Denver Broncos’ last minute touchdown seals 26-20 win over Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to running-back Correll Buckhalter with just under two minutes left in the game to steal a 26-20 victory from the Tennessee
Titans on Sunday. Matt Prater then added a field goal with 28 seconds left to put the game at 26-20.
"I don't think we played our best football the whole time, but anytime you can give yourself a chance to win in the fourth quarter on the road against a good football team, we'll take it," Orton said.
"When it got down to it, we made the plays."
The Denver Broncos’ receivers certainly did that. Both Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal had over 100 yards and combined for 19 receptions. Denver (2-2) came in with the NFL's top ranked passing offence,
and Orton teed off on the Titans’ secondary to show that their success in the passing game was no fluke. Orton threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns. He might want to ice his throwing arm—not because he was sacked six times—but because he had an astonishing
50 pass attempts in a winning effort.
Despite trailing for the majority of the game, the Broncos appeared in control and it seemed that it would only be a matter of time before they would capture the lead, which made Denver’s coach Josh McDaniels
confident as the game moved forward.
"He [Orton] never lost his poise, continued to be confident on the sidelines, and made a lot of critical throws for us to change field position. He executed when we needed him to execute. I'm very pleased
with the way he's leading our football team and the way he's playing," McDaniels said.
The Titians got their big plays from unfamiliar faces. Marc Mariani chipped in on special teams with a 98-yard kick off return for a touchdown and running-back Javon Ringer had two carries for 50 yards,
to help his team win the battle of field position. But when Tennessee needed plays the most, no one was able to deliver. Mariani tried to make another big return in the fourth quarter, but muffed a punt deep inside the Titan’s territory, which allowed the
Broncos to capture the lead with little time left on the clock.
"This loss is unfortunately an example of just not being able to make the play at the end to close this game out, and that is exactly what happened," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. Despite the loss, the
Titans are still 2-2.
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