Game 20: Broncos 23, Cowboys 13

Up next is a rematch of my second-favorite Super Bowl, Super Bowl XII, from Denver.

Broncos start at their 35. Ed Hochuli calls holding on Denver rookie Ryan Clady. 1st-20. Play action from Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall for 12. Composed play by Cutler, who finds Eddie Royal ALL ALONE down the sideline and gets plenty of air under the pass for a 35-yard completion. Mike Jenkins slipped and fell on the play; it's been raining in Denver. Selvin Young up the middle for 8. Juggling catch over the middle by Marshall for the first down. Zach Thomas stops a Cecil Sapp reception for 1 on first down and stuffs a Young run on second down at the Dallas 15. Cutler to Brandon Stokely over the middle leaves 4th and inches at the 6. Denver will go. Andre Hall gets all the way inside the 1. Bradie James couldn't hold Hall from scoring from the 1 on 1st-and-goal, and it's 7-0, Denver.

Isaiah Stanback sets Dallas up at their 32. Marion Barber runs for 2, Romo hits T.O. for 6. Sam Hurd snags a Romo highball for what should be a first down. Cowboys drew a personal foul after the play. Five more yards against Dallas for having too many men in the huddle. 1st-15 from the 25. Romo hits TO a couple of times to get that first down. Barber has a reception and a run for a first down into Denver territory. Two incompletions for TO put Dallas in a 4th-and-short situation, and they false start trying to draw Denver offsides, ultimately settling for a punt.

Denver sets up shop around their 10, but end up almost on their goal line after a number of penalties. After some fifteen minutes of getting pinned back by penalties, James commits a roughing penalty at the end of Young's third down run. Free fifteen yards, free first down. A very fast first quarter ends with Andre Hall bouncing off a Zach Thomas hit for a first down across the Bronco 40.

As the second quarter starts, Royal makes an impressive catch in traffic for 20-plus. He's been beating Anthony Henry pretty consistently. Cutler hits Marshall for another first down inside the 10. Hall fights his way down to the 3. Cutler rolls right and hits Marshall in the back corner of the end zone for a TD. Jenkins, who Marshall beat, doesn't look very happy with the official after the play. Doesn't change the score: 14-0. Denver.

Matt Prater's kickoff is deeper than a college seminar on symbolism in the works of Franz Kafka, and Dallas has to start at their 20. On 3rd-and-4, Romo scrambles and fires deep for Hurd, but too far, and Dallas is saddled with the one thing it did not need right now: a three-and-out.

Penalty on the punt return starts Denver at their 10. Cutler has had a solid pocket to throw from all night; he gets plenty of time on 3rd-and-2 to hit Nate Jackson for a first down. Dallas next extends the drive with a DPI, but James makes a nice play to break up the 3rd-and-5 pass to Hall to finally force a punt. We're already over halfway through the 2nd quarter.

Dallas starts at their 20. Brad Johnson enters at QB for Dallas. Endaround for Miles Austin gets nowhere. 3rd-13 after a tripping penalty on Felix Jones. Johnson overthrows Austin to usher out another three-and-out.

Denver is at their 32. Marcus Spears stuffs Young to create 3rd-and-12. Jay Ratliff follows by shutting down a screen to Young to get Dallas the three-and-out. Showing there is no justice in sports, thug/returner Pac-Man Jones returns the punt 24 yards to the 40. The idiot does get a delay of game penalty for spiking the ball afterward.

Dallas from their 34, 3:47 left. Johnson hits Stanback for 14. Elvis Dumervil gets Johnson from behind for a sack, possibly; he may have lost no yardage. Cowboys will have a 3rd-and-4 after the 2:00 warning. Johnson goes up top from the Denver 46, and Miles Austin makes a marvelous catch at the 9 yard line. First and goal. Johnson hits Hurd at the 5. TE drops a naked bootleg screen on 2nd-and-goal, but Austin puts Dallas on the board by beating Dominique Foxworth on a jump ball in the end zone. Denver's lead is cut to 14-7.

Denver at their 22, 1:32 left in the half. Cutler to Scheffler for 8. Young runs for the first as we enter the last minute of the half. Cutler hits Stokely on a slant out to the Dallas 45. 14 to Marshall, as Cutler gets the pass off a millisecond before getting sacked. Prater misses a 48-yard FG as the half expires.

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That was a lot different first half for Dallas than last week's. Their defense had trouble getting the Broncos off the field. Pass pressure was nil, making it a rough half on Mike Jenkins and Anthony Henry. Miles Austin was probably their first-half star, while Jay Cutler looked solid for the Broncos.

Prater blasts another kickoff too deep to be returnable, so Dallas starts out from their 20. Felix Jones breaks away with a small pass for his number, 28. Martellus Bennett bashes through some tacklers for another first down, at the Denver 40. Tashard Choice gets the corner turned with a short pass for 10. Nick Clemons finally slows the Cowboy posse down a little bit by dropping Choice for a loss. 3rd-14 from Denver's 31. Short pass to Tony Curtis does little more than set up the FG. Nick Folk's 42-yarder is good to make it a 14-10 game.

Patrick Ramsey assumes the reins for Denver. Pac-Man nearly intercepts passes on 2nd and 3rd down as karma continues to refuse to bite Jerry Jones in the ass.

Unless this was it. Choice blocked the punt, but the ball died at the punter Kern's feet, and he scooped it up and ran unmolested all the way to the Dallas 45. Ramsey is spared an INT on a brutally bad pass by a Dallas penalty. Dallas works it to 3rd-and-7 but leaves Cliff Russell all alone on the sideline and Ramsey throws him a bullet for 19 and a first down. Dallas holds the line there, though, with Marcus Smith tipping Ramsey's third down pass. Prater hits a chippie to re-extend Denver's lead, 17-10.

Richard Bartel takes over at QB for Dallas from their 20. They 3-and-out as Bartel is never really able to find an open receiver.

The Broncos' cheerleaders are wearing - jackets? WEAK.

Denver drove a little past midfield before they had to punt. Marcus Smith made another run stop for Dallas. Punt's downed at the 2.

Cowboy offense is still completely stymied behind Bartel and doesn't budge off the 2. Denver's set up nicely inside the Dallas 40 when the 4th quarter begins.

On 4th and 1, Ramsey play-actions and rolls right, while Keary Colbert really fools Courtney Brown downfield, for about a 30-yard catch inside the 5. Dallas CB Alan Ball looks completely overmatched out there. Big play by Orlando Scandrick at the 2 keeps Glen Martinez out of the end zone. Scandrick lands one of the hardest hits of the preseason. While Martinez is seeing stars and swirlies and chirping birds, Prater chips in from 19, making it 20-10, Denver.

Looks like there's still 12:00 of Richard Bartell-y goodness left, though. Dallas starts from its 20 yet again. Todd Lowber gets away with a pushoff and makes a nice catch of a 40-yard toss from Bartell. Bartell's third straight completion is to TE Rodney Hannah down to the 12. Jordan Beck flings Alonzo Coleman down for a big loss on a sweep right. 3rd and 9 from the 10, Wes Woodyard bats down a short pass for Hannah, and Dallas settles for a Folk FG and a 20-13 deficit.

Cliff Russell bobbles the kickoff in the endzone but Martinez scoops it up for a touchback. Ramsey goes long?!?!?? for Russell on the first play of this series but Evan Oglesby has him blanketed. RUN THE BALL, SHANAHAN! EAT THE CLOCK! Ramsey nearly makes a miracle throw on 3rd down, but Oglesby breaks up the attempt to Russell again. Denver punts.

Dallas at their own 23, 6:52 left. Bartell to Hannah again, on the sideline for 20. Keon Lattimore's chewing up yardage for Dallas and gets a couple of big runs down to the Denver 27. He's Ray Lewis' little brother? Bartell hits Danny Amontillado? Armadillo? Amigdala? down to the 15. 4th-and-5 at the 10, I'd think about kicking the FG - if I have all my timeouts. My decision looks really good when Bartell's intercepted by Denver DB Jack Williams when Lowber stops his route unexpectedly. 2:00 left for Denver to run out.

Dallas will use its timeouts to try to get the ball back. See, that's why I would have KICKED THE FIELD GOAL earlier! Denver gets a first down +15 for a helmet-to-helmet hit, which should do it for this one. That helps the Broncos get down to Dallas' 25, and Prater hits from there to put this one away, 23-13. Prater looks like a lot stronger kicker than he looked last week.

Dallas doesn't put much together at the end and time runs out on them. Denver wins 23-13.

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Final notes: Bad night for the Dallas secondary, except possibly Pac-Man. The Denver receivers beat them all night long. It's hard to find any Dallas highlights beyond Marcus Smith stopping the run. And Miles Austin emerging as a potential WR3. Then again, he got hurt. Denver held their high-powered offense pretty much in check. The Jay Cutler-Brandon Marshall combo was clicking well for the Broncos.

20 down, 45 to go.
Next game: Lord help me, a Tampa game, Bucs vs. Patriots.