Broncos Vs. Cardinals: Denver Interim Coach Eric Studesville Loses Debut To Arizona, 43-13

On Monday, Denver interim head coach Eric Studesville proclaimed Kyle Orton the starter for this coming Sunday's game on the road against the Oakland Raiders. Andrew Mason of MaxDenver.com tweets:

This sounds just like something Josh McDaniels would have said had he still been coach of the Denver Broncos. Not starting Tebow is doing the young quarterback more of a disservice than anything else.

Kyle Orton just isn't right any longer. He has played well up until his last two games. In those two contests, Orton is 28 of 69 (40.58 percent completion rate) for 283 yards and three interceptions. Those interceptions all came in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals. They weren't even tips or anything. The balls went straight into the waiting hands of Cardinals defensive players.

It's long past time to say that Kyle Orton gives the Broncos the best chance to win. He clearly hasn't shown any of that over the last two weeks.

But for all we know, Studesville and the Broncos organization may want to keep Tebow from starting the first game of his career on the road in the black hole of Oakland. Tebow was close to entering Sunday's game after it appeared Kyle Orton was knocked out with a rib injury. Tebow warmed up and was throwing balls on the sidelines, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Orton re-entered the game.

Those chants of "We want Tebow" only grew louder as the game went on.

A change in the head coach failed to do much for the Denver Broncos on Sunday afternoon. Taking over for Josh McDaniels, interim coach Eric Studesville lost his NFL coaching debut to the Arizona Cardinals, 43-13. Whether it was the six turnovers by the Broncos or Jay Feely's 25 total points, this game may just be the one for Denver to visit rock bottom.

Revisit Jay Feely for a moment. The Arizona kicker was successful on five of his six field goal attempts (his longest was 55 yards). That's 15 points there. He also had a touchdown run on a fake field goal. Six points plus the other 15 makes 21 in total. With the extra point he kicked after his own touchdown and the other three he kicked in the fourth quarter, he had four more points. Four plus six plus fifteen comes out to 25 points. Jay Feely outscored the Denver Broncos by 12 points.

Kyle Orton had his second consecutive bad game. He followed up last week's 9-of-28, 117-yard performance with a 19-of-41, 166-yard performance with three interceptions. The first interception eventually gave the Cardinals three points, but the second one soon thereafter set up Jay Feely's fake field goal touchdown run. Orton threw his third interception at 2:42 in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals' Daryl Washington intercepted the ball and returned it for a 40-yard touchdown (though he almost committed a Leon Lett by losing control of the ball before crossing into the end zone).

Receivers Eddie Royal and Eric Decker and Kyle Orton all had fumbles that were lost and then recovered by the Cardinals.

Running back Knowshon Moreno finished the game with 19 rushes for 81 yards and touchdown. Kicker Steve Hauschka, signed to replace the injured Matt Prater, made two of his three field goals, connecting at 30 and 32 yards but missing at 40.

For the Arizona Cardinals, rookie quarterback John Skelton was 15-of-37for 146 yards in his starting debut. Running back Tim Hightower had 18 carries for 148 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground in the fourth quarter. Larry Fitzgerald, who made six catches for 72 yards, became the Cardinals' all-time leading pass catcher when made his 587th. He moved ahead of Anquan Boldin and has 592 after today's game.

The Arizona Cardinals, who broke a seven-game losing streak, are 4-9 and last in the NFC West. The Denver Broncos moved to 3-10 and remain last in the AFC West. They visit Oakland on Sunday, Dec. 19.

At 13:37 in the fourth quarter, the Arizona Cardinals running back Tim Hightower took a hand off and then had the ball stripped from his possession by Denver Broncos linebacker Robert Ayers. Linebacker D.J. Williams recovered the ball at Arizona’s 25-yard line.

Kyle Orton had a 12-yard pass to Eddie Royal, but then the offense stopped. The Broncos settled for a Steven Hauschka 30-yard field goal. The Denver Broncos are down 22-6 in the fourth quarter.

The Denver Broncos are losing 16-3 at halftime to the Arizona Cardinals, and they have only themselves to blame. Sure, Cardinals kicker Jay Feely has accounted for all 16 points by way of three field goals and a touchdown run on a fake field goal, but the Denver Broncos continued their season-long issue of self-defeating mistakes. The team had four turnovers in the first half.

Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton (10-of-21, 91 yards) threw two interceptions, both into the waiting hands of Michael Adams and Kerry Rhodes. The first interception set up Jay Feely's first field goal of the game, and the second one led to Feely's fake field goal run. Receiver Eric Decker caught a Kyle Orton pass, but failed to secure the ball. As a result the Cardinals recovered the ball, only to punt it away. Receiver Eddie Royal fumbled the ball on an end-around, though the Cardinals wound up punting the ball away.

Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno has 66 yards on 14 carries, but no touchdowns. Recently-signed kicker Steven Hauschka has a 32-yard field goal for the Broncos' only score of the game.

For the Arizona Cardinals, Larry Fitzgerald became the franchise's all-time leading pass catcher. He has three receptions for 32 yards. Rookie quarterback John Skelton is 9-of-21 for 79 yards with no interceptions.

Broncos interim head coach Eric Studesville has offensive coordinator Mike McCoy calling the plays, which shows why there has been a large dose of the ineffective Kyle Orton today. McCoy is a former quarterback. However, this game plan has not worked so far. Time for Studesville to make some changes and avoid another loss for the Broncos.

At the end of the first quarter, the Denver Broncos and Arizona Cardinals are tied at three. Steven Hauschka and Jay Feely exchanged field goals for the Broncos and the Cardinals. But this quarter of play has been marked by sloppy play from both sides.

Kyle Orton started out 5-of-8 for 62 yards but is now 5-of-12 and an interception. On a pass intended for Eddie Royal, Orton wound up watching the ball land in the hands of Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams. The Cardinals used that turnover to score a field goal. Receiver Eddie Royal turned the ball over on an end-around toward the end of the quarter, but the Cardinals were unable to capitalize on it.

However, Arizona rookie quarterback John Skelton is 1-of-8 for two yards. The team has rushed twice for eight yards. Receiver Larry Fitzgerald appeared to lose control of the ball on a Syd’Quan Thompson hit, but the referees overturned the Broncos recovery by calling it an incomplete pass.

Denver Broncos quarterback threw a pass intended for Eddie Royal, but it quickly ended up in the hands of Arizona Cardinals cornerback Michael Adams. He returned it to for 37 yards to Denver’s 23-yard line.

The Arizona Cardinals are starting rookie 5th round draft pick John Skelton at quarterback today after a season-ending shoulder injury to Max Hall and concussion symptoms with Derek Anderson.

The drive started with a one-yard run by Tim Hightower, but Skelton attempted a pass on the second play. It appeared that receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught the ball and then lost possession of it when he was hit by a Broncos player. Cornerback Andre Goodman recovered the ball. However, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged the play, which the referees overturned.

The drive sputtered on third down when Skelton made another incomplete pass. Ben Graham punted the ball to Denver’s 25-yard line. The Broncos went three and out after a three-yard Knowshon Moreno run and two incomplete passes by Kyle Orton.

Denver Broncos interim coach Eric Studesville would have liked to have had a touchdown on the team’s opening drive, but only three points wound up on the board. Recently signed kicker Steven Hauschka kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 3-0 lead over the Arizona Cardinals, though it was shaky kick. The ball hit off the upright.

Mike McCoy, who is calling the offensive plays, went early and often to the pass. Quarterback Kyle Orton was 5-of-8 for 62 yards on the drive. The ball was spread around to receivers Brandon Lloyd (2 rec, 24 yards), Eddie Royal (2 rec, 18 yards) and Jabar Gaffney (1 rec, 20 yards). Running back Knowshon Moreno had two rushes for 11 yards.

To start the game, Eric Decker appeared to have an 81-yard return, but a holding penalty put the ball back on the Broncos 22-yard line.

The Cardinals start at their 39-yard line.

With kicker Matt Prater’s injured right groin, the Denver Broncos signed Steven Hauschka to replace him for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Hauschka entered the league in 2008 as an undrafted free agent with Minnesota Vikings, but caught on with the Baltimore Ravens before the start of the season. He spent 2008 and most of 2009 with the Ravens, though he was waived toward the end of the season. He then moved to the Atlanta Falcons and was waived in August during training camp this past summer. He wound up in Detroit, but the Lions waived him before the start of the season.

Hauschka joined the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL in October before joining the Broncos in December. He went 10-of-12 on field goals (a long of 53 yards) and 14-of-14 on points after touchdown.

Offensive lineman Stanley Daniels was waived in order to make room on the roster for the additional kicker.

Arizona Cardinals' head coach Ken Whisenhunt named rookie quarterback John Skelton the starting quarterback for this Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos. Whisenhunt said of the decision:

"Didn’t really have a choice," Whisenhunt said, adding that Skelton’s command of the offense was better throughout the week and that he’s better prepared to play than the previous week.

But he was also quick to add that no one should expect the greatest performance from the young quarterback, which isn't exactly a boost of confidence for Skelton.

Derek Anderson is still suffering from the effects of a concussion and has yet to pass tests to be cleared to play. However, he may be able to be the third quarterback on Sunday. Recently-signed Richard Bartel, out of Tarleton State, will be the backup to Skelton.

Quarterback Max Hall, a rookie out of BYU, played in six games for the Cardinals this season along with Derek Anderson, but he went on season-ending injury reserve with a separation to his non-throwing shoulder on Tuesday.