BRONCOS WIN BIG
DENVER DUMPS DALLAS IN WEEK TWO TILT
Trevor Siemian ties a career high with four touchdown passes
Aqib Talib’s 103-yard interception return for a touchdown with 53 seconds left was the final indignity for the Cowboys in the Denver Broncos’ 42-17 blowout of Dallas and its vaunted offence on Sunday.
It was Talib’s 10th pick-6, just two shy of Darren Woodson’s NFL record.
“No. 10,” relished Talib. “It’s just mindboggling.”
Sort of like Denver’s defensive dominance of Dallas and its vaunted offence.
Ezekiel Elliott had the worst game of his career with nine carries for eight yards, Dallas managed just 40 yards rushing and one first down on the ground. The Cowboys (1-1) went 3-for14 on third downs and failed three times on fourth down, looking nothing like the team that dominated the Giants in their opener.
“I want to emphasize today, this is not what we’re about in my view,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “I feel strongly about that. On the other hand, this is what Denver is about.”
The only big blemish in Denver’s fifth straight 2-0 start was the apparently serious injury to their top draft pick, left tackle Garett Bolles, who left the stadium on crutches and with a boot on his left foot after getting hurt in the third quarter.
With the stadium still rocking in the final minute, Talib stepped in front of Dez Bryant, who had earlier beaten him for a TD, snared Dak Prescott’s fourthdown pass and raced up the Dallas’ dejected sideline.
He slipped Cole Beasley’s tackle and followed linebacker Brandon Marshall’s beautiful block of Prescott into the south end zone, where he jumped into the stands, exhausted by enjoying every last bit of what he called “an all-around complete ballgame from the Broncos.”
Trevor Siemian tied a career high with four touchdown passes in a game that included an hour-long lightning delay that did nothing to slow Denver’s rolling offence.
“We knew they were sound in the secondary,” Jones said. “We were a little taken aback by how well they did offensively. “They seemed to really have our number. There’s no excuses here. Their quarterback played outstanding.”
Elliott, who’s playing while his appeal of a six-game suspension for domestic violence works its way through the courts, came into the game averaging 108 yards rushing per game and more than five yards a carry in his career.
“We just were getting dominated up front,” said Elliott, whose previous worst game was a 51-yarder in his NFL debut against the Giants last year. “We couldn’t get any movement off the ball.”
The star in the backfield on this day was C.J. Anderson, who rushed for 118 yards and a score and also caught a TD.