Broncos 23, Vikings 13: Five Game Balls

The Denver Broncos bounced back in the preseason finale but which players deserve a game ball?

The Denver Broncos hosted the Minnesota Vikings in the preseason finale on Saturday night, coming out on top 23-13. In the final audition of the summer, there were some jobs on the line, and some players really stepped up. 

Will it be enough? 

We won’t know until Tuesday's deadline to cut the roster down to the final 53 players. However, the players that are receiving game balls for Game 3 have made a good case for sticking around. 

Let's dive into it. 

McTelvin Agim | DL

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Agim showed flashes of why the Broncos drafte him in the third round back in 2020. His potential as an interior pass rusher has always been his strength and on Saturday night, he showed why. 

Although he struggled against the run, Agim had an impressive night otherwise. He forced two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Baron Browning, and he batted down three passes. Agim's forced fumble added a sack to his stat line, along with two solo tackles. 

It may be too little too late for Agim, but he left one final impression.

Mike Boone | RB

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Boone averaged 8.8 yards per carry and added two receptions. He dominated the Vikings' defense. 

That is all that needs to be said. Boone's roster spot has likely never been in jeopardy and his last two games have shown why.

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Graham Glasgow | IOL

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Glasgow is still making his way back from a devastating injury and it looks like he has fully returned. He looked like an experienced veteran on the line playing center, stonewalling defensive linemen, and getting to the second level well. 

Glasgow's experience is valuable in making the line calls at center, and he has good versatility. He had a big block on a screen play in the two-minute drill to end the half. Early on, his place on the team was in question, but he solidified his spot on the team.

Eyioma Uwazurike | DL

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The fourth-round rookie played his best game of the preseason. Uwazurike held his ground on third down in a goal-line stand, shed the block, and made a tackle to stuff the run. 

On the very next play, Uwazurike stood up his blocker, allowing a safety to find a crease to stuff the running back on what looked like a terrific goal-line stand by the defense. Unfortunately, upon review, the ball narrowly crossed the goal line.

It wasn’t just the goal-line stand that made it an impressive night for Uwazurike. He sacked the quarterback in the first half, but the was overturned because of a penalty in the secondary (Bless Austin). 

At the end of the first half, Uwazurike made a hustle play on a screen pass to make the tackle from his defensive line position. Then in the third quarter, he had a terrific rep on a 3rd-&-1 to stuff the Vikings. His stats for the game were three total tackles, including a solo tackle.

Delarrin Turner-Yell | S

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Another rookie who excelled during the game, Turner-Yell was the aforementioned safety who made that tough goal-line tackle, but that wasn’t his only nice play of the night. He had two excellent tackles early in the first half and provided solid coverage on a rollout play by the Vikings.

Turner-Yell's fourth-down sack of Kellen Mond showed off his closing speed. Turner-Yell was flying around and making plays.

For the game, he had three solo tackles, to go with four total tackles, a tackle for a loss, and a sack. For a rookie safety, he was impressive.

Bottom Line

Again, the Broncos won the game 23-13, giving head coach Nathaniel Hackett a 2-1 preseason record. The score is unimportant, though. 

The key was that several Broncos stepped up, making the roster cuts an even more difficult decision for coaches.

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