Bill Romanowski and his new teammates are re-inventing the Orange Crush.
The Romanowski-led defense was a major factor Sunday - along with John Elway's passing and Terrell Davis' running - as the Denver Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks 30-20 for their first 2-0 start since 1993."We're a lot better on defense just because of our talent," Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe said. "Bill was outstanding."
Romanowski, a nine-year linebacker who played his first six seasons in San Francisco, picked off one of Rick Mirer's passes and fell on a fumble in the second quarter. In the third period, he recovered John Friesz's fumble.
"When you play great defense and couple that with a running game, that makes it a lot easier when you're the quarterback," Elway said.
The Broncos defenders had a big day.
- They added three sacks to the nine they got in the opener against the New York Jets. A year ago, they had only 30 sacks for the season.
- Romanowski's three takeaways gave them seven in two games, compared to their AFC-low 21 last season.
- They limited Chris Warren, Seattle's three-time Pro Bowl running back, to 35 yards on 14 carries.
- They held Mirer to 7-for-11 passing for 53 yards in the first half, and Friesz to 11-for-19 for 137 yards and one touchdown in the second half.
- They limited the Seahawks to 10 first downs and 211 yards, 39 rushing.
- They surrendered only one touchdown. Seattle's Joey Galloway returned a punt 88 yards for a touchdown that tied the score 13-13 in the third quarter.
"This is a different football team," second-year Denver coach Mike Shanahan said. "It's not the football team we had last year or the years in the past."
Shanahan added Romanowski, pass rusher Alfred Williams and defensive tackle Jumpy Geathers through free agency and rookie linebacker John Mobley through the draft.
Those four players helped Shanahan beat the Seahawks for the first time in six games as a coach with the Broncos and the Los Angeles Raiders.
In San Francisco, Romanowski played on two Super Bowl championship teams. He showed that he hasn't lost anything.
"Bill's not only a solid player," Shanahan said. "He's a leader and he's a student of the game."
Playing in his club-record 192nd game, Elway passed 39 yards to Aaron Craver and 7 yards to Anthony Miller for touchdowns.
After Seattle cut the Broncos' lead to 23-20 with 4:14 left on Friesz's 23-yard scoring pass to tight end Christian Fauria, Elway led Denver on a 52-yard, six-play touchdown drive that took 2:14. He then scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with two minutes to go.
The Seahawks (0-2) lost to an AFC West opponent they swept last season.