Denver Broncos honor Demaryius Thomas with tributes, decals

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An image of the late former Denver Broncos player Demaryius Thomas is displayed on the big screen before the game between the Detroit Lions and the Denver Broncos on December 9 at Empower Field At Mile High on December 12, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. ((Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images))

DENVER - The Denver Broncos honored the memory of Demaryius Thomas with tributes, decals and a 38-10 walloping of the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Running backs Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon each scored a pair of touchdowns and Dre’Mont Jones had a monster game that included two sacks of Jared Goff.

Several Broncos arrived at the stadium wearing No. 88 jerseys and kicker Brandon McManus wore custom cleats featuring Thomas’ famous mile-wide smile. The retired receiver died at his Georgia home on Thursday at age 33.

About an hour before kickoff, local artist Armando Silva delivered a portrait of Thomas which he painted in the parking lot to the Broncos’ locker room. That was followed by a pregame moment of silence and a video tribute featuring Thomas’ 80-yard touchdown catch from Tim Tebow on the first play of overtime against the Steelers on Jan. 8, 2012.

Then, the Broncos (7-6) took the field with just 10 men in honor of Thomas. The Lions (1-11-1) declined the delay of game penalty.

The Broncos then recorded just their second opening-drive touchdown in 29 games under embattled offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur with Williams scoring from 5 yards out, carrying safeties Dean Marlowe and Jalen Elliott across the goal line with him.

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Gordon’s 1-yard TD run after a three-and-out by Detroit made it 14-0, and the first quarter ended with the Broncos holding an 11-0 advantage in first downs and a yardage disparity of 135 to minus-1 in offensive production.

Their fortunes also flipped when the teams switched sides, however, and Goff quickly drove the Lions downfield and hit Kalif Raymond from 7 yards out to cut Detroit’s deficit in half.

The Lions pulled to 14-10 on Riley Patterson’s 36-yard field goal, but the Broncos went into the locker room up 17-10 on McManus’ 52-yarder as the first half expired.

The Lions, coming off their first win but hit hard by COVID-19 last week — they had seven players on the virus list Sunday — coughed up the football on the second snap of the third quarter when Shelby Harris punched the ball from Godwin Igwebuike’s grasp and linebacker Jonathon Cooper recovered at the Detroit 30.

Five plays later, Williams caught a 10-yard TD pass from Teddy Bridgewater, stretching Denver’s lead to 24-10.

Jones had a dominant series on Detroit’s next drive. He dropped Goff for a 9-yard loss on his second sack, stuffed Igwebuike for a 3-yard loss and batted down Goff’s pass on fourth-and-2.

The Broncos took over at the Lions 33 and Gordon ran it in from 14 yards out to make it 31-10. Albert Okwuegbunam’s 4-yard TD catch capped an 88-yard drive late in the fourth quarter.

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