For a half, Broncos offense showed what it was supposed to look like

DENVER — Those who came, eventually got a show.

In front of the second-largest no-show count at Empower Field at Mile High in the last 11 years, the battered Broncos found their form after halftime against an equally depleted Arizona Cardinals roster, rolling to a 24-15 win in front of 56,756 onlookers and 18,423 empty seats.

The fans who saw fit to show up had cause to smile — an all-too-rare occurrence in this, the Broncos’ sixth-consecutive losing season.

They ran downhill with aplomb. Latavius Murray became the Broncos’ first 100-yard rusher of the season, finishing with 130 yards and a 10-yard touchdown. Brett Rypien executed play-action passes effectively, including a perfect sell of a run fake on his only touchdown of the day, to Eric Tomlinson. Marlon Mack chipped in another 63 yards from scrimmage and a score.

But the fact that the names in that previous paragraph are who they are says a great deal about the Broncos’ season to this point.

In a grim Broncos season, today offered plenty of reasons to smile, as the offense in the second half looked like it was supposed to — albeit with a slew of reserves and against a struggling foe.

My postgame thoughts: pic.twitter.com/V9TMgRMIxw

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) December 19, 2022

Nothing went as planned. They had yet another new starting offensive-line combination Sunday — their ninth of the season. If Quinn Meinerz can’t make it back from the eye injury that he suffered early Sunday, it is likely to become 10 starting combinations in 15 games.

And yet, after halftime, the Broncos got a glimpse at what they thought the offense would be.

“I feel like everybody was kind of rolling,” said center Graham Glasgow, “Everybody felt — I wouldn’t say, like, the momentum, but I feel like when you’re leaning on somebody for a while, you can feel when they just don’t really want to play anymore.”

Denver ran for a season-high 168 yards at Arizona’s expense. One-hundred-and-thirteen of those yards came after halftime, with Murray and Mack combining to average 6.0 yards per carry in the second half as the Broncos repeatedly gashed the Big Red.

“They running that pill,” defensive lineman D.J. Jones said.

The Broncos mixed tempo and kept Arizona off-balance after halftime. And after a first half in which the Cardinals sacked Rypien six times, the ground game eventually applied enough power to force its will on a Cardinals team that — like the Broncos — has more wounds than it can lick.

“We were going fast sometimes; we were going slow other times,” Glasgow said

“… And everything was — I feel like — literally as good as it could possibly have gone.”

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SO, WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

It’s fair to be skeptical of gleaning too much from games at the end of the season that involve clubs playing out the string. Denver was eliminated from playoff consideration last week; Arizona sealed its sorry fate Sunday.

With Rypien and Colt McCoy starting at quarterback, it was a backup battle whose lack of star power certainly contributed to the ocean of blue seats, especially in the 500 level.

And once McCoy left with a concussion early in the third quarter, the Cardinals were down to Trace McSorley, whose 7-of-15 performance maintained his career sub-50-percent completion percentage that has him in Tebow territory. (Of course, Tim Tebow could do a few more things than McSorley.)

In all likelihood, this game did little to impact whatever decisions the Broncos might make as the offseason nears.

That doesn’t mean the next three games will have little heft in any choices. One is a holiday game in the national spotlight against the defending Super Bowl champs — albeit that is a team as beaten down by injuries as the Broncos. Then come two games against division rivals likely playing for playoff position — and two final chances to avoid their first winless record in AFC West play in 40 years.

At least two wins in the remaining three games — which, by definition, would include a victory over the Chiefs or Chargers — could change the trajectory and bring some degree of continuity.

“We’re all new here. A lot of guys are new here. Staff’s new here. A lot of the players are. The ownership,” edge rusher Randy Gregory said. “So, I think it’s important for us all to be able to go out there and get wins under the belt, and feel good about ourselves going into the offseason.”

And continuity would be a healthy thing in Gregory’s eyes.

“It’s going to be big,” Gregory said. “Everyone at every level is somewhat new, new to each other. So, to be able to go out there and kind of put the pieces in the right place. I know we’ve been hurt a lot, and guys have had to step up. But it’s part of the NFL, and I think that’s going to help us as far as evaluating for the front office going into the offseason and then self-evaluation.”

But that being said, the players know that change could be coming — whether in the coaching ranks or to their own statuses.

“This defense, man … we’re just trying to put it on the resume each week, because we know this is how the game goes. Everybody’s not going to be here,” said defensive end DeShawn Williams, who had 2.5 sacks Sunday.

“So, we’re just trying to put on the best tape we can for all 32 teams and hopefully we can stay together, but that’s not likely how it is, so we’re just trying to put on the best tape we can.”

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BUT IT WAS A WIN

And out of the wreckage of recent weeks, it was enough for wide smiles in the Broncos’ locker room. Before Sunday, they hadn’t won a game since before Halloween and they hadn’t won at home since September. A loss would have given the Broncos their longest single-season home losing streak since the AFL-NFL merger.

For a week, one can stuff those sorries in a sack, in the parlance of George Costanza. (“It’s an expression!”)

“No matter the record, winning is winning. The fun is in the winning,” Williams said. “You saw how this locker room was, and everybody’s upbeat. We’ve got a Victory Monday.”

And for one brief moment, everything looked like it was designed — even though so many of the players expected to execute the design could only watch from afar.

In a season of the unplanned, the unusual and the unfortunate, Sunday brought a day that finally went as expected.

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