Broncos coach Josh McDaniels was thrilled at quarterback Kyle Orton’s play on Sunday. He thought the quarterback managed the game well, hit some big third-down plays and even helped the Broncos go the entire game without a sack by being elusive in the pocket.

Orton missed some throws, but he didn’t make any dangerous throws. Fans started getting impatient and booed Orton and the offense a bit, especially near the end of the first half, but McDaniels had no problems with Orton. McDaniels said he prepared Orton for the Browns’ odd defensive plan, which is to dramatically mix heavy blitzes with plays in which the defense drops eight or sometimes nine players in coverage. Orton handled that exactly as McDaniels wanted him to, and he didn’t throw an interception.

“I thought he was very smart,” McDaniels said. “Against a team like that, that’s the trick. They bring so much pressure at you, you think you’ve got some things open quick a lot. Then all of a sudden they drop everybody out, and the reason they do that is to bait you into throwing an interception.”

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