The Denver Broncos rolled into the Lucas Oil Stadium with purpose and they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 25-13. With a convincing win where Denver totaled 462 yards of offense, the Broncos go to 5-9 while the Colts fall to 3-11 in a year to forget. Their only upsides are that they will have star quarterback Andrew Luck back to replace Jacoby Brissett next season, and a high draft pick to work into the team.
Denver defense holds strong
The Denver Secondary controlled this game from start to finish with Aqib Talib and Chris Harris limiting the Colt's wide receivers to less than 70 yards of offense.
Chris Harris also forced a fumble out of veteran receiver T.Y. Hilton but the ball bounced out of bounds and stayed with the Colts. Though Brissett was able to throw for 158 yards of offense, much of it came from throws to tight ends and running backs for chip yardage.
The Broncos front seven limited Frank Gore to just 31 yards on 10 carries as the Colts failed to move the chains on the ground and later abandoned the running game as the game entered its later stages. Despite all the success, Indianapolis' one touchdown did come from Brissett on the ground to open the game and take a 7-0 lead.
Broncos' offense explodes to life
The offensive line was able to throw the Colt's defensive front around for much of the night as CJ Anderson ran for 158 yards on 30 carries while as a team the Broncos had over 200 yards total rushing.
They created the opening for Brock Osweiler to take it to the house from 18 yards out for the first Broncos score of the game. The strength of the offensive line and running game today allowed the Broncos to control time of possession as they had the ball for almost 37 minutes.
Star wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders finished the game with a combined 13 catches for 137 yards.
Cody Latimer chipped in with another 60 yards and a touchdown while tight end Jeff Heuerman caught a 54-yard touchdown on his only catch of the game.
Looking forward
Should Denver stick with Brock Osweiler at quarterback even if Trevor Siemian's injury isn't serious and he could return next week? Osweiler played a great game with 194 yards and two touchdowns completing 70.5 percent of his passes and both quarterbacks seem to be horribly inconsistent in this Denver offense.
s Vance Joseph will have to make the decision next week before Denver head to the nation's capital to play the 5-8 Redskins.
The Colts will have a much-needed bye week to strategize following today's defeat, before they travel to Baltimore to play a good Ravens team (7-6) on December 23.
