Denver Broncos 16, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13 – video highlights.

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Nic Clemons tackles Warrick Dunn for a loss (Reuters photo)

It wasn’t the type of game you would expect from offensively-minded Head Coaches Mike Shanahan and John Gruden. Yards were scarce, points scarcer, and field goals and punts were traded at will. Ultimately, the Broncos defense silenced their critics, and the Denver Broncos (4-1) sent the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home with a 16-13 throttling at INVESCO Field at Mile High.

With the victory, the Broncos move to 4-1 on the season, regaining their two-game lead on the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West, who fell to 2-3 in Miami on Sunday.

Quarterback Jay Cutler finished with a decent 23/34 for 227 yards and one touchdown (no interceptions). It was his most pedestrian outing of the season but not unexpected against a furious Tampa Bay defense. The key was the lack of turnovers – the Broncos offense committed zero – while hustling and sacking Tampa Bay’s two quarterbacks all game long.

It was the type of tight, controlled game many Broncos fans were clamoring for after the messy game last week in Kansas City, and obviously it was just what the doctor ordered.

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We’ll have the inactives list here as soon as it arrives… live blog starts at 1:30, half an hour before kickoff… come join us at the RMN for a live chat starting at 12:30! Go Broncos! DESTROY THE BUCS!

Spencer Larsen gets the start at fullback instead of Peyton Hillis.

Michael Pittman has surprised at tailback with 4 touchdowns. (AP Photo)

The BroncoTalk Staff is grading the Denver Broncos through the first four games of the 2008 season. Here’s our take on the rushing attack. We invite you to give your grade at the bottom of each post as well. Enjoy!

Rush Offense – Staff Grade – B

Jonathan (B-) – I think we need some consistency in the backfield. I like Young and Hall, but I’m going to say something I never thought I would… but… Could Pittman be the answer at tailback? He was great against KC compared to Young and Hall and he’s been our goal-line guy all season long. Why not give him a bit more carries and see what happens. Whatever happens, we need to get more consistent production from our RB’s. Without consistency, opponents are already starting to lose their fear of our running game. That will allow them to focus on defending the pass which could really hang up our offense. If we could create a threat of the run, our whole offense will open up again.

Josh (C-) – This is has been the weak spot of the offense this year. We’re not seeing the breakout player in Selvin Young we thought we would have by now. Pittman has been the surprise for me personally. I really thought he might be a has-been signing and camp casualty or something similar to fellow Buc Simeon Rice last season. Pittman has been the team’s ultimate role player. He’s been great in red-zone carries and making plays on 3rd down out of the back field.

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Was the rush defense exposed against Kansas City? (AP Photo)

The BroncoTalk Staff is grading the Denver Broncos through the first four games of the 2008 season. Here’s our take on the rush defense. We invite you to give your grade at the bottom of each post as well. Enjoy!

Rush Defense – Staff Grade – C

Jonathan (C-) – What? A ‘C-‘ is too high, you say? Well, the truth of the matter is: They do very good against the run on 95% of the plays… then they get burnt for +60 yards on a single broken play and it looks like they suck. We need to stop the dreaded Big Play. If we can do that we’ll be on track to have a solid B- defense. And a B- defense is plenty if our A+ offense can score 40 points per game.

Josh (B-) -   This is the one facet of our defense I’ve been pretty happy with so far.  For the most part they’ve stopped teams from turning us into swiss cheese.  Larry Johnson did have a good game against us, but other than, not too bad.  L.T. wasn’t able to do much but either was the speedy Sproles in his place.  Most of the big plays/gains by running backs have been made by dump off passes and screens.  You can hardly fault the line for that, right?  Marcus Thomas has been show flashed and gives us some real hope on the line.  He has been able to burst into the backfield and completely break down plays on occasion.  If we see more of that, we can expect a better unit as a whole.

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The BroncoTalk Staff is grading the Denver Broncos through the first four games of the 2008 season. Here’s our take on the pass defense. We invite you to give your grade at the bottom of each post as well. Enjoy!

Pass Defense – Staff Grade – D

Jonathan – C- – We’re not pressuring the QB and we’re giving up short yardage passes (some of which turn into big plays). Our CB have given up one side of the field every week and produced very few deflections and interceptions. I think Shanahan is going through defensive backs (safeties and CB’s) right and left and we still don’t have an answer. I wish I had an easy fix… unfortunately, I don’t. :(

Josh – D- – The only thing not giving this unit a flat out F is that I thought the defense as a whole unit played better against the Chiefs when we thought we would need it the least.  More of the same from this group, pure inability to reach the quarterback all season. I hate to say it, but I think Moss and Crowder are starting to look like busts. We need a true playmaker.  They’ve made a few key stops all season.  I do like the switch to Jack Williams over Paymah. The kid has nothing but upside at this point because he basically looked like the same person as Paymah in a bad game against K.C.

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Bucs Coach John Gruden talks to the ref (Getty Images)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – I Piss Excellence:

In a bizarre turn of events today at Coors Field, Brian Griese’s ceremonial first pitch was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Remember to leave your caption for the top photo. Happy captioning!

• Brandon Marshall and the double-move could exploit Bucs CB Ronde Barber.  [ESPN]
• Jay Cutler is your AFC Offensive Player of the Month.  [DenverBroncos.com]
• He needs to be careful against a red, red hot Tampa Bay defense.  [Rocky Mountain News]
• Both the Broncos and Bucs know 4-1 is a lot better than 3-2.  [DB.com]
• A Broncos loss to its former QB will really put question marks on the season.  [Fox Sports]
• The safety position: “in flux” is an understatement.  [Denver Post]
• Elvis Dumervil admits the team came out flat against KC.  [DB.com]
• Marshall admits he wasn’t prepared for the Chiefs’ double teams.  [DB.com]
• Jim Saccomano eats his cow one steak at a time (kidding aside, a very good article).  [DB.com]

Sam Adams is not a former Denver Broncos defensive lineman – he’s a columnist for the Rocky Mountain News who does a great job breaking down all things Broncos throughout the season. Every Sunday, Sam joins myself and John from Mile High Report for a Game Day Broncos chat – and welcome you to join us. Sam has been nice enough to agree to answer a few questions every week; here is this week’s installment.

BroncoTalk – Are you surprised the Broncos are sitting at 3-1 through four games?

Sam Adams – No, I’m not surprised the Broncos are 3-1. Actually, they’re on point with my preseason game-by-game forecast … Yes, on the day the NFL released the team schedule, I taped a “Sam-ulcast” video with predictions for each game. My scores have been off so far, but if you take a look at this video you’ll hear me say things like Kiffin’s on the hot seat before the first game, and the Broncos will get lucky and beat San Diego, and they won’t go 4-0 because they’ll lose in Kansas City … it’s all on video! (Ed Note: I am humbled by Adams’ mighty, mighty wisdom).

BT – How would you grade the Broncos through the first quarter of the season?

Sam – I give Denver a B-minus … The offense gets an A (A-plus for the O-line) … The defense gets a D-plus … Coaching gets an A-minus

BT – Should the Broncos make a move for a defensive playmaker midseason or stay the course?

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Brian Griese returns to Colorado (AP Photo)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – Mark:

Al: “Yes, Tom will be the interim coach-” Tom interrupts: “WHAT!?! Oh hell no! Hey, who tied me to this chair!?! HELP!!!”

Remember to leave your caption for the top photo. Happy captioning!