SB Nation - Brandon Stokley

Some Broncos thoughts on this Black (and Silver) Monday

John Bena — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:47:28 -0000

More photos » by Chris Schneider - AP

about 16 hours ago: Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell (2) throws a pass during the fourth quarter as Denver Broncos' Robert Ayers, left, applies pressure during an NFL football game in Denver on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

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Let's face it, yesterday's loss was painful. For me, it conjured up thoughts of a favorite movie quote(s) of mine, from The Princess Bride -

Prince Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.

Westley: No. To the pain.

Prince Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.

Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

Westley: It won't be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

Westley: I wasn't finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.

Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let's get on with it.

Westley: WRONG. Your ears you keep and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God! What is that thing," will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Prince Humperdinck: I think you're bluffing.

Westley: It's possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all.

[slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince]

Westley: DROP... YOUR... SWORD!

Prince Humperdinck: [Humperdinck's mouth hangs open, drops sword to floor]

That pretty much summed it up for me. I have always been about solutions, however, never taking long to sulk in my own pity. The Broncos are in a very precarious position with two games to go, one that they have brought upon themselves. Again. As I drove to work this morning several thoughts were swirling in my head, similar to the Sugar Plums we all will see a few nights from now.

We live in a culture that loves to blame. Anytime there is failure, we must find out whose fault it is and seek their remorse lest we drag them over the coals. The situation the Broncos find themselves in is no different. And there is plenty of blame to go around, for sure.

Josh McDaniels will get his share. Rightfully so, since he is the Head Coach, the leader of the team and the buck obviously stops with him. Whether it be play-calling, personnel decisions (Peyton Hillis-backers, that's for you), or game management, people have taken McDaniels to task for all of it. That's how it goes in the NFL - win and you are a genius; lose and, well, people call you something much less affectionate.

Me? I choose the harder route. The 53 men in that locker room need to take a look in the mirror. Actually, I'll get a bit more specific. Football is about players, not coaches - we all know that. Players either execute or they don't, make plays or they don't. We sit here in late December, with a nagging Deja-Vu feeling, not because of our coach, but because of the players - specifically the same players that have gone through this before.

The Broncos sit on the cusp of another December breakdown and the only ones that can stop it are the men in the locker room.

It is time for D.J. Williams and Champ Bailey, the mainstays of the Broncos defense the past four years to stand up and say, "NOT AGAIN". Yeah, I know D.J. and Champ are beloved, but they have also been part of the problem the past four years. They now need to be part of the solution.

I'm also talking to you - Kenny Peterson, Marcus Thomas, Wesley Woodyard, Elvis Dumervil - and every other player that was part of the defense in 2008, that was part of the collapse, it is time for you to stand up and say, "NOT THIS TIME".

I'm not going to forgive the offense, either. Someone needs to make a play - Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Daniel Graham, Tony Scheffler - someone needs to step up these next two weeks and say, "NOT THIS YEAR". Yes, Marshall has been huge and Stokley seemingly makes every big play he is given the opportunity to make, but all that matters now is the next two weeks - and seemingly the two wins that would assure the Broncos a post-season berth.

Coaches coach, players play. It is easy to blame the coaches because it isn't their name on the back of the jerseys we buy, not their numbers we memorize. It is the players that get the credit, and it is the 53 men in that locker room, specifically the 23 players that were part of the Denver Broncos in 2008, that need to step up and decide the fate of the 2009 version.

Again, a movie quote, this time from Terminator 2 -

The Future Is Not Set, There Is No Fate But What We Make For Ourselves.

The past is just that, the past, and it holds no bearing on the future. The Broncos need to believe this.

The Broncos in the Playoffs - Do They Deserve It? - This has been a popular quote the past couple of days. It has sparked much debate in the community, though it shouldn't. Like everything, there are literal and figurative meanings. The Broncos' loss to the Raiders was inexcusable from a fan's perspective - I hate losing home games to any divisional opponent - and thus makes this team undeserving of post-season glory - figuratively.

Literally, the NFL playoffs are the toughest tournament to gain access to - in my opinion. Sure, baseball is pretty tough as well, but the financial system in baseball, along with the watering down of talent because of the number of teams, makes it much easier to simply buy your way in. Not that easy in the NFL.

It is a long season, and any team that EARNS its way into the post-season certainly deserves to be there, regardless of the number, or types of losses on its resume. We all know this, but fans are emotional and we let those emotions dictate our thoughts sometimes. No harm, no foul.

The Broncos did not deserve to beat the Raiders yesterday - that is true, but if they do what it takes and make the post-season in 2009 they wll have certainly earned that right and deserve to be there - just as they would earn the right to miss the post-season should they miss out...again.

Where Games are Won and Lost - I think we all know the answer to this old saying - in the trenches. Before the season we all knew the Broncos were thin on the offensive and defensive lines. Josh McDaniels knew it too - he drafted Seth Olsen and then, during Training Camp, traded for Russ Hochstein. The team also rebuilt the defensive backfield - an asset to any defensive line - and brought in Ronald Fields and Vonnie Holliday to help. Should we be so surprised that the Broncos are struggling on both lines, especially against physical opponents?

No, but it doesn't make it any easier to watch. Like it or not, the talent level on this team has been eroding for some time. I've been talking about it for a couple years now - the failures in the Draft in 2003, 2004, 2005, etc. have forced the team to start undrafted free agents and outcasts from around the League to make up for it. It is going to take time for that talent pool to be replaced. It has left the Broncos with little depth, and when injuries do occur - like the one to Ryan Harris, or age becomes a factor - Ben Hamilton - it leaves you with little direction to move.

We can blame Knowshon Moreno, or the lack of Peyton Hillis, for the Broncos' problems in short-yardage situations, but the truth is, 3rd- and 4th-and-short/goal is all about will, desire, and want. A little beef helps too, and right now the Broncos simply don't have enough beef to get it done - especially along the interior of the O-Line.

A Bit More On Knowshon - Knowshon Moreno has talent - no doubt about it. But right now, the kid is thinking way too much. We all know the Josh McDaniels playbook is large, and the running backs have a lot of responsibility in McDaniels' offensive scheme. Moreno looks like a player that is thinking instead of reacting, suicide in the fast-paced NFL.

That is the reason Moreno looks great in the 1st Quarter - 7 carries, 39 yards yesterday, then seems to fade. He gets the reps all week, has the game plan down pat, but when adjustments are made in-game, seems to struggle - he stops trusting his eyes, his blocks, his assignments, and starts to think. Great running backs react - right now, Knowshon is not reacting.

Moreno is a young guy, and you hope it comes with time, but right now Knowshon is suffering a bit from a lack of confidence. While he certainly isn't having a Clinton Portis-type rookie season, I still have high hopes.

All this Doom and Gloom, but... - The Broncos still control their own fate. Win in Philly and at home against Kansas City and the Broncos are in. I cautioned everyone a couple weeks ago and I will say it again - don't give any team wins this time of season. Don't look at the schedule and assume Baltimore, or Pittsburgh or anyone will win this game, or lose that game. The pressure is on right now and that affects teams and coaches differently. Play the games and see what happens. For the Broncos, that means win this week and next. You can't ask for more than what the Broncos have in front of them - to control their future - Read the quote above.

Go BRONCOS!

Oakland Raiders Postgame Recap: Raiders 20, Broncos 19

Rated-R Superstar — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:43:37 -0000

Yes, Charlie Frye was the guy going into this one. No, he wasn't the last one standing. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

It thankfully wasn't JaMarcus Russell getting the start under center. Instead, it was Charlie Frye getting the start at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders today as they hoped to put a minor dent into the the Denver Broncos' playoff hopes. Little did we know that both Russell and Frye would play a role in deciding the outcome of today's game. The Raiders (4-9) and the Broncos (8-5) met earlier this year in Oakland in which Denver prevailed convincingly. Last year in Denver, however, it was Oakland who came away with a shocking 31-10 victory. This time around, let's see how the two bitter rivals went at each other. Anything can happen in a rivalry game between two original AFL franchises.

Michael Bush made his only carry in the first quarter worth an important six points. [via a.espncdn.com]

First Quarter: The Broncos began the game kicking it off to the Raiders. Not surprisingly, the ineffective Gary Russell was returning kicks. He took a knee, though, and the kick into the end zone actually benefited us. Charlie Frye, a 6-14 record as a starter, took the field and threw an incomplete pass on the first play. Out of the power-I, Justin Fargas gained a few yards on the next play. Needing seven yards, a six-yard pass to Chaz Schilens brought out the punt team. Shane Lechler only managed a weak 45-yard punt right to Eddie Royal which was returned for not too many yards. On first down, the rookie out of Georgia by the name of Knowshon Moreno carried it to the right side and was tackled by Nnamdi Asomugha. On second down, Greg Ellis almost got to Kyle Orton and forced an incomplete pass off the deflection. A false start penalty on tight Daniel Graham set Denver back some more, and they needed 12 yards on third down. It didn't matter as Royal picked up more than enough to convert it. Utilizing the running backs effectively -- particularly Knowshon Moreno with just a little dash of Correll Buckhalter -- allowed the Broncos to move down the field nicely. A third down stop inside the 10 by the Raiders defense forced a chip shot field goal by Matt Prater. The Broncos had taken the early 3-0 lead. The second possession started with a four-yard pass from Frye to Schilens. A three-yard run by Darren McFadden made it a very, very manageable third down. The Broncos out of the blitz and despite being in a shot gun, Frye hurried the throw. It wasn't much a throw. The ball just sort of floated out there and Champ Bailey grabbed it easily out of the air. On Denver's first play on their next possession, Brandon Marshall made a 24-yard catch after running his route after being put in motion. Two plays later, the Broncos ran a screen to Ryan Clady which cost them yards thanks to a very nice tackle by Asomugha. A confusing penalty pushed the Broncos back to the 17 yard line. Kyle Orton was sacked by rookie Matt Shaughnessy on the next play, and then a screen play to Eddie Royal was stopped by Stanford Routt and company on the right side. Another Matt Prater field goal -- this one extra "boomy" -- gave Denver a 6-0 lead with just over four minutes to play in the first quarter. A dumb intentional grounding penalty cost the Raiders 15 yards and a down. Kenny Peterson squashed Fargas behind the line of scrimmage and it become third down and impossible. Another blah run and it was punt time once again. A 64-yard punt by Lechler, all of which came by of the leg, was returned for a mediocre gain by Kenny McKinley. Moreno continued to own us on the ground with a couple of more nice carries. A third down blitz forced an incomplete pass on coverage by, yes, Chris Johnson! Mitch Berger, who seem as if has been punting forever, booted a smashing 12-yard punt out of bounds. Oakland started at their own 34 yard line and Charlie Frye shocked the crowd with a 26-yard scamper on the left side after a play fake. That exciting play capped the first quarter at Invesco Field at Mile High.

Sebastian Janikowski dropped in a 54-yard field goal as he routinely does. [via a.espncdn.com]

Second Quarter: The second quarter began with Frye looking deep for Louis Murphy; however, it was incomplete although an illegal contact penalty gave the Raiders five free yards. Shortly, third down and long followed. A nice crossing pattern to Johnnie Lee Higgins picked up 12 yards and the first down as well. Then boom, I don't even know what just happened! Michael Bush, on his first carry of the game, goes 23 yards and in for the score. It's his first touchdown in nine games and a Sebastian Janikowski extra point gave Oakland a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter. Denver's next possession ended up with a punt after a first down. Mike Mitchell knocked down Orton after bringing the blitz on third down. Higgins returned the punt for a decent gain and the Raiders had good field position. After some plays, Elvis Dumervil grabbed Charlie Frye's facemask and was called for a roughing the passer penalty. A 15-yard penalty gave Oakland the ball at their own 48. A couple of run plays later made it third and manageable for Frye and company. Chased out of the pocket, Frye threw off of his back foot and hit Murphy on the right side. It was a great effort by both parties. Josh McDaniels threw out the challenge flag, but it only cost him a timeout in the end. The ruling on the field stood as originally called and Oakland had a first down at Denver's 41 yard line. McFadden picked up three yards on a carry to the left side as we Raider fans collectively as a bunch were wondering where Michael Bush was. Anyway, the game must go on. A one-yard pass from Frye to Luke Lawton on a play-action made it third down and six yards to go. Ah, now Bush is in the backfield. Out of the shot gun, Frye fired down the field to Schilens. It appeared as if Schilens had come down with it, but Denver's Tony Carter wouldn't give up on the play and made a nice play on the ball. Janikowski squeaked in a field goal to give the Raiders had a 10-6 lead over the Broncos. Denver opened up their next drive with what's been working well and that's been Knowshon Moreno's legs. A six-yard carry was all very well, but then Tyvon Branch blew the next one up in the backfield. An incomplete pass intended for LaMont Jordan set up a punt and a bunch of booing from the home crowd. A punt gave it back to Oakland, but it backed them up 15 yards after the Higgins return because of an illegal block in the back penalty on Sam Williams. According to commentator Steve Tasker, a former special teams specialist, claims there was no illegal block in the back. It didn't matter what he thought, however. A timeout was burned by Frye before the first play was run. Brandon Myers, filling in for the injured Zach Miller, made his first catch of the game for a decent gain. Michael Bush finally got a carry after his 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter and it was good enough for a first down. Frye was having communication problems with his helmet, so he ran over to the sidelines to get the play yelled at him. Andra Davis almost picked off Frye on the next play. Whew, that was close. Another near-turnover happened on the next play as Bush lost it; however, left tackle Mario Henderson was able to pick it up. A third down draw to Bush goes for 13 yards and Denver's defense had no idea. A solid run by McFadden took us to the two-minute warning. In good position for points, the Raiders looked to forge ahead some more. A nice throw from Frye to Murphy picked up a good chunk of yards and yet another 13-yard run by Bush took it to Denver's 16 yard line. Tony Stewart got into the act a few plays later with his first catch of the game. The Broncos got their stop on third down and the Raiders were confined to just three points. Janikowski booted through his second field goal of the day and Oakland had a 13-6 lead over Denver. Using up 22 seconds, the Broncos had three incomplete passes and then a short little pass over the middle to Jabar Gaffney. Tom Cable used his final timeout and forced the Broncos to at least bring out the punting unit. A 45-yard punt ended the half with Oakland on top over Denver by a 13-6 score. Oh, but wait as there was a penalty and so the Raiders got the chance to run one more play. A nice run for McFadden took us to halftime.

Honoring Chris Henry before the game, Brandon Marshall scored a touchdown during it. [via a.espncdn.com]

Third Quarter: The Broncos started the second half with the ball. A touchback by Janikowski plated Denver at their own 20. After picking up a first down, Kirk Morrison made a nice tackle in the open field to bring up a third down for the Broncos. Orton fired and completed it to Brandon Stokley as he, along with Tony Scheffler, made his first catch of the game on the opening drive of the second half. A 13-yard run by LaMont Jordan followed that as Hiram Eugene knocked him out of bounds. The Denver offense appeared to be firing on all cylinders as Orton hooked up with Eddie Royal in the middle of the field. A sense of urgency indeed from the Broncos offense, Gus Johnson. A big third down and long Denver could not convert thanks to a heavy blitz and great coverage by Chris Johnson. Matt Prater banged through his field third goal of the game and Oakland maintained their lead, with it now standing at 13-9. Oakland had the ball back and Frye hit Bush in the flat for a nice gain on the left side to pick up a first down. A toss to McFadden on the right side -- hey, McFadden in space -- picked up good yardage and even a first down in the process. Shaken up on the play was Champ Bailey, and he had to leave the game. A promising drive turned sour, however, with McFadden getting the ball stripped. Denver had it at midfield. A struggling offense has gained momentum just like that. On the first play, though, Asomugha blew it up in the backfield as he dropped Moreno for a four-yard loss. A stupid penalty on the other side of the field went against Stanford Routt and a third down and 11 turned into an automatic first down. A one-handed grab by Brandon Marshall gave the Broncos a first down and then he made another play all the way down to the Raiders' 19 yard line. Denver really took advantage of Marshall in this quarter when Asomugha wasn't on him. On a scamper by Kyle Orton, Tommy Kelly was down on the field with an injury. Some plays later, Orton hooked up with Marshall as Brandon was a yard deep in the end zone against a zone defense. Following that play, a fight occurred. I didn't see who exactly was involved, but it looked like Richard Seymour against some offensive linemen from Denver. Anyway, Denver cashed in on the McFadden fumble and the Broncos had scored 10 straight points to take a 16-13 lead late in the third quarter. Gary Russell finally got a chance to return a kick and it was actually a good one; however, penalty flag totally negated that one. It seems like the game is totally spiraling out now. A couple of sweet runs by Michael Bush -- including one of the 40-yard variety -- took the ball down to the 31 yard line of Denver's. Then, Darren McFadden had a huge run of his own that went for 28 yards on the left side. After a pair of one-yard Bush runs, the Raiders were still on the outside looking in with 28 seconds to go in the third quarter. On third down and needing a yard, another carry for Bush went nowhere but instead backwards. That ended the third quarter.

Yes, this is the correct reaction after JaMarcus Russell's performance. [via a.espncdn.com]

Fourth Quarter: To start the quarter, the Raiders were looking for the end zone. On fourth down, Cable elected to go for it. A fake dive and pitch to McFadden went for two yards, but was ultimately a yard short. Denver took over at their own one yard line. The defense stood firm, however, and Berger booted it to Higgins. A nice punt, Higgins backpedaled and was able to return it for some yards to his own 40 yard line. Carries by McFadden, Bush and then Bush again picked up a first down for the Raiders as they moved into Broncos territory. Frye dropped back to pass and was totally rocked by Andra Davis. Trying to get up to his feet under his own power, Frye just could not due to the impact of the hit. The trainers came onto the field and so, yes, JaMarcus Russell marched onto the field as we hung our heads. Where was J.P. Losman? An illegal shift penalty pinned the Raiders back even further. A run by Bush was followed up by a timeout. Let's have a recap within the recap for a second. Russell comes in and we have two men in motion at the same time, a weak run to the left side and then a timeout. Alright, so the run play wasn't on him. Still, you see what it's like with Russell in the game at quarterback instead of right tackle. Well, the next pass was totally short intended for Murphy and a five-yard spiking penalty on Louis brought out Lechler for a punt. The Broncos came out running it with Moreno and Jordan, and the Raiders are going to need a stop somehow to get the offense back out there. On the next play, a slant to Stokley went all the down inside he five as he beat Routt on that play. A horse collar penalty on Routt was tacked on. There was a bit of a delay afterward with some laser trouble in the crowd, but the game was continued. A stop on third down on the ground and a fourth down stop through the air held Denver to a field goal. After lasers and guys losing their pants, we had a bit of a scrummage after the field goal. It's all going down today. Just under six minutes remained with the Broncos on top, 19-13. A run by Bush and a four-yard reception by Schilens made it a very manageable third down for Russell. A low ball to Bush, that should have been caught, was dropped by Bush. The defense did their part, largely due to the sack, and Oakland was getting the ball back after the Denver punt. After a Higgins return, the Raiders had it at their own 38 yard line with still 3:29 to play. Russell was still the quarterback. On the first play, Cooper Carlisle had to scoop up a Russell fumble. God, we're doomed. Oh, but a flag on the next play on Andre Goodman gave the Raiders the ball in Broncos territory. A pass interference was rightfully called and new life had been granted. On second down, Russell was knocked out of the game. It's up to quarterback number three -- J.P. "Does He Even Know a Play?" Losman -- to save us now. After one incomplete pass by Losman, Russell was back in there. On fourth down, he fired it over the middle and it was caught by Tony Stewart who had enough for a first down. That took us to the two-minute warning. The first play out of it, Russell hit Stewart for nine yards. Following that, he found Schilens at the 10 yard line. Following an incomplete pass, an illegal contact penalty gave the Raiders an automatic first down at the five. There were 45 seconds to go in the game. Out of the shot gun, right tackle Cornell Green had a false start. That's pretty inexcusable. Still, it was a first down. Out of the shot gun, Russell dropped back to pass and has his arm hit as he he threw. The ball went out of bounds to the right. Then, on the next play, the impossible happened. Russell fires and it's caught by Chaz Schilens, his favorite target. With 35 seconds to go, the Broncos had just one timeout remaining. McKinley brought out the kick to the 21 yard line. Greg Ellis breaks through on the first play and sacks Kyle Orton while forcing a fumble in the meantime. After a second down incomplete pass, a deep ball to Brandon Marshall was broken up thanks to a huge hit from Michael Huff. A fourth down pass was completed to Brandon Stokley with about eight seconds to go; however, with no timeouts, Denver couldn't stop the clock. The game was over the Raiders had prevailed, 20-19, on the road over the Broncos.

The caption goes right here. [via cdn1.sbnation.com]

The Report Card: I'll give grades to the pass offense, rush offense, pass defense, rush defense and special teams. Of course, you're welcome to give your own grades in the comments.

Pass Offense: D+ -- When you only complete less than 50 percent of your passes and you throw for 115 yards with an interception, you don't even deserve a "D+" grade; however, when you lead your team down the field like that to win the game, there's a curve involved. I think this is even a little generous.
Rush Offense: A -- Michael Bush had a tremendous day on the ground and Darren McFadden was certainly very good himself despite just 12 carries. Overall, a touchdown to go along with a 7.1 yards per carry average is very nice. Getting that touchdown in the third quarter maybe would've bumped it up to an "A+" grade, but we'll take this one every single time out.
Pass Defense: B -- Brandon Marshall was contained to a degree and that's all you can really ask for against a great wide receiver. Nnamdi Asomugha covered him well, but Stanford Routt and Chris Johnson didn't. Overall, the heat was on Kyle Orton enough to make him uncomfortable back there at times.
Rush Defense: A- -- A bad start, yes, but the rush defense really put the clamps down. LaMont Jordan had a nice average, but Knowshon Moreno did absolutely nothing in the second half. This was probably our best game as a unit as far as the opposition's ground game goes.
Special Teams: B -- Maybe not a great return pursuit a few times and Lechler didn't have his best day, but overall, it was a really good effort. Gary Russell didn't get a chance to return too many, but Johnnie Lee Higgins was decent and Sebastian Janikowski didn't miss.

My Thoughts and Tidbits: Wow, that was a terrific ending. Who thought that Frye would get knocked out, Russell would get knocked out and then Losman would have to come in? Then, who thought Russell would come back in the game and then lead the team to a game-winning touchdown drive? Man, that was an incredible game. The defense really played hard. The defensive line brought the heat, the linebackers tackled and the defensive backs made plays all over the field. That's how you respond after a bad game, guys. Let's finally get two consecutive wins with us taking on the Cleveland Browns (3-11) next Sunday. Thank you, Oakland Raiders, for our early Christmas present.

Poll

Weekly Recap Poll: Who was the Oakland Raiders player of the game?

Previewing the Enemy: Denver Broncos

Rated-R Superstar — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:37:54 -0000

Earlier this season, Denver won a topsy-turvy 23-3 game in Oakland. [via www4.pictures.zimbio.com]

Unfortunately for us loyal fans of the silver and black, the season isn't over quite yet. With Bruce Gradkowski out, our already slim chances just became even slimmer. Coming off of a blowout loss at the hands of the Washington Redskins, we next face our hated rival in the Denver Broncos. Denver's real season hasn't even yet started. Sitting at 8-5 and atop the AFC Wild Card, the Broncos in great position to grab a playoff spot. I'll admit that I did in no way see this coming from this Denver squad. They've definitely proven a lot of people wrong as they continue their final push into the playoffs. A familiar opponent to us, let's see what we're up against this Sunday.

Let's take a look at their schedule and see how they've fared so far.

Week 1: @ Cincinnati Bengals -- W, 12-7
Week 2: Cleveland Browns -- W, 27-6
Week 3: @ Oakland Raiders -- W, 23-3
Week 4: Dallas Cowboys -- W, 17-10
Week 5: New England Patriots -- W, 20-17 (F/OT)
Week 6: @ San Diego Chargers -- W, 34-23
Week 7: Bye Week
Week 8: @ Baltimore Ravens -- L, 7-30
Week 9: Pittsburgh Steelers -- L, 10-28
Week 10: @ Washington Redskins -- L, 17-27
Week 11: San Diego Chargers -- L, 3-32
Week 12: New York Giants -- W, 26-6
Week 13: @ Kansas City Chiefs -- W, 44-13
Week 14: @ Indianapolis Colts -- L, 16-28

Wow, the Broncos have really cooled off after a great 6-0 start. Just 2-5 in their last seven games, the Broncos still have good wins against teams like the Cowboys, Patriots, Chargers and Giants. They're no slouch.

Let's take a look at the Bronco offense first.

Pass Offense Rank: 225.2 yards/game; 19th in NFL
Rush Offense Rank: 123.2 yards/game; 12th in NFL
Total Offense Rank: 336.4 yards/game; 19th in NFL
Scoring Offense Rank: 19.7 points/game; 20th in NFL

I bet this guy feels like an idiot now. [via stfusports.files.wordpress.com]

Head coach Josh McDaniels is pretty close to being an offensive genius. A disciple of Bill Belichick's, the 33-year-old McDaniels really knows how to run a team at least offensively. There was controversey before the season started, especially revolving around star wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Still, he's around and there aren't any qualms circling around him. In the offseason, the team waved goodbye to Jay Cutler. It may have been the best thing they've done after all.

Kyle Orton, QB: No, he doesn't have the big arm that Jay Cutler does. No, it's not a problem at all. Coming over from the Chicago Bears in an offseason trade that sent Cutler packing to Chicago, Orton has flourished in Josh McDaniels' system. Orton is completing a career-high 63 percent of his passes and will break a career-high in touchdowns and yards before the season concludes. He's a smart quarterback. He doesn't make mistakes. He can make the play, too. What more do you want?

Knowshon Moreno, HB: A rookie from Georgia, Knowshon Moreno didn't immediately step into the starting role. Lately, he has been getting the bulk of the carries. Moreno has carried it an average of 18.2 times over the past five weeks for an average of 82.8 yards. He has also scored three times during that span. Moreno has pretty much taken over the feature back role, although he won't catch many passes out of the backfield.

Correll Buckhalter, HB: Buckhalter was brought over in free agency from the Philadelphia Eagles and has done a pretty good job this season despite not getting the bulk of the carries. Overall, Buckhalter has posted a 5.3 yards per carry average and has been very reliable carrying the football. Like Moreno, though, Buckhalter isn't a threat out of the backfield to catch the ball having no more than three grabs in a single game in two months.

Brandon Marshall caught an NFL record 21 passes last week against the Colts. [via a.espncdn.com]

Brandon Marshall, WR: What more can be said about Marshall that hasn't already been said? At one point, we didn't even think he'd be a Denver Bronco. Now, he's tearing up the league. Amongst AFC pass-catchers, Marshall is tied for the conference lead in touchdowns (9), is third in receptions (86) and is seventh in yards (1,008). He is probably headed to a Pro Bowl. In case you missed it, last week against the Colts, Marshall had an NFL record 21 grabs for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It'll be fun to see him matched up against Nnamdi Asomugha.

Jabar Gaffney, WR: Josh McDaniels brought Gaffney over from New England to play in his system in Denver. Gaffney is averaging about 39 yards per game when he does catch a pass as he was shutout in Week 10 and Week 13 each. Still, Gaffney must be accounted for along with the rest of the weapons that go unmentioned during this preview, such as Brandon Stokley. At any given week, one of those these weapons can step up and hurt you.

Eddie Royal, WR: More dangerous in the return game, Raiders fans know all about this speedy little man from Virginia Tech. Last year on Monday night, Royal had a huge coming out party in the opening game. After a great 2008 campaign, this season has been bit of a disappoint for Royal; however, he still makes an impact. As previously mentioned, Royal is a threat in the return game -- both kicks and punts. Not quite as dangerous as someone like Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns, just ask the Chargers about Royal's prowess.

Daniel Graham, TE: Yet another former Patriot is calling Denver home. With Tony scheffler's status in doubt this Sunday, Graham becomes even more keyed-in on in the passing game. Graham isn't Orton's favorite target or anything, but last week, Fred Davis hurt us with his two touchdown receptions. With all of the guys Orton has to throw to, limit as many of them as you can. Stopping Graham isn't high on the priorities or anything, but just don't let the people who shouldn't beat you hurt you.

Let's shift gears to the Bronco defense now.

Pass Defense Rank: 183.3 yards/game; 2nd in NFL
Rush Defense Rank: 107.4 yards/game; 14th in NFL
Total Defense Rank: 290.7 yards/game; 3rd in NFL
Scoring Defense Rank: 17.7 points/game; 5th in NFL

Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan has completely transformed the defense. [via a.espncdn.com]

Man, where do I begin with this defense? Last year, they were outright terrible. Ex-49er head coach Mike Nolan steps in, implements a 3-4 defense with the right personnel and viola. Some no-name defensive linemen Kenny Peterson, Ryan McBean and Ronald Fields have stepped in and played well. At the linebacking core, D.J. Williams and Andra Davis are very solid in the middle. Elvis Dumervil, playing the outside linebacker spot and even defensive end, he has become a sack machine. He leads the entire NFL in sacks with 15. With all of that said, the rushing defense is still just a tad above average despite improvement -- dramatic improvement. The secondary is where the defense shines with the pass defense. The team gets great rush on the quarterback and the defensive backs are very skilled. Veterans Brian Dawkins at safety and Champ Bailey at cornerback lead the defense.

Conclusion: Well, it's quiet simple: Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and all the rest of you running backs need to be ready to carry the load. With Bruce Gradkowski out and Zach Miller's status in question, it only makes sense to pound the rock. Denver's rush defense is ranked 14th, significantly worse than their pass defense which is only worse than the Jets'. JaMarcus Russell or Charlie Frye -- we're all collectively praying for McDonald's instead of Fasto Burger which can be seen on That '70s Show -- will have a tough time. The young wide receivers are up against a tough secondary and it's just setting up for disaster, really. Again, we're going to have to establish some sort of ground game. Use 'em often and use 'em all with the exception of Gary Russell as he should be used in the flat. I don't know what else to tell you. We could be in for a long day. This could easily turn into a 41-6 rout.

Feel free to leave your predictions or even your own thoughts and ideas about the Denver Broncos and how we can earn a win our fourth win of the season on Sunday.

*-All stats are through Tuesday, December 15, 2009. (Happy 44th, mom!)

Poll

Do you feel more confident in a win, less confident in a win or about the same in a win after reading this preview?

Potent Quotables - Colts 28 - Broncos 16

John Bena — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:47:44 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

7 days ago: Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall, left, avoids the tackle of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. Marshall had 21 receptions for 200 yards in the game. The Colts defeated the Broncos 28-16. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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HC JOSH MCDANIELS

(opening comments)
"Start out with giving credit to the Colts. They certainly set the bar here in the AFC. We found out why when you play sixty minutes and make the mistakes we made today it is going to be difficult to beat a winning, top-caliber football team that plays well under pressure. That team is extremely well coaches, Coach Caldwell and his staff do a great job and I want to give them credit today- they forced us in to making a lot of mistakes in situations that ultimately determined the outcome of the game."

(on whether it was the game plan to throw to WR Brandon Marshall so much)
"It is part of it but not necessarily the game plan to throw it to him that many times. We knew we'd have our chances to get the ball outside to the receivers. It just so happened to be Brandon a lot more than usual."

(on costly mistakes)
"You can't set yourself back the way we did today. We had a few third and short opportunities there and end up with third and six- whether it is a delay or false start. There was also that big penalty in the two minute offense right before the half that put us with the ball instead of on the fifty on the thirty-five. You can't give them yards and opportunities because they take advantage of them. We knew that coming in that they are the best team in football at taking advantage of your mistakes and they did that."

(on the Colts Defense getting multiple short yardage stops)
"They got penetration. That is something that if you are going to create a hole or a running lane there-you go off tackle- you're going to have to stop the penetration. They did a great job today of getting in the backfield on a couple of those third and one's. They did that a few other times too. Those big plays on those third and one's was all because of penetration."

(on the WR Brandon Marshall's twenty-one catches)
"He played hard. I think everybody on our team played hard today. Brandon had a lot of productivity. That's great but I'm sure he would trade a bunch of that productivity for a victory today. Again, individual things are great but we are looking for team accomplishments."

QB-KYLE ORTON

(on being down 14-0 early)
"Certainly not the start we wanted to get off to, we thought going in we'd be right with them all the way to the fourth quarter and we end up doing that. We'd talked all week about finishing every play and finishing every opportunity. Certainly, we didn't do that and kind of ended up like five or six other teams in the same situation-losing late in the fourth quarter to a great team."

(on the possibility of meeting the colts again in the play-offs)
"Well, we know where we need to go. They are clearly the class of the AFC and I'd love to see them again. Right now, we are just focused on getting to that point. Where we can finish those plays, finish those drives, finish those games, and compete."

(on the Red Zone being the strength of the Colts Defense)
"That is where their speed shows up, their defensive ends get so much. That's when you've still got a timing issue because the defensive ends are coming at you and creating a lot of pressure and they've got that much less of a space to defend. It's a very good defense in the red zone- we knew we were going to have to be on top of our game and didn't capitalize."

(on WR Brandon Marshall's twenty-one catches)
"In his case, it means a lot. He got into a rhythm and we got into a rhythm together. We were going after them and he kept making plays so I kept feeding it to him."

WR-BRANDON MARSHALL

(on the game being bitter sweet)
"I believe it is one of those games where whenever you accomplish something like that it definitely feels good but at the end of the day we have one goal. Our ultimate goal is to win games. I would definitely trade in a couple of those catches for a win anytime. So, yes it is bitter sweet."

(on the possibility of meeting the Colts again in the play-offs)
"I don't know about beating them, but we definitely saw today if we play our best and eliminate the mistakes we have a shot to play with the best of them. We can walk away with our heads held high today."

(on being down 14-0 early)
"It is scary! It is scary when you have Peyton Manning over there leading the offense and you're down. It is a scary feeling but with the character, the leaders we have on this team, the character we have in the locker room, we can't do anything but keep going."

(on giving a ball to a fan)
"Before the game I just felt her spirit and her vibe. She had my jersey on and that's always a good feeling being on the road and seeing your jersey in the stands. My fans have been behind me through everything I've been through and seen me grow. For them to still support me means a lot to me."

WR-BRANDON STOKLEY

(on Brandon Marshall's play)
"Those days just happen. You don't plan for them. They just happen. He made some great catches for us and he really kept us in the game."

(on making mistakes against the Colts)
"You can't do it if you want to win. You can't make those mistakes against a good team like this and expect to win the game. Every time we made a mistake, they made us pay for it. Also, we can't settle for field goals. You got to score touchdowns. A couple of times we had to settle for field goals and it always comes back to bite you."

RB KNOWSHON MORENO

(on lost opportunities)
"There were definitely a lot of opportunities out there, but we played a really good team. Unfortunately, we didn't come out with a win."

(on frustration of defense giving the offense extra chances)
"It's definitely frustrating, but you've got to give it to them. They flew around today and made some big plays on defense, and we didn't capitalize on our opportunities. Our defense played really well for us to keep us in the game so now we've got to get back to work."

DL KENNY PETERSON

(on making the Colts offense look ordinary in the 2nd and 3rd quarters)
"We just calmed down and played our game and everyone was playing together. We got them off their spot a little bit and pressured him (Peyton Manning) and shut them down a little bit."

(on giving the Denver offense a chance with the three turnovers)
"It's a team game. Games that they don't play as well we pick them up and they do vice-versa. It's a tough one. At the end of the day we got a loss."

(on having the chance to win and not capitalizing)
"It's the Colts. Now we know how to play in this league. They are a barometer of a good team in this league. Now we know where we got to go. We know where we got to go and what we got to do."

OLB/DE MARIO HAGGAN

(on what they did different defensively in the 2nd and 3rd quarters)
"We just had to calm down and play our type of game. We were just making small mistakes. Once we got that going and started playing our style of defense we made some things happen. We just came up a few plays short."

(on making Peyton Manning look ordinary for a part of the game)
"I wouldn't say ordinary. He's an elite quarterback. We made him do some things that are out of his character. We feel like we have a great defense. We feel like we can play with anybody. He just came up as elite quarterbacks do and made the plays when they count."

(on the 4th quarter drive that put the game away)
"Definitely. The Colts, they trust him (Peyton Manning) and thats why he's Peyton Manning. First ballot guy in my opinion. Once again we just have to keep fighting and have to give our hats off to them. They played well. They did the things to win. We just have to go back, look at the film, see what we did wrong and get ready for Oakland."

OLB/DE DARRELL REID

(on getting a piece of the ball on an interception)
"I don't know much else I did today."

(on the difference defensively after the Colts jumped out to the early lead)
"We tightened down. I think coach (Mike) Nolan did a great job of mixing up the calls and getting guys opportunities. I think they tightened down on the back end. We tried to get to the spot, get a little pressure on Peyton (Manning). I know Robert Ayers had a hit on him early. A couple tipped balls caused a couple interceptions. It's tough. You get a couple stops and they come right back and he is right back at it hitting (Reggie) Wayne and (Dallas) Clark."

(on there being a moral victory since the Broncos hung with the Colts who are undefeated)
"At 21-0 the game could have gotten ugly at that point. So, you walk away with a little pride that we hung in there even though we were down early and didn't give up and kept fighting. You can't make the mistakes we made today and beat that team. They set the bar in this league. They are the best team in this league. They proved that again today."

CB TY LAW

(on disappointment with the loss)
"It was very disappointing because I think when you into the game with high expectations. We felt very confident coming in that if we do what we were supposed to do that we could win the ballgame. But, you know, you got to give those guys credit. What else can you say? They are the standard for the NFL along with New Orleans. We played with them, but we just didn't play long enough to win."

(on his team's slow start on defense)
"It's just about us getting into the rhythm defensively. It's always those first couple of series. You're getting warmed up and things like that. But they were just on it better than we were and we gave them too much cushion."

Week Fourteen Preview: Broncos at Colts

BigBlueShoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:09:13 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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The Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts have significant history between one another. Whether it is nail-biting, smash-mouth-style games played in snowstorms, or playoff blowouts featuring Peyton Manning throwing about a gazillion touchdown passes to then-Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley, some of the most memorable games for these modern Colts have been against the Broncos.

This Sunday, they renew their rivalry with some new faces.

Gone are head coaches Tony Dungy for the Colts and Mike Shanahan for the Broncos. Replacing Shanahan is the brash and cocky Bill Belichick protege in Josh McDaniels. The new head coach in Indy is the soft-spoken, even-keeled Dungy disciple that is Jim Caldwell. Both have different approaches to the game. Both have gotten a lot out of their football teams of late. And while some players are new to this party, like Brian Dawkins and rookie Knowshon Moreno, other players are very familiar with this rivalry, but are now "playing for the enemy"; namely the before mentioned Brandon Stokely and defensive tackle Darrell Reid. Both play for Denver now.

For the Colts, the lone "defector" in the rivalry is former-Broncos defensive coordinator Larry Coyer. He is now coordinating the Colts defense, and doing a great job.

With the Broncos regaining their form after dropping four straight, this game figures to be like any other match-up the Colts had had to deal with this year: Hard and physical.

The Broncos are a bit of an enigma in that you aren't quite sure what you are going to get when you play them, and that is necessarily by design. During their 6-0 start, they seemed to have a lot of breaks go their way, with the incredibly lucky Brandon Stokley tip-catch-TD at the beginning of the year to beat the Bengals as the best example of said breaks. When they lost four in a row, they seemed to get exposed a bit. Their only meaningful road win was a 43-23 victory over the Chargers, but that win was later avenged by the Chargers utterly dominating the Broncos 32-3. They righted their ship, somewhat, by beating a banged-up Giants team and then later feasting on the small children that litter their division (namely, the Kansas City Chiefs).

In terms of standard stats, the Broncos defense is tied with the Colts, giving up exactly 16.8 points per game. The Broncos have 34 sacks, are about even with the Colts in terms of run defense, and sport a dangerous return threat in Eddie Royal.

The big reason the Broncos are 8-4 is their defense. Though Josh McDaniels has done a good job with a Denver team many felt would only win 3 games this year, the fact is McDaniels has nothing to do with the Broncos defense. He doesn't coach it, scheme it, or call plays for it on gameday. Mike Nolan, the current Broncos defensive coordinator and former head coach of the 49ers, runs Denver's D.

The standard stats for the defense are impressive, but when you factor in shake n bake's ever lovable, huggable DVOA stats, the Denver defense is top notch. They are ranked #4 in DVOA.

Meanwhile, the Broncos offense is ranked 21st in the league using standard scoring stats (20 points per game) and 19th in DVOA. The also rank in the bottom half of the league on third down completion percentage.

OK, those were the stats. now, we move to the keys:

A key match-up in the game is between Denver's outstanding left tackle, Ryan Clady, going up against all-world defensive end Dwight Freeney. Clady is as good as they come. But, then again, so were potential future Hall of Famers like Jonathan Ogden and Walter Jones. Freeney routinely ate those guys for lunch, and unless Denver plans to give Clady help he could be another "skull on the pile" for Freeney. Gil Brandt of NFL.com has a write-up on this match-up.
Pressure on Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton is very key. Last year, Orton (who played his college ball at Purdue following Drew Brees leaving for the NFL and just prior to Curtis Painter's tenure) walked into the grand opening of Lucas Oil Stadium and lit the place up. He was able to do this because his pocket was clean and he was rarely, if ever, pressured. That, and he had Matt Forte galloping all over the field for him. The Colts cannot allow Orton to gain any kind of comfort zone. They must get into his face, and pressure him into mistakes.
The other key match-up for the game is Peyton Manning v. Brian Dawkins and the Broncos secondary. The DBs in Denver are rather geriatric by NFL standards. Dawkins has been in the league 14 years. Starting corner Champ Bailey has played for 11 years while nickel corner (and longtime Colts nemesis) Ty Law, who signed with the Broncos a few weeks ago after a long absence from the NFL, has played 15 years. Denver will likely look to mix coverages, allowing their corners to play one-on-one with safety help against Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. This is the tactic the Patriots used a few weeks ago. This means players like Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie must continue to step it up. Denver coach Josh McDaniels acknowledged the development and growth of Garçon and Collie is a recent press conference they have as part of Colts.com's weekly Colts Up-Close, Online Edition.

As always, the Colts must take the field this Sunday against a hungry, playoff situated team that is looking to solidify their post-season chances. Just like most other "experts," I too am very surprised by Denver's current 8-4 record. But, you have to give them credit. I personally think much of the credit should go to Mike Nolan, but McDaniels deserves some props for hiring Nolan and for making some strong personnel moves this off-season along with new Broncos GM Brian Xanders.

Obviously, there are elements of McDaniels personality and coaching style that leave one feeling that he is a little bit of a punk. Though we've been bashing him for a few weeks now, Yahoo! Sports "expert" Michael Silver did write an interesting article this week detailing how "ugly" McDaniels has acted and carried himself this season. However, despite the slime trail McDaniels seems to leave behind him, you cannot discount that he has done a better job with the 2009 Denver Broncos than Mike Shanahan did with the 2008 Denver Broncos.

I recently said in this Mile High Report FanPost that Nolan was able to take a defense with, roughly, the same players that Mike Shanahan had and transform them into a top flight D.

Turns out, I was wrong.

According to Broncos fans (and it's reasonable to trust them on this), only Elvis Dumervil, Champ Bailey, and D.J. Williams are holdovers starting from last year's defense. Everyone else appears new, and they are buying in to the Broncos "Pats West-style" 3-4 defense.

Many thanks to Broncos fans at MHR for an excellent series of FanPosts, allowing communities from both blogs to interact. In the three FanPosts created (two on MHR, one here) we had close to 700 comments from Broncos and Colts fans alike with much of the discussion focused solely on football and the game itself.

In fact, our FanPost had less trash talk than the Tweets between Raheem Brock and Darrell Reid.

These Q&As between writers and readers might one of the best weeks we've had with another blog all season. Special thanks to ANGELSFAITH and John Bena.

This should be a hard fought game between two teams who might meet again in the post-season. We shall see.

Anthony Gonzalez still not ready to practice or play

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:33:16 -0000

More photos » by AJ MAST - AP

3 months ago: Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez is helped off the field after being injured in the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, Indianapolis. The Colts won 14-12. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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On the Bill Polian Show last night, the big redhead gave us a few updates on the status of players, like injured wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, who has not played since he suffered a a knee injury in Week One against the Jaguars. Per usual, John Oehser does the yeoman's work, picking out the important quotes from the show and transcribing them for us lazy bastards who would rather play Left 4 Dead 2 than listen to Bill talk about the "pragnosticators," the "pundits," and the "Pa-tree-ots." Love that Hard Rain campaign:

Gonzalez, who began the season as the Colts’ starting wide receiver opposite three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie Wayne, sustained a knee injury in that game. After having a setback, Gonzalez has yet to play, and Polian said the hope is still that he will return this season.
"Anthony is a bit behind schedule," Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on Hank FM 97.1 in Indianapolis. "We thought perhaps that he might be back starting to practice this week, but as you know, he had a setback. He had to have some arthroscopic surgery to just tweak the knee a little bit. My hope is that we get a breakthrough here one of these weeks and that he’ll be back before the season is over.

"Part of the problem here – and it’s true with any injured player – is the doctors give you a prognosis, but it’s only that. It’s a prognosis. It’s an estimate. Players heal – and human beings heal – at different rates. Anthony’s just been a little slow coming around. But we know what the issue is and we know it will come around probably sooner rather than later and we’re hopeful it will be even quicker than that."

Here is what I do not want: A repeat of the Marvin Harrison situation in 2007. If Gonzo cannot play by Week Seventeen, he should be IRed. While I absolutely love Gonzo and think he is a very good football player, the fact of the matter is the Colts have not missed him. They currently have the #2 passing offense in football, averaging 309 yards a game with 8 yards per completion. Pierre Garçon and Austin Collie have developed very well, and a big reason for their quick development has been the unfortunate absence of Gonzo. Hank Baskett, signed after Gonzo went down, has also played well on special teams.

While it seems Polian holds out hope that Gonzo will pull a Brandon Stokley, circa 2003, I am not holding my breath. If Gonzo comes back, then GREAT! I am as happy as a clam. However, if Gonzo is not playing in a live game by Week Seventeen, my sense is to IR him. Why have the distraction of "Will he? Won't he?" looming over the team as they enter the post-season, especially since Garçon and Collie have played so well.

Tip to Z.Pain

Lake Michigan Getting More Bitter Every Day

Gonzo — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:57:34 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Allen: Did you hear what Jon Greenberg said about me? Rogers: Who? (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

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Jon Greenberg, a writer for ESPNChicago.com, did a wonderful little hit piece on Jared Allen this weekend, full of backhanded complements as he drones on ad nauseum about #69's past transgressions.

(Can anyone explain to me how we can justify an ESPN offshoot for Chicago? Is it the mid-80s? Did Michael Jordan come back? Are Chicago sports somehow relevant again and I've just missed it somehow?)

Greenberg spends the article alternating between calling Allen annoying, stupid, and a cheap-shot artist, in so many words. He brings up the DUIs, naturally (not bothering to note that the guy has been clean and sober since his last incident, meaning he's been clean the entire time he's been in Minnesota), the low hits on quarterbacks, all that other good stuff, and then makes a half-hearted attempt to make it sound like he respects him after all.

Sorry, Jon. . .not buying it.

Honestly, I might be a bit biased as a Viking fan, but I don't get how anybody can hate Jared Allen. The guy came into the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick, busted his tail to become the best pass-rushing DE in football, and has made huge strides to being a great all-around defender. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the trade has worked out so well for the Vikings to this point. In his 26 games with Minnesota, Allen has registered 24.5 sacks and has transformed the Minnesota defense from merely being good to being outstanding. So, really, I don't get the Jared Allen hate.

But there is somebody coming to the Metrodome tomorrow that doesn't get nearly the level of hate that they should, in my opinion, largely because so many people are too busy trying to make excuses for him. Allow me to explain myself a bit. . .and there won't be anything backhanded in this article, believe me.

So, Mr. Greenberg, and anybody else that might be out there listening. . .let me tell you a little bit about Jay Cutler.

When we look back at the end of the 2008 season, we remember that the Vikings held off a challenge from the Bears to win the NFC North. After watching each team for 16 games. . .17 in the case of the Vikings. . .the football intelligencia out there made the declaration that the Bears and the Vikings were both merely a quarterback away from being serious Super Bowl contenders. So, when the Denver Broncos made Jay Cutler available, the Vikings and Bears were immediately named as the two most logical suitors for the Broncos to trade with.

Cutler, if you'll remember, was the guy that spent the last three games of the 2008 season not securing the one victory it would have taken for the Broncos to eliminate the San Diego Chargers and win the AFC West title, including a season finale that saw him get his head stomped in repeatedly by the Chargers on national television. He was also second in the NFL in interceptions in 2008, and finished the season with a QB rating of 86.0. (For the record, Tarvaris Jackson had a 2008 QB rating of 95.4. Just sayin' is all.)

So, with such a stellar performance in his back pocket, you can surely understand why it is that when Cutler got wind that new Broncos coach Josh McDaniels had explored the possibility of trading him, Cutler thrown what my late grandmother would have referred to as a "conniption fit." He whined, he cried, he pouted, he screamed, he trashed McDaniels in the press, and refused to meet with McDaniels, all because the coach had the nerve. . .the gall. . .to potentially explore an option that he thought might improve his team.

For such an elite, outstanding, mature specimen, the Chicago Bears were willing to give up two first-round draft choices, a third-round choice, and quarterback Kyle Orton. Bears' GM Jerry Angelo had, apparently, bought into the "one player away" hype, and was immediately lauded for bringing the greatest damn quarterback since. . .heck, I don't know. . .Sid Luckman, I guess, to the Windy City.

And I, for one, am so glad that he did. See, like Greenberg said about Allen, I should like Jay Cutler. But I should like him for different reasons than Greenberg should like Allen. Greenberg should like Jared Allen because he hustles, he always gives 100%, and he's outstanding at what he does.

I should like Cutler because he's a loser and a coach killer. Don't believe me? Here's the record of every team that Jay Cutler has been the starting quarterback for since he left Heritage High School in Lincoln City, Indiana.

2002 Vanderbilt Commodores: 2-10
2003 Vanderbilt Commodores: 2-10
2004 Vanderbilt Commodores: 2-9
2005 Vanderbilt Commodores: 5-6
2006 Denver Broncos: 2-3
2007 Denver Broncos: 7-9
2008 Denver Broncos: 8-8
2009 Chicago Bears: 4-6
Total: 32-61

This is worth three draft choices and a $30 million extension? Man, am I glad the Vikings "settled" for Brett Favre for $12 million a year. Think that chair that Lovie Smith is sitting on isn't significantly warmer now than it was at the beginning of the year?

In Denver, Cutler had a great coach in Mike Shanahan, a great offensive line. . .he took only 11 sacks in all of 2008, and has taken 20 already this year. . .a great group of receivers and tight ends in Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, and Tony Scheffler, and a solid running game. He has none of those things in Chicago. With the Bears, his #1 receiver is a guy that's at the position because Lovie Smith woke up one morning and said to himself, "Hey, you know what I think would really help our football team? Let's take the single most devastating special teams weapon in the history of the league and turn him into a significantly below-average wide receiver. Man, I'm a genius!"

(And Bear fans have the nerve to imply that Brad Childress is an idiot.)

The thing that disgusts me most about Cutler is the way he carries himself on the field. He whines. He cries. He pouts. He blames teammates. There isn't one single thing about him that would make you mistake him for any sort of a leader at all, which a lot of teams depend on their quarterback to be. He's realizing just how hard it is to be a quarterback in the NFL when you're not playing with guys that are capable of bailing you out all the time. And with a dearth of draft choices for the Bears (having used their first-rounder this year on Cutler and wasting their second-rounder on Gaines Adams), the cupboard isn't going to fill up for him any time soon.

As I said in my article about Favre's candidacy for the MVP award the other day, some quarterbacks can raise the games of the rest of the players on the offense. Some quarterbacks, on the other hand, need to have their games raised for them by the rest of their offensive teammates. Cutler falls firmly into the latter category. He doesn't know what it takes to be a winner, because he's never been a winner at any level. And there's a very good chance that he never will be. Forget comparing him to Favre. . .I'm not sure if he's a better quarterback than Tarvaris Jackson at this point.

So thank you, Chicago, for putting an absolutely ridiculous offer on the table and saving us from Jay Cutler. Thank you for actually thinking that you were only one player away from glory, despite the fact that your offensive line is awful, your secondary isn't very good, and your defensive line is getting old.

Chicago deserves Jay Cutler, and Jay Cutler deserves Chicago. I didn't like Cutler when he was with Denver, and I sure as heck can't stand him now.

(See, Jon. . .if you're going to hate someone, you should really try for somebody more hate-worthy.)

MHR Chalk Talk - Chargers at Broncos ('09)

Steve Nichols — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:11 -0000

Well, it turns out the Broncos are much better than many people thought, but not nearly as good as some had hoped for. After beating a group of pretty good teams (NE, SD, DAL, CIN) and two not-so-good teams (CLE, OAK), Denver lost to two pretty good teams (BAL, PIT) and lost to a not-so-good team (WAS).

All in all, the team is still 6-3, tops the AFC West, and has the tie break over SD. So far, so good. Now comes the bad news. SD is a team that is starting to surge, while Denver has dropped three straight. QB Kyle Orton is hurt and may not play. If Kyle can play, he may not be 100%. While Denver has home field, we have to bear in mind that SD has the "advantage of first loss", which is the concept in coaching that a team learns more from losing to an opponent than winning. In the NFL, it is hard to beat a team twice in one season.

Frankly, Denver has a tough battle in front of them this week, and I'm glad that the new format for the MHR staff picks won't force me to pick this game.

Still, I think the future overall looks bright. Really.

I was unable to watch the entire game against WAS because of my day job. I was able to catch a few things worth passing on:

First, I like that Denver challenged the Redskins deep. I saw both throws downfield that Orton made for long TDs. I've always said that Orton can throw long, he just isn't schemed that way. Did the WAS coverage break down and make mistakes? Absolutely. But that's not the point. The passes were long and on target. More so, the errors happened because the Redskins didn't respect the deep pass, and other teams may do the same.

Second, I've always been a fan of the officials, and always come to their defense. This week is no exception. I saw three terrible calls by the officials, but none changed the face of the game. I also believe that none of them were "purposeful", as some folks like to claim when they see a bad call. They were mistakes, and anyone could make them. So I continue to love the officials, and can't blame the game's outcome on them. However, the errors I saw were bad enough that I would imagine the League sent an acknowledgment to the Broncos earlier this week. Here's what I saw (on nearly three back-to-back plays).

First, Brandon Stokley catches a ball with both feet well over a foot in bounds. The catch is ruled out of bounds. Denver doesn't challenge, since it was third down and the catch was short of the marker. Any official could mess up this call, and I know I couldn't do a better job than these guys. No problem.

But then, Denver punts the ball and an opposing player knocks the punter to the ground. It seemed to me that the opposing player didn't even make an effort to slow down. Combining the 15-yard penalty with the inbounds catch that Stokley made previously, this would have given Denver a first down. Now I'm not going to begrudge the officials the first down for a couple of reasons. First, Denver could have challenged the reception, but didn't. Second, perhaps the official might have called it "running into the kicker" instead of "roughing the kicker", and the penalty wouldn't have made a difference. Still no problem. Except for one thing...

C'mon guys! How do you miss a guy flying into the punter and driving him into the ground? In Stokley's case, and in the case of Mitch Berger, neither player tried to be theatrical to get the call. A good referee ignores theatrics, and only pays attention to what his eyes tell him. Fine. But why wasn't the assigned official watching the punter (as he is supposed to do)? The only excuse I can think of is that the hit was so late after the punt that the official had shifted his focus downfield. While this is understandable, it just tends to show how inexcusable the offending player's action really was.

At this point, even the announcers were siding with Denver, having noted both calls. Had enough?

Soon after, the WAS QB fumbles the ball and Denver recovers. Nope. The official says something about forward progress and the whistle. The announcers look at the replay. The ball comes loose, the player hits the ground, Denver's player reaches for the ball, AND NOW the whistle blows. The play should have been reviewed, WAS reviewable after all, and Denver clearly got the ball back. Does it change the game? I don't believe so. Here again though, the announcers were stunned. So was I.

The officials have the toughest job on the field. Not only are they nitpicked by guys like me, but they have seconds to see the entire field and try to get a call right. They have to memorize a tricky rulebook, and they get second-guessed by every fan with replay and slow-motion abilities. So why am I bringing up these mistakes? I've written a million times that I respect these guys, and will never blame them for a lost game. Like the weather, illness, family tragedies, etc, the refs are a part of the game that players have to contend with. The difference is that the refs are trying to do the right thing. So here's a game with some pretty awful calls, and a game that we lost. Are you hearing me griping? I hope not. I don't fault the refs for this game, or any game. I'm thankful for the work that they put in, and the effort that they extend in trying to get as many calls right as possible. I tip my hat to them.

So what happened to Denver? For what it is worth, I think the loss of Orton in the second half was the critical factor. We still need to work on some issues, but Chris Simms wasn't able to carry the load on Sunday, and Orton was missed. Simms completed 3 out of 13 passes and had an INT.

The team IS working on those other issues, though. Orton was allowed to make a couple of deep throws, and they scored. I saw some more zone blocking than it seems we have been doing lately, and I hope this continues. Our team has beaten a lot of good teams this year, and really only lost to one team that I would have expected them to beat with confidence.

SD has won every game since the last Denver game, including wins against the Eagles and the Giants. When Denver played SD a few weeks ago, the star players of SD (including Antonio Gates, Darren Sproles and LaDainian Tomlinson) were inconsistent. They seem to have shaken off the fog, and are now playing in good form.

Without Orton, I have to give the edge to SD for this game. With Orton playing, but not at 100%, I have to give the edge to SD as well. If Orton is 100%, we have the home field. Now the concern goes to other injuries.

Ryan Harris at RT is still out. Brandon Marshall (WR) didn't practice on Wednesday, and Correll Buckhalter was limited. That is a lot to contend with. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

Here is a list of the notable (starter) SD injuries:

Jeromey Clary - RT
Ogemdi Nwagbuo - NT
Nick Hardwick - OC
Shaun Phillips - OLB - limited in practice.

Both teams have key injuries all over the field, but no injury is as difficult to adjust for as the QB. The edge goes to SD. If Orton can play, and can play at or very near 100%, Denver has a decent chance. Much of the playcalling for both teams may be focused on sizing up and taking advantage of the opposing injury replacements.

Denver's keys to the game -

If Orton is out, go full tilt with the run game. Even against a 3-4, the wide runs may be possible if Phillips is out.
Stop Sproles in the screen game. Consider assigning a LB to him.
If Simms struggles as badly as last week, consider giving Tom Brandstater a try.

San Diego's keys to the game -

Take away the run. If Orton is in, pressure him into running on that ankle. If not, take away the run and dare Simms to beat you.
If Marshall is out, DON'T double Royal. Denver has excellent depth at WR, as well as several TE receiver options. Instead, take away the deep game. Denver's throws are likely to be short passes, and the biggest danger is yards after the catch.
Watch out for Royal on returns. SD has an excellent chance to win this game on both sides of the ball, but can't afford to give up points or field position on STs.

If Denver loses this game, Denver is tied with SD in head-to-head games, and needs to win more games than SD from here on out. If Denver wins this game, they get to keep a lead on SD, AND win the head-to-head tie break. DEN has some tough games left, so there is little room for error.

This is the most important game of the season so far for the Broncos, so we'll see how well prepared they are.

Go Broncos!

Poll

Let's say: You're the coach. Denver has a critical game this week against the Chargers. Orton is healing from a tear in his ankle. Orton claims he can play on the ankle, but the ankle isn't fully healed. Do you...

Play him. Denver must keep the lead and the tie-break over SD to make the playoffs.

373 votes

Rest him. What good is Orton (or the team) if Orton re-injures the ankle, and misses several games as a result?

527 votes

900 votes | Poll has closed

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:23 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

about 1 month ago: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, left, tries to elude the rush of Denver Broncos' Darrell Reid (95) and a second defender during the first quarter of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)

Browse more photos »

Happy Tuesday, friends. After being up late, and watching a hard-fought game go awry, I bet you're pretty bleary-eyed, and grumpy, but let's try to make this a good day. I don't want to think that the Broncos have fallen into losing habits here, and I really don't think that's the case.

Of course, those who speak, but don't know what they're talking about, will start screaming about how the Broncos have been exposed, and they're a fraud, and every other damn thing. A few persistent issues have emerged, but they can be corrected. If anything, losing back-to-back games against good teams can teach you a great deal about your own team.

Let's reflect on this, as I know the coaching staff is, and the players are. Next week, the Broncos face the Redskins, which presents a great opportunity to get back on the winning track. After that, San Diego comes to town. The Broncos still control the AFC West, make no mistake about that.

On the other side of the jump, we'll break it all down. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. It's now midseason, and the Broncos are 6-2, and in first place by a game, and having beaten San Diego on the road. Think back to August, and if I told you that's where the Broncos would be, you'd be happy to take that deal, right? It's a little less great to win the first 6 and lose the last 2, but whatever.

I mentioned some issues, and I want to talk about them briefly. I think all are fixable in the second half of the season.

a. Ben Hamilton is getting to be pretty useless, and I think it's time to see what Seth Olsen has. Hamilton has gone from being above-average before his concussion-driven missed season, to average last season, to decidedly below-average this season. Every time the Ravens and Steelers needed to get pressure on Kyle Orton, they did it over Hamilton. Every other team in the NFL has seen that, and will try to replicate that strategy.

From former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah, during the game:

I don't know what Olsen can do yet, but he's definitely bigger and stouter than Hamilton. I have to think he can anchor better than what we've seen from #50. I am pretty sure Russ Hochstein isn't the answer, but I'd like to see what Olsen looks like.

b. The Broncos need better execution overall on offense. The scheme is fine, and the players are fine, they just need to make the plays that they have a chance to make. They have had some bad penalties, some poorly-timed drops, some slip-and-falls in the running game putting them off schedule, and lately, some bad throws. Plays like Brandon Stokley coming just short of a first down, and Hamilton getting called for a (really questionable) holding penalty on a converted 4th-and-5 are what has been hurting the Broncos offense. The coaches need to send the message that if the players who are playing don't execute, they'll find somebody who will.

c. Signing Mitch Berger was a big mistake. I think it's worth working out some other punters, but really, I liked Brett Kern. If somebody better than Berger is available, I think he should be brought in. Getting a good punter needs to be a high priority in the offseason, too.

d. Interestingly, short-yardage offense has improved during the two losses, as the Broncos have shown a willingness to throw some in those situations. It is still a concern going forward, though. Olsen may help here, if he is given a shot.

e. No-huddle offenses have been problematic for the Broncos the last two weeks. They limit their ability to disguise coverages and rush packages, and they also make it hard to substitute as much as the Broncos want to. Not every team is effective in the no-huddle, but just about every team the Broncos might see in the playoffs is. They need to figure out who their best base defensive group is against the no-huddle.

I think my underlying thought right now is that the Broncos probably aren't quite ready for the Super Bowl, but they hung with a team tonight who is a real championship contender. They beat New England a couple weeks ago, who is a real championship contender. They beat Dallas and Cincinnati, who at the least are good teams. The Broncos have a ways to go, but as first halves of the season go, you have to feel pretty good about theirs. It's not time to start anything over, or blow anything up. It's time to make a few adjustments, execute better, and keep working toward winning games.

2. Information from My Eyes, Steelers at Broncos.

a. Did I mention that I think Mitch Berger sucks? Nothing has particularly changed for me on that score. John Bena coined a new term last night, Brett Kern-backers. I liked Kern, but I don't think I am a Brett Kern-backer. I am a guy who wants a consistent good performance from the Broncos punter, whoever it is.

Philosophically, not a single player or coach on this team means more to me than the team itself. I don't care who is doing it, I just want it done. As much as I love John Elway, the team always came before him to me, too. Part of his greatness, though, was that he'd never make you separate him from the team.

b. It didn't get mentioned a lot, but Tyler Polumbus struggled at RT, especially in the second half of the game. LaMarr Woodley got a lot of pressure and forced a few key throwaways. He'll be okay against most teams, but this was a tough situation for him. Ryan Harris's absence was most definitely felt.

c. I liked the work of both Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in this game. They consistently did a good job getting open and catching the ball. Marshall had the one drop, but it was a good effort for him overall.

d. I thought D.J. Williams had his worst game of the year, by far. He was taking bad angles all night, and didn't look like he had a prayer of getting off a lot of blocks. I'm admittedly not generally his biggest fan, but he's had the best year of his career in 2009. Monday night, not so much.

e. Wesley Woodyard played a lot more snaps than he's used to, and I thought he wore down in the second half of the game. The Steelers played a tremendous amount of 3 WR sets, which kept Andra Davis on the sideline, and Woodyard in the game.

f. Kyle Orton was actually not too bad for most of the game. He had 2 bad throws, and about 3 bad decisions (one of them was picked off). He was pretty sharp the rest of the night. He needs to cut out the bad decisions, but I was generally a lot happier with his performance tonight than I was against the Ravens. (I don't care about statistics, of course.) Nobody is saying they're thrilled with his ultimate performance, of course, but there's more nuance to the situation, than just looking at the stat sheet.

g. Rashard Mendenhall was the primary reason the Steelers won the game. He got going in the second half, and it forced the Broncos to be more aggressive in the box. I used to think very little of Mendenhall, but he has improved a lot. He runs with vastly better patience and body lean than he did even just a month ago.

h. The Steelers also have themselves a find with Mike Wallace. He's very dangerous for a 3rd WR. They don't do a lot of traditional slot-type stuff, and in nickel offense, if anything, Hines Ward is their slot guy. (I think making definitive distinctions between #1, #2, and #3 WRs is silly.) Wallace has great speed, and he showed good route-running skills Monday night.

i. I liked what I saw of Ty Law in his limited action. Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins both mostly struggled in the game, neither making a great impact. Champ ought to be embarassed by letting Ward jump over him in garbage time. He knows better than that. He also got beat in man-to-man coverage several times by Santonio Holmes. Andre' Goodman was good in this game, though, even beyond his interception.

j. The Broncos use of the "mush rush" was very good in the first half, and very bad for most of the second. Robert Ayers played a key role in containing Ben Roethlisberger when he as assigned that duty, and that's what he was doing when Kenny Peterson knocked the ball free.

k. The Broncos got hosed on the Gaffney challenge, and also on the Haggan fumble recovery. Don Carey has joined my list of bad referees. I like how a return team becomes an intercepting team. I can't believe that he's related to Mike Carey, who is excellent. And he's the older brother? Wow.

3. Information From My Eyes, Other Games:

a. I watched a lot of the Green Bay-Tampa Bay game Sunday, for a few reasons. I haven't seen much of the Bucs this year, and I wanted to look at Josh Freeman, who I liked a lot coming out of college. He looked like a rookie at times, but he showed a lot of positives too. I thought he looked poised and confident, and I am not that surprised. I remember when he beat Texas as a freshman, and commanded the game. (My buddy lost a grand on the game, and he called me frantically looking for NFL advice for the next day, to "get back even." It was a debacle. I don't give gambling advice anymore, because of that weekend.)

Anyway, Freeman looked like a star that day in 2006, and he looked like he may be one someday in the NFL on Sunday. I think Tampa did the right thing, giving him some time to learn from the sideline, but it has to be Freeman Time the rest of the season.

b. I loved Raheem Morris's line after getting his first victory as a head coach.

Statistics are for losers, and today, we're winners.

And then, there's Chicago Bears lover/reporter/enabler/apologist Brad Biggs of National Football Post, after his beloveds got blown out again.

That's positive news? The Bears got smoked, again, Brad. Their best player, who is supposed to always play well, performed close to expectations. It's only positive news if he is on your fantasy team, which is why I don't really like fantasy football. (Well, that and the dorktastic "experts' you have to tolerate on TV.)

Cutler played alright, but he didn't do anything to elevate the play of anybody else, as usual, and the interception he threw in the 4th quarter did kill the Bears' chances of coming back.

It's amazing how the Bears team has assumed the personality of the 2008 Broncos. There's a good chance they'll get blown away on defense, and Cutler is almost definitely going to need to carry the offense. In my business, we contract with companies to take over non-core operations. We call it a lift-and-shift. You terminate your employees who work in a call center, and we'll instantly hire them. They'll work for us, and you'll pay us a fee that is less than what you pay for this operation. Meanwhile, we'll optimize, and reduce the headcount, and correspondingly, the costs.

Everybody considered Cutler's acqusition to be a lift-and-shift. The Bears got a franchise QB. Imagine what he'll do on a team that plays good defense and runs the ball. Football is such a multi-variate system, it's really amazing.

c. I would really hate to be a Bears fan. They have no high draft picks this year, and suddenly a lot of roster holes to fill. They need 3 or 4 new starters on their offensive line, to begin with. Orlando Pace is done, Josh Beekman and Roberto Garza were never starting-caliber players in the NFL, and Olin Kreutz is getting close to done. I don't care for Chris Williams, either. He's looked passable at RT, but if he was worthy of his draft slot, he would have bumped Pace, because it's clear as day that he isn't good enough. You wouldn't use a #1 on an RTO (Right Tackle Only), unless it was Jeff Otah.

They could also use some WRs, some secondary players, and a pass rusher. We're not asking for much, right?

Chicago has a cash-poor ownership group, and the cold weather and their ugly uniforms don't tend to help draw free agents. (Yes, both things matter. It's part of the problem in Cleveland too.) I just don't know how you can bring in enough players there to improve for next season.

d. On Monday I read a lot of epitaphs about the Chicago defense, which didn't get into a lot of the "why" they're so bad. As I was explaining to a friend a few days ago, a defense has to have all 11 players working well together, in order for it to be sound and effective. Because defense is fundamentally a reactive mission, there are many inter-dependencies among the three levels, and communication, like-mindedness through practice, and discipline make all the difference. That sounds simple, and it really is.

First of all, you'd better either be good against the run with 7 in the box, or have a big-time safety who can move 12 yards from a cover-2 shell to the line of scrimmage really quickly. The Bears can't stop the run with 7, so you know they'll have 8 in the box. Then, there's the passing game. When a team can't rush the passer with 4 players, they need to blitz with numbers. When they blitz with numbers, it makes it hard to play soundly in zone coverage, so you mostly have to start playing man coverage. When you play a lot of man coverage, you'd better hope you have the athletes to cover the other team's athletes - and chances are, their #3 and #4 options are better than yours. That's a simple fact of it being harder to find players with coverage skills than it is to find guys who can run a route and catch a ball, when he knows where he is supposed to go.

So you can't stop the run, you can't get pressure with 4, you can't play zone, and you can't play man. All that's left is to guess at what the offense is going to do, and play for that. The obvious problem there is what happens when you guess wrong. You get exposed, and give up huge plays. That sounds a lot like the 2008 Broncos' defense, right?

To apply this to the Bears, they used to get pressure with their front 4, but Tommie Harris is having a bad season. He was a healthy scratch for the Cincinnati game, reportedly because of some attitude issues, and they got lambasted. Then, he got ejected over some extreme foolishness 1 minute into Sunday's game. The Bears again got crushed. Harris is among the best 3-technique DTs in the NFL, when his body and attitude are right.

With no Harris, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye have struggled to get any pressure, so the Bears have blitzed, ineffectively. They have all these tall, slow CBs who can't do anything except play zone coverage, and they got shredded in man-to-man on Sunday, as they did against Cincinnati. If you decide to be a cover-2 team, you'd better play a lot of cover-2, because your personnel can't hold up playing man.

If Harris can manage to get his body and mind right, and have a dominant second half, he could personally bring a soundness back to the Bears that could send them on a 6-2ish run in the second half to finish 10-6. The more likely outcome is that he continues to sulk, the Bears continue to get gashed, and they finish 7-9 at best. And the Broncos have a nice draft pick. Thanks, guys :)

e. Funny story. My brother Chris (who did join MHR as Chris911, incidentally) and I were talking on the phone the other night, like we do sometimes.

Chris: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record in games where he throws for over 300 yards.

Ted: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record as a starting QB in the NFL.

Yessir. I love that draft pick more and more every day.

f. Remember the spring of 2008 when many wanted Denver to become Vanderbilt West? It hasn't worked out so well for Chicago. Earl Bennett's ceiling is to be an average starter, if he puts it all together. He can't get off bump coverage right now, whatsoever. He also runs bad routes and drops the ball a lot. In other words, everything he was supposed to do well, he doesn't. Yes, I know he had 7 catches for 93 yards Sunday, but the vast majority of it was in garbage time, against soft zone coverage. (And, yes, wise guys, I know, most of the game was garbage time.)

Chris Williams, I already discussed. He has definitely been a disappointment. This year, the Bears took D.J. Moore, a CB, who is somehow not good enough to beat out any of the pu pu platter of guys who take turns opposite Charles Tillman. He has been a gameday inactive all season, and is not even a special teams contributor.

I watched the Florida-Vanderbilt game Saturday night, and was reflecting on this. Vanderbilt has no hope in the SEC. They can't recruit talent that is nearly good enough to compete, and most of their guys have tended to underachieve in the NFL. They are on my list with Texas and Ohio State of schools whose players I am naturally suspicious of, although it's all for different reasons.

I wonder if Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Rice,and Baylor ever thought about forming a football-only, high-SATs conference. Actually, this year, Vandy would be in the bottom half of that league, too.

g. Staying with the college theme for a minute, the best all-around QB I have seen this season at any school is Cincinnati's sophomore backup, Zach Collaros. He has completed 76% of his passes for 1,229 yards, with 10 TDs and 1 interception in the 3+ games he has appeared in. He has also rushed 43 times for 281 yards, and 4 TDs, while only being sacked 10 times.

Cincinnati's original starter, senior Tony Pike, is expected to start this week, although head coach Brian Kelly did cop to it being a tough decision. Pike is likely to be drafted on Day 1 next spring. Collaros is going to contend for the Heisman Trophy next season, and he'll be a high pick too, when he decides to leave school. He's the total package, with an above-average arm, very good poise, and outstanding accuracy and athleticism. The only knock on him is that he's 6 feet tall, but he has some definite Drew Brees-like qualities as a thrower. This is a 75-yard TD run against a South Florida team with lots of athletes. The guy is real.

h. A guy I really like on an otherwise not-great unit is Atlanta Guard Harvey Dahl. He has been getting very good pad level, and driving guys, in helping Michael Turner have his best two games of the season. I beat up Sam Baker for his pass protection last week, but he did well in the running game Sunday, too. The Redskins are normally solid against the run, but Atlanta gashed them repeatedly.

i. Michael Lombardi stole my thunder, which is an occasional hazard of writing for Tuesday mornings. (The) Other smart analysts see(s) the same things and beat(s) you to talking about them sometimes. Ray Lewis definitely looks like he's doing it more on guile and want-to than skill anymore. I respect his effort greatly, and sometimes he makes a huge play, like against the Chargers, but he's clearly hit his downside. Big up Lombardi, for consistently seeing what the reporters don't see. (By the way, it's weird and unnatural to see Lombardi stand with a mic and interview players and coaches for NFL Network. Stop the madness, and be an analyst, Mike. You're better than some locker jockey.)

j. I was pretty critical of Dallas' Mike Jenkins earlier in the season, and he deserved it. Lately, though, he's been playing fantastic football. He did a great job Sunday night, and was the largest part of the Dallas secondary's outstanding effort not to give up the big plays that Philly wins with every week.

k. The Eagles are reputed to be a West Coast team, but they are not that, and never have been since Mr. Game Management, Andy Reid, came to town. Donovan McNabb isn't a West Coast QB, who does really well with timing throws. The Eagles are a vertical, downfield team, and they finally have guys in DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, who can get down the field and make the plays they want to make.

l. By the way, everybody knows I like Tim Tebow, but McNabb is the guy who Tebow most reminds me of. They played in similar-ish option-heavy offenses in college, and they have very similar profiles as throwers coming into the NFL. Tebow's stats are down this year, mostly due to bad pass protection, but he's throwing the ball better than ever when he gets some time.

m. The Chargers might be back. I haven't seen their LBs look as good as they did on Sunday in two years. Some of that may be due to the Giants offensive line, though, which is good in the running game, and below-average in the passing game. All this stuff about them having the best line is hogwash. (I've actually seen Michael Lombardi say that this season.) They have a natural LG, David Diehl, playing LT, and he gets owned by good pass rushers.

n. Brandon Jacobs looks really slow to the hole this season. He was never quick, but he's a different player. I have to wonder if he is hurt. Of course, I am prejudiced against tall RBs, because, definitionally, it's easier to hit them, than it is the compact guys. It's fair to say Jacobs has never been a favorite of mine.

o. I'd like to say that ST&NO favorite Alex Smith has established himself as a clear-cut solution at QB for the 49ers, but the fact is, they've lost all three games which he has played in. Two of the three interceptions he threw on Sunday were off the hands of his own players, so I don't really put those on him, personally. On the positive side, that play he made for a TD pass at the end of the first half was an All-Pro caliber play, that not many QBs could make. He kept himself alive with his feet, and made a perfect throw on the run.

This is what I know about Smith. His biggest problem is that he struggles with the mechanics of drops from under center which are more than 3 steps. It's not natural to him, and his footwork is slow, like he is thinking about it. That got him sacked on A-gap blitzes two or three times Sunday.

Smith is much more comfortable from the shotgun, and I think I would go to a medium-gun alignment with him, that is often called the Pistol. It's run a bit at some colleges, notably Nevada, and the Chiefs used it with Tyler Thigpen last season. The QB lines up 3 yards behind the center, with the RB 3 yards behind the QB. It provides better directional evenness to your running game than lining up in a full shotgun with the RB to one side or the other of the QB.

Smith can do all the things you need your QB to do; it's just a matter of putting him in position to be successful. I'll be interested to watch this game on Thursday night, against Chicago, because he could have a huge game.

p. I did like what I saw of Vince Young, again. He has played like he's fine with being part of a conservative game plan, which is what he needs. The option stuff he was running with Chris Johnson was effective, and he did hit Justin Gage deep on a couple throws. One, in particular, used all of Gage's vertical. He was actually a starter on Missouri's basketball team in his college days.

q. The Titans are suddenly playing some defense again too, especially Michael Griffin at safety. I also was impressed with William Hayes, who has taken over at LDE for Jevon Kearse, who may have finally had it, at this point. The Titans are a threat to make noise as a spoiler in the second half of the season. The return of Cortland Finnegan has helped them a lot, too. He's not the greatest cover guy, but he's a hitter, and he is always close to the ball. He compares favorably to Asante Samuel in that way.

r. The Panthers just make me shake my head sometimes. They are almost completely back to their 12-4 level from last year lately, except for their QB play. They really erred by not getting one, but John Fox and Jake Delhomme are almost married. Delhomme is going to cost Fox his job, for his sentimentality.

Remember when the Chargers whacked Marty Schottenheimer coming off the 14-2 record? It was the right move. So would cutting ties with Delhomme have been, after last season. Of course, the Chargers blew the second part by hiring Norv Turner. The Panthers will get their chance to do something in the offseason, but they have no first-round pick. If San Francisco decides Alex Smith isn't their guy, he'd be perfect for a team like Carolina, who runs the ball and attacks downfield off of play action. Marc Bulger might be a possible fit too, as the Rams will almost certainly be drafting a QB this year. The Panthers will likely need to get a retread, though.

s. The Saints deserved to get beat on Sunday, but they managed to win anyway. That's something championship teams do, is win without their best stuff.

t. The Texans are really close to being a serious playoff contender, but a Chris Brown goal-line fumble and a Kris Brown missed field goal have basically cost them two games. People haven't noticed, but Matt Schaub is putting up Pro Bowl numbers in Houston. Old friend Gary Kubiak needs to get his team to execute better in key situations.

u. I said I wasn't going to pick the addict Jaguars again, but I did on Sunday, because the Chiefs are horrible. The addicts then proceeded to almost give the game away. Shocker! ST&NO favorite Reggie Nelson had a very good game for the Jags, and so did Brandon Marshall's best friend from college, Mike Sims-Walker.

v. Matt Cassel was the bright spot for the Chiefs, again, and he continues to do pretty well with very little help. I guarantee that the Chiefs don't regret trading for him, especially at the price they paid.

4. In honor of Veterans' Day, I wanted to blaze a different path by doing something apolitical and propaganda-free. It's Tangential Story Time, in ST&NO. Yay!!!

Most regular readers are at least generally aware that I spent 4 years in the United States Navy. I don't think I have ever mentioned that going to sea is basically my family business, though. My dad was in the Navy for 14 years, and then has worked as an executive for companies which supply the Navy for the last 20+ years. His brother recently retired as a long-time civilian mariner for the Navy, and his other brother was a Marine, who rode a Navy ship or two. My youngest brother is currently employed as a Naval civilian mariner, presently working for a ship stationed in Gaeta, Italy. There's lots of salt in my family.

So, I woke up early on Sucker-Free Saturday, and a headline popped into my RSS reader that grabbed my attention.

Navy ship built with WTC steel to go into service

I clicked the link to read the article, and saw something very interesting in the first sentence.

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The Navy decommissioned its last four remaining Iowa-class Battleships in the early 1990s, and I didn't think that they had any plans to bring them back, despite some misgivings from parts of the Marine Corps that current Naval Gunfire Support programs wouldn't be sufficient for a Normandy-like shore landing.

A Battleship is a specific type of ship, like in the children's game of the same name. The Iowa class had wooden decks, and three turrets with three independent 50-caliber 16-inch guns each, for a total of 9 guns. The shells were 16 inches in diameter, and weighed 2,700 pounds each. (Modern Cruisers and Destroyers have one or two (mostly two) 5-inch, 54-caliber guns each, by comparison. Those shells are 5 inches in diameter, and weigh 70 pounds.) Each Iowa-class turret took a crew of 94 men to operate, and I actually served with a guy who was working in Turret #3 on the Iowa in 1989, when Turret #2 exploded and killed 47 men.

Battleships played a large part in the Pacific theater in World War II, and somewhat minor parts in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War. The primary missions of Battleships were shore bombardment, and ship-to-ship combat. The advent of precision-guided munitions (like Harpoon missiles, for ship-to-ship combat), and the reality that 5-inch, 54-caliber guns are considered by the Navy to be sufficient for Naval Gunfire Support, largely made battleships unnecessary, and the last Battleships were decommissioned not long after World War II, with a few held in reserve status. Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Missouri were each re-commissioned several times over the coming decades, with the Missouri being the last active battleship, being decommissioned for the last time in 1992. (The picture below is of the Iowa, shooting her guns to starboard.)

So, there's this new ship, called the USS New York, and the AP says it's a battleship. At first, I was skeptical, because I know that the Battleship mission is obsolete. Thinking about it, though, it is named after a state, like US battleships have historically been. I also know that the Bush Adminstration Pentagon had some meat-heads in high places of their procurement organization, who favored weapons systems with some badass factor to them, whether they were strictly necessary or not. But I would have heard about new Battleships, right? Hmmmm.

I called the guy who would know, my father Ed, who has appeared in ST&NO before, and I got my answer.

Ted: Hey, what do you know about this new ship, New York, that was partially built from World Trade Center steel?

Ed: Well, it's being commissioned this morning.

Ted: What kind of ship is it?

Ed: It's a piece-of-(bleep) LPD-17 class. A Gator Freighter. (Note: Gator Freighter is the ~~somewhat~~ very derisive name for Amphibious Navy ships which primarily carry Marines. Surface combatant guys, like me, don't think too much of Amphibs, or the people who ride them.)

Ted: Oh, OK. This AP reporter called it a battleship, and it's named after a state, which lends that some coincidental level of plausibility. I was skeptical, so I thought I'd ask somebody who knows.

Ed: <Scoffs> The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about.

The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Hmmm... Where have I heard that before?

5. What's New In Cleveland Update:

We have a great local brewery here called Great Lakes Brewing Company, that puts out this great stuff they call Christmas Ale every year, at this time. It tastes like cinnamon, but it's 7.5% alcohol by volume, so if you're like me, and you drink them like they're just expensive Bud Lights, they can really creep on you quickly.

So, I was at a the Cleveland State University bar called Becky's last Thursday, for my fraternity's monthly alumni happy hour. I was pleased to discover that they had Christmas Ale on tap, which I would later find out was running me $18 per pitcher, times 3 pitchers. Whatever. I am drinking some fine seasonal beer, and one of the guys says, "Hey, that's Mike Trivisonno right there, like 5 feet away."

Trivisonno is the local Radio Idiot, who I have disparaged on here before a few times, as being part of the Browns problems. I am not sure what he was doing at Becky's, of all places, but he was hanging out with some uglo-Americans, who may or may not have been related to him. He's holding court, and talking about the Browns, and how the city is cursed, and blah blah blah. (I hate it when people say "blah blah blah" in a conversation, but for some strange reason I just felt the strong need to type it there, like my ex-wife possessed my body momentarily, or something. Deal with it.)

It seems the work of the Radio Idiot is never finished. He bloviates even off the clock. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh does too.... That was a little deeper than a Shallow Thought. Focus.

OK, here's the deal. There's no such thing as curses. There's only confusing hope for a plan (hat tip to Michael Lombardi). That's what they do here, in all sports - even the Cavs, to some extent. (Let's face it: the Shaq acqusition is all about hope.)

Randy Lerner, by all accounts, is an OK guy, and he wants to win. He doesn't know anything about football, and I don't think he particularly wants to, either. He's actually a soccer guy, and he owns Aston Villa. He needs somebody to establish and run a program for him. It can't be a Head Coach, because he's too hands-off for that kind of arrangement. (That works fine with appropriately engaged owners like Robert Kraft, Bud Adams, and Pat Bowlen.)

He needs a Bill Parcells-type situation, which is why he is reportedly pursuing Mike Holmgren. I think Holmgren is going to end up saying he'd rather coach than head a front office, but it's a good idea to try. Whoever ends up being the head honcho is going to fire Eric Mangini, and start over from scratch, again. This is increasingly clear. The trick is going to be hiring the right honcho, for the first time since they came back into the NFL in 1999.

Ron Wolf and Ernie Accorsi aren't going to want the job, but if I were Lerner, I'd put on a full-court press to get one of them to help me find the right honcho. A guy I would make a run at is Jimmy Johnson, but only as a team president, not a coach. You hire him, tell him he only has to work 30 hours a week, some of it from Florida, and let him hire a focused GM, (maybe Chris Polian, or Marty Hurney if he is let go at Carolina?) and let them decide what to do with the coaching staff. Then, the chain of command is clear: Owner, to President, to GM, to Head Coach.

As a side note, I expect Mangini to struggle to find future work in coaching. His credibility in the NFL is shot at this point, and what college is going to hire a guy like that? Can you see him talking a kid into coming to play at State U? Absolutely not.

6. So, I know you've been wondering what a guy like me does on a Friday night. My gameplan changes every week, like any good team's (except the Colts); and this past Friday, my friend Ashley was looking for somebody to go with her to a happy hour event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It sounded like fun, so I emailed her, and we went.

I'd like to tell you that I am a really cultured, artsy guy, but the truth is that I'm not. I'm kind of a rugged football, business, and politics guy. Somewhat embarassingly, it was the first time I had gone to the Museum in 7 1/2 years of living in Cleveland. Ashley is really smart, though, and I figured correctly that I would learn some stuff from her.

There was a Paul Gauguin exhibit, which was included in the price of admission. I looked up Gauguin on the interwebz, and learned that he was a contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's brother Theo was actually Gauguin's agent, and he got them to work together in 1888. They spent 9 weeks together at Van Gogh's famous Yellow House in Arles, and they quarreled constantly, because they saw the right way to paint very differently. (At the CMA, there were several examples, side-by-side, where both men painted the same thing, and they looked extremely different.) Both men had bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies. When Gauguin fled the tense situation after Van Gogh threatened him with a razor blade, Van Gogh freaked out, and went to a brothel, where he famously cut part of his ear off. They never saw each other again.

When I saw the news that the Chiefs cut Larry Johnson on Monday, the thought of his relationship with Todd Haley made me think of Gauguin and Van Gogh. Haley is a talented coach, and Johnson is a talented player. Both men have reputations for being difficult, though, and many (including me) were skeptical about the pairing when Haley was hired. Johnson's actions, around callng out Haley on Twitter and using gay slurs, were stupid. Really, it's not too different from cutting your ear off, on the foolishness scale.

Haley couldn't have Johnson play for him again, just as Gauguin couldn't return to Arles to work with Van Gogh. If you're betting on futures, take Haley's (like it would have been wise to take Gauguin.) Johnson is 30 and well-worn, old for a RB; Haley is 42, which is young for a Head Coach. Van Gogh died two years after the ear incident, while Gauguin had 13 more years, and a lot of productivity after that. Go with the guy who knew it was time to cut the cord, rather than the one who cut off his ear to spite his face.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The worst thing about November is the jewelry commercials during football games. (Well, I guess I should be glad not to see Chevy commercials with any Mellencamp songs.) I have found the answer, friends, if you're into man-cavery like me.

If you have Sunday Ticket with SuperFan, the setup works like this. Watch games on a muted TV (or two, if you can manage it, like I do). Watch the Red Zone channel on a laptop, with SuperConnect, and listen to the sound on the laptop, preferably over some decent speakers. Red Zone has no commercials, so when they come on TV, you can just ignore the visual stimulus, and listen to the sounds of what's going on on the laptop screen. I spent the whole day Sunday with this, so I got to see a lot of football, without hearing incessantly about how you're no kind of man if you don't go to Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry, and that every kiss begins with Kay. Damn, it's great to be single. (This is Ourrrrrrr Country!!!!!)

Have a good week, and let's get ready for a Broncos victory in Washington on Sunday. No hysterics are necessary, let's just take some comfort in the fairly safe assumption that our coaching staff is driving the players to learn from and improve on their mistakes. See you next Tuesday!

Potent Quotables - The Post-Game Media Gathering

John Bena — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:33:46 -0000

More photos » by Chris Schneider - AP

about 1 month ago: Denver Broncos Brandon Marshall (15) tackles Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Polamalu after Polamalu intercepted a pass by Kyle Orton in the fourth quarter of the NFL football game in Denver on Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. The Steelers won 28-10. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

Browse more photos »

DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

General

"Let's start by giving credit to the Steelers. They are certainly a well-coached football team, [Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach] Mike Tomlin certainly does a good job getting them prepared every week. We knew we would have to play 60 good minutes of football to compete, and had an opportunity to win there at the end. I felt like we did that for a half and then they ultimately took over the game there in the second half and we struggled to do much offensively, struggled to stop them defensively, and really they took over the game there."

On the conservative play calling with 2:47 left in the second quarter

"One of our goals in that situation is to not give it back to a team like Pittsburgh. We wanted to just go ahead and get a first down and take it to the two-minute warning, and then we would go ahead and go into the two-minute offense, which we tried to do and ended up with a negative [yardage] play that killed the drive. We accomplished one thing, we didn't give it back to them with before there was 11-seconds left. We started our two-minute offense with 1:30-1:45 left, which is plenty of time if you run the right way to get down the field and score some points. We would do the same thing again."

On competing against 2 strong defenses the past 2 games

"We certainly haven't run the ball very well the last two weeks, and we had trouble protecting the passer tonight. There is a lot of things that go into that, and that is not just an offensive line thing or a tight end thing, or a running back. All 11 guys on the field have to work together to do that, and we certainly have not done enough the last two weeks offensively to help our team win a lot of games. We are going to need to improve significantly in that area and continue to work hard and get better."

On Pittsburgh offensive adjustments after half

"I know they ran a little no-huddle deal which wasn't too fast in terms of their tempo. They tried to pick the tempo up somewhat doing that. They also ran the ball effectively as the game wore on, maybe more in the fourth-quarter than anything. They were trying to throw some short passes there in the third quarter, get some things going, get some momentum, get some rhythm. They accomplished that. We tried to come after them a few times. We got to them the one, right there in the first drive. Ultimately [Pittsburgh Steelers QB] Ben Roethlisberger did a nice job of getting the ball to people that needed it, and they stayed balanced, we didn't. We became one dimensional, they didn't. In a game like that that is close, 7-3, 10-7 in the third quarter you need to be able to have effective balance, we didn't and they did and I think that was a really big key to the game. "

On Denver Broncos T Tyler Polumbus

"I thought Tyler hung in there pretty good. He is playing against two really good football players. That was part of our game plan, some of that was for him, some of that was by design for another part of the scheme. We expect him to go in there and play well and sometimes he had help, and sometimes he didn't."

On how to achieve balance with the quarterback

"There's no shortcut to it. We have to work hard at getting ourselves to run the ball better and be more effective running the football and staying out of third and long, which we were in a lot today. That alone will allow us to stay balanced. And if we can maintain our balance with some of the play action passes that worked early in the game the first half I think had more merit to run later in the game but once you fall behind and you really become a one-dimensional offense that is a difficult task to try and overcome and do some of those things because the defense is not going to honor them. We have to go back to work on Wednesday, we've got to get the running game going. We've got a lot of things to do better though, it's not just the running game."

On P Mitch Berger

"We'll take a look at the film and see if there is anything. I know there were a couple of short punts there. I know he did good things tonight, too. Punted some directionally that we wanted directional punted. We'll take a look at everything tomorrow morning."

On QB Kyle Orton

"He started well, obviously. He did a lot of good things. I think once the game became a one-dimensional game we had a lot of players that I don't believe really played as well as we would've liked. It became much more of a passing game than we wanted this to become. I think we only ran the ball fourteen times so anytime you're going to put the game in the quarterbacks hands against a defense like that who does a great job of attacking protections, pressuring the middle of the pocket, which they did and seemingly on a consistent basis tonight you're going to have trouble regardless. We have to do a better job of making sure that we don't put that kind of pressure on our pass protection, on our quarterback by maintaining our balance and we didn't do a very good job of that tonight."

On Pittsburgh's defense

"They are an extremely well-coached football team and I think you're always going to see something different. This is the National Football League and ultimately they designed their pressures and they designed defenses and their disguises to try to combat what we're doing, most of which we have blocked before and seen before. They did a better job of executing it than we did on offense. Give them credit, they deserve it they played much better than we did for sixty minutes. We've got a lot of work to do."

BRONCOS QB KYLE ORTON

On his first interception of the game

"They ran a blitz where the nose tackle kind of peeled off and relayed to the halfback. As I was getting ready to throw it, the nose tackle kind of bumped (RB) Knowshon (Moreno) off the route, and it led to the pick."

On the running game being limited in the last two contests

"We would love to be balanced, but we feel like we have got a good pass game. If it comes to throwing the ball 40 times, we have won that way in the past, and we should be able to do it in the future."

On the offense's performance at Baltimore and against Pittsburgh

"We got beat the last two games, and you win and lose as a team. Certainly, that means the offense isn't doing their part, as well. We had a great week of practice. We really did. I think everybody came and was focused and dedicated. I am sure we will get the same amount of effort this week in practice. We lost to two good football teams. They beat us. (We will) move on and get ready for Washington."

On the offensive struggles at Baltimore and against Pittsburgh

"They are two good defenses, and certainly, when you play those guys, the margin for error is very small. You have got to get all 11 guys on the same page and execute for 10, 11 full plays in a row. We haven't been able to do that for one reason or the other, and we have got to get it back on track. As a quarterback, I put it on myself. It is my offense, and I will get it back on track."

On the locker room following tonight's loss to Pittsburgh

"Certainly, (we are) not (in) panic mode. We are in first place of the AFC West (and) lost to two good football teams that outplayed us for 60 minutes both times. I just think we responded very well throughout the week last week after a loss. (We) practiced very well (and) prepared very well. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to a victory for us this week, but I just feel as long as we come back and prepare that way, get back to work (and) get back on track. We have got a big game at Washington, and it is going to be a big one for us. Hopefully, we will go out and play better and get a win."

BRONCOS OLB/DE ROBERT AYERS

On if the game plans of Baltimore and Pittsburgh were similar

"Not really, the things we saw them do on film were the same things they (Baltimore) did against us. They executed and made the plays when they needed to make them and that's the reason why they won."

On the defensive performance

"Yeah, we made some plays. They made some plays against us but the plays aren't what wins the game, it's the final score. They did a good job, they scored more points and did what they needed to do, that's all that matters. Big plays are big plays but at the end of the game who has the most points is what's most important."

On rebounding after consecutive losses

"We just can't listen to all this stuff, good teams recover from things like this. You bounce back from adversity and that is all you can do is come back on Wednesday and practice hard and correct our mistakes. We need to get better from there and get ready for Washington and that's all we can do."

BRONCOS WR BRANDON STOKLEY

On Pittsburgh defense

"They are a good defensive team. We were able to move the ball pretty good in the first half, we just didn't finish drives off and that's what you've got to do against a good team, put points on the board and we were never able to do that."

On making offensive adjustments

"Well, they're a good football team. They throw a lot of things at you and try to confuse you. Hats off to them, they did a good job tonight. But like I said, we've just got to finish drives off with touchdowns and put points on the board. We just weren't able to do that tonight."

On second half troubles

"We've played good teams and we didn't execute very well in the second halves of both games (Pittsburgh and Baltimore). That's what happens when you play good teams and you don't play very well."

BRONCOS DL KENNY PETERSON

On forcing a third quarter fumble

"Anytime you go out there, you try to get to the quarterback and make a play. It just happens that I read my guard pretty well and beat him on a play and had an opportunity at the ball."

On what went wrong after the forced fumble

"They just outplayed us. There is a reason why they are the defending Super Bowl champions. It's unfortunate that we couldn't capitalize on some of the plays that we made. Hats off to Pittsburgh, they played a good game."

On difficulties facing no huddle offenses

"Absolutely not, it's no problem. Like I said, they made plays and that's what the game is about, making plays and that's what they did. They beat us in all phases of the game."

WR JABAR GAFFNEY

On the loss

"We are disappointed with the two losses, but we are still in first place now. We had a chance to do some nice things out there tonight, but we still have a long season to go and we are not going to panic and try to get it fixed."

On offensive struggles

"It is different things every time, between poor execution and drops. Whatever the case is, we have to stop it. The defense has been playing good, but we've been having them on the field too much."

CB ANDRE GOODMAN

On the loss

"There is no panic here and we just have to get back to the drawing board and do what we have to do to make those proper adjustments. We have to get back to getting off the field on third down in the second half, which we did a good job of in the first six games."

On the defense

"Sixty minutes, we can play Fifty great minutes of defense but if we don't play for Sixty minutes then it really doesn't matter. We got a timely turnover in the red zone and took advantage of that, but they came back in the very next series and scored a touchdown with a lot of big plays, and the staple of our defense has been not giving up big plays. I think they did a great job in both the passing and running game, but that is the reason they are champs. They know how to make their adjustments in the game and if we are going to compete with the heavy weights then we have to learn how to make those adjustments"

On the loss

"It is not tough at all; it is just about doing our jobs. If you told us at the half way point we would be 6-2 most guys would be happy with that. It is just the way that these last two weeks have went, that is kind of disheartening. Both losses have come against the same division and the same type of team which are both playoff teams from last year."

ILB ANDRA DAVIS

On the Steelers halftime adjustments

"They made some really good adjustments and we really did not have an answer for them. We also did not execute what we were supposed to do. We are not going to get down; we are 6-2 and have a lot of ball to play. We are going to stay positive, and we are still in first place in our division and have 8 more games left. We are going to continue to encourage each other, and play hard for one another and get back on the winning track"

CB TY LAW

On matching up with WR Hines Ward

"That is what they brought me in for. I just had to do what I do and stick to what I know. I wasn't trying to get to fancy. I was just trying go out there and do the best that I can on such short notice. Overall I am pretty happy with how I did, but I think that I could have done better. I know I can do better, and of course it is a disappointing loss. Once I get a couple of games under my belt, I think I will be able to help the team."