The Denver Broncos have ruined Brock Osweiler's homecoming, incessantly hurrying, hitting and harassing their former teammate in a 27-9 win over his Houston Texans.
Coach Gary Kubiak returned to the sideline following his second health scare in three years, and he liked what he saw as the Broncos (5-2) snapped a two-game skid in sending the overwhelmed Texans home at 4-3.
CJ Anderson and Devontae Booker energised Denver's sputtering ground game, both running for a touchdown.
Anderson gained 107 yards on 16 carries and Booker had 83 on 17 hand-offs.
But the big story was Trevor Siemian, Peyton Manning's surprise successor, outplaying Osweiler, who was groomed to be Denver's next QB but instead bolted to Houston in free agency, famously declaring the Texans gave him the better chance to be successful.
Not on this night.
Osweiler left for bigger numbers in Texas - both in his bank account and his stat sheet - but he spent the whole game quickly getting rid of the ball, constantly overthrowing DeAndre Hopkins in double coverage and otherwise running for his life from Von Miller & Co.
Osweiler was just 22 for 41 for 131 yards with no TDs and no interceptions.
Siemian was 14 of 25 for 157 yards, a TD and no interceptions.
Osweiler also lost a fumble at his own 25-yard line. It was scooped up by Chris Harris Jr on the first play of the fourth quarter and led to Brandon McManus' chip-shot field goal that made it 24-9, all but snuffing out Houston's hopes of a comeback.
"He's a great kid. I talked to him after the game," Kubiak said.
"I was concerned there late in the game because of what he did last week even though we had a two-score lead."
Last week, Osweiler led Houston back from a late 14-point deficit for an overtime win against the Colts, but there was no comeback against this defence.
When it was over, Osweiler hugged Emmanuel Sanders and then Siemian at midfield.
"He's into the game on every snap," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "He's got good poise, tough environment. We all have to do better. Everyone has got to do better."
Osweiler took a couple of big shots from safeties Darian Stewart and TJ Ward in the first quarter, but the Texans led 6-0 on a pair of 43-yard field goals by Nick Novak.
"Coaches get game balls when players play good, I can tell you that," Kubiak said.
"I'm proud of them because I asked them to do some things for me, kind of regroup ourselves a little bit and they did, they responded."
