ENGLEWOOD, Colo. –Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway sat down with Chris Hall of Broncos TV to talk about the 51-48 win against the Cowboys and to take a look at the Jaguars in the Week 6 edition of the Elway Access Podcast presented by US Bank Flex Perks.
The 51-48 win is the narrowest margin of victory the Broncos have had so far in their 5-0 start. The test provided by the Cowboys gave the Broncos the chance to show their toughness and how they would react to a deficit in what Elway described as a "confidence builder."
"If you look at the first four games compared to the last game, obviously we weren't in a dog fight in the first four," Elway said. "We started out that way but we kind of ran away from everybody in the second half. This one was a dog fight. We didn't have our best, our 'A' game. And even though offensively we played well, we slowed down in the second half and defensively struggled a little bit. But a lot of that credit goes to Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys offense and the fact that the played very well. They made a bunch of big plays. They kept battling. So it was a good win for us."
In terms of big plays, ultimately it was the Broncos' defense that made the biggest play of the game with an interception late in the fourth quarter deep in Cowboys' territory. But that doesn't erase the mistakes made earlier in the game.
Those mistakes aside, Elway pointed out that it was a good experience, especially for the players that were forced to into more action with the injuries sustained by the defense.
"We made a lot of mistakes on both sides of the ball and so hopefully we'll get that cleared up," he said. "It was good for the young guys. We had three guys go down. (Wesley) Woodyard went down. (Robert) Ayers went down and Chris Harris all went down so we had to have guys come off the bench and step in. It was a wake-up call for them also in the fact that it can happen at any point in time and when it does happen they have to be ready to play."
Elway addressed the status of those players saying that more information would be available as the week progresses but that none of the injuries were "long-term."
He wasn't certain if they would be ready for the Week 6 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was certain though that the game with Jacksonville was one that would show what the team is made of.
"I think it's a matter of taking pride in what we do," Elway said. "Obviously the Jacksonville Jaguars have been struggling this year and they've had some crucial injuries. They lost (Luke) Joeckel, their left tackle last week – the week after they traded their left tackle, moved Joeckel. When you have tough breaks, those type things happen and that's what's happened to the Jaguars.
"But to me, when I look at the football team, this is the type of week that we have to go out and play our football game. It's not about who we're playing, it's about taking pride in what we do and how we intend to play every football game."
