QB Allen lifts Broncos to rare air in career debut
DENVER — The pass that made it all OK for Denver Broncos quarterback Brandon Allen Sunday, the one he said would settle him down, get him going, was also “the worst one I threw all day.”
But Allen’s 21-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Courtland Sutton with 6 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first quarter was the launching point for a winning debut for Allen as the Broncos used Allen’s play and a stingy red-zone defense to key a 24-19 win over the Cleveland Browns at Empower Field at Mile High.
“I made some dicey throws Courtland bailed me out a couple times on,” Allen said. “… When Courtland caught that pass, I felt pretty good, because I made a pretty terrible pass and he helped me out and caught that touchdown.”
It was a day Allen waited 42 months to have from the time the Jacksonville Jaguars made him a sixth-round pick in the 2016 draft to Sunday, when he took his first snap in a regular-season game. He finished 12-of-20 passing for 193 yards and two touchdown in relief of Joe Flacco.
The win nudged the Broncos to 3-6 as they head into their Week 10 bye as Denver equaled its best scoring output of the season – they scored 24 points in a Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“(The) guy’s got moxie, guy’s got moxie,” said Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe. ” … Just the way he carries himself. Adversity either makes you tougher or it makes you quit. And look what it did for him, it made him tougher, it made him a better football player, who knows what it means for him.”
Allen was forced into duty when the 34-year-old Flacco suffered a herniated disc in his neck, an injury Flacco said he believed he aggravated in the team’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week. Flacco was placed on injured reserve this past week and Allen, who had been claimed on waivers from the Los Angeles Rams just before the start of the regular season, was pushed into the starting lineup.
The Rams play a similar scheme on offense, which was one of the reasons the Broncos claimed him in the first week of the regular season. That comfort level showed, at least after some initial jitters in a wobbly-looking three-and-out to open the game, as Allen eventually led the Broncos on three touchdown drives.
“Nervous energy would be the best way for me to describe it,” Allen said. ” … Once you get playing, get in there and get hit one time, you get in there and get going.”
“I thought he ran the offense good,” said Broncos coach Vic Fangio. “Showed a little mobility, made some good throws, missed a few too, we’re not ready to put him in Canton yet, but overall pleased with the way he played.”
The Broncos kept much the same play-calling, overall, for Allen as they had shown with Flacco over the season’s first eight weeks with plenty of three-wide receiver sets mixed in with the two-tight end and two-back sets. The Broncos did put Allen in the pistol from time to time instead of the shotgun and despite Allen’s inexperience, wanted to play aggressively.
Allen’s 21-yard toss too Sutton, a ball Sutton snatched over top of the Browns defender, finished off the Broncos’ second possession of the game. And then in the Broncos’ third possession, Allen threw a quick slant to rookie tight end Noah Fant as Fant broke three tackles to finish off a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Fant had his first career 100-yard day — 115 yards on three receptions — and running back Phillip Lindsay had 92 yards rushing, including a 30-yard touchdown run as well as a 16-yard run out of the Wildcat formation just before the two-minute warning to seal the win.
“Obviously 24 points is not an area we’ve to too many times, so that’s good,” Fangio said. “Thought we called a good game, made some adjustments in the way we called a game and it paid off.”
The Broncos added a 95-yard scoring drive in the third quarter — their third touchdown drive of the game — and that meant Allen was the first quarterback to lead his team on a touchdown drive of 95 yards or more in his first career game since Marc Bulger in 2002.
Allen also became just the second Broncos quarterback in franchise history to start his first career game and see the Broncos win. John Elway made his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1983, a game the Broncos won, 14-10, but Elway was pulled from that game after he was 1-of-8 for 14 yards and an interception.
Fangio presented Allen with the gameball Sunday in the locker room.
“It was special,” Allen said. “… But the game ball should have gone to the entire team.”
All of the quarterback questions will come later. Allen will start the Broncos’ Week 11 game in Minnesota and like the Week 12 game in Buffalo. Broncos coach Vic Fangio has said rookie quarterback Drew Lock, who is on injured reserve at the moment recovering from a right thumb injury he suffered in the preseason, is expected to return to practice in Week 11 after the team returns from the bye.
Lock can practice for up to three weeks before the Broncos must decide to keep him on injured reserve or put him on the roster. Lock was a second-round pick — the 42nd pick overall — in this past April’s draft.
“It’s tough, there’s a lot of guys that would tell you this league is tough,” Allen said. “You get cut, traded, waived, whatever, it’s all about perseverance, getting that opportunity to see what you can do. A lot of guys don’t even get that opportunity … My whole thing … I take everything one day at a time, whatever happens, happens … Whether it’s one more game or 10 more games, I going to take advantage.”