Broncos Overcome Own Mistakes and New England for 27-20 Victory

While Denver’s schizophrenic offense struggled to find itself, it remained for the stable, reliable Bronco defense to dictate the outcome Sunday.

Dictate it did, holding the New England Patriots to 38 total yards in the second half, including just two yards rushing as the Broncos rallied for a 27-20 victory.

The Patriots (2-2), one of the league’s better rushing teams, managed just 40 net yards on the ground all day. Meanwhile, New England quarterback Tony Eason, effective with short passes to his backs in the first half, was pressured into hurried throws in the second half and was sacked five times.

Denver (4-0) trailed, 13-3, at halftime, but roared back with a 24-point second half led by running backs Sammy Winder and Gerald Willhite, both of whom scored touchdowns.

“The only adjustment we made at the half was to go after Eason,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “We had to limit his time to throw the ball. We shut down their running game in the second half, and that was a key.

“Offensively, it was like two different games. John Elway had a poor first half throwing the ball, but in the second half we were able to execute and put points on the board.”

The Broncos had 262 of their 338 total yards in the second half.

“Their defense is very good, and they just whipped us,” New England Coach Raymond Berry said. “Their fans got into the game, and we just had too many occasions when we had three downs and out.

“We had some success throwing underneath in the first half, but we did not move the ball consistently, either through the air or on the ground, in the second half.”

The Broncos scored on 4 of their 5 possessions in the second half.

Elway, who completed only 6 of 18 passes for 48 yards with an interception in the first half, returned to form on Denver’s opening possession of the second half. He completed passes of 17 yards to Steve Watson and 32 yards to rookie Mark Jackson, then found tight end Clarence Kay for a 1-yard scoring toss.

Later in the third quarter, Willhite and Winder had runs of 12 yards each in a 68-yard drive, Winder getting the touchdown on his run.

Willhite dived one-yard to score early in the final quarter, culminating a 53-yard drive. The Broncos made it 27-13 on Rich Karlis’ 34-yard field goal with 1:34 left.

New England, held without a first down on three straight possessions in the second half, mounted a brief march midway through the final period, reaching their own 42-yard line. But linebacker Tom Jackson dumped Cedric Jones for a seven-yard loss on an end-around play on second down, and Rulon Jones sacked Eason on the next play.

The Patriots, helped by a pass-interference penalty in the closing seconds, scored on the game’s final play, Eason passing 10 yards to Irving Fryar.