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Best of...the Broncos and Buccaneers
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Welcome to a new weekly segment here on your friendly, neighborhood Broncos Examiner site. Each week I'll take a look at the best game between the Broncos and their upcoming opponent, something the ties in perfectly with Examiner.com's "Best Of..." series running this month. This week, it's the Broncos and Buccaneers, two teams that have only played each other six times. Not much to choose from, but I did narrow it down to one specific game, played at old Mile High Stadium in 1996.
It was the third week of the season and the Broncos were playing at home against a young and weak football team in the Buccaneers. Terrell Davis, coming off an 1,100-yard rookie performance in 1995, was about to have his official coming out party.
The Denver Broncos came into this matchup much the same way our current Broncos walked into Kansas City this past Sunday. They were totally full of themselves and were looking past the game in front of them to the next one. You do that in the NFL and nine times out of ten you will lose.
The 1996 Buccaneers were a joke, but what no one knew at the time was that a formidable team was being built. The team was still young and inexperienced, but in six seasons they would be Super Bowl Champs. Many of the stars on the 2002 defense were just talented wet-behind-the-ears rookies. And as most talented young players do, they play inconsistently. Well, on this day they all decided to play like All-Pros. The game was a smash-mouth affair with a plethora of turnovers on both sides, big plays, and plenty of "almosts".
The Broncos jumped out to an early lead by a Tyrone Braxton interception return of 69 yards off of an errant Trent Dilfer pass. In a year when the Broncos offense shined and the defense was often a liability, today it was the offense that struggled. That early 7-0 lead turned into a 13-10 deficit by halftime.
The Broncos offense finally got things moving in the second half on a nice Elway-led drive that was capped by a 17-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Miller with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter that put the Broncos up 20-13. Finally it appear the high-powered Broncos were going to rise up and crush the lowly Bucs, but it wasn't to be. Just over a minute after that touchdown Trent Dilfer would pass for a huge 40-yard touchdown to former Cowboy Alvin Harper. An early fourth-quarter field goal by the Bucs put them up 23-20 in front of a stunned Bronco crowd.
The stage was set for the coming-out party for another youngster playing that day. This youngster, however, played for the Broncos and his name was Terrell Davis. After coming off a rather stellar rookie campaign in 1995, TD would have a breakout year in 1996. It all really started late in the fouth quarter during a Week 3 contest with the Broncos down 23-20. The Broncos got the ball at their own 20-yard line and marched down the field. The 14-play drive would eat up a sizable chunk of the clock as Terrell Davis would pound the rock on 12 of those 14 plays. The drive was, fittingly, capped by a 3-yard Davis touchdown run with just three and a half minutes left in the game. TD would finish with 22 carries and 137 yards and touchdown. He also had four catches for another 23 yards.
The Buccaneers would go on to a horrible 1-8 start before finishing out the season 5-2, while Denver would go on to lose at Kansas City the following week before ripping off nine straight victories en route to a 13-3 record and the AFC West Division crown.
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