Maybe if Denver can get a crush on its defense again, everybody can stop making silly googly eyes at quarterback Tim Tebow.
It was a nasty piece of headhunting, when rookie safety Rahim Moore delivered a blow that transformed Buffalo receiver Donald Jones into a limp rag doll faster than you could say unnecessary roughness.
“I want the guy to at least make it out of bed the next morning,” Moore said Saturday, after Denver’s 24-10 victory. “I mean no harm. But you know what? It’s football.”
Flags flew to punish the blow. The Bills complained as if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had promised them violence had been outlawed by the new collective bargaining agreement. If you’re asking me to testify, it was a dirty hit by Moore, although we’ll let the league office pass judgment.
But also allow me to add: Thanks, Mr. Moore.
A wicked, slobber-knocking shot that could make mixed-martial artist Georges St-Pierre jealous is precisely what this Denver defense needed.
“A pretty hefty collision,” Broncos coach John Fox said.
After the vicious hit, Moore was advised on the sideline to play smart. But the first-year pro from UCLA also claimed his coaches told him: “Keep it up.”
The last time Denver scared anyone in the NFL, linebacker Al Wilson was snorting and stomping before the snap. While many have called the Broncos pitiful, inept and other assorted bad names by frustrated fans, has any defender around here had his name taken in vain by the rest of the league since Bill Romanowski departed town? Attitude has been sorely missing from the Denver defense, to say nothing of a pass rush or the ability to stop the run.
“If you don’t be physical, somebody else will,” Moore said. “I’m a jokester, I laugh a lot. But once I strap up, I turn into a different person.”
Moore insisted there was nothing malicious in the hit on the incomplete pass during the second quarter. His helmet caught Jones in the head and left a defenseless receiver groggy for minutes. Moore added he didn’t believe it was a dirty play, although when pressed, admitted it would be necessary to review the videotape.
“I don’t want to hurt anybody to where it jeopardizes his season or his career,” Moore said. “If it was the wrong thing to do, I apologize.”
Although we hate to break this unsettling news to the good-hearted yet misguided Broncomaniacs who seem more concerned about the career advancement of Tebow than the team’s won-loss record, Moore will have much greater impact on Denver’s success in 2011 than America’s favorite third-string quarterback.
As long as we’re making a list, top draft choice Von Miller, repaired defensive end Elvis Dumervil and even journeyman linebacker Joe Mays won’t sell as many jerseys or books as Tebow, but all those players are far more essential than Tebow to the Broncos’ dream of competing in the AFC West.
During the opening half, when starters do most of the work in the preseason, Buffalo managed a mere 2.9 yards per play on offense. Of course, Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is seldom confused for New England’s Tom Brady. When these two teams meet again in December, there’s a sneaking suspicion that all the Bills will be playing for is a shot at taking Stanford’s Andrew Luck in the next NFL draft.
On the other hand, I am foolish enough to believe Denver could be a .500 team in 2011. This optimism is based on Fox emphasizing defensive competency, something that seemed to be of lower importance than picking a hoodie from the closet for Josh McDaniels.
So long as Tebow is the only football headline out of Colorado that can move the Twitter-pated pulse rate of America, the Broncos will remain irrelevant as a playoff contender. To be a big hit again in the NFL, somebody in Denver needs to pick up a hammer.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
