Thomas, Keenum overcome roller coaster outings in Broncos win
Sep 9, 2018, 10:40 PM | Updated: 10:46 pm
Sunday’s outing for Case Keenum and Demaryius Thomas wasn’t exactly pretty at times, but the two managed to overcome slow starts to lead the Denver Broncos to a 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
Keenum, who matched his three touchdowns with three costly interceptions, said he just kept to the mantra of “playing the next play” despite his shaky first time starting an opener for any NFL squad.
“We’re up, then they went and scored the touchdown. We’ve got to go make a play,” Keenum said. “You’ve got to forget about everything that you’ve done and play the next play.”
Make a play Keenum did, connecting with Thomas in the final minutes to give the Broncos the lead for good.
“I just threw it as hard as I could, and I honestly didn’t see Demaryius catch it. Not that it should surprise me that he caught it, because he’s got great hands, but I threw it as hard as I could, and I think he made a great play,” Keenum said. “It was awesome.”
Thomas too addressed his sluggish start after the game, saying he felt like it was the first time he stepped onto an NFL field.
“It was like my first game again. I was so excited and happy to be back on the field,” Thomas said. “The first three plays were kind of tough, a couple of quick drops but we kind of got on track.
“At the end of the day, the main thing is to get the ‘W’ and we got it.”
Thomas would go on to grab six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach Vance Joseph echoed Thomas’ sentiment after the game, saying his squad played well but there’s room for improvement.
“We pulled a win out, but obviously we can all play better,” Joseph said. “I was pleased with our team in all three phases — how we kept playing and how we finished the game, so a win’s a win. It’s a hard league to win in, so I’m pleased with our guys.”
Joseph said he spoke with his team Saturday night about being resilient and fighting through adversity, something his 2017 squad didn’t do much.
“Last year, we had some chances where adversity showed and we didn’t play through it. Hopefully our team this year can play through adversity because every game is going to be tough,” Joseph said. “It’s a hard league, so you’re going to have some ups and downs in games, but you want your team to be resilient and play right through adversity. The good teams do that.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
