TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Big Plays Lift Broncos Past Titans

ADVERTISEMENT

By EDDIE PELLS, The Associated Press

Published: November 20, 2007

DENVER - Eighty yards here, 62 there, another 48 somewhere else. Next thing they knew, the Denver Broncos found themselves in a spot they only could have dreamed of a few weeks ago - tied for first place in the AFC West.
Jay Cutler threw touchdown passes of 41 and 48 yards and little-known Glenn Martinez and former University of South Florida running back Andre Hall added to Denver's slew of big scoring plays Monday night in a 34-20 victory against the Tennessee Titans.
Vince Young threw for a career high 308 yards, but this one also resulted in a loss for the Titans (6-4), who played catchup against Denver the same way they did in a 28-13 loss to Jacksonville last week.

Martinez, a second-year receiver signed off the practice squad in September, returned a punt 80 yards to give Denver a 14-0 lead in the first.

Hall, a first-year player and Dixie Hollins graduate who had eight carries this year, turned his ninth into a 62-yard score to help the Broncos regain control of the game.

The Broncos improved to 5-5, good enough to tie San Diego for the league in the woeful West.

Martinez muffed a punt that led to a Tennessee touchdown late in the third quarter to make it 27-17.

That touchdown, a 4-yard run by Young, came after the second of two ill-advised timeouts called by Denver.

Broncos linebacker Nate Webster called a timeout just before the snap on third-and-goal from the 1, a play in which Young was held out of the end zone as he reached for the pylon.

But the timeout gave Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher a chance to review the previous play, in which Young scored on a similar play but had been ruled out of bounds at the 1.

At the end of the first half, Mike Shanahan, called a timeout a split second before Rob Bironas tried a 56-yarder before halftime.

Bironas' kick sailed about 20 yards wide of the goal post, but given another chance, he nailed it to trim Tennessee' deficit to 20-10.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT