DETROIT – Like everyone else, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos saw what happened to the Detroit Lions ‘ defense during the first two weeks of the NFL season.
The Lions struggled in losses to San Diego and Minnesota, giving up a total of 59 points while allowing 833 yards.
But the Broncos also knew two other things – they weren’t exactly an offensive powerhouse despite winning their first two games, and the Lions had lots of pieces back from a defense that ranked No. 2 in the NFL last season.
So with that in mind, the Broncos figured it was time to add some new wrinkles to the offense and they installed the pistol formation. Manning lines up halfway between the center and the spot he occupies while in the shotgun, giving him a better look at the way the defense is lined up.
It paid off as the five-time MVP had his best game of the season Sunday in a 24-12 victory at Ford Field.
“That was something coaches came up with during the week,” Manning said. “Green Bay did it last year against them late in the season and had pretty good success with it, so something that we’ve repped throughout training camp.
“But something they wanted to do this week and I imagine it’ll be a part of the arsenal throughout the season whether we use it next week or two weeks from now, I don’t know. But it was a part of the game plan tonight and it gave us some help in protection.
“We threw it I think 40-something times and thought they really did a good job all night and we had good communication all night as well. Two games in a row dealing with the crowd noise, five guys playing together for the first time, thought we were on the same page from a communication standpoint. Those are two real positives.”
Manning, who lined up under center just one time against the Lions, completed 31 of 42 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in winning his fourth game in as many career tries against the Lions.
He hit Demaryius Thomas with a 45-yard touchdown pass on the Broncos’ final play of the second quarter to give them a 14-6 lead at halftime and then found Owen Daniels for an 11-yard TD pass that ended the scoring with 2:28 left.
It was Denver’s third straight victory over a team that qualified for the playoffs last season and second in a row on the road.
“We were playing a team who was going to come out with everything they had tonight,” Manning said. “They were 0-2 coming into tonight, easily could have been 2-0, those two games they could have won. A team that was No. 2 ranked defense last year and playing at home for the first time, so for us to come in here and get a win, you cannot discount that.”
Although Manning led the Broncos to wins over Baltimore and Kansas City the past two weeks, he hardly looked like the second-leading passer in NFL history – somebody who has thrown for more than 70,000 career yards and should pass Brett Favre for the No. 1 spot sometime this season – while doing it.
Entering the game against the Lions, his quarterback rating for the season was 74.2 after he completed 50 of 95 passes for 431 yards and three TDs with one interception.
This from a guy whose career QB rating was 97.3 before the game vs. Detroit and had averaged 272 passing yards per game entering his 18th season.
Coach Gary Kubiak knew the Broncos had to do something to boost those numbers and he came up with the pistol formation.
“I think we protected him better tonight than we have,” Kubiak said. “I know he likes to see the field from back there. I know he was very comfortable tonight. I could tell.
“Obviously we didn’t run the ball very good. It’s a battle right now. We’ll keep battling. Obviously we made some progress offensively but we need to continue to make some more.”
The big play was the touchdown just before the half, when Thomas outjumped Detroit cornerback Darius Slay – the guy who said he was going to ask Manning to autograph the ball if he came up with an interception.
On fourth-and-one, Thomas caught the ball near the 16-yard line and waltzed into the end zone after Slay fell down. Thomas had so much room that he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for showboating as the end of the 45-yard TD.
The play started with Manning simply trying to get four yards to put the Broncos in position for a field goal.
“We didn’t know how they would play it,” Manning said. “We called a play expecting blitz and ended up getting blitz – zone blitz – and tried to hit Emmanuel (Sanders) on a little option route there and they kind of covered him in the zone blitz.
“I was looking for Emmanuel first and I was late going to DT because I wanted to just get the first down and DT made a great play and was able to get into the end zone.”
Despite Manning’s performance, it wasn’t the defense that cost the Lions the game. It was their offense, which struggled against the NFL’s No. 2 defense.
The Lions scored their fewest points of the season, finished with 290 total yards, had an extra point blocked that prevented them from tying it 7-7 in the first quarter and turned the ball over three times.
Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 31 of 45 passes for 282 yards and one TD while getting picked off twice yet Manning had kind words for his former student at the Manning Passing Academy.
“I think a lot of Matt Stafford,” Manning said “He’s a great quarterback and I think Jim Caldwell is a great coach and I think Detroit will get going. I think we played well tonight on defense and put him in some tough situations.
“But I think thought got a really good football team.”
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