‘Resilient’ Broncos move past .500 with win over Browns

The Denver Broncos won their fifth straight game Sunday afternoon with a a victory over the Cleveland Browns.

The Denver Broncos are not messing around.

The team who went a paltry 1-5 to start the season, where highlights included a 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins and an embarrassing performance vs. their former head coach and now offensive coordinator of the New York Jets, is now knocking on the doors of the playoffs.

Winning their fifth straight game, a 29-12 score over the holder of the #1 defense, the Cleveland Browns, the Broncos are playing like a completely different franchise than the one on display in September.

“I think first of all, we’re resilient,” QB Russell Wilson, responsible for two of the Broncos’ touchdowns, said after the game. “I think the the best part about us is that we’ve been resilient through all these games. We’ve played some really good teams, top echelon teams. I think the best thing about us is that it’s always been about us. It’s about us being together.”

The Broncos defense, once the mockery of the league after surrendering the aforementioned 70 points to the Dolphins earlier in the season, has been a major reason for the turnaround, making itself known as a turnover-creating machine. They forced three more on Sunday afternoon.

“Our defense has been lights out,” Wilson said. “We’ve been one of the best defenses in the world. Those guys have been unbelievable. Coach Vance Joseph has done a great job getting those guys ready every week, and through some tough challenges. With professional sports, there’s always adversity, and how you handle adversity really shows who you are and who you can be. I think we’ve handled the adversity.”

Now, after a pair of home games, the Broncos take to the road the next three weeks, against the Houston Texans. Los Angeles Chargers, and Detroit Lions, two of whom have a winning record and the other and always-tough division opponent. Wilson said his team will embrace the tasks ahead.

“At the end of the day, you have to look at challenges and look at them as opportunities,” he said. “I think that we’ve done that. We see the opportunity we have in front of us, and that’s to go on the road against a really good team in the Texans and handle that, and do our best to get a win on the road.”

Despite all the adversity the team has faced, though, Wilson has stayed resilient and plans to maintain that attitude moving ahead.

“I’ve never doubted,” he said after the game. “I’ve never doubted where our football team could go. The thing to understand is that we’ve lost some close games, some tough games early, but it helps you understand it’s a long journey. We have a lot more ahead of us, a lot more football, so we have to focus on us. I think the biggest thing, though, is a relentless belief in each other and who we are and where we’re going. We’re starting to learn what it takes to win, and we need that and have to stay the course there.”