New coordinator Ben Kotwica holds the reins Youth Takkarist McKinley Jersey , Giorgio Tavecchio gets the kicking keys, and a bevy of options at returner."A team electing to move on from a franchise veteran is never easy. all-time leading scorer, well, that’s where things get a bit dicier. Matt Bryant was a shocking-yet-understandable cut early on in an Atlanta Falcons offseason that’s seen more turnover than any time in Dan Quinn’s tenure as head coach. The focal point of the Falcons’ special teams unit, Bryant is in the twilight of his NFL career but still an extremely productive — and lethally clutch — kicker. With those facts not in dispute, the Falcons willingly closed the door on Bryant’s time in Atlanta.And so began the overhaul of a special teams unit that, quite frankly, hasn’t been very effective or consistent on Dan Quinn’s watch — with the exception of the steady hand (and leg) of Matt Bryant. Bryant’s departure came on the heels of the immediate firing of longtime special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong on Black Monday. A holdover from the Mike Smith Era, Armstrong oversaw a unit that finished top-five in 2010, but points courtesy of Matt Bryant’s boot aside, special teams has been spectacularly pedestrian under Coach Quinn. Marvin Hall may have finished top-10 in kickoff return yards in 2018 with 616, but he was near the bottom of the pack of qualifying returners in yards per return with 23.69. Leading the league in return yards? Well, that’s none other than former Atlanta Falcon Andre Roberts who garnered his first Pro Bowl nod with 1,174. He also finished second among qualifying returners with 29.35 yards per return.It’s a recent example, sure, but it’s glaringly indicative of how desperately this phase of the Atlanta Falcons’ game was aching for new blood at coordinator. Roberts’ immediate twist of the knife with his new team is the type of thing that leads to subsequent changeover on the coaching staff Stitched Calvin Ridley Jersey , and so it was no surprise when Keith Armstrong got the axe at the end of the league year.Enter Ben Kotwica, Washington’s former special teams coordinator who now holds the reins and is hoping to amplify production in Atlanta. He did yeoman’s work in D.C. last season, boosting Washington’s special teams rank to 8th in DVOA in 2018 — up from 22nd the previous year. He also flew attack helicopters in the military which is pretty awesome. Kotwica inherits a special teams unit now without its best playmaker, but with a promising young kicker in Giorgio Tavecchio. Tavecchio was absolutely lights out in relief of Matt Bryant last season, going 33-34 in extra points and 5-5 in field goals, including a prodigious 56-yarder to seal it against the New York Giants in Week 7. It’s obvious that he’s got the leg to succeed, but does he have the poise and grit and clutch DNA that carried Matt Bryant through his career? For better or worse, we’re about to find out; but the results so far have been nothing less than encouraging.Reinvigorating the return game is another task that’s been staked to Ben Kotwica, and he’s been afforded new options to turn a lackluster area into a positive. The Falcons selected Louisiana-Monroe running back/returner Marcus Green in the sixth round for seemingly that purpose: to inject his 4.3 speed on kickoff returns and increase Atlanta’s standing in the battle for field position. Other options exist as well in the form of free agent addition Kenjon Barner and undrafted standout and former Oregon running back/returner Tony Brooks-James. Barner is the only established commodity, but Green and Brooks-James both provide some intrigue at the returner spot.Matt Bryant and Keith Armstrong’s departures and the arrival of Ben Kotwica have ushered in a new era for the Atlanta Falcons special teams unit. They’re shifting from entrenched names to relative unknowns, which should stoke some unease in the slow march to the start of the season. But sometimes in order to fix things you have to begin by taking them all apart, and with the litany of changes on special teams it appears that the Atlanta Falcons are willing to throw down their chips on new solutions rather than sticking with the status quo. It’s a hefty gamble, but one they’re willing to make. There were a lot of orange-clad Denver fans in the stands in Arizona.They must have loved watching the Broncos beat down the host Cardinals 45-10 Thursday night."That was unbelievable," Denver quarterback Case Keenum said afterward. "It felt like a home game there for a lot of it. That was impressive. That was really cool."After four straight losses, the Broncos (3-4) took control early, returning two interceptions of Josh Rosen's passes for first-quarter touchdowns. Denver led 21-3 after one quarter and 35-3 at the half Youth Calvin Ridley Jersey , giving a rare breather of a win to embattled coach Vance Joseph."That's more about our football team. I'm not concerned about me," Joseph said. "It's a good win for our football team. It has been a tough, tough two weeks. We had a tough loss on Sunday. We had a short week, so it's really good for our team to win a game."The Cardinals (1-6) have lost their first four home games for the first time since 1979, nearly a decade before the franchise moved from St. Louis to the desert."Definitely an embarrassing effort tonight," first-year coach Steve Wilks said. "Our fans deserve more than that. We have to perform better than that. Six sacks, three interceptions. It can go on and on. Unacceptable."Arizona offensive coordinator Mike McCoy had been considered on shaky ground but there's no indication that any move is imminent."You guys are going to ask me about changes," Wilks said. "That's premature to talk about any changes right now. Everyone is going to be evaluated across the board."Here are some things to consider from the Broncos' romp in the desert:MILLER'S PROMISEDenver's Von Miller had promised the Broncos would kick the Cardinals' backside and they certainly did.Miller said he did it to boost the confidence of his teammates."And it worked," he said.Defensive end Zach Kerr agreed."It puts an extra fire in us," he said. "You can feel it all week during the preparation. Everyone was zoned in, locked in. It's a short week, but nobody complained. Nobody said anything, but we just went out there and worked."HARRIS' FLIPEmmanuel Sanders had a big night, throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass and catching a 64-yarder for a score.On the TD catch, he did a front flip over the goal line. He had said he was going to quit with the flips, but couldn't resist."That's what it's about Stitched Alex Mack Jersey , man, having fun and playing football," Sanders said. "That's how you win games. To catch that pass, I didn't have to do anything but run straight. It was probably one of the easiest touchdown passes I've caught in terms of a deep ball."ROSEN'S NIGHTArizona rookie quarterback Josh Rosen had a tough night.He threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball away twice. He also was sacked six times.Rosen said he tried to force things and it backfired."This is kind of an old saying I got in college. 'Don't turn a car crash into a fatality,'" Rosen said. "So I think sometimes you just have to make the smart play. I can't just kind of toss it up there. ... I just have to take care of the ball. For the most part, I think that was the biggest lesson I can take from the game."FITZGERALD'S SCOREIt took seven games, but Larry Fitzgerald finally caught his first touchdown pass of the season.The four-yard pass from Rosen in the third quarter was Arizona's lone touchdown.It was Fitzgerald's 111th career touchdown catch, tying him with Tony Gonzalez for seventh on the all-time list.BIG RETURNSThe Broncos had two big early interception returns.On the second play of the game, Derek Wolfe deflected Rosen's pass and Todd Davis gathered it in, returning it 20 yards for the score.With two minutes left in the quarter, miscommunication between Rosen and receiver J.J. Nelson led to the ball being thrown right to Denver's Chris Harris Jr., who took it 53 yards for a touchdown."Yeah, we're having a good time out there," Davis said. "When everything is clicking like that, it really becomes fun and you really enjoy the game of football."