The good news for the Cowboys defense is that they have held Wes Welker and Demaryius Thomas without catches in the first half of their game against the Broncos.
The bad news is that Peyton Manning has still thrown three touchdown passes and the Broncos lead 28-20 at the break. Manning has continued his torrid start to the season by completing 11-of-14 passes for 163 yards while setting a record for the most touchdown passes through five weeks before he’s even in the second half of the fifth week. The Cowboys share the look of befuddlement that we’ve seen on defense from each of Denver’s opponents so far this season.
Well, that’s not quite true. None of the other teams had to watch Manning run a naked bootleg for a one-yard score with 46 seconds to go in the half. It’s his first score in five years and probably not a sign that the Broncos are introducing a new wrinkle to their scheme.
The Broncos defense had that look early in the game as Tony Romo led the Cowboys to a touchdown on their opening drive and then cashed in an Eric Decker fumble with another score. The Broncos picked up their pass rush, three sacks thus far, and the Cowboys turned the ball over on a Dez Bryant fumble to help the Broncos back into the lead. Romo has made several big throws by scrambling to extend plays and has shown off his best side thus far, but it’s hard to imagine he can outgun a Broncos defense that shows no signs of slowing down.