The Broncos, led by head coach Sean Payton, stressed getting out to an early lead against the Browns in the week
Denver — The Broncos knew they had to beat the Browns at their own game in order to win their fifth straight: a hard-hitting, physical brand of football that is typified by efficiency in run games and in the trenches. Prior to Week 12, the Browns held the top spots in terms of time of possession, rushing yards per game, yardage allowed per game, and third-down conversion percentage allowed.
In every one of the four categories—possession control for more than five minutes, rushing yardage gained, yardage battle won, and first downs earned—the Broncos outperformed the visiting team. Denver defeated the Broncos 29–12 thanks to their offensive dominance, giving them a winning record and the longest winning streak in the AFC.
Regarding the Broncos’ physicality, safety P.J. Locke stated, “That was an emphasis the whole week.” “These individuals intended to enter and attempt to impose their will. We needed to match it and surpass it. That was the focus all week, even though during practice we don’t really hit. One of the secrets to our success was that mentality we simply possessed. We prevailed in the battle.”
The Broncos, led by head coach Sean Payton, stressed getting out to an early lead against the Browns, who have one of the most punishing ground games in the AFC. Denver employed strong defensive fronts to thwart Cleveland’s attempts to establish the run. In addition, Payton said he believed “the rushing numbers were going to be really important” in deciding how the game would turn out on Sunday afternoon.
“When you get a team that rushes the ball so well, it’s much harder to play them from behind than with a lead, and that kind of forces them to flip the script a little bit,” Payton explained. “Now that’s easier said than done, but we were lucky to do that, and that was something we wanted to do.”
The Broncos offense gained a season-high 169 yards on the ground during their 32:48 of possession. Quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Samaje Perine each recorded a red-zone rushing touchdown, and four Denver players registered rushes of more than ten yards.
The Browns defensive end Myles Garrett and the Cleveland pass rush, which managed just one sack for the afternoon, were largely neutralized by the Broncos’ success on the ground.
Perine remarked, “[The Browns] have a great defense.” “Their pass rush is excellent. The more those pass rushers we could remove from the game, the better. We did a decent job of that today, in my opinion.”
Denver’s offensive line played well, allowing them to finish 6-of-14 in third-down conversion attempts, improving their efficiency even further.
The Broncos’ success in short-yardage scenarios, according to right tackle Mike McGlinchey, is a perfect illustration of the offense’s development during Denver’s winning run.
“You’ve got to win that one yard by the way you come off the ball and move,” McGlinchey stated. “… You’ve got to stay clean on third-and-1, because those are the opportunities that propel drives, that propel points, and we’ve been doing that better and better each week.”
The third-best rushing offense in the league was only able to muster 107 yards on the ground and no touchdowns thanks to Denver’s defense. Along with forcing the Browns to only make two third-down conversions in 13 attempts, the Broncos also recovered three fumbles and recorded four sacks.
Two Broncos defensive linemen recovered a fumble: defensive end Zach Allen and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto combined for a fourth-quarter safety. Mike Purcell was the other defensive lineman. Purcell said that a big factor in the victory was the defensive line’s dominance.
“We all balled today, and we take pride in that up front,” Purcell stated. “We put them on our backs to start and we’re in the trenches, so it has to start there.”
Although Allen thought there was still opportunity for improvement despite the clear-cut 29-12 victory, he felt the Broncos’ performance in all three phases demonstrated Denver’s capacity to compete in and prevail in its most physical games.
“Today was a great example of [playing physically],” Allen stated. “The interesting thing is that we believe we could have performed better in certain areas of the run, at least from a defensive standpoint. We’ll be in a good position if we can just keep playing that way.”
