Trevor Siemian had his coming out party in his first road start. He was able to achieve career highs in yards and touchdowns, throwing for 312 yards, four passing touchdowns and a 29-17 win for the Denver Broncos (3-0) over the Cincinnati Bengals (1-2). Siemian joins Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks in Broncos history to throw four touchdowns and zero interceptions. It is important for the quarterback to not get too high from his performance.
“It’s a great outing. I don’t get think you get too carried away—but we know we have a good young quarterback who’s on a good team, and this was a great sign today. He came out in a tough environment, handled himself very well and played big,” said Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak.
Siemian was accurate all game, completing 66 percent of his passes, going 23/35 and gathered a 132.1 passer rating. He did not turn the ball over in opponents’ territory, cleaning up his mistakes from the pervious two weeks. His most impressive plays of the game came in the fourth quarter when the Broncos trailed 16-17.
He led the Broncos on two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, completing 11 of 12 passes and achieved a prefect passer rating. His teammates knew he was capable of this type of performance; they were just waiting for it to happen.
“That’s what we’ve been waiting for,” said Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr.
Broncos’ wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders demand for the ball all week paid off. “Thunder and Lightening” as they called themselves after the win were able to reach at least 100 yards receiving and each scored at least one touchdown.
Sanders started the game off hot, catching it seven times for 89 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He finished the game with nine catches, 117 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas played huge in the fourth quarter, hauling in a 55-yard touchdown, sealing the Broncos win. He finished the game with six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.
The Broncos defense continues to make life hard for NFL quarterbacks. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw for only 206 yard, zero touchdowns and one interception. Dalton finished with a 72.8 quarterback rating.
Dating back to last seasons the AFC Conference Championship game, the Broncos have allowed only three touchdowns and forced six interceptions.
2015 first round pick Shane Ray had himself a game filling in for injured Demarcus Ware. Ray dominated, gathering a career high three sacks. Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller added a sack as well, giving him a lead leading five sacks on the season. Miller now ranks fifth on the Broncos all-time sack list, giving him 64.5 sacks for his career.
One area the Broncos defense needs to improve in is run defense. Bengals running back Jeremy Hill scored two touchdowns and ran for 97 yards. Coming into the game, the Broncos ranked 23rd in the league in yards given up on the ground.
Overall, it was a good win for the Broncos. The offense they can win games and the defense put on another solid performance. Siemian will look to have an encore of his week three performance as he and the Broncos travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers (1-2) for a week four matchup. The two teams have not faced each other since 2012. The Broncos won that matchup 31-23.
More stories you might like
