DENVER -- There's waiting your turn and then there's waiting 42 months for your turn as Denver Broncos quarterback Brandon Allen did.
Allen, who took the first regular-season snaps in his NFL career Sunday, filled in for the injured Joe Flacco and led the Broncos to a 24-19 victory over the Cleveland Browns at Empower Field at Mile High.
The win nudged the Broncos to 3-6 heading into their Week 10 bye as Denver equaled its best scoring output of the season -- they scored 24 in a Week 4 loss to Jacksonville. Allen finished 12-of-20 passing for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
Allen was forced into duty when the 34-year-old Flacco suffered a herniated disc in his neck, an injury Flacco said he believed he aggravated in the team's loss to the Indianapolis Colts last week. Flacco was placed on injured reserve this past week, and Allen, who had been claimed on waivers from the Los Angeles Rams just before the start of the regular season, was pushed into the starting lineup.
The Rams play a similar scheme on offense, which was one of the reasons the Broncos claimed him in the first week of the regular season. That comfort level showed, at least after some initial jitters, as Allen led the Broncos to three touchdown drives.
"[I'm] very comfortable, it's a very a similar offense from where I came from, even when I first got here I was fairly comfortable,'' Allen said this past week. "... Here and there every week there's a couple plays they give me [in practice] just to be able to get in with the first O.''
The Broncos' 95-yard scoring drive in the third quarter -- their third of the game -- meant Allen was the first quarterback to lead his team on a touchdown drive of 95 yards or more in his first career game since Marc Bulger in 2002.
The Broncos kept much the same playcalling for Allen with plenty of three-wide receiver sets mixed in with the two-tight end and two-back sets. The Broncos the first-career 100-yard receiving game from rookie tight end Noah Fant, which included a 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter, and a big-play outing from running back Phillip Lindsay.
Lindsay had a key 40-yard run to go with a 30-yard touchdown run that gave the Broncos a 24-12 lead with 1 minute, 6 seconds left in the third quarter. Add in another good defensive effort -- the Broncos have held four of their opponents to 20 or fewer points -- and the Broncos escaped with a much-needed win.
Allen became the second Broncos quarterback to start his first game and see the Broncos win. John Elway made his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1983, a game the Broncos won, 14-10, but Elway was pulled from that game after he was 1-of-8 for 14 yards and an interception.
All of the quarterback questions will come later. Allen will start the Broncos' Week 11 game in Minnesota and the Week 12 game in Buffalo. Broncos coach Vic Fangio said rookie quarterback Drew Lock, who is on injured reserve at the moment recovering from a right thumb injury he suffered in the preseason, is expected to return to practice in Week 11 after the team returns from the bye.
Lock can practice for up to three weeks before the Broncos must decide whether to keep him on injured reserve or put him on the roster. Lock was a second-round pick -- the 42nd pick overall -- in this past April's draft.
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November 03, 2019 at 04:54PM
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Brandon Allen lifts Denver Broncos to rare air in career debut - ESPN
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