If it was an accident, then why did Alex Singleton look so happy? “I was just doing a warm-up,” the Broncos linebacker said of the inter-team skirmish that preceded Denver 34, Green Bay 26. “I was on the sideline outside the hash box. We were doing a ‘blocked’ technique.” “Did you shov e …?” Singleton was asked. “He must have run into our drill …” the defender continued. “Because (social media had) you shoving …” “But that’s our drill,” Singleton countered. “(Whether) he was the guy, I don’t know.” He was. Pat Surtain II, Broncos defense shows championship mettle in second-half torrent vs. Packers During pregame warm-ups, cameras showed Packers defense end Rashan Gary, as part of a line of Green Bay players, running in between the Broncos linebacker and a nearby teammate. And cue the spicy stuff. As Gary passed, Singleton appeared to shove the Packers player with his right hand. Gary stopped, turned right back around and went after the Broncos linebacker. Before long, a full-scale donnybrook erupted near the visitors' sideline. At one point, Dre Greenlaw, no wallflower, was surrounded by what looked like half of Wisconsin, ready to take on every last Cheesehead. If the Pack were trying to intimidate the Broncos in their own backyard, boy, did that ever backfire. "It just set the tone," Broncos nickel back Ja'Quan McMillian told me later. "Once I saw that (skirmish), I'm like, 'This type of game ... ' I was ready for it. And I knew it was going to be a physical game. Once things like that happen, guys have more to play for." The Broncos had already come into the afternoon plenty cheesed off. Oddsmakers installed Green Bay as a slight favorite, even though Denver was riding a 10-game winning streak and cruising to the AFC West title. McMillian played the disrespect card. Denver safety Talanoa Hufanga played the disrespect card, shaking his head after the game at the fact that the Broncos were underdogs at home. Broncos defensive end John Franklin-Myers used the disrespect card like he was shopping online for last-minute Christmas gifts. "We want the smoke," said Franklin-Myers, who finished with four QB hits on the elusive Jordan Love. "That’s the truth. We ain’t looking for no problems, we ain’t looking for trouble, but you roll the ball out and you’re going to disrespect us, cut all through our drills, it’s just not right," "They started it off that way. And we finished it." After barely touching Love in the first half, the Broncos sacked the venerated Packers QB three times in the second half and picked him off twice. Down 23-14, Pat Surtain II picked off Love at the Denver 29 two minutes into the third quarter. That set up a seven-play, 71-yard scoring drive the other way. From the 10-minute mark of the third quarter to the end of the game, the Broncos outscored Green Bay 20-3. "I'm not sure what happened (pregame), but those things happen sometimes," McMillian said. "It made me more ready to play, I can tell you that." Gary? Not so much. "Was it chippy?" I asked the Packers lineman in the Green Bay locker room. "A little bit, a little bit," he admitted. "(It) got the juices flowing. But that's neither here nor there. We've got to find a way to finish and come up with a win." "What did you say to Singleton?" I wondered. "I don't know. I don't know," he replied. "We've got to find a way to win." And our man Alex got the last laugh, although it took a while. With 5:43 left in the third stanza, his blitz on a third-and-10 Love drop at the Denver 47 got the Packers' offensive line out of sorts and freed up teammate Jonah Elliss for the hosts' first sack of the day. Message sent. Loud and clear. "I didn't know they were coming out," Singleton said of the Packers' pregame shenanigans. "So I stepped off the sideline so they could all run back. "I don't know how (Gary) got in between us." Singleton's eyes widened to profess his innocence. As he turned and left the locker room, his smile said something else. ...read more read less