and he’s making very few mistakes in recent games. We have the leading rusher in the conference, we ran for 192 on the Titans D-line and you’re small on defense. Oh, by the way, we’re superb on special teams with a game-breaking return man–and, we’re healthy. For good measure, you’ve got to fly across the country for the game.

    Still, I give you credit. If you’re right, I’ll tip my hat. But, I wouldn’t expect that any time soon.

    Hey Andrew how do you like your crow boiled, fried, BBQ? How about that shutdown corner and that 30+ a game. Any given day anybody can be beat! I just wish we could bottle that and use it later in the playoffs, I agree we need to play much better at home.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    I think the best thing that happened to the Broncos for Week 14 is that the Chiefs won. Pay attention, Broncos – this isn’t time to take a week off. In fact, THERE ARE no more weeks off. Get hot for the playoff run!

  • Sam P

    One thing I keep wondering is: do we want our some of our starters back in their positions once they are healthy again? The D has looked much better ever since we were hit by the injury bug.
    As far as playing well at home, I chalk their inconsistent play up to youth. But, when we’re in the playoffs we should only have on game at home, and with the division locked up after next week, Shanny should have two weeks to prepare for…possibly the Colts. Can we ever go to the playoffs and not face the Colts?

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Yup. 2005. Blew it at home in the AFCCG.

    I remember THINKING after we beat NE, and PIT beat IND – “OMG! OMG! The road to the Super Bowl is open!”

    At that moment I really thought we were Super Bowl bound. Sigh.

  • Matt

    Dude seriously! Where are all those damn jets fans that were here earlier in the week. Look the jets are a great team but when did they get so confident? The jets are no more consistent than we have been this year. Id rethink hopping on an opponents blog page talking so much nonsense next time. Great win. Good running attack. As said before a young talented team that will have its ups and downs but they do have alot of upside. Can all those cutler and shanahan haters take a couple of weeks off and just cheer for the broncos to make a run late in the season and make a strong showing in the playoffs. I agree that cutler made some low percentage throws today but he makes plays and gives us the best chance to win. I have been and will continue to back this kid up. He is legit.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    To the Jets fans’ defense – they came from the New York Times’ site. NYT invited BroncoTalk to give our take on the game (in 100 words or less). I picked a 27-26 Broncos win, obviously raising eyebrows a bit.

  • Sam P

    That’s right Kyle, I forgot we didn’t face the Colt that year. I remember thinking the same thing and then we blew it. We really should have one that game and added another trophy. We were the better team in every way, but that day we were not because of stupid screw ups. Thanks for re-opening that wound Kyle: thanks.

  • Michael

    I’m not too worried about a let down against KC. Sure we lost to them earlier this year in KC but we went in there way too over confident. Then last weeks loss to OAK I think was another case of over confidence, we killed them in week one on the road and came in with the mindset that it’d be another easy win. I don’t see them looking ahead this week, they’ll want revenge.

  • http://merlinofchaos.livejournal.com E. Halsey Miles

    Right now, there’s only one real problem with this team. Mistakes compound themselves; every time someone screws up big, it affects everyone. That is a common factor every game. If the Broncos play mistake free football, they win games, and that’s it.

    But they’re rookies, they make mistakes, and they’re just not good at shrugging it off and getting on with the game, as a team.

  • MIAbronco

    Do you guys think that peyton could be our “answer” at tailback, i mean the guy really has come on, and did go to arkansas to be a running back before they signed felix jones and mcfadden. I think he is playing tremendous football and he looks like a real complete everydown back

  • Michael

    I think we’re over looking how good our pass protection was once again. 43 pass attempts and no sacks given up. I could be wrong but I believe all those passes came with an empty backfield or in a one back set.

  • BroncoFan18

    Sam P, it is kinda scary that our defense is actually playing better with a lot of injuries….I know you always want your starters back, but the rookies have played really well…it’s an interesting point…

    As for the Jets game, win the turnover battle and you will win the game. Our five losses this year are because of turnovers. If we just don’t make petty mistakes we WILL win games…

    There are two things missing from this team that I believe are keeping us from being an elite team: 1) PASS RUSH — we just aren’t putting any pressure on the QB which in turn puts the secondary in a tough spot. Get a rush and our defense will improve by leaps and bounds. 2) KILLER MENTALITY — Yes. We need to put teams away! Championship teams don’t let the opponent hang around, which we did until the 4th quarter on Sunday. Championship teams also don’t play down to the level of their opponent and lose to 3-9 teams.

    Overall, I think we can compete with any team in the league as long as we don’t turn the ball over. But give the ball away and we quickly look like a very bad team.

  • jchase8410

    MIA…Hillis runs the ball really hard. He is the only back who has shown himself to be durable, and reliable. It would be nice to have a back that has the speed to break one to spell Hillis, the old thunder and lightning like the titans or the giants. I think he is a solid workhorse type of a runningback, nothing flashy or gamebreaking, just a solid blue collar hit who gets the job done…he fits in perfect with Denver’s crazy air attack.

    So to answer your question, yes I do think he is the answer for the rest of THIS season…after that I would like someone a little more dynamic

  • jchase8410

    Yes Michael, that is a great point, because the broncos didn’t run a 2 back set the whole game. The o-line did an amazing job. However, I don’t think anyone has “overlooked” their play, we have just become so accustomed to them playing at a high level. What has been overlooked spit the front 5 is how well they blocked for Hillis today.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    This time last year, the Broncos were 5-7. The offensive line is the reason they’re 7-5 this year.

  • Dakota fan

    This offensive line reminds me of the Super Bowl o-line from 97-99. If there was a prize for top free agent pickup in the offseason, Casey Wiegmann would win, hands down. I love Nalen, but who has missed him a bit this year?

    Hamilton and Kuper are studs, and the Ryans at tackles are guys we can build around for years to come.

    And the offensive scheme this week- the Raiders knew last week that we were going to try to go deep on them and so did everyone else. So what do we do? We utilize two of the league’s most underrated tight ends (Scheffler and Graham) for medium yardage gains and punch them in the mouth with Hillis. Smart game plan, Coach Shanahan.

    Good night family- I sleep well this night after this game.

  • olen

    Hillis is getting beat on constantly , sure hope he mends well . He needs some relief that can help maybe a tight end in a running back role since the broncos are a multi role team. Got any better ideas ?

  • Sam P

    Dakota fan, are you trying to get band from this site? haven’t you read how Kyle loves Nalen: His favorite Bronco of all time I think I remember reading just a few weeks ago.

    I was thinking the same thing about Hillis being the answer. I remember TD didn’t have great speed either. Hillis always pushes the pile, falls forward, hits the whole hard, but a one two punch with another Back would be beneficial to all.

    The line being over looked is a good thing. The past two years that has been a weakness, and this year to be comfortable enough to over look them is a good feeling.

  • http://broncotalk.net Kyle

    Haha Sam – good eye. Of course, Elway is my top fave, but Nalen is #2.

    Wiegmann has been very good though. I can’t complain! :)

  • robtink242

    man i hope we lock up josh bell,woodyard, and larsen. Josh bell I think is our best rookie in the secondary

  • http://birty.blogspot.com mikebirty

    peyton hillis!!!!

    Do i need to say more? No? Well i’m going to. What a performance by the young man. Even if he’s not the answer at hb. He certainly introduces some good questions. He did an excellent job of protecting the balls, except for just before the 2 minute warning. Did you see that? I felt it in england!

    As for defensive starters coming back. Give me dj and champ but there’s no reason to push them now.

    Kc need a good thumping – on to orange week!

  • jcampb72

    Wow I’ve never seen any fans boo players when they are injured….what a bunch of no class New York D bags. Shanahan nor Bowlen would ever put up with that in D town. Great game for Cutty and Hillis….Bly and Doom stepped up too and how about that strip by woodyard in the first quarter to get Fox the score. I’m thinking the experts should just call us “underdogs” from here on out or “Road Warriors”. But come sunday its payback time on the Chefs, we must protect this house ! I’ll be loud as usual for all you fans that can’t be there with us. Hope none of those injuries are serious we sustained this game, but can’t wait till champ returns…hands down our best player on D if not the whole team. Go Broncos!!!!!

  • jcampb72

    Oh yeah…I can’t remember the last time I rooted for the Raiders but GO Raidahs! Thats the last time I say that. But on a more serious note I like our chances. Hopefully Cry me a Rivers chokes on his tears against Oakland.

  • Matt

    Good point Michael. This O line is showing up week in and week out. Every single one of them are playing great football on a consistant basis. Hillis is a great 1st down back. He gets positive yards and falls forward and also knows how to grind out tough yards. He would be perfect to match up with a speedster. The guy does not go down easy and tires out the opposing defense. Its nice to have a pile mover who doesnt get lost at the line and can put the team in 2nd and 5 or 3 and 2 situations on a regular basis.

  • Mellifluous

    Any chance we could have the coach fly the team around on a plane for a while and then get the whole of Broncos Country to wear Red to the game on Sunday? Maybe if they think they are playing away….