The Rams released Incognito today, after a series of Transgression against the team.  He picked up two personal foul penalties on Sunday and today he saw the door.

Surprisingly one of our areas exposed by Defenses is the interior of the offensive line.  Incumbent starter Ben Hamilton has been benched in favor of Russ Hochstein, and Casey Wiegmann is a shadow of what he was last year. 

I like this because it frees up Hochstein for FB for those short yardage situations.

Incognito is a big guy (the style that McDaniels like) and is young.  Hopefully coming to a winning franchise in the playoff hunt will change his tune and mesh up well.

What do you guys think?

Just got a text message from CBS4 in Denver.  Looks like that toe injury was re aggravated in the worst way.  I can't say I'm that surprised toe injuries are a tricky thing.  So he'll be moved to the Injured Reserved list, now the question is.  Who's out there to fill the spot?  We have Seth Olsen, Brandon Gorin, and of course Ben Hamilton already on the roster.  We have Mitch Erickson on the Practice squad we could promote him.  Or should we pick up someone off the street?

It's quite an understatement to say that Mitch Berger hasn't really lived up to the expectations of us here at MileHighReport.  His punting has been erratic and underwhelming (Remember that 16 yard punt from the game on Sunday).  The wind up is molasses slow and it's a miracle that a punt hasn't been blocked yet.

Hillis has been virtually gone the season and the fans are clamoring more Cowbell.  We all miss his hard nosed style of running and general awesomeness.

Here's my proposed solution.

Make Peyton Hillis the punter and give Berger the boot (Pun intended).  Peyton Hillis is so powerful his sweat is actually made of nitroglycerin.  He would have no problem booting that ball 90 yards or 20.  He would be the utimate coffin kicker not only because he'd always kick it out of bounds at the opponent's 1 yard line, but he would actually end the life of the ball he's kicking.

I think this could actually work!

Well Cutler is off to a fantastic start!  Already 2 interceptions (To be fair the 2nd Int Hester slipped).  49ers up 7-0 (as of 7:30 pm MST).  This is a good game to see if the 49ers are legit.  The Bears D is hurt and has been shredded the last few weeks.  It is humorous to see Cutler meltdown and our draft pick get ever so higher next year (Top 10 at this rate). 

I have to give credit to Baltimore, their defense was ridiculously nasty and on the ball.  Now that my hopes for an undefeated season are now dashed let's take a look of what we have learned from yesterday's game.

1. Our defense is still tough.  The defense kept us in the game for 3 quarters and held the Ravens to 9 points going into the 4th quarter.  There was a letdown of the defense in the 4th quarter that added two more touchdowns, but even the best conditioned team can fatigue after being on the field for so long.

2. Special Teams kick coverage.  I've been on the Prater bandwagon this year but it looks like the problems of last year is happening again.  The kick that went back for a touchdown to start off the third quarter was fielded at the 5 yard line.  What happened to his booming kicks that generated all those touchbacks back in September?  He's had the past two weeks off, so now I'm concerned about our kicker.  The only bright spot was the return of Spencer Larsen, his hard hitting tackling assured that another kick would not be returned for another touchdown.

3. How to stop the Broncos offense.  In the Cincy game and this one, there was a common denominator in which to stop the Broncos Offense and that was to pressure Kyle Orton.  Baltimore completely dominated our supposed offensive line, Orton had no chance whatsoever. The last time I've seen Kyle running for his life like this he was wearing a different kind of Blue and Orange for Chicago.  Losing Ryan Harris was big for our run game, Tyler Polumbus did a good job filling in but he's no Ryan Harris.

4. The Offensive o-line.  Ben Hamilton, what has happened to you?  In the Mike Shanahan years Hamilton was always a reliable anchor in our o-line, but lately he's just been a doormat for incoming defensive lineman.  Rick Dennison and Josh McDaniels has to be concerned about the interior of our o-line.  Josh McDaniels likes to call runs up the middle in between the tackles but the opponents' line has already penetrated our line.  When Josh McDaniels was brought on he knew this line was built for zone-blocking and has been really successful at running ball.  Josh worked with Rick Dennison to switch the line from zone blocking to a "Gap and Pull" system similar to the one in New England.  It's a tried and true system that is successful if you have the right personel.  Asking Ben Hamilton who's at the most 270 pounds to pull a 330lb tackle out of the way for the RB is no easy feat, it's a matter of physics.  If Josh McDaniels really wants to establish the run game again we need to go back to Zone blocking, heck Knowshon Moreno is a really great one-cut runner that would thrive in Zone blocking.

Now while this loss stings, I'm just happy that it happened on the road and to a respectable team.  Remember last years home loss to the FREAKING RAIDERS?!  I hope the team and staff had their humble pie and are ready to beat down on some Steelers!

GO BRONCOS!

At least the Nuggets front office is starting to lock down some of the future pieces of the team.  Hopefully extending Balkman is a sign that we'll be seeing him some more on the court.

Balkman gets a three year extension, Afflalo's option locks him down for next year.  So far I like what I have seen from AA, I just hope that he finds his shot soon, he'll be starting soon and is a pretty good upgrade over Dahntay Jones

Here's the link

Look at the Chiefs.  They signed Cassel to a 63 million dollar deal, and there's rumors coming out that he's not even going to start.  Apparently the Todd Haley system doesn't translate well from Josh McDaniels system.

Look at the Raiders.  The Head Coach knocked out an assistant not unlike from what you would see on a Klingon starship.  If I had to guess, I bet Nolan and Rick Dennison would be the toughest on our staff.

Look at the Chargers.  The pieces of that team have been Super Bowl Caliber for the last few seasons.  Yet they laid an egg on their first preseason game.  Is it Norv Turner?  Or does the whole team in general underachieve?

Sure we had our problems with Cutler and now with Marshall.  But at least we didn't sign Orton to an extravagent contract, or our coaches duking it out.  The San Francisco Game showed us that the team was hungry and played with a good intensity.  Orton will bounce back, if not hey we didn't spend that much on him and we have more than capable replacement in Chris Simms.

I think we'll surprise and at least get a wild-card spot with a 10-6 record

ESPN has reported that Manu Ginobili is maybe on the block this offseason.  Denver is in a world of hurt concerning the Salary Cap this year.  We still have a huge trade exception with the Detroit trade that brought us our savior CB7.  Ginobli's salary is around 9 million compared to K-Mart's salary of 14.5 mil, this trade with our exception would be a huge relief to the Salary Cap.  Making resigning Birdman and Linas Kleiza (Yes, I do belive we should resign LK) much easier to accomplish.

George Karl indicated that J.R Smith would start at the 2 next season, Sonny Weems is good but could probably use a bit more experience.  Having Ginobili as the 6th man would bring focus and scoring off the bench, he can hit the 3s and is not afraid of driving to the rim.  He's also a good perimeter defender.

Who would we replace K-Mart with?  Steven Hunter.  One thing that was obvious in playing the Lakers in the Finals was our lack of size.  K-mart was too small against Pau Gasol, and the Lakers killed us when Gasol and Bynum were on the floor together.  Steven Hunter is 7 foot tall and has good size against the Pau and the Dirks in the league.  Offensively Steven would be an upgrade over K-Mart, I saw a highlight reel of Steven Hunter and I forgot how hard he was able to drive to the basket for some easy points.

San Antonio is looking for a PF, Matt Bonner was not the answer for them this year and the Spurs have been looking at other options at PF.

So with this happening (In my dream world) here's what I envision the 2009-2010 lineup would look like

(Starter - Backup)

PG Chauncey Billups -(FA Point Guard I would love Shannon Brown) - Anthony Carter
SG J.R Smith - Manu Ginobili - Sonny Weems
SF Carmelo Anthony - Linas Kleiza - Renaldo Balkman
PF Steven Hunter - Chris Anderson
C Nene - John Petro

1. Hustle, Hustle, Hustle:

A big part of the success in Game 4 was the elevated effort everyone put in.  The trio of Nene, Birdman, and Kenyon combined for 42 out of the 58 rebounds they collected.  I read somewhere (I forgot I think it was here) how the rebounding strategy changed for the Nuggets.  Instead of going for the actual rebound they just tip it to someone that can easily pick it up, and it worked marvelously!

2. Phil Jackson's Crashball

Phil Jackson during the game described the Nuggets style of offense as "crashball".  I'd prefer the name to be "Nuggets Ball", this type of play is what the Nuggets do best.  When we deviate from that and try to be a perimeter jump shot team is when we struggle.  It's ok to jump shoot every now and then to pull people away from the paint.  Think of football's "West Coast Offense" when they essentially use pass plays to open up the box to set up running plays.  We drive hard down the middle, the Nuggets win the game.

3. Better subsitutions

This is one thing George Karl hasn't done very successfully this series.  Chauncey is a beast, but he needs some rest too, so when AC comes in relive Chauncey put him on anyone else than Kobe Bryant.  AC is just too short and slow to defend him.  He can be effective defending Derek Fisher and Farmar and Brown.  George Karl needs to make sure he has at least JR Smith (Or Swish as I like to call him) or Dahntay Jones on Kobe.  Don't forget about Linas Klieza either, if Carmelo still isn't 100% don't be hesistant to put LK in.  Klieza has finally shown up and has a renewed confidence, he's fast and physical which has always provided problems against the Lakers.

4. Keep smacking the Lakers around

This isn't meant to be a hack-a-Laker defense, but a commitment to keep being physical with the Lakers.  They're wearing down (Kobe to an extent) and getting beat mentally.  Kenyon has this down pat, when ever a player gets hot he fouls them hard (See Trevor Ariza in Game 2).  The Lakers don't respond well to that kind of adversity and literally get timid towards the lane.  This is the success Boston had in last years finals.  The Lakers are soft and it's showing

I'm anticipating a close game, then again the first two games at the Staples Center have been.  But the Lakers are on their heels so they'll bring it, we have to be ready.  If we follow these steps the Nuggets will be able to close this series out in the Pepsi Center (In perfect fashion)...


GO NUGGETS!!!!!


P.S.  GO MAGIC!  I would literally giggle like a schoolgirl if we have a Nuggets-Magic NBA finals

Full story here.

The foul -- deemed a Flagrant 1 by the league office -- is Jones' third flagrant of the postseason and his second in the past two games in the Western Conference finals. That gives Jones three flagrant-foul points in the playoffs, with players who exceed three flagrant-foul points receiving an automatic one-game ban.

Well I did kinda see this one coming, when I saw it live I thought the feet were just tangled up.  But as a Nuggets fan I can confidently say that this was the right call.  But I'll also admit that I'm not too upset about it.  Dahntay is now starting to get in the head of Kobe and he is now starting to wear down, which I am thrilled with since the Lakers are impotent without Kobe.  As long as Dahntay can keep the physicality up I'll be a happy camper.