Talib shines in Tampa return, Wolfe racks up sacks in Broncos win

In a game that took about 90 minutes longer to finish than anticipated, an argument can be made that the Denver Broncos defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers less than three minutes into the first quarter Sunday.

After two short rushing playes to start the game, Broncos cornerback, and former Buccaneer, Aqib Talib picked off Jameis Winston to set up Denver deep in Tampa Bay territory.

Trevor Siemian connected with Demaryius Thomas one play later for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead just 2 minutes, 29 seconds into the game.

“He’s playing special,” head coach Gary Kubiak said of Talib after the game. “… Aqib’s a hell of a player, and he’s really turned into a leaders. And obviously he played big today.”

Kubiak said he had Talib, who played a little more than four seasons for Tampa Bay, speak with the players Saturday night for motivation heading into Sunday.

And Talib said after the game he just told his peers to “play with confidence.”

“Wake up feeling it. I feel like confidence drives this league,” Talib said. “Basically I told them there’s no reason for us to not be a confident team.”

Denver’s defense responded with five sacks and three turnovers, two of which were interceptions by Talib.

Defensive lineman Derek Wolfe grabbed a game-high 2.5 sacks on the day, earning him kudos from his head coach.

“Derek’s playing really well. I was just teasing with him in the locker room. I said, ‘You waited an hour and a half to go back out there and get one more sack,’” Kubiak said. “… I’m proud of all our guys.”

Denver’s defense surrendered just 215 total yards (72 on the ground and 143 through the air) and seven points to a Tampa Bay team ranked 11th in offense in the NFL before Week 4.

Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch, who came in for an injured Trevor Siemian late in the first half, said knowing the defense was behind him helped calmed the nerves he felt playing in his first regular season NFL game.

“Those defensive guys help you out a lot when they’re forcing three-and-outs and turnovers and all that stuff, so it feels good to have a defense like that playing behind you,” Lynch said after the game.