Broncos Roll on Road for Home-Field Edge

Bobby Humphrey and the Denver Broncos both got what they wanted.

Humphrey rushed for 128 yards in 23 carries Saturday to become the first Denver rookie to reach the 1,000-yard mark in a season. He also threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Bratton as the Broncos locked up the home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs by beating the Phoenix Cardinals, 37-0.

“We really wanted to secure that home-field advantage, and we played well in all phases,” Coach Dan Reeves said after Denver rolled up 204 yards rushing and 475 in total offense. “Humphrey ran tough, broke some tackles and his TD pass to Melvin was a thing of beauty.”

Humphrey said: “We have been working on that since training camp and we finally had a chance to use it. I think it should be put in the offensive game plan every week.”

Humphrey, a rookie from Alabama, won a battle of supplemental draft picks. He and Phoenix quarterback Timm Rosenbach were taken in the supplemental draft last summer.

While Rosenbach struggled against the Broncos in his first NFL start, Humphrey reached a milestone.

“It’s kind of like a dream getting 1,000 yards,” he said. “It’s a great accomplishment. Early in the season I thought I’d never reach it. But the line blocks better and better every game.”

Humphrey entered the game 28 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark but had 88 yards in 16 carries by halftime.

Rosenbach completed only two of eight passes for 14 yards before being replaced by Gary Hogeboom with 5:36 to play in the first half.

The Broncos’ defense, third in the NFL entering the game, limited Phoenix to 101 yards of total offense and shut out the Cardinals for the first time since a 16-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Nov. 10, 1985.

The Cardinals’ offensive output was their lowest since they had 86 yards against Pittsburgh on Sept. 26, 1955, when the franchise was based in Chicago. It was their worst shutout loss since Philadelphia beat them, 38-0, on Dec. 20, 1981, at St. Louis.

Rosenbach, taken as a junior-eligible out of Washington State, is earning $1.8 million this season in his five-year, $5.3-million contract. “I’m still as confident as I ever was,” said Rosenbach, who was sacked once and had one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. “Sure, I’m upset. But I’m not going to worry about today. There are a lot more days left to come.”

There might not be many more for interim coach Hank Kuhlmann, who is 0-4 since taking over for Gene Stallings on Nov. 20.

“I made the decision to start Rosenbach and I’m going to live with it. If you want to point fingers, go ahead,” Kuhlmann said. “I put in Gary later because I thought he could give us a lift and get some points on the board. But their defense just wore us down and we couldn’t get anything going.”

The win was the most lopsided ever on the road for the Broncos (11-4), who led, 20-0, at halftime en route to handing Phoenix (5-10) its fifth consecutive loss.

The Cardinals’ deepest penetration came late in the third quarter, when they got to the Denver 31 before Hogeboom lost a fumble.

John Elway completed 20 of 29 passes for 247 yards and threw for two touchdowns--a 14-yarder to Steve Sewell 5:44 before halftime and a 20-yarder to Clarence Kay with 3:40 left in the third quarter.