Broncos head coach Hackett is pumped after Denver handles the Vikings

The Denver Broncos rebounded nicely on Saturday night in their preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

After a disappointing loss to the Buffalo Bills, 42-15, last Saturday, Denver looked good in a 23-13 win over Minnesota.

After the game, head coach Nathaniel Hackett spoke about it. The improvements were certainly noticeable.

“I thought it was good. I thought you saw some energy, you saw some physicality. The guys came out, I thought they played as one, I thought they played off each other. I thought it was good team, complimentary football, but that’s not an excuse for what happened. We’ve got to do that consistently throughout the season,” Hackett said.

Perhaps most noticeable was Denver’s run game, which had struggled in the preseason. Coming into Saturday night, the team had averaged just 1.8 yards per carry, which 104.3 The Fan’s Chad Brown pointed out multiple times on the 9NEWS broadcast. That shot up in a big way, with Denver averaging 5.9 yards per carry against Minnesota.

“It starts up front. I mean, that offensive line, they were getting a lot of good movement. They were pushing those guys back. (Mike) Boone started it off by being able to take advantage of some great presses and cutting it back,” Hackett said. “I really felt like those guys all bought in on that. They looked good today.”

Boone finished with five carries for 44 yards, including a nice 26-yard scamper. The recently signed Devine Ozigbo added 13 rushes for 59 yards, with the majority coming in the second half. Hackett has to be feeling a lot better about that part of his offense.

So now, it begins. The Broncos have just 16 short days before a Week 1 showdown in Seattle. No one will remember a 2-1 preseason come January, or even February. Hopefully Russell Wilson has us all focused on the playoffs or even the Super Bowl.

Let’s Ride.

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