SB Nation - Clifford Russell

Chiefs Not the Busiest but Having the Best Off Season in the AFC West

Chris Thorman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:59:08 -0000

I know it's always fun to give Broncos, Raiders and Chargers fans a good ribbing now and then about their respective teams but the joke is really on the AFC West.

The Chargers, 8-8 last year, won their final four games of the year to snatch the divisional crown away from the bumbling Broncos. The Chiefs and Raiders were never in it. As a whole, the teams of the AFC West averaged about 5.5 wins each last year and no team's record was over .500.

So, you'd expect a lot of changes in personnel in the AFC West after such a poor showing by, well, everyone. The Broncos have been by far the busiest AFC West team in free agency and the activity dwindles as you go from the Chiefs, to the Raiders and to the Chargers.

The Chiefs cut a few salary cap heavy veterans and traded for a franchise quarterback and a defensive leader. Not too shabby for the first three days of free agency.

Let's see how the rest of the AFC West fared in the first wave of free agency.

Denver Broncos

Cap space before free agency: ~$37 million

ADDITIONS (8)	SUBTRACTIONS (15)	RE-SIGNED (0)
RB J.J. Arrington (FA, ARZ) RB Correll Buckhalter (FA, PHI) WR Jabar Gaffney (FA, NE) FS Renaldo Hill (FA, MIA) G Matt McChesney (waivers, MIA) LS Lonie Paxton (FA, NE) DT Darrell Reid (FA, IND) S Brian Dawkins (FA, PHI)	RB Anthony Aldridge (waivers, WSH) CB Dré Bly (cut) DE John Engelberger (cut) CB Domonique Foxworth (FA, BAL) RB Alex Haynes (cut) TE Nate Jackson (cut) LB Niko Koutouvides (cut) S John Lynch (retired) S Marquand Manuel (cut) TE Chad Mustard (cut) RB P.J. Pope (cut) DT Dewayne Robertson (cut) WR Cliff Russell (cut) DT Josh Shaw (cut) LB Jamie Winborn (cut)

It says something about how unhappy your new head coach is with the team when there have been 23 transactions on your team and nobody was re-signed. New Denver head coach Josh McDaniels wants no part of Mike Shanahan's legacy, even QB Jay Cutler.

Brian Dawkins is a decorated safety who will turn 36-years old in October. J.J. Arrington and Correll Buckhalter are the exact type of running backs you'd expect the old Broncos to sign (and subsequently get injured). Considering Denver was down to it's 7th running back or something close to that last year, it's probably a good idea to nab at least two of them in free agency.

To add to those sub par signings, WR Brandon Marshall was arr ested over the weekend and charged with disorderly conduct. ESPN is speculating that an 8-game suspension in 2009 could be in order for Marshall. Whatever the punishment is, it's good to see a great rival WR go down the tubes. Even if nothing comes of this latest arrest, you know Marshall is going to get arrested again. And again. And again. He's that stupid.

Verdict: Lots of movement by the Broncos but little of it was in a forward direction.

Oakland Raiders

Cap space before free agency: ~$8 million

ADDITIONS (1)	SUBTRACTIONS (5)	RE-SIGNED (3)
QB Bruce Gradkowski (waivers, CLE)	WR Ronald Curry (cut) DE Kalimba Edwards (cut) FB Justin Griffith (cut) OT Kwame Harris (cut) S Gibril Wilson (cut, MIA)	CB Nnamdi Asomugha CB Chris Johnson P Shane Lechler

If it wasn't for the whole winning thing or putting together a solid football team, it wouldn't be that bad to be an Oakland Raider. CB Nnamdi Asomugha was re-signed in mid-February to a deal that guarantees him $28.5 million in the first two years of his contract. I mean, if you hang around in Oakland for a couple of seasons and keep your mouth shut, Al Davis is going to throw you a bunch of cash.

Right now, the Raiders don't even enter my thoughts as AFC West competitors. And they probably won't until Al Davis leaves his ownership post. Despite putting together a Super Bowl team in the early part of this decade, Davis has fallen even further off of literal rocker in the last few seasons.

Verdict: Still the Raiders, which is like being the Keystone Cops of the NFL.

San Diego Chargers

Cap space before free agency: ~$14 million

ADDITIONS (0)	SUBTRACTIONS (1)	RE-SIGNED (1)
	LB Anthony Waters (cut)	G Kynan Forney

The big news isn't about any of the Charger's moves but only about one potential move- LaDainian Tomlinson. Rumors have surfaced mentioning the New Orleans Saints as a potential LT landing spot but nothing concrete has occurred. Moving LT would be contract related, as the Chargers will have to re-sign QB Philip Rivers to a huge contract next season.

The Chargers were the most stable team personnel wise in the AFC West, which may account for part of their lack of activity in free agency.

Verdict: Still the most talented team in the AFC West but the gap is closing quickly.

Poll

Which AFC West team did the best in the first wave of free agency?

Chiefs

930 votes

Raiders

4 votes

Broncos

160 votes

Chargers

7 votes

1101 votes | Poll has closed

Broncos release five players

John Bena — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:22:31 -0000

The Denver Broncos on Wednesday released five players, it was announced.

The club released running back Anthony Alridge, running back Alex Haynes, tight end Chad Mustard, running back P.J. Pope and wide receiver Cliff Russell.

Glenn Martinez Returns; Clifford Russell To I/R

John Bena — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:25:56 -0000

The Denver Broncos on Tuesday signed free-agent wide receiver Glenn Martinez, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced. As per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Broncos also on Tuesday placed wide receiver Clifford Russell on their reserve/injured list. He suffered a sprained neck in the fourth quarter of Denver's game at Kansas City on Sunday.

Martinez (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) is a third-year wide receiver who spent the 2007 campaign with the Broncos before he was waived on Aug. 30. He played 12 games (1 start) for Denver last season, totaling 14 receptions for 175 yards (12.5 avg.) along with 14 punt returns for 157 yards (11.2 avg.) with one touchdown and 15 kickoff returns for 330 yards (22.0 avg.).

Martinez's 80-yard punt return for a touchdown in Denver's Monday Night Football win against Tennessee (11/19/07) was its first punt return score in four seasons and earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

In 17 career games (1 start) with Denver (2007) and Detroit (2005-06), Martinez has posted 15 receptions for 186 yards (12.4 avg.). He also owns 14 career punt returns for 157 yards (11.2 avg.) with one touchdown and 15 kickoff returns for 330 yards (22.0 avg.).

Martinez entered the NFL with Pittsburgh in 2004 as a college free agent from Saginaw Valley State University, where he finished his career ranked third in school history in career receiving yards (2,663).

Born on Nov. 30, 1981, Martinez attended Auburndale High School in Auburndale, Fla

Kansas City Chiefs 33 - Denver Broncos 19 - Post Game Quotes

John Bena — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:13:37 -0000

HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On today’s game: “We talked about the keys to the game. Obviously the first one is you can’t turn the football over. Kansas City has an unbelievable home record when they win the turnover battle, and they won it by three today. Credit that to them. They ran the football exceptionally well. You’ve got to be able to stop the run and you’ve got to be able to run the football. Kansas City made a couple plays on special teams right there in the clutch; a big kickoff return to give them field position. Now we go back, obviously a tough loss. We had our opportunities during the game, credit to Kansas City for fighting like they did and finding a way to win. We’re obviously disappointed, but now we go back and get ready for the next game.”

On the status of WR Clifford Russell: “I really don’t know. I don’t know how he is. I know he was numb on his right side. Had feeling in his toes, and that was it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

QB JAY CUTLER

On if he was pressing today: “I don’t know. You know, you can’t have four turnovers offensively and score a lot of points. You know, one for four in the Red Zone, It’s hard to win ball games that way.”

On if Denver needed to run the football better today: “You know, we don’t know. We had the turnovers, we got in the hole a little bit, you know, we had to start throwing the ball around a little bit. So we should have played better in the first half.”

On what this loss means: “We’re 3-1. There’s a lot of football left. We’re still a good football team. We can’t go into a panic here. We’re going to go back and look at it and get ready for Tampa.

CB CHAMP BAILEY

On being prepared for the game: “You always think you are doing enough. I’ve been around this game long enough to know if we have a good week of practice or we don’t. Coach (Shanahan) came into the game saying stop the run, run the ball, no turnovers, and we’ll win the game. And, we didn’t do the things necessary to win the game.”

CB DRE’ BLY

On today’s game: “They were able to force more turnovers and we still had chance to win. RB Larry Johnson was able to make some runs. For the most part, we were able to keeps things in front of us in terms of our pass defense. But, we didn’t do a good job against the run this week. Larry Johnson is one the better backs in this league. I know he hasn’t gotten off to the good start he has in the past. He’s a big physical guy and he was able to make some plays. Like we say in this league, ‘On any given Sunday, a team can win.’ Just because they were winless doesn’t mean that they couldn’t win the football game. We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board and evaluate this film. Hopefully we can get ready for Tampa next week.

On giving up 30 points or more for three consecutive weeks: “We don’t want to give up as many points as we’ve given up the last three weeks. But, Kansas City was getting good field position. We did good job of holding them to field goals a couple of times. To be good in this league, you have to try to hold teams to under 20 points. Offensively, we couldn’t score the amount of points we have the last three weeks.

C CASEY WIEGMANN

On the Chiefs: “They were 0-3 with their backs against the wall. They had to come out swinging and that’s what they did. The coaches did a good job of preparing them and they were ready to go.”

On playing against his old teammates: “It doesn’t matter. It was fun seeing them after the game. It is what it is. I am a Bronco now.”

Denver Broncos 34 - New Orleans Saints 32 - Post Game Stats and Notes

John Bena — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:10:43 -0000

Category	Broncos	Saints
Score	34	32
Rushing Yards	105	88
Passing Yards	264	414
Total Yards	369	502
T.O.P	27:12	32:48

SERIES STUFF

**With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-2 (.778) all-time against the Saints, including 4-1 (.800) at home.

**The New Orleans Saints played their first regular-season game at INVESCO Filed at Mile High. The Saints played the Broncos in the very first game played at INVESCO Field at Mile High, a preseason game in 2001(31-24 Broncos win). The last time the Saints played a regular season game in Denver was on 12/24/94, a 30-28 New Orleans victory at Mile High Stadium.

3-0 START

* - The Broncos are 3-0 for the 10th time in franchise history and for the first time since 2003. In only two instances have the Broncos started 3-0 and failed to make the postseason (1970, 2002).

3-0 Starts in Broncos History

Year	Started	Finish	Notable
1970	3-0	5-8-1	Missed Playoffs
1977	6-0	12-2	Lost Super Bowl
1986	6-0	11-5	Lost Super Bowl
1989	3-0	11-5	Lost Super Bowl
1996	3-0	13-3	Lost Div. Playoff
1997	6-0	12-4	Won Super Bowl
1998	13-0	14-2	Won Super Bowl
2002	3-0	9-7	Missed Playoffs
2003	4-0	10-6	Lost Wild Card
2008 Totals	3-0	97-42-1 (.693)	-

* - NFL FACT: Since 1978 when the 16-game schedule was instituted, 78 percent of NFL teams that started at least 3-0 have made the playoffs, including all five teams who started at least 3-0 in 2007.

PLAYING WITH THE LEAD

* - The Broncos have led for a total of 158:43 of a possible 180:00 during their first three games in 2008. Below is a breakdown of the Broncos' time spent while leading, tied and trailing:

	Leading	Tied	Trailing
at Oak (9/8)	54:59	5:01	0:00
vs. S.D. (9/14)	49:43	6:19	3:58
vs. N.O. (9/21)	54:01	5:59	0:00
Total	158:43	17:19	3:58

ORANGE JERSEYS

* - The Broncos wore their alternate home orange jerseys for just the third time in the regular season and the first time since losing to Oakland 25-24 on 11/28/04. Denver improved to 1-2 in games played wearing the orange jerseys. In their first game ever played wearing the orange alternates, the Broncos lost to Indianapolis 23-20 (OT) on 11/24/02.

ROOKIE STARTER AT FULLBACK

* - Broncos FB Peyton Hillis became the first rookie to start at fullback for the franchise in a regular season or postseason game since FB Melvin Bratton started the 1989 AFC Championship game vs. Cleveland (1/14/90). Bratton also started three regular season games at fullback for the Broncos in '89 while FB Jeff Alexander, another rookie that season, started the regular season opener vs. Seattle (9/4/89) and five other games during the year.

CAPTAIN WOODYARD

* - Broncos rookie LB Wesley Woodyard served as special teams captain and accompanied QB Jay Cutler, TE Daniel Graham, CB Champ Bailey and LB D.J. Williams for the opening coin toss.

MARSHALL SCORES AGAIN

* - With his 35-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, WR Brandon Marshall scored his second touchdown of the season. He has now scored a touchdown in his last three games dating to last season. He finished with six receptions for 155 yards (25.8 avg.) and a touchdown. His 155 receiving yards marks the sixth 100-yard receiving game in his career and his fifth in his last six games (after only one 100-yard receiving game in his first 27 career games).

* - Through two games, Marshall has 24 receptions for 321 yards (13.4 avg.) with two touchdowns. His 24 catches mark the second most by a player through his first two games of a season in NFL history (Atlanta's Andre Rison had 26 receptions through the first two games of the 1994 season).

JAY CUTLER

* - With his 9-yard completion to RB Selvin Young on the Broncos' opening drive of the first quarter, Broncos QB Jay Cutler passed QB Steve Tensi (5,153) for sole possession of eighth place in Broncos history in career passing yards. Cutler finished the game completed 21-of-34 passes for 264 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for a 93.3 passer rating. He now has 5,412 career passing yards.

* - Denver's victory evened Cutler's career record as a starting quarterback at 12-12.

NATE WEBSTER TOUCHDOWN

* - With his fumble recovery and subsequent 34-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter, LB Nate Webster scored his second career touchdown. He returned a fumble 17 yards for a touchdown at Kansas City (11/11/07) with that play marking Denver's last fumble recovery for a touchdown. The Broncos now have 41 fumble returns for a touchdown in franchise history (10 in the Shanahan era, 1995-current).

MICHAEL PITTMAN

* - With his 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Broncos RB Michael Pittman has scored a TD in three consecutive games (4 total), the longest such streak of his career. He became the first Bronco to rush for a touchdown in the first three games of the season since RB Terrell Davis had a touchdown in each of the first three games of the 1997 season.

MISCELLANEOUS GAME NOTES

* - With his first quarter sack, Broncos DE Ebenezer Ekuban had his first quarterback takedown since registering a half sack of San Francisco QB Alex Smith (vs. S.F., 12/31/06). It was his first full sack since taking down Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer (12/24/06). Ekuban has recorded at least a half sack in four of his past six games.

* - WR Eddie Royal had the longest punt return of his career, a 22-yarder in the first quarter that set up the Broncos at the New Orleans 45-yard line en route to their opening touchdown drive.

* - With his 1-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, TE Nate Jackson posted his second career receiving score and first since he had a touchdown vs. Jacksonville (9/23/07).

* - With an opening-drive touchdown against the Saints, the Broncos have scored a touchdown on their opening drive in two of their three games this year (vs. Oakland, 9/8). The touchdown drive, which lasted 10 plays and 3:29, is the Broncos' fifth touchdown this year on drives of 10 or more plays.

* - For the third consecutive game to open the season, the Broncos held their opponent without points on their opening drive.

* - With Cutler's first-quarter touchdown pass to Jackson, the Broncos extended their scoring streak to 248 games dating back to 1992. It is the longest active streak in the NFL and fourth longest in league history. In the impressive run, the Broncos have scored on their first possession 98 times.

* - WR Clifford Russell made his Broncos debut after being signed by Denver on Wednesday.

* - K Matt Prater was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts (27, 34 yds.), bringing his season total to 5-of-5. He placed six of his eight kickoffs into the end zone and had four touchbacks.