Monday 3 October 2016 12:49, UK
Rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch threw his first touchdown as the Denver Broncos beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-7 in a storm affected game.
Starting quarterback Trevor Siemian left the game at the end of the first half with a shoulder injury, as touchdowns from Demaryius Thomas, C.J Anderson and Emmanuel Sanders handed Denver a comfortable win.
In 140 Characters...
Rookie Paxton Lynch takes over from injured Siemian, throws first NFL touchdown. Winston has two critical interceptions, sacked five times.
MVP
Aqib Talib read the Buccaneers offence perfectly, and both his interceptions resulted in early touchdowns for the Broncos.
Game changer
At the end of the first half, Broncos quarterback, Siemian, left the game with a shoulder injury. This should have been an opportunity for the Buccaneers to capitalise, but rookie QB, Lynch, led the Denver offence confidently, throwing downfield on his first throw, and continued to cause the defence problems throughout the second half.
Stat of the night
170 - Lynch had almost as many yards as Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston, who played the whole game (179). The Broncos back up had just one sack and zero interceptions, while Winston threw two picks and was brought down five times.
The game
An early miss-throw from Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston led to an interception for Talib. The Broncos offence capitalised, Demaryius Thomas catching the eleven yard touchdown pass from Siemian.
It wasn't long before Winston made up for his error, rushing seven yards to complete a 13 play, 75 yard drive, and level the score at 7-7.
However, it was another costly interception, again Talib picking off Winston that led to the Broncos retaking the lead. Siemian took advantage, setting up C.J Anderson for a one yard touchdown run.
There was concern for Denver as Siemian was taken to the locker room to have his shoulder evaluated with two minutes left in the first half. Lynch took over, and looked positive in his first drive, throwing downfield to Emmanuel Sanders for 18 yards to set up a 38 yard field goal, and extend their lead to 17-7 going into the half.
Another field goal in the middle of the third quarter extended Denver's lead as Lynch continued at quarterback with Siemian on the sidelines. Selected with the 30th pick at the end of the first round, Lynch looked composed in the Broncos offence, and he got his first NFL career touchdown, completing an 80 yard, nine play drive with a five yard pass to Sanders to give Denver a 27-7 lead.
A lightning storm halted the game for over an hour, before an uneventful last six minutes saw Winston sacked and the Broncos run down the clock to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
