HOUSTON — For the better part of the Broncos' four days in southeast Texas, Bradlee Van Pelt pronounced himself ready, willing and able for what came his way in Denver's preseason opener.

Well, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan certainly gave Van Pelt the chance to prove it.

Shanahan let Van Pelt drive the offense for more than two quarters Saturday night as the Broncos defeated the Texans, 20-14, in Reliant Stadium in the preseason opener for both teams.

Van Pelt, who has spent the last two weeks in an extended audition to be Jake Plummer's backup at quarterback, handled himself fairly well. He finished 10-of-17 passing for 107 yards for a passer rating of 77.3.

He threw neither a touchdown nor an interception, but did flash some of the improvisational skills and mobility that pushed him up the depth chart in the first place. He had a 40-yard run and was sacked twice against a Texans defense that tested him with blitzes several times.

Van Pelt left the game with 11 minutes, 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

At halftime Plummer described Van Pelt as "a little nervous, but he's a gamer ... I just told him to go out there and have some fun."

"I think Bradlee did a good job," Shanahan said. "I thought he's done a good job since the offseason program started ... I thought you could see his athletic ability. Like all quarterbacks, he wants to play that perfect game, but I thought it was a good first game for Bradlee."

Matt Mauck entered the game at quarterback after Van Pelt and veteran Danny Kanell, who was Plummer's backup all of last season, did not play. Mauck finished 2-of-3 for 96 yards, including a 92-yard touchdown pass to Todd Devoe with just over four minutes to play in the game.

Earlier in the game Shanahan, after watching his starters manufacture just one first down in their first two possessions of the game, made the group put in a little preseason overtime keeping it on the field for a third possession.

The third drive more closely resembled what the Broncos had been hoping to put together.

The Broncos went 74 yards in 10 plays for their first touchdown of the night, finishing it off with a 3-yard scoring pass from Plummer to tight end Stephen Alexander. Plummer had completions of 17, 22 and 10 yards on the drive.

"It's nice to get Stephen Alexander his first touchdown as a Bronco," Plummer said. "Hopefully there are many more in the regular season."

After saying he wanted only "to be efficient" coming into the game, Plummer finished his night 6-of-10 for 76 yards and a touchdown — with a passer rating of 117.1. Plummer did leave another touchdown on the field, however.

He rolled right on the Broncos' first pass attempt of the night, chased by the Texans' defense, and had Ashley Lelie wide open, behind the Texans defenders up the Broncos sideline, but the pass drifted right landing out of bounds.

In all, the Broncos' first-team offense worked 17 plays, a handful more than the 10-12 Shanahan had originally planned for the group.

"There were a couple situations where they had the perfect defense for what we had called and that's going to happen sometimes," Plummer said. " ... We wanted to score on the very first drive to get the guys off the field."

For its part the Broncos starting defense surrendered 100 yards worth offense in just under a quarter's worth of work, but also put together a fierce goal-line stand to finish off the Texans' first possession of the night.

The Texans had moved to the Broncos 1-yard line in seven plays, but Denver held on four consecutive running plays — all by Texans running back Domanick Davis — to give the ball back to the Broncos offense just shy of the goal-line.

"(The Broncos) just kind of clamped down on me at the line," Davis said. "Their defensive line got under the offensive line."

"I was really proud of us on the goal-line," said Broncos safety John Lynch.

In all the Texans' regulars rushed for 46 yards on their 11 carries and Houston quarterback David Carr threw just two passes, completing one for 15 yards.

The Texans' second-team quarterback, Tony Banks, did put together a touchdown drive against the Broncos starters, covering a short field — 44 yards. Banks finished it off with a 31-yard touchdown pass to reserve tight end Matt Murphy.

The Broncos players will have Sunday off and will be back on the practice field Monday afternoon at 2:45. They will play their second preseason game Saturday against the San Francisco 49ers at Invesco Field at Mile High.

INJURIES: Safety Chris Young and safety Jeremy LeSueur briefly left the game in the third quarter after banging their right knees on a play. LeSueur returned to the game, but Young was wearing an ice pack on his knee for the remainder of the game. The Broncos said they didn't think either injury was serious.

LegwoldJ@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2359.

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