Just to break up the monotony, I thought I would mention something I have noticed recently. And that is that jay Cutler is quietly on pace to break one of John Elway’s most remarkable records. So far this season, in two games, Cutler has been sacked 11 times. At that pace he would be sacked 88 times this year alone. Last year I believe he was sacked 52 times.

John Elway is the most sacked quarter back in NFL history. He was sacked 516 times in his 15 year career. That is an average of 34.4 sacks per year.

Now while Cutler had some poor years here for being sacked, he is making up that ground in record time in Chicago. I wonder if Elway will mind relinquishing the title of most sacked quarter back in NFL history?

Hopefully later this year Von Doom can help him on his way to this most prestigious title. We all know how much he likes to equate himself with Elway and this seems his best chance, and only area, to actually get the better of the best to play the game.

Of course he will have to stay alive for the next 10 years or so …>

The biggest stud from the Cardinals game has been overlooked so far today. In an abysmal game, the really standout performance belonged to the Rush Defense. Yes, that’s right the Rush Defense. All Night long the Cardinals kept trying to assert their running offense to no real avail. Get these statistics. 37 rushing plays for Arizona. Net Gain, 75 years. Average per rush of 2.0 yards per carry. And this is the topper. Number of rushing plays with a net loss…13! 13 tackles for loss. And all this from 2nd and 3rd string players who were awful for the most part.

The huge worry expressed here the last month or so has been for the ability of the defense to stop the run. And last night they did it ! Course this also forced Arizona to pass which we could not stop. But the front 7 took on the run game and excelled in that area.

Now ponder this. Since our Dbs played as though it was against the rules to break on the ball until after it had been caught, perhaps it was not the focus of our defensive work for the game. I would love to think so anyway. And those front 7 players who are being so maligned today may have been deliberately kept in such vanilla formations on purpose. On a day devoted to evaluation and when all the starters are non participants, its clear that winning a meaningless game was never a serious objective.

Just some food for thought on an otherwise abysmal morning after.

I have been a fan of this team since its first year of operation.  I read every story as they built the team, followed very game and knew all the players.  Those were the good old days.  We bought pre-season tickets for games at the Denver University field.  I watched Billy Joe's first game.  To say I am a Bronco fan is an understatement.  I didn't like pro football until then.  I still don't care too much about it other than how it affects the Broncos.  I love following one team and I hate the other 31, one week at a time.  Of, course I do make an exception for the Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders, who I hate all the time.

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This is from NFL.com and it seems like DJ will not start Sunday and he is no longer a captain on the team. It also looks like the team has expressed extreme disappointment in his actions. He has also been fined the maximum amount allowed under the CBA.

Looks like they are not wasting anytime in addressing this. I think all the actions are proper and a step well taken.

I tried to add a link to the story but it didnot take for some reason. 

I like that the Broncos are acting swiftly and letting the other team members know that this wont be tolerated at all.  I know some will say that just not letting him start is too tame.  I don't.  There is still the opportunity to suspend him by the league.  But this punishes Williams immediately and not the team as a whole .. which a suspension right now would do. 

But its  all still a severe action and message to the rest of the team.  I think it is not only the right way to handle it, but a necessary thing as well.

This is from the Bronco's site as well..

The Denver Broncos on Saturday released the following statement regarding linebacker D.J. Williams.

The Denver Broncos on Saturday released the following statement regarding linebacker D.J. Williams:

"The Denver Broncos are extremely disappointed in D.J. Williams' careless and irresponsible actions on Friday morning. This type of behavior is taken very seriously by the organization.

"The Broncos have levied the heaviest fines possible to him for conduct detrimental to the club under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement due to the disruption and resulting impact on the team. He will not start in Sunday’s game against the Chiefs and has been stripped of his captaincy for the season.

"Any further possible discipline stemming from this incident will be determined by the league's policies and the legal system."

I too was/am a fan of Peyton Hillis.  I loved his hard running style in 2008 until he got hurt.  But here is the thing.  I was disappointed in Hillis in 2009.  His contribution and production were absent.  It wasn't that he was not on the field.  It was that he did nothing with his time on the field.  McDaniels has said repeatedly that the player will define their own role.  Those aren't empty words.  Nothing is handed to anyone and nothing should be.

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The pluses and minuses of the game last night are all being discussed and cussed in other posts.  But I saw something that I loved and that I believe will carry this team a long ways this season.  To me our down fall last year happened in the Baltimore game and then got repeated in the loss to Pittsburgh.  In both of those games our Broncos allowed themselves to be intimidated when they got out played physically.  In both games you could see the energy go out of the team as a whole.  They just wore down physically and weren't up to the challenge that a nasty team presented. 

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They seem to be piling up , these reasons  to be excited and looking forward to the coming year.  The latest that I found is this in an interview from DB with one of off season acquisitions.   Linebacker Akin Ayodele who comes from Miami.  His attitude and what he has to say about the coaches should be music to the ears of anyone in Bronco Country.

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It's amazing to me that we put up with arrogant new coaches coming into franchises and destroying them.  Here  we have  a little dictator come into a franchise and attempt to put his mark on it by getting rid of the starting young QB, flushing 30% of the roster, upsetting the whole organization and then changing  systems without consulting the team .  This results in the best player on the team to hold out from OTA's, precipitating talk that he will be traded.   Will this little dictator go and kiss that player's ass and cajole him to come into the fold?  No.  He won't and now there is talk of trading away this franchise player for ... draft picks!!  Are you kidding me? 

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I swear I’m going to scream if one more idiot sports writer says that “Josh McDaniels will now be forever tied to how the Tebow Thomas combination replaces the production of Cutler to Marshal. Or now the pressure is on McDaniels to start Tebow this year.

I mean come on. Just how brain dead are these people and do they know nothing about pro football at all.

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Ayers looked like a number one draft choice yesterday.

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This is my guess at the final 53. 

I'm sure that the coaches have much better information than I do as this is based only on what I have seen in the pre-season games.  And I wasn't able to see a lot of that based on camera angles and such, so even those observations are sketchy at best.

Offense

QBs

            Tom Brandstater

            Kyle Orton

            Chris Simms

WRs

            Jabar Gaffney

            Kenny McKinely  (may be cut for the PS)

            Brandon Stokely

            Brandon Marshall

            Eddie Royal

            Brandon Lloyd

TEs

            Richard Quinn

            Tony Sheffler

Daniel Graham

RBs

            Peyton Hillis

            Knowshon Moreno

            Corell Buckhalter

            Darius Walker

(Larson's availablility gives us 5 RBs  and I think Jordan is hurt and will be IRd or put on the PUP list)

OL

            Ben Hamilton

            Casey Wiegman

            Seth Olson     

            Chris Kuper

            Ryan Harris

            Brandon Gorin

            Ryan Clady

            Russ Hochstein

( I originally had Lichtensteiger on this list, but ... that's the way it goes sometimes.)

That's 24 on offense.  Tyler Polumbus may be the last addition or I could be wrong about either Jordan or McKinley or they may go with an additional defensive player.

Defense

Safeties

Brian Dawkins

            Renaldo Hill

            David Bruton

            Darcell McBath

            Josh Barrett

Corners

             Andre Goodman

            Jack Williams (this one is a borderline addition but he did some good things last night)

            Champ Baily  

            Alphonzo Smith

            Joshua Bell

Linebackers

            Spencer Larson

            Andra Davis

            D.J. Williams

            Robert Ayers

            Mario Haggen

            Wesley Woodyard

            Elvis Dumervil

            Darell Reid

Javrivs Moss (this is the one I am on the fence about and he could just as easily be cut)

Defensive line men

            LeKevin Smith

            Chris Baker

            Marcus Thomas

            Kenny Peterson

            Ronald Fields

            Ryan McBean

That's 25 on defense.  Possilbe additons to this Nic Clemons, Antwain Spann,  or Braxton Kelley.

Of course this could all change if someone attractive is released by another team.  I see Crowder or Moss making it but not both.  And the space here could be used on offense if an extra player is needed.

ST

            Prater

            Kern

            Paxton

Just aquired to day..... should make a huge impact... and I love the uni as well.  It has the extended use of orange and is easily the most intimidating uniform I've seen...This one should make everyone happy!

I wonder if he will be available to play tongiht or are we just going to save him for Cincinatti?  Talk about a free agent signing that will make waves..

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This whole preseason and off season have gotten me to think about what it is to be a fan of the Broncos.  I have seen several people posting several interpretations as to just what that means and that has sparked some thinking on my part as to how and why I apply that term to myself. It became very apparent that I apply that to myself very differently than some apply it to themselves or others.

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I liked it!  I am now not really worried about this season. Why?  There are several reasons and, again, I will go over the aspects of the game that I was watching for. This time I recorded the game and went back and watched it again.  This time, with the ability to rewind plays, I took a much closer look at some things than I normally do. 

I was particularly interested in the match up of the offensive line with the defense of the Seahawks.  Last week, against San Diego, Seattle's defense was living in the SD offensive backfield all night.  They stated then that an emphasis of their defense was to attack and penetrate the line to cause disruption with the offense.

I figured this game would tell us a lot about our offensive line and the coaching preperation along with presenting a good opportunity to see if Orton had really been able to make some needed adjustments from the first week. 

I also wanted to see if we were progressing with the defense on stopping the run as Seattle is another team that likes to establish their running game early.

 Coaching

Again, I wanted to see the toughness and physicality of the play and both a continuation and improvement in the discipline of the team as a whole. 

I was looking for improved line play and the consistency of effort that was so evident in the first game.  I also wanted to see what had changed from the first week and what direction the coaching was taking in this game. 

The result was even better line play, better mechanics from the QB and even crisper routes from the receivers.  We continued to involve the backs in the passing game and we saw the start of some expanded use of the tight ends. 

This coaching staff has a plan and it is clear that they are more worried about the progression of that plan than they are the score at this point in time, which I like.   But let's look at the 3 phases of the game and see what the result of this effort looked like.

Defense

As I watched this it almost made me giddy.  Defense begins with the basics.  Stopping the run is paramount.  If you can't stop the run, you cannot stop anything and you can't win games at this level.

The Front seven performed in an outstanding manner against the run all night long, and first unit to the last.  I, like many others missed the opening drive, so nothing I say takes that one into account.  But, there was not one single run of more than 5 yards all night long.  Not one.  The only long running play was when Seneca Wallace broke up the middle on a scramble and got about 20 yards.  That was it!  The first week there were 5 rushing first downs, which I thought was good.  This week, only 2 which I thought was outstanding.  The stops for no gain or only 1 yard were too many to count.  For all of us who suffered through the last two years this should have been cause for an all night party in and of itself! 

There was only 1 three and out in the first half, but four more were added in the second half.  In addition, there were what I call 2 five and outs in the second half.  That was where the Seahawks managed a single first down only before they had to punt.  That is 7 solid defensive stops with 6 of them coming from the back ups. 

Players that I saw making impressive plays were DJ, Doom, Peterson, Carter, Bruton and Jarvis Moss among others.  Carter made one play, a tackle of a receiver on a screen I think it was about 8 yards down field, pursuing from behind.  Moss completely blew up a screen pass with pressure from the outside in the 4th quarter.  Bruton had a nice pass defense on a deep sideline route in the 4th showing off some really good cover skills.

I have heard some criticism of Champ's play and I don't its fair.  The completions that I have seen to Champ's side of the field have all been by the short route against zone coverage.  When playing in press or man to man coverage, Champ and Goodman both have been outstanding.  Thus the number coverage sacks we are getting.  The second sack in the first half, three receivers were completely blanketed by Baily, Goodman and Smith.  They were covered from the time they left the line of scrimmage.  I don't see where Champ has lost a thing. 

The only defensive downside really was allowing two long drives in the first half.  But I expect coaching and scheme to clean that up.  I remember in 97, when Robinson's D often let the other team make an opening drive that would include some impressive running plays.  He used straight up fronts to see what the other team was doing and it often had that first result.  But then, for the rest of the half, they wouldn't be able to run a lick because he would adjust to what they were doing and totally shut it down. 

But I like our personnel and I like how it is progressing.  This team will start well and just get better as the season progresses.  I'm looking for more man coverage against the Bears, but I anticipate it will still be pretty basic.  I'm pretty sure they are saving some of the exotic stuff and blitz packages for the Bengals.

Offense

First and foremost, Orton showed why he is the guy.  He adjusted.  He wasn't rushing throws the way he did in the first game and he showed a lot more confidence in his line this time.  His feet were quieter and he showed a lot more relaxation in the pocket.  He made good decisions on where to go with the ball and his passes had some real zip on them.  He was making confident throws.  I don't think Orton is a worry, and I look for him to be the starter all season long, barring any injury.

The running game was okay, but nothing spectacular.  However, I see what they are doing and that is working on the most complicated part of the offense.  Especially for the QB's there is no benefit to an emphasis on the running game in pre-season.  The passing game is too complicated and needs the reps.  We have an experienced OL and execution of the running game is something that  takes a lot less time to perfect at this stage of development. 

Lamont Jordan still looks slow into the hole on running plays.  But he, like all of our backs, is an EXCELLENT receiver.  What he adds is confusion to defenses.  He comes in as a power back which should take other teams out of their nickel, and yet when he splits out, there is no one but line backers to cover him and they don't seem able to.  Hillis is the same way.  Actually every running back on the team can play slot receiver and do a fine job of it.

The OL starters are what they are - one of, if not the best lines in the league.  The backups or second string is also pretty solid even as a unit.  Not as good tackle to tackle, but still better than some starting lines for other teams.  The drop off is after that.  The third teamers looked awful.  But none of those guys will be making the 53 anyway.  Brandstater was pretty shaky in his first appearance, but that is okay and to be expected right now.  With the second string OL, he managed the team to a field goal when Simms got hurt. 

With the third stringers, he almost got killed.  But he seems as tough as advertised.  Stanly Bryant looked like a statue when Reed ran by him on that hit in the back of Brandstater.  Good thing he fell on that ball.  But any QB who gets less than 2 seconds from his blind side is gong to suffer the same fate.  I was unimpressed with Oldenburg as well.  I think he is history on the same day that Bryant leaves.

I like the way Darius Walker runs.  I thought he did pretty well in the late stages and actually manufactured some yards on his own.

Special Teams

ST looked very good despites some of the glitches, otherwise known as turnovers.  The coverage teams were outstanding, really outstanding.  Every kick off by Prater the returner was tackled inside the twenty.  Holding anyone to single digit returns on a kick off is just amazing to do once, but these guys did it 3 times.  On Colquitt's kick off, he must have hit a lower trajectory.  That is the one that was bobbled and then returned 39 yards.  But that was the norm last year, and its an anomaly so far this year. 

Punt returns on punts not blocked was even better.   I counted 5 punts that had returns of 6, 0, 9, 4, and 5 yards in that order.  As for our own KO returns, they were all beyond the 30, even the one that was fumbled.  Our starting position this year should be much better than last, and the other teams are going to be looking at longer fields than they enjoyed last year.

That brings me to the only real negative in all of this so far.  And that is turnovers.  They need to stop and we need to start getting some back.  I also looked at the partial block of that punt as a turn over as well.  It gave the Hawks a 27 yard field to play with.  

Given the attention the coaching staff has given to everything else so far, I don't anticipate this problem to go on without a solution soon.  Before next Thursday would be a great time to start.

Anyway, that is what I saw last week.

I think that Favre is a remarkable athlete who has had an amazing career.  Personally I don't like him.  MSM has always been too fond of him for my taste and I have always thought that as good as he is/was, he's been over rated or at least over hyped his whole career.  But all that aside, this is my take on him now as a player and as a member of this league.

He is a selfish liar who loves the spotlight and could care less about anyone or anything other than himself.  It also appears that he has no life other than football and cannot stand to have the league going on without him.

I believe that any player has the right to play as long as he loves the game, thinks he can be competitive and some team agrees with him.  In that respect I have no problem with Favre wanting to play another season and if he's in a position to select the team he plays for, more power to him. 

But it's not about that.  It's about what he is doing to the teams that he plays for and the other players and people on those teams who also have livelihoods and careers and families that they have to think about.   See, he doesn't give a damn about them, no matter what he says.  He thinks his past team mates bear him no ill will.  I doubt that. 

He has essentially screwed over, in the following order, the Packers, the Jets and now the Vikings.  He has screwed over those organizations and their respective front offices.  He has screwed with and over the players and coaches of those teams.  And he has screwed over their fans and everybody else who makes a living working for or around those teams.

If he wants to play, fine.  If he wants to retire, also fine.  But he owes it to the people who have paid him millions of dollars to make those decisions in a manner that allows them to plan for their futures and see to the directions of their teams and meeting their individual goals. 

But when you tell a team you are going to retire, maybe.  And then you don't. And then you hold a press conference and say you will.  But then don't turn in the paper work and you keep them dangling through free agency,  through the draft and through all the OTA's you are denying them the ability to plan for the up coming season.  If all you want is to skip training camp, just tell them so.  Don't do the retirement dance that no one believes anyway.

He screwed the Packers to death until they finally said okay, we are going to plan for no Favre.  We have set our roster and we have put in place plans to replace him.  Then Favre says, "April fools, I'm coming back!"  And he's mystified when no one wants him any more.  Then he's angry when they decide to not play his game and trade him to the Jets. 

He signs a two year deal with the Jets.  He could have made it a one year deal, but he didn't.  Then the same game again.  You knew when he asked them to release him that he was going to sign with the Vikings.  Everyone knew it and they also knew he would wait until after training camp to do so.  He did that with the Packers and Jets after all.  He doesn't think he needs training camp.  He's above that.  Its for the other players, not him. 

Now he's finally done exactly what everyone should have known he would do and Childress and the Vikings are falling all over themselves to let him do it.  They deserve each other.  But when he decides half way through the season that he's too tired and needs a rest, or he's leading the league in interceptions again and Childress turns to the other two to pick up the pieces, I hope they tell Childress where to stick his job.

And the third guy who probably just lost his job for this season so Favre can have yet another farewell tour around the league.... Well too bad for him, isn't it?  Favre is proving how small a man he really is.

 

First of all, for a first game....I liked it!  Why?  There are several reasons and I will go over the aspects of the game that I was watching,  I think I came at this from a bit of a different perspective that some others.  Since this was the first game under a completely new coaching regime with significant changes of personnel, schemes and approaches on both sides of the ball, I wanted to judge for myself what I saw in the coaching of this team.  I have to say that I was completely impressed with everything that I saw.  But lets take it in order.  Since it all starts at the top, let’s look at coaching first.

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