Game 15: Broncos 17, 49ers 13

This is an ESPN game, so the crew is Mike Tirico in his big-boy voice, Jaws, and of course, Kornheiser.

Broncos start with the ball and have a super opening drive. Travis Henry tears through a hole for 11.
Jay Cutler recovers from throwing a one-hopper to hit Javon Walker on a skinny post with a pretty strike for 24. Henry runs right through Brandon Moore for 10 and does it again for 6. Cutler dodges Marques Douglas' rush and sprints off for 16 down to the 1, and Henry surges into the end zone on 2nd down. 7-0, Denver, opening with a strong statement.

Frank Gore's sitting out tonight and probably all of preseason with a broken hand. Just as well.
Maurice Hicks starts in his place. Whiners move the ball well, too, with Alex Smith hitting Darrell
Jackson with a perfect 18-yard pass over the middle, beating Champ Bailey. Elvis Dumervil hits
Smith as he throws on 3rd down, though, and Frisco has to settle for a Nedney FG. 7-3 Denver.

Patrick Ramsey already in at QB for Denver. Cecil Sapp at TB. Ramsey is hit as he throws on 3rd down, leading to a silly-looking popup that he's lucky wasn't intercepted. Good pressure by Tully Banta-Cain forces the 3-and-out.

Brandon Williams returns the punt 13 yards to midfield. Hicks gets a big hole up the middle and pops for 20. Smith hits Arnaz Battle sliding at the goal line between three defenders with a pretty throw. Hate to say it, but he's looking quite good. Michael Robinson fulfills his goal line role with a 1-yard TD hop. 10-7 San Francisco.

Aha, a 49ers special teams breakdown, as Quincy Morgan returns the kickoff 60 yards. Heavy dose of
Mike Bell after that. 10 on a sweep left where he was mostly untouched, and 13 more through a big hole right up the middle. 8 down to the 4 on a sweep right behind super blocks from Adam Meadows and FB Troy Fleming. Broncos threatening as we begin the 2nd quarter.

Ramsey hits Fleming for a 3-yard TD to assure that was no idle threat. 14-10, Broncos, in a surprisingly high-scoring game. Weren't most of both of these teams' offseason moves on defense?

Trent Dilfer enters the game at QB for the 49ers, and immediately gets whacked attempting to sprint
away from Tim Crowder. The 8-yard sack leads to a 3-and-out.

Ramsey is flushed on 1st down and attempts a sideline pass that rookie Tarell Brown picks off. So
Ramsey starts 1-for-3 for 3 yards, a TD and an INT. The variety platter.

Thomas Clayton is now San Francisco's tailback. Whiners drive down to the 15, mostly passing, but
Dilfer's 3rd-down pass goes through Robinson's hands to force a FG attempt, which Nedney hits. 14-13 Denver.

49ers do much better on this kickoff return, with Morgan failing to breach the 20. Bell tolls three
straight times for the Broncos but rookie Sammy Joseph stops him short on a 3rd-and-4 sweep. Dong. Dong. Dong. Punt.

Elvis Dumervil continues a fine game by sacking Dilfer, with Adam Snyder unable to even budge him
off the express track to the QB. Niners strike right back the next play, though, with Clayton
ripping right up the middle for 11. No, Jimmy Kennedy wasn't in at the time, though he does have
a couple of tackles tonight, doubling his career output. Tough sideline pass to Robinson for 6
gets Frisco a first down at midfield with 2:00 left. Brian Gilmore makes a tough sliding catch
for 4 and a first down before Hamza Abdullah picks off a deep pass from Dilfer to effectively end the half with Denver up 14-13.

Shaun Hill now at QB for San Francisco. He scrambles 19 to midfield. Couple of plays later, he puts the ball on the ground, scoops it back up, rolls out and hits Brandon Williams for 11. But Arkie Whitlock gets shut down on 3rd and 4th down to end the 49er drive. Pretty stubborn of Nolan to go for it from the Denver 27 instead of kicking the FG.

Ramsey hits Morgan for 15 to midfield on 3rd-and-4. On 3rd-and-10 from midfield, he hits Domenik Hixon for 20 on a deep hook. Brian Clark gets 12 on an end-around before Shanahan gets very uncreative in the red zone and runs three straight times. Bell comes up short on 3rd-and-4 and Brandon Pace (definitely no relation of Orlando's) puts Denver up 17-13 with a chippie.

Brandon Williams brings the kickoff out to the 40. He also makes a nice catch and run, surviving a big hit from Abdullah, for 17 and a first down. Williams is also Hill's target on 4th-and-1 for a big conversion at the Denver 25. Then, hey, it's an Ashley Lelie sighting, a 20-yard catch down to the 4 on the last play of the 3rd quarter.

Hill falls all apart at the goal line, though. He misses a wide open Zac Herold in the flat, throws an uncatchable fade pass on 2nd down, and then gets his 3rd-and-goal pass deflected by Alvin McKinney at the line and picked off by Steve Cargile in the end zone.

3-and-out for the Broncos as a screen pass blows up on Ramsey on 3rd down and he throws it into the ground. Ramsey's night is over at 4-10, 45 yards.

San Francisco's drive dies at midfield after rookie Jason Hill drops a sideline bomb from Shaun Hill.

Darrell Hackney is Denver's new QB. Broncos 3-and-out thanks largely to OPI on David Terrell on 3rd-and-2. During a sideline interview, Dre Bly thinks the Broncos are "under the radar" this season? I think he still thinks he's in Detroit.

Niners see Denver's 3-and-out with their own. Fine open field tackle by Quentin Harris on Jason Hill on 3rd-and-2. Niners down the punt at the 3.

Broncos get out to their 42 before they're done in by penalties and have to punt. 49er ball with 3:35 left, down 4.

After the 2:00 warning, CJ Brewer's all alone underneath for the 49ers and Hill steps up and finds him for 27 down to the Bronco 10. We may be in for an interesting finish. Demetrin Veal stops Hill from scrambling on 2nd-goal at the 8. Jeff Shoate makes a nice play to stop another Brewer underneath route at the 4. 4th-and-goal, Kenny Peterson wheels around Damane Duckett and hits Hill as he throws, with Lewis Green knocking the pass down in the end zone to preserve the 17-13 win for Denver.

Both starting offenses were suitably impressive. Denver walked right through what is supposed to
be a vastly-improved 49er defense ready to dominate this year. Travis Henry looked strong. Jay Cutler looked good. Elvis Dumervil had an impact game on defense. Even a little pass rush will make them extremely dangerous with that talented secondary.

Frisco fared well themselves. The big news I saw is that Alex Smith looks ready to move to the
next level. He showed playmaking and accuracy I hadn't seen from him previously. Brandon Williams
ought to get a shot at #3 WR there; from what I saw, he's head-and-shoulders ahead of Ashley Lelie.

Big dropoffs for both teams at 2nd string QB, though the 49ers would be in less trouble with Dilfer
than the Broncos would be with Ramsey.

Up next: Philadelphia at Baltimore.