Denver Broncos fall short in late rally
It went from bad to worse for the Denver Broncos this weekend. After The National Football League fined the Broncos and head coach Josh McDaniels on Saturday over a videotaping scandal,
the Broncos dropped a 36-33 decision to the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, dropping their record to 3-8.
To their credit however, the Broncos made things interesting in the fourth quarter scoring 20 points, but fell short in their rally.
The Broncos have now lost 16 of their last 21 games and also have the embarrassing scandal over their organization, both of which are taking their toll on McDaniels. However, for most
of the players, they felt that the video scandal was not a distraction heading into the game.
“There wasn’t one bit of distraction. We had one team meeting over it and it was pretty much over after three minutes,” quarterback Kyle Orton said after Denver’s six loss in its last
seven home games. “There’s stuff that happens throughout an entire NFL season and as pros and as men you worry about your own business.”
The Rams meanwhile improved to 5-6 and despite a losing record, they moved into a tie for first place in the NFC West with the Seattle Seahawks. Rookie quarterback Sam Bradford had a strong
game for the Rams picking up the first 300-yard game of his career going 22-for-37 for 308 yards with three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
“This was a huge step for this team, taking it to the next level,” Bradford said of his first road win. “It’s obviously something we’ve struggled with earlier in the year. But to finally
clear that hurdle, I feel like only things can get better now.”
It did not look all that bad to start the game as the Broncos looked good early building a 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter. However, Bradford connected with tight end Michael
Hoomanawanui on a 36-yard TD pass late in the quarter to cut the lead to 10-7.
After the Broncos kicked a field goal to go up 13-7 early in the second quarter, the Rams then scored 26 unanswered points during the second and third quarters including a pair of touchdowns
receptions from Billy Bajema.
The Broncos then set the stage for a fourth quarter rally after Kyle Orton threw three touchdown passes including two to receiver Brandon Lloyd to cut the Rams lead to 36-33 with just
under three minutes remaining.
The Broncos then got the ball back on their 34-yard line with 1:06 remaining in the game but had no timeouts left. The rally fell short however after they failed to advance the ball and
an incomplete pass by Orton on fourth down essentially ended the game.