NINERS NIP BRONCOS, ORTON STRUGGLES IN DENVER DEBUT

Kyle Orton’s debut as the Denver Broncos starting QB didn’t go quite as planned.  Orton, who was acquired from Chicago in the off-season, threw interceptions on each of his first three offensive series.  San Francisco’s offense didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard, but it did do enough to eke out a 17-16 NFL preseason victory before their home fans.

NFL bettors who backed the home team were musing about their ‘bad beat’ after watching the Broncos cover as +1’ road underdogs.  The combined 33 points scored also managed to stay UNDER the posted total of 34’.  24 of the 33 points were put on the board during the second half.

The good news for Orton is that despite his three interceptions and a solid backup performance by Chris Simms. Broncos coach Josh McDaniels has been steadfast in his support.  Orton appeared thankful of this fact in his postgame comments:

"That's great. That's certainly what you need in this league is the support of your coach. I'm not worried about it. I've got a lot of confidence in myself. I think my team has a lot of confidence in me. ... I don't want to make those decisions and throw three interceptions."

Orton was acquired after McDaniels’ relationship with NFL pro bowler Jay Cutler soured due to his effort—and subsequent denial—that he was trying to move the quarterback.  It’s been a rough start to Orton’s tenure in Denver—he was even booed during a public scrimmage after throwing an interception.  McDaniels, to his credit, put the fact that it was only the first preseason game into perspective:

"I feel very confident in where we're at. There's no reason to start tailspinning into this and that when we've only had one preseason game."

San Francisco’s rapidly improving defense made life miserable for Orton all afternoon.  Even when he got decent pass protection, they were able to disrupt the passing lanes.  Niners' cornerback Nate Clemens in particular was a huge factor, hauling in one of Orton’s three miscues.  After the game he commented on the play:

"I saw the route and played my responsibility and he threw it. I like seeing all of our defensive backs get interceptions and just making plays because we're game breakers."

The Niners have yet to name a starting quarterback and both Shaun Hill and Alex Smith played solid, if unspectacular, football.  Hill spoke of his first preseason action:

"We were able to move the ball and we had a big conversion on third down. That last sack kind of hurt us. That was completely on me. The offensive line did a great job out there. So I'd like to have that play back and I feel like we could have gotten seven out of that."

Smith was just excited to be back on the field after missing the entire 2008 season due to injury:

"Obviously, I was raring to go when I got out there. It's been a long time for me, so I was pretty amped up."

Denver will head to the Pacific Northwest for a game against the Seattle Seahawks next Saturday night.  San Francisco, meanwhile, will host their ‘local rivals’ the Oakland Raiders.  The Broncos open the NFL regular season on Sunday, September 13th against the Bengals at Cincinnati.  San Francisco will get the regular season underway on the same day as they head to Tempe, Arizona to face the Arizona Cardinals.