Broncos vs. Lions 2015 final score: 3 things we learned from Denver’s 24-12 win

The Denver Broncos improved to 3-0 after a 24-12 win on Sunday night over the Detroit Lions, who drop to 0-3 on the season. Peyton Manning threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns, while Demaryius Thomas had another big game with nine catches for 92 yards and a score.

The first half started off as a mostly dull affair, with neither team able to move the ball and trading off punts and turnovers. The most notable event of the first quarter was when Broncos running back C.J. Anderson left the game with a concussion after a bad helmet-to-helmet collision.

Business picked up in the second quarter. Denver finally got on the board halfway through the quarter, when running back Ronnie Hillman plunged into the end zone to cap off an 80-yard drive. Detroit answered back on its next drive thanks to these theatrics from the immortal Calvin Johnson.

A few plays after that spectacular catch, Joique Bell leaped over the pile at the 1-yard line for the Lions’ first score of the night. They had a chance to tie the game, but disaster nearly struck when the Broncos blocked the extra-point kick. Under the new extra-point rules, blocked attempts are now live balls, so Chris Harris scooped up the ball and nearly took it back for a touchdown before getting shoved out of bounds at Detroit’s 30-yard line.

Things didn’t get much better for Detroit from there. Manning marched his offense down the field on the ensuing possession and Thomas extended Denver’s lead with a 45-yard catch-and-run to the house. The Broncos went into halftime with a 14-6 lead.

The Lions got a break early in the third quarter, but should’ve gotten much more. Thomas fumbled the ball attempting to stretch out for a first down, and a Lions player returned it for a touchdown. However, the referees blew the play dead too early, and while the fumble stood on review, the touchdown never counted.

Despite that officiating mistake, the Lions still took advantage of the turnover when Matthew Stafford hit Ameer Abdullah for a touchdown, making it a 14-12 game after the Lions missed the two-point conversion. That was all the scoring for the third quarter as the game pace slowed down considerably.

The Broncos made it a 5-point game after a defensive illegal formation penalty by Detroit allowed Brandon McManus to nail his second field goal attempt after missing the previous one. Stafford’s next drive ended in an interception and Denver provided the dagger shortly afterwards, following this stunning sideline catch by Emmanuel Sanders.

Jeff Triplette strikes again. Triplette is one of the most maligned referees in the NFL, and his officiating crew lived down to their reputation Sunday night. The biggest blown call was on Thomas’ fumble in the third quarter, when the officials blew the whistle too early and cost Detroit a touchdown.

Another gaffe came after Denver’s second touchdown in the second quarter, when Triplette attempted to enforce an unsportsmanlike penalty on the extra-point attempt, before eventually enforcing it on the ensuing kickoff according to the rules. Add that to the usual long reviews and conferences to decide simple judgments, and it was a painful night for football fans to endure.

Joique Bell is broken. The Lions tried committing to the run game to protect Stafford, who is dealing with multiple injuries, but Bell was not up to the task. He finished with just 6 rushing yards on 10 carries, averaging a pitiful 0.6 yards per carry and killing drives nearly every time he touched the ball. Meanwhile, Abdullah did more with his touches, getting 23 rushing yards on eight carries and adding 19 receiving yards and a touchdown on two catches.

Granted, the Lions didn’t have much to work with against Denver’s ferocious defensive line -- especially when guard Larry Warford left with an ankle injury -- but if they want to get their run game going, they will have to find ways to get Abdullah more involved.

Detroit’s season is almost over already. We’re not ready to bury the Lions yet, but an 0-3 start is a huge hole to crawl out of, and the odds are against them. They have now fallen three games behind the Green Bay Packers and two behind the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North.

If we assume that a team needs nine or 10 wins to qualify for a wild card spot, then the Lions will need to go 9-4 or 10-3 the rest of the way. That’s an enormous feat, which looks unlikely given how poorly Detroit has played in the early going. The Lions are running out of time to right the ship.

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