Around the AFC West: How the West was won by all in Week 9

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos hosted the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. After placing Joe Flacco on injured reserve this past week, this was the debut of Brandon Allen (who?). This game was supposed to be a sure thing for the Browns, who desperately needed a win in order to stave off the haters. Unfortunately, the Browns just could not contain the superstar (kidding) talents of Allen. On the backs of Phillip Lindsay, Courtland Sutton, and Noah Fant, the Broncos charged ahead to a 24-19 victory.

What was maybe more impressive was the defense. The Broncos defense was stifling, denying the Browns on fourth down twice in the second half. With the Browns driving towards the end of the game, the Broncos defense held fast and broke up a fourth down pass to Jarvis Landry to seal the game. This certainly didn’t help the Broncos in securing a higher draft pick, but it did give Broncos fans hope that maybe, just maybe, their team won’t be sunk forever under John Elway‘s leadership.

The Broncos had no significant injuries following Sunday’s win, which is welcome since they recently placed their amazing quarterback, Joe Flacco, on IR. It is also significant because there were a number of players that could not play on Sunday who have a chance to get healthy. The Broncos are now heading into their bye week and have a real shot at getting some important players back. The Broncos next opponent is going to be tough – the Minnesota Vikings – so they will want to be at full force as they continue to strive for mediocrity.