Denver Broncos take on Cleveland Browns at home

DENVER — They’re playing smart. They’re performance is OK, not great. They’re playing much like the Denver Broncos have the better part of a month.

They don’t overwhelm the opponent, but they’re winning.

The Broncos are leading the Cleveland Browns, 14-6 at halftime in a game that could eventually carry AFC playoff tiebreaker implications.

The Broncos entered the game 5-5 with a four-game winning streak. The Bowns were 7-3 with a three-game winning streak.

The Broncos dominated the Browns on both sides of the ball in the first quarter while taking a 7-0 lead. The score came on an 80-yard drive that was aided by a questionable 34-yard pass interference call on Brown’s cornerback Greg Newsome II that converted a third-and-10. Broncos’ receiver Courtland Sutton drew the pass interference penalty and two plays later on third-and-8, Sutton broke open on a crossing route. Wilson hit him in stride for a 31-yard gain.

(Later in the second quarter, there was a questionable offensive pass interference call on Sutton after he made a splendid catch for a 37-yard gain over Newsome that was nullified.) 

It was first-and-goal at the 3. Broncos’ running back Samaje Perine smashed his way in for the touchdown despite getting initially hit in the backfield.

It was 7-0 Broncos with 8:14 left in the first quarter.

Vance Joseph’s Denver defense, meanwhile, had a smart plan to stop the quarterback-challenged Browns. Employing heavy, 7- and 8-man boxes and a single safety on the early downs against the  Browns’ No. 3-ranked running game, the Browns tried to counter by having fifth-round rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson throw the ball around. Thompson-Robinson completed some short passes but the Browns struggled to move the sticks.

Wilson fumbled the ball away on the Browns’ 42, but the defense got it right back and on their third series, the Broncos went 80 yards again. Wilson finished off the drive with a 2-yard read-option keeper for a touchdown and the Broncos were up, 14-0 with 11:11 left in the first half.

The Browns started playing better at that point as Thompson-Robinson directed two drives to inside the Denver red zone, only to settle for two Dustin Hopkins field goals.

Wilson was only 5 of 12 passing at the half but for 66 yards and he also rushed for 38 yards on seven carries.

Thompson-Robinson is 9 of 20 for 85 yards.

The Broncos played rookie linebacker Drew Sanders on the outside edge for a couple of snaps in the first half.

Denver defensive backs wore “Free KJack” T-shirts during pregame warmups. Broncos safety Kareem Jackson is serving a four-game suspension for repeated unnecessary roughness penalties, his second suspension of the season.

P.J. Locke replaced Jackson as he returned from an ankle injury that knocked him out of last week’s game against the Vikings. 

Between the first and second quarters, the Broncos paid video tribute to former defensive lineman Harald Hasselbach, who died Thanksgiving morning of cancer at age 56. Hasselbach started on the Broncos’ 1998 Super Bowl championship team and was a part-time starter for seven seasons from 1994-2000.

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS: SPORTS