DENVER — There’s never a bad time to win.
The Broncos did so convincingly on Sunday, as they closed the preseason with a 38-12 win over the Cardinals to wrap up an undefeated preseason.
“I said to [the team] afterwards, ‘Don’t ever get tired of how it feels to win,'” Head Coach Sean Payton said. “Granted, we’re substituting groups and we’re needing to get groups evaluated, and yet we still want to win. I felt the energy. … That part of it’s encouraging.”
Punctuated by a 94-yard pick-six by undrafted rookie Levelle Bailey, the Broncos never trailed in their win over the Cardinals.
“I liked the energy again,” Payton said. “I thought even the guys that were not necessarily playing were into the game. That is encouraging. You can pick any number, and it is going to kind of give you the stat line. When you score on defense, you are going to have some success. I think we had two takeaways, and we protected the ball. So, overall, I was pleased with how we finished this preseason. We will get a lot of film look on some guys, and then we begin that process the next two days relative to the roster.”
Quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson were among the players who impressed Payton with their performances.
“Both those guys looked good,” Payton said.
Stidham got the start and played just one series, as he led Denver on a 10-play, 55-yard touchdown drive. The defining play came on fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 32-yard line, as Stidham found rookie Devaughn Vele in the middle of the field for a 14-yard completion that moved the chains. Running back Audric Estime, who totaled 32 scrimmage yards on the drive, plunged in from three yards out for the opening touchdown.
“I knew coming into it, if I went down and scored on the first drive I’d probably be done,” Stidham said. “Really proud of the guys putting it in there after the [Cardinals’] missed field goal. It was great.”
Wilson then came on in relief and led three touchdown drives over the remainder of the game. His first scoring drive was jump-started by a 21-yard scramble in which he dove forward for the first down after facing a second-and-20. Wilson added passes for 24 yards to David Sills, 19 yards to Nate Adkins and 14 yards to Sills before he found an open Adkins for a 1-yard touchdown.
In the third quarter, Wilson launched a deep pass to Brandon Johnson for a 37-yard gain that set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak.
Wilson’s best pass, though, may have come late in the game. With just over six minutes to play, Wilson dropped a 46-yard rainbow in to Johnson right before the defender arrived to try to break up the pass. Johnson skated into the end zone for Wilson’s second touchdown pass of the afternoon.
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