With Manning at quarterback since the start of the 2012 season, the Broncos had been held to less than 20 points only twice. They scored 17 in a win against Kansas City in 2012. Then eight against Seattle in last year's Super Bowl. So there was no way they'd finish with just seven points at St. Louis.
But the second quarter passed. And the third. And then ... wait, what just happened? The St. Louis Rams beat the Broncos 22-7. Wow. That might end up changing the NFL picture this season.
The Broncos offense has rarely looked this bad since Peyton Manning came aboard. Tight end Julius Thomas, receiver Emmanuel Sanders and running back Montee Ball were knocked out with injuries, but there's still no reason for this Broncos offense to score only one touchdown. It was the fewest points Denver has scored with Manning, even worse than last season's Super Bowl, in which they scored eight points.
When Manning threw an interception with 5:23 left, that was it. The Rams pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the NFL season. The Rams have now beaten the Seahawks and Broncos, both defending conference champions. It really makes you wonder how they are just 2-6 in their other games.
But the Rams are irrelevant at this point, so the big deal out of that game was that the Broncos lost. They're now 7-3. The Patriots were 7-2 and the Colts 6-3 going into their Sunday night meeting, and the Broncos loss increases the possibility that both might get first-round byes.
The Broncos are a very talented team, but they've also looked fairly awful in road losses to the Patriots and Rams over the past few weeks. Anything short of winning a Super Bowl this season will be a failure for the Broncos. They can still win that title, of course, but it's also possible that the loss to the Rams will make their playoff road a lot tougher.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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