The Denver Broncos didn’t play most of their starters, but one player sure looked like an elite starter out there. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham had himself a game against the Arizona Cardinals a week after having himself a game against the San Francisco 49ers. The guy just commanded the field out there and could not be stopped. Through two preseason games, Stidham is 30/38 for 376 yards and four touchdowns. He led the offense to scoring drives in four of their first five offensive possessions.
There are still questions about the Broncos first-team offense, but we’ll need to wait until Week 1 to get those questions answered. I suspect they’ll be just fine. The real story is the Broncos have better depth than people might have expected. This is a deep roster in 2025.
First Quarter
After shutting down the Cardinals first offensive drive, the Broncos offense under Jarrett Stidham came out pinned at their own 3 yard line. Stidham went 3/3 for 89 yards and a touchdown on that drive making it all look too easy. The big pass plays went to Evan Engram for 58-yards and another nice pass over the middle to rookie Pat Bryant for 29-yards.
From there, a hand-off up the middle to rookie RJ Harvey who scampered in from eight yards out for his first NFL touchdown. The Broncos offense looked clean and crisp to start the game.
The Cardinals answered with their own touchdown drive, but Jarrett Stidham just could not be stopped. The next drive took 13-plays for 70 yards, but he would cap the drive with a 27-yard strike to Troy Franklin to put Denver back up by a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Stidham and the Broncos offense had to overcome three pre-snap penalties on offense in that drive too. Through two drives, Stidham was 6/9 for 149 yards and a touchdown. Denver has a pretty dang good backup quarterback.
Broncos 14, Cardinals 7.
Second Quarter
Denver’s defense stuffed the Cardinals offense on their third drive giving the ball right back to Stidham and the Broncos offense. A big run by Jaleel McLaughlin for 35-yards set the Broncos up at the Cardinals 11-yard line.
Two plays later on third and one, Stidham threw the ball away and Denver stayed on the field to go for it on fourth and one from the two yard line. However, a false start penalty brought the kicking unit out to extend the Broncos lead to 10-points capping an 11-play, 70 yard drive.
The teams traded punts before Denver got one more chance to move the ball from inside their own 20-yard line with two minutes left in the half.
The two minute drill began with a deep out to Troy Franklin for 16-yards. From there, Stidham hit Michael Bandy for another 16-yards. A deep ball on the next play to Trent Sherfield Sr. was interfered with to put Denver into field goal range with plenty of time to work with in the half. A 12-yard screen pass to Tyler Badie set up a 17-yard touchdown strike to Troy Franklin on a dime of back shoulder pass to cap a 6-play, 88 yard drive.
Broncos 24, Cardinals 7.
Third Quarter
Sam Ehlinger started the second half at quarterback. The drive was sloppy on both sides with penalties galore. Rookie tight end Caleb Lohner had two penalties that negated nice plays and the drive would end near midfield with a third down sack of Ehlinger. Jeremy Crawshaw had a nice punt of 61-yards but it ended up being a touchback.
Midway through the quarter, offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo went down with a major injury to his lower leg. It was clear it is going to be a season-ender and a brutal loss for the Broncos. The team called it a knee injury and it did look bad.
Denver’s offense would spark after that injury with some good plays. Courtney Jackson on an end-around took it for a big gain into the red zone.
A third penalty on Lohner killed the drive inside the 10, but the Broncos would add another field goal to their lead.
Broncos 27, Cardinals 7.
Fourth Quarter
The Broncos began the fourth quarter from their own five-yard line, but that didn’t matter. Ehlinger began slinging the football around for chunk plays down the field. Again, the drive would stall inside the 10 yard line, but they’d go for it on fourth and four. Ehlinger would not be able to connect in the end zone. The good news is that there were no penalties or sloppy play for this drive despite the lack of points production.
Denver’s defensive dominance continued through the entire game. It was a great finish for them and a great overall team win for the Broncos.
Broncos 27, Cardinals 7.