Marshall reminded Broncos how dazzling he can be

DENVER • The Denver Broncos have plays that are certainly less effective than simply throwing it up to receiver Brandon Marshall and watching him do something spectacular.

The Broncos’ Pro Bowl receiver reminded everyone Thursday night that he can work outside the script. In the second quarter, Marshall jumped over Giants cornerback Corey Webster for a great one-handed catch, setting up a touchdown. He made another great catch in the third quarter down the left sideline, hauling in a pass with one hand again.

He amazed everyone, even his coach.

“Those are catches that special people make,” Josh McDaniels said. “There’s no question about that. When you go up there and do it one-handed, and keep running, there aren’t many people in the league that can do that.”

The Broncos say they don’t cater to anyone on offense, but Marshall seems to be an exception. He has 58 catches for 714 yards and six touchdowns. No other Bronco has more than 31 catches, 394 receiving yards or three receiving touchdowns.

Early in Thursday’s game, Marshall lobbied McDaniels to throw him some deep balls even though he was being covered by Webster, a very good cornerback.

“I went to coach and got in his ear and told him I could make a play,” Marshall said.

Quarterback Kyle Orton joked that Marshall made him look bad by making those one-handed catches. On Marshall’s first one-handed grab he immediately ran towards McDaniels to tell him something. McDaniels said Marshall might have been pointing out that he was right about being able to make a play if his number was called.

“Nothing looks good unless you have players like that, that do things when they have their opportunities,” McDaniels said.