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DENVER —** After weeks of the Broncos offense showing glimpses of what it could be here and there each game, it struck a chord on Sunday with its finest and most consistent performance to date.
The team cruised to a 7-0 record after a 29-10 triumph over the Packers in a rare battle of undefeated teams leading into this point in the season.
Two weeks earlier, Denver squeaked out an overtime road win against Cleveland as it entered the bye week. It was not quite a resounding performance, and knowing what kind of challenge the Packers would pose, the Broncos focused on touching up the offense.
The result was profound. Quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 340 yards while running backs C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman combined for 161 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.
"Execution was better," Manning said. "We studied some things during the bye week, and I think we applied some of those things tonight. It doesn't guarantee the rest of the season, but I thought we did focus on some things that we did well in the first six games, maybe unlearned a couple of things you weren't doing quite as well and then added a couple things."
Manning and the offense moved the chains early and often, driving for three consectutive scores in the first half as the Broncos put Green Bay's defense on its heels quickly with a 17-point deficit.
"To get the lead early and to go up a couple scores, I thought that was important," Manning said. "Whether that changes their offensive game plan or defensive game plan, who knows, but it's nice to have that lead and put some pressure on the other team."
The Broncos ran away with a double-digit lead to triumph over the Packers, 29-10.
But execution was the name of the game for Manning and the offense, which was able to open up the field with a balanced mix of runs and passes.
"Our execution was, I thought, what was sound tonight — in really all phases of the run game and then the pass game, as well," he said. "We had a good mix of play-action and some drop-back, and we were able to hit some deep balls. We've been close on these deep balls. We've hit some—we hit one to [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders two weeks ago at Cleveland]—but we've missed some, short or long. It's good to hit those tonight."
Whether the offense threw the ball or put it on the ground, the offensive line also excelled—which also pays dividends in forcing the defense to play them honest in both phases. The line didn't give up a single sack and with Green Bay relying on single-coverage while trying to pressure Manning on blitzes, the time they provided proved invaluable.
"They played outstanding.," Manning said. "They did a great job in the run game. There were some really good holes. There were some good runs, now, by Ronnie and C.J., but there were some really good holes, as well. To get out of that game with no sacks against a really good defensive front who thrives on creating pressure and have lots of different blitzes and multiple looks—really impressive effort by the guys up front tonight."
Though this was the Broncos' most impressive and dominant win so far, Manning remains determined to continue making progress and not get drawn into complacency.
"This doesn't guarantee anything for next week, but it proves that when we do execute that we are capable of making some big plays and having some big runs," Manning said. "You've got to do it every week. You've got different opponents."
"Things were kind of clicking tonight. It doesn't guarantee they're going to click every single Sunday, but it does show that if everybody is executing and doing their jobs, that you have a chance to do some good things."
