Denver Broncos 29, Cincinnati Bengals 17
Here are the biggest takeaways and highest-graded players from the Broncos’ win over the Bengals:
Quarterback grade: Trevor Siemian 69.5
Numbers don’t match the eye for Siemian
A nice drive may leave many feeling good about Siemian, but there was enough here to suggest that he could be the Achilles heel for the Broncos. He escaped a dangerous pick after throwing the ball straight to Shawn Williams and a number of times missed routine throws that took his team off the field.
Top offensive grades:
WR Emmanuel Sanders, 86.0
C Matt Paradis, 81.5
FB Andy Janovich, 76.4
TE Jeff Heuerman, 75.4
T Russell Okung, 74.1
Problems on the line not solved by rotation
Ultimately a good day at the office, and with Siemian facing pressure on just eight plays it may seem the line did a good job. Generally they did not, with Ty Sambrailo really struggling, getting flagged once and allowing a sack, hit and hurry. It wasn’t any better in the run game, where the 2.3 yards per carry can be chiefly attributed to the Bengals winning the up-front battle.
Top defensive grades:
CB Chris Harris, 83.8
ED Von Miller, 83.6
S T.J. Ward, 82.7
LB Brandon Marshall, 81.5
ED Shane Ray, 80.2
You may think sack machine Shane Ray was the star of the show, but with two of those clean-up sacks let’s not forget who was wreaking havoc in the second half. Von Miller is playing like a man possessed and it continued today. He finished up with a sack and four hurries, with a couple more victories that didn’t result in pressure and one that resulted in drawing a flag.
Quarterback grade: Andy Dalton, 84.9
Only so much Dalton could do
It was an extremely competent display from Dalton, who faced pressure on 11 of his dropbacks and was only off target on five of his pass attempts all day. With his receivers struggling against the Broncos coverage he took what they gave him and made a couple of nice throws downfield when the opportunity presented itself.
Top offensive grades:
QB Andy Dalton, 84.9
T Andrew Whitworth, 82.2
G Kevin Zeitler, 77.1
C Russell Bodine, 76.7
WR A.J. Green 75.1
Inconsistent running game unable to get job done
On the surface a 143-yard day on the ground looks good. But when you consider 50 of those yards came on one drive and 40 more on quarterback scrambles, you start to understand that despite their best intentions the Bengals couldn’t get the consistent push up front to put them in favourable situations to test the Bengals coverage.
Top defensive grades:
LB Vincent Rey, 87.3
S Shawn Williams, 85.0
LB Karlos Dansby, 84.6
DT Geno Atkins, 82.0
DE Carlos Dunlap, 82.0
Strong effort undone by poor finish
The score line doesn’t reflect the general joy this unit had up front. Dunlap had his way with whoever lined up at right tackle and the team consistently got penetration on the Broncos zone runs to slow C.J. Anderson down. Some break downs in coverage compounded things and while Adam Jones would make some plays late in the game, his earlier struggles cost them points.
PFF Game-Ball Winner: Emmanuel Sanders, 86.0
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