The Thursday Night Football game this week featured the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts at Empower Field at Mile High in Colorado. It was a battle of two quarterbacks who were in the first year with their new teams–Russell Wilson in Denver and Matt Ryan in Indianapolis.
What will be most remembered about this game is the fact that Wilson and Ryan were not extremely effective. In fact, it was the first time in National Football League history where a game was played featuring two quarterbacks who have been to the Pro Bowl a minimum of four times each, and there was not one single touchdown. At the end of the day, the Colts beat the Broncos 12-9 in overtime.
The image from Thursday that was most stunning was the fact that hundreds of Denver fans left Empower Field at Mile High at the end of regulation, and before overtime. During regulation it was common for the Broncos fan base to boo Wilson, who threw 18 incompletions including two interceptions. Even though the Broncos offense was completely unproductive, the game was tight, and never before in my 37 years of watching sports, have I ever seen so many people leave before the game has been settled in an extra period.
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The Broncos have been spoiled over the last three decades at the quarterback position. John Elway was at the helm from 1983 to 1998, was the NFL MVP in 1987, and won back-to-back Super Bowls in his final two NFL seasons, which ended a remarkable AFC drought of winning the Super Bowl. Then Peyton Manning came to Denver from Indianapolis and won a Super Bowl in 2015.
The Broncos are 2-3 to start the season. Their defense has lived up to expectations, but so far Wilson has not.
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