Week five started out like each of the four previous weeks. Dull and unimaginative offensive sequences that resulted in more three and outs than points on the board. Willis McGahee provided a few exciting moments, but the Chargers defense had every passing play completely diagnosed and every receiver double covered to perfection. McCoy was more than content to continue running plays that gave no opportunity for our playmakers to make plays.

Kyle Orton was the perfect compliment to McCoy’s ‘bore them to death’ offense. Knowing his job was on the line, Orton struggled and pressed to make something - anything - happen. Orton, not a pressure player, threw bad pass after bad pass and compounded the injury with really stupid decision making. The harder he tried the worse he looked. Some time during the half time break, Kyle Orton’s career came to and end.

I was shocked beyond belief when Tim Tebow entered the game. It was a rather cruel trick the network played on all of us - showing Tebow trot out onto the field just before entering a four minute commercial break. Upon the return from commercial we found out that Tebow Time had not yet arrived.

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Green Bay receives the opening kickoff. First possession results in a fumble advanced for a Touchdown. Green Bay’s second drive meets the same fate as the first drive - fumble advanced for a touchdown. Denver’s offense does not even see the field until it is already up 14-0.

Our struggling QB manages a paltry 11/20 and 101 yards - of course throwing an INT in for good measure. The running game is its typical inept version - stick your nose in even if it is getting knocked off with every attempt - 31 attempts nets a grand total of 92 yards.

The Defense, while starting strong, gives up over 400 yards of total offense.

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We ended last year second to last in the NFL at 4-12. We near dead last in many defensive statistics. Our running game was non existent for the majority of the season. Our passing offense managed to lead the league through much of the season, but unable to convert critical third downs or score in the red zone. This is the state of the Team that John Fox and John Elway inherited.

The two heart breaking losses clearly show we are a team that has a lot of work yet to do. Knowing you are within field goal range, it is particularly sickening when you see the chance to win slip away with an interception. When that interception comes from the hand of Kyle Orton instead of Tim Tebow it become infuriating for many.

Those looking for a Kyle Orton apology piece will almost certainly find it here. That is not my intent. The real purpose of this post is to help ask the essential question: Are we better as a tem under the leadership of John Fox and John Elway?

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This whole Tebow chanting thing and QB controversy is seriously getting in the way of our ability to enjoy the game and to enjoy Mile High Report. This is something that has grown to the proportions that it has reached the team, and has the potential to cause damage to our team. The idea for this post was born in the response section of Trinity’s "Ya its an Orton Thing" post. Unfortunately, I got my dander up in response to what I considered to be irrational condemnation of every thing Kyle Orton and offense did on Monday night. I took off my fans hat and put on that old comfortable debaters cap and proceeded to unload on Trinity15, Core Grind, Asinsoin and Tunesmith. To each of you I apologize, that behavior is not appropriate on a sports blog.

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Wow, the only thing more depressing than last nights game was logging into the site this morning and see the reaction towards Kyle Orton. We lost. We lost a very physical game by three points. We did not lose by 40 points. We were beat by a much more physical football team. The guys, each one of them, kept their head up and kept pushing ahead. Yes, we got beat, but this team is so far ahead of the team we had last year that I cannot escape a sense of optimism even while in the dispair of this loss.

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Dear John ... or who ever is in charge of site security.

Over the past several weeks I have encountered malware attacks when attempting to log onto Mile High Report.  At first the page starts to load as normal, then I am automatically redirected to a numbered domain that pretends to run a virus scan and informs me I have viruses.  My own anti virus program kicks in and blocks any further activity from this site.  I do not get this every time I bring up Mile High Report, more like about 25% of the time.  This happens only on Mile High Report so I am fairly certain that the problem does not reside on my computer.  I suspect it may be related to one of the rotating advertisers. 

The performance Sunday drove home the fact that much more than organization and head coaching are missing from this team. We are a team that has been lacking any sort of identity. We are a team stocked with good situational and rotational players, but nearly void of impact players. McDaniels was attempting to create a system of winning where players could be plugged into that system at will, and the winning would continue because of the system. A total pipe dream!

I want Lyle Alzado back! Where is Rulon Jones, Tevor Price and Al Wilson?

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Two posts are currently generating a lot of activity. They are calling for Kyle Orton to be traded and Tim Tebow to be pressed into the starting role. The bulk of the discussion centers around the performance of Kyle Orton and the hoped for performance of Tim Tebow. I think many of the fans contributing here are venting their frustration, which is all good and well. But I would like to separate a few issues so we can actually look at the core subject. Here are the assumptions for this discussion:

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1.   Understand that WINS are just as important as building for the future.  There is an old saying that a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.  This applys to football as well.  Professional sports is an entertainment industry.  Entertain the the fans or the revenue stream drys up very quickly.  Fans are not entertained by 413-12 blowouts at home, or by losing 17 of 22 games.

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The conversation concerning the potential fate of Josh McDaniels has a tendency to get a little heated. The biggest argument I hear from the ‘keep McD’ crowd is that it takes three years to rebuild a team, and that dumping him now would mean we start that three year cycle all over again. Frankly, that is a very poor argument.

The argument assumes several things. First it assumes there is a magic 3 year building period. I don’t really buy into that. I seen many teams go from worst to first in one year. I seen others that are bottom dwellers no matter what they try. If there is a magical three year rebuilding period then we still have three years left. Our defense is terrible! It was bad enough when Shannahan was fired. Nearing two years into the McDaniels era it is now even worse. The entire defensive side of the team needs to be completely rebuilt and restocked.

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Gerald Phipps

Edgar Kaiser, Jr.

Pat Bowlen

Red Miller

Dan Reeves

Wade Phillips

Mike Shannahan

Josh McDaniels

Like tens or maybe even hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, I was converted to the ranks of loyal Denver Bronco fans during the miracle season on 1977. The Broncos are, and forever will be, personified by Tom Jackson, Randy Gradishar, Bob Swenson, Joe Rizzo, and Louis Wright.

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I was one that had been calling for the fireing of Shannahan for a few years before it happened.  I totally embraced Josh McDaniels and liked the Chicago deal to bring in Orton.  I have defended McD consistently.  That is all over.

Our beloved Broncos are in the longest playoff drought since the early 60's.

We have gone 4-12 in the last 16 games.

This is the worst start I have experianced with the Broncos - dating back to 1977.

Now we on course to allow the Raiders 75 to 100 points!  The RAIDERS!  Will they reach 300 yards rushing?

Time to stop the madness.  Pat Bowlen needs to step up to the mic this evening and announce that McD is being sent back to New England and Micky Mouse will become the intrim head coach.  Mickey certainly could not do any worse.

Tonite we had our first look at Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow as Denver Broncos.  I feel it safe to say that for the moment there is going to be no QB controversy in Bronco land this year.  Orton was very impressive.  The thing that stood out most was there appeared to be no 'thought' time before he delivered the ball.  He knew the plays, knew where to go, read the keys and instinctively delivered the ball.  In contrast, Brady Quinn was very definately thinking his way through each play and telegraphing to the defense where he was going.   Quinn has a lot of ability, but he carries a lot of baggage into Denver with him.  He is being pushed by Tebow from behind and watching Orton pull away in front.  Quinn needs to develop to the point where he does not think so much and reacts quicker.

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I guess I am probably not alone in feeling very disappointed in todays loss.  I do see that our record will almost certainly be better this year than last years.  I do see the Broncos in the playoffs and still potentially win one.  This is an improvement over last year, which is all we could realisticly hope for with a new head coach and a new system.  Had we not started off 6-0 I would probably feel pretty excited for our play off prospects.  Having lost 6 of our last 8 games I am not very encouraged.  I do look forward to our guys maturing through the next three or four games.

Area's I think we have improved in: Kyle Orton is definately heads and shoulders better than that guy up north.  Having the legiondary secondary is a thing to watch - seeing the development of the younger players is unbeliveable.  We have a great running back in KM.

We took a giant step backwards in the offensive line.

The season is not over - the Broncos have won the super bowl from a wild card spot before.  I keep hoping.

Way back during training camp I made my predictions.  Throw out the Washington debackle and swap the SD games and I was pretty darn close.  In my prediction post I said the Broncos would play well, playoff well, but still come up short.  As fans we always like to think we can win any game, and we find ways in our mind to even see it as likely.  I really would have loved to have been proven wrong on this game.  There is simply too much to prepare for when you travel to Indy.  But this was a trip where the Broncos won much more than they lost, it will help them be more than a one and out in the playoffs.

Yesterday we put together a defensive scheme taylor made for Mr. Manning.  Obviously the plan as it was written had some fatal flaws and we spotted Indy 21 points.  Once Nolan had a chance to see Peyton's reactions to it he made the adjustments and suddenly turned Manning into an 'average QB'.  Our 'Greybeards' were every where! In this scheme it was very much the secondary giving the front line time to get to Manning - not great presure up front, but enough to prevent the recievers from coming free. 

On offense I was less than pleased at the choice to power inside on short yardage,  A hurt Buck and dinged up Larsen and Scheffler certainly did not help us out at all. 

Our chances at the AFC west title pretty much slipped away in Dallas.  We are likely to be the fifth seed in the playoffs most likely playing in New England.  Not that our 'Greybeards' need any confidence, but coming out of yesterdays game they know they can stop anyone now.  I see Denver getting past the Pats in fine shape.

As the lowest seeded team we will get to revisit Indy in round two.  Yesterday's game becomes hyper critical.  We probed indy, found a weakness and experimented with it.  Indy will have to react to what we did - we found a way to stop them and they did not find a way to counter.  The number of different looks available with our personel is almost impossible to anticipate.  Having now gained real game experiance with this scheme, Nolan will be able to adjust it, tune it, and enhance it.  Indy can only prepare for what they have already seen.

Our objective on offense has to be getting that running game going.  Even without the running game our offense still worked well for the most part.  Indy was very successful at making us one dimensional - #15 - we lose when we cannot pound the rock.  Indy's defense is just too stout to limit them to ten yards beyond the line of scrimage.  In the next 4 games we need to show them a new tendancy of deep threats.  Coaches and players always say never look beyond the next game.  McD is a chess player, he will be looking several moves ahead - while focusing on the next game.  A couple times in years past we beat Indy in the regular season only to be blown out in the playoffs.  This year I believe we turn the tables.  Maybe not a blow out, but what we learned yesterday will result in a big ole W in January.

The AFC championship game - will it be against SD or Cincy?  Hate to say it but SD has been playing some real tough football lately.

In golf they say you drive for show you put for dough.  As the Titans are trying very hard to prove, it is no how you start the season that counts, it is how you finish it.  The objective of the first three months of football is to set yourself up for December.  This is the month in which championship teams are made. 

So what teams are ready to play real football?  Based on the last weekend there are a few that clearly are.  Both Pittsburg and Baltimore are ready they played some real smash mouth football yesterday.  The Bengals appear ready for the final month.  How about them Pats?  They have their hands full tonite.  But winning is not so important as finding the intensity to carry through the final month.  Will Indy dispatch the newly confident Titans?

Chargers?  No one can deny they are hot right now.  Their win streak will almost certainly extend to 7 games.  When they get the lead they sure know how to pile it on and run up the stats.  But how are they going to respond when its midway through the 4th and VY leads the Titans to a go ahead touch down?  They are the team to beat in the west, they control their own fate.  It will be two weeks before we know if they are really ready to play December football.  They are a good December team so I would not be surprised to see them whoop the Boys.  They have three serious tests ahead of them and must win two of the three.

And Our Denver Broncos?  If the giants game is an indication then we are ready for December.  We are set up perfectly to snatch the divisional championship - or to fade away as one more rebuilding program.  Our December begins in the worst of all possible environments - Arrowhead.  The spear in the heart of 16 Broncos teams that have made that visit in December.  Shanny could not win there, Reeves could not win there, and Philips who could win there has his hands full with other issues.  On paper we should be able to man handle the Chiefs just like the Chargers did - but we are bucking a long tradition of failure.  We will know on Sunday if the Orange and Blue are ready for December or not.

We have three divisional games left - the Chargers are done in the Division at 5-1.  Every Divisional game is a must win if we have any hope for the Divisional crown.  We have a great test against one of the top three teams - we can afford to lose this one - we cannot afford to play poorly, we cannot afford to suffer moral defeats.  We NEED to play INDY at our very very best so we can evaluate our strengths and weaknesses against the class of the leauge.  We can beat them, even in their own house.  Unlike years past, I would much prefer to use the regular season game as a coaching game and save the win for the playoffs.  That leaves the Philly game.  This one is critical.  My outlook is that if we win this one we have the West and a ligitimate shot to the AFC championship at least.  If we lose it we sit home.

I am excited - the BEST month of football begins now!

The month of November is behind us as Broncos fans - and what a way to end it!  I am sure many here shared my frustration as we saw our team virtually self distruct.  Last nights game was such a big win in terms of keeping any playoff hopes alive - but it was much more than that.  It was an emotional lift for the team and the whole Rocky Mountain area.  Went to 7-11 this morning for a cup a joe .... it was so great to once again hear the clerks and customers laughing and joking with the Broncos as the center of the conversation. It is so great to see our Mo... F...in team return and dominate in all three phases of the game.  I bet the retailers up and down the front range as seeing just a little bit more joy in the cash registers ---- the gloom is gone!

When I got back from the store I decided I should see just how much damage November did in terms of play off position.  We are obviously in the thick of the wild card race.  We have a loss to the Steelers and will not play the Jags.  We have five games left.  Two look to be very tough - Indy and Philly.  If we can split those and win the others we will finish at 11-5.  I see that as the best likely outcome.  To make it into the playoffs we will need some help.

Obvioulsy in November we surrendered control of the AFC West to the Chargers and now sit one game behind them.  If the Charges can get through their final 6 games with only one loss then they are the AFC West champs - nothing we can do about it.  Assuming we win our remaining divisional games and SD beats the Chiefs this Sunday we will have split the head to head series and have identical divisional records.  The third tie breaker is winning percentage in common games.  This year we share 7 non divisional opponents.  So far Denver is 3-3 with one game left to play.  The Chargers are 2-2 with 3 to play. 

Of that group Denver has yet to play the Eagles.  SD has a real tough stretch - playing at Dallas, hosting Cincy, (titans) and then the final game against Washington.  To win the Division SD must win two of those matchups and lose no more than 2 games in the final six.  If Denver fails to beat the Eagles it is pretty much over for the AFC West.

We lost the head to head against the Steelers, so we need a better record to beat them out for a wild card slot.  The Steelers will play the Ravins twice, host the Pack and finish at Miami.  They need to lose 2 games and have a pretty good chance of doing so.

Teams of note the Jags have to play yet: INDY, Huston (come on Kube - help us out) and New England.  The Jags are 5-2 in conference play.  The Broncos are 5-3.  The two team each play 5 games against 4 common opponents which bring up tie breaker number 3.  Assume Denver loses to Indy and wins twice against KC.  The Jags would need to win only one of the games against Indy/NE to edge Denver out in both tiebreakers.  If Denver beats Indy then the Jags need both wins. 

It is very possible that an 11-5 team will not be invited to playoffs this year.  Denver trails in most tiebreakers due to the poor performance in November.  This is where the season becomes a lot of fun.  Every game from here on out is critical.  No one game is a make or break yet, but the race for both the division and the wild cards is very very tight going down the stretch.  The two games remaining of greatest significance are against Indy and Philly - but any loss makes the goal of the Division or the Playoff just that much harder.

Here is hoping for yet another six game winning streak!

Over the past four games reality has decided to encroach into my previously perfect world.  For six weeks I lived high on the hog in LaLaland where the economy was great and the Broncos did not lose.  Yuck!  I hate this reality crap!

In the haze of LaLa Land induced delirium some of the great things about this years team were lost, or at least greatly minimized.  Some of the bad things were gloss over, or even made to seem a great asset.  Now with a full dose of reality and a good nights sleep I think I can see this team a little bit more clearly.

First observation, life is clearly unfair.  Chris Simms is a good quarterback that is capable of starting for many NFL teams.  Due to an unfortunate accident and poor performance in the last 2 games he will most likely never be given the chance to show what he can still do.  He was not mentally prepared for either game.  Much of this has to do with the complexity of the offense and, I suppose, the amount of time that the staff spent preparing our starter to the exclusion of the back ups.  Simms will collect the rest of his contract from Bowlen, but will most likely never see the feild again.

On a related note: The is an old saying that if you don't like your home just go away for awhile ... but keep the key.  I was very content with Kyle Orton, based mostly on the won loss record and protecting the football.  After watching Simms for three quarters I was estatic to see Kyle return!  I saw things in Orton that I had come to expect and therefore did not appriciate.  WE HAVE A GREAT QUARTERBACK!!!  Crisp clean passes, great placement, good velocity when needed, and an ability to see and read the whole feild.  Oh yeah, he is a tough guy also ... maybe not as tough as Simms or McMahn or a couple others, but still a tough guy.  After his first drive they showed him on the bench just cringing in pain - come back from commercial and there is Kyle up and staying loose.  QB controversy settled!!!!

Moreno, not there yet - but if this is as close as he ever gets then he is still a keeper!  8 yards per carry against a very good and very hot SD team.  Tough up the middle and willing to take a hit - explosive on the corners - elusive in the open feild.  He reached for and got that touchdown.  It is just very hard to ignore a ball popping up in the air, and there was no film to definatively show the goal line.  Moreno has figured out the speed of the game.  Now, with more carries, he will develope the vision and anticipation that makes backs great in this leauge.

Brian Dawkins - just got to love him.  Unfortunately we will be seeing less and less of him.  While on the feild he brings it, each and every play, and is the core of the defense.  But he cannot rewrite the basic rules of physiology.  As you get older you get hurt more easily and it takes longer to recover.  He will either need to hold back on his play (which is not his personality) or accept that he will continue to collect these minor injuries.

Where to from here?  The schedual starts to turn in our favor.  We have a tough game in just three days.  A tough physical game.  The big question for the Broncos in this game is can they put aside the mental errors - penalties - and sustain long drives to keep the defense off of the feild.  If they can do this one thing then our aged secondary can play all out for the whole game.  If we cannot dominate the time of possession then I fear lose number 5 is coming our way.  We must avoid the drive killers - penalties, low percentage passes, and traps behind the line.  We won in the first 6 weeks by taking small chunks at a time and letting our defense rest.  We lost by going three and out and putting the defense back on the feild.  I will accept a feild goal after an 80 yard drive - having watched the last 4 games that is about the same as depriving the opposition one complete scoring drive so it is a +6 to a +10 drive by itself.  I have fears for this game because we have not been prepared for the last 4.  Here is hoping I am proven wrong.

I do not see us playing up to the level of the Colts.  They simply know how to win, they are hot, when a team is hot it seems as though all the ball bounce their way - and that is exactly where Indy is right now.  OH, but lady luck is a fickle lady.  She can leave you lonely and not even give you a kiss goodbye.  Here's hoping!

Right now.  We my guess is we finish 11-5 or 10-6.  A very special thanks goes out to the Bengals and KC for keeping the Steelers within reach - we may be competing against them for a wild card spot. 

Jumped out to 6-0, looked like McD could do no wrong.  In two weeks we will be 6-6 and nearly eliminated from the playoffs.  There is far too much wrong with the team to believe we have a chance in 4 days.  I cannot see our offense keeping up with Indy, or our D doing much to slow Manning down.  A losing streak is one thing.  But we have really been blown out, looked like amatures.  Anyone have any great ideas?  I am beginning to lose faith in McD.  I am by no means a fair weather fan, but this is entirely too frustrating.

Yesterday started bad.  My local affiliate had 'technical' troubles and no Broncos for most of the first quarter.  Should have taken the hint and gone on to other things.

The good ... we are starting to see the play book opened up with a little bit more of a down feild threat.  I think all the dink and dunk made the Skins secondary too egar to come up which helped create the open recievers down field.  Moreno looked good as did Buck if he would have just gone down on the fumble play.  Orton and Co have been so deadly with the short and intermediate stuff that the safeties have to be in position to help out .   After yesterdays exhibition (one we have a QB back on the feid) the decoy effect of a deep route will open the shorter stuff or give us 6.

The Bad ... the non offense/defense teams.  No way you can call them special.  Time for someone to be looking for a new job.  I trust in the bodies we have out there, but they need some direction.  I am very disappointed.  McD showed all the signs that he was putting a high priority on special teams in the draft and FA pick ups - if that is what a high priority gets us then we are in big trouble.

The OH SO UGLY ....  the singular cause of the loss yesterday .... without this one error the game was absolutely win able.  McD screwed up royal.  How on earth can you feild a team without a back up quarterback that is prepared to step in and run the offense if called upon.  A large part of the Bigolcheck philosophy is that no player is immune form injury - thus you don't pay superstars you trade them - and you build depth.  Chris Simms has an arm, he is a smart quarterback, he has been a winner in this leauge.  Through most of preseason he was supposedly competing for the starting role.  How on earth is it that in week 10 he is not prepared to come on to the feild and run an effective offense against a not so good team?  This one fall directly on McD ...

Not too concerned with the defense.  Yes, they have played better but they only gave up 20 points.  Our offense should have scored twice that.  Once Simms came out we had virtually no time of possession.  The Defense was on the feild against a very physical Offensive line for almost the entire first half.  Somewhat akin to allowing the Skins 6 quarters to the Broncos 2.

Our O line is asked to do things that Shanny did not intend, and it has not been revamped to do what McD is asking.  Guess it is just growing pains, but unless we can somehow find a running game against tought defenses we will be out in one in the playoffs.  But all being said and done, we are still very well on track for the 12-4 I predicted before preseaon began.  Our Defense is totally awsome, they just need some help from the offense.  Ty Law looks like a great addition.

One of the best teams in football goes from 3-0 to 3-3 and then has a bye week to think about it.  After the bye week they have a home game.  I don't seriously think any team in the NFL would have done well Sunday in Baltimore.  The very capable Ravins had something to prove to the world of football, to their fans, but most importantly to themselves - they are a good football team.

If this were simply a loss, the Broncos could just shake it off and continue on their winning ways and hope for a rematch in the playoffs - at altitude of course.  But week 8 was the week when finally the media jumped on the bandwagon and started paying respect to the Broncos for the very impressive 6-0 record they had earned.  Then pooof!  In sixty minutes of football that respect was gone.

Ravens Expose Broncos as Pretenders

Such reads the headline on Fanhouse.com in a column written by Kevin Blackistone.  His summary:

But this final tally (30-7) didn't lie. It was just the record each team brought into this game that did.

It appears that in Mr. BlankinStoned's mind we are still somehow headed to 3-13 season - most likely being forced to give back some of those wins after review.

Well Monday night we will see how those boys in predominately Orange respond.  I have a feeling Big Ben is going to become very well acquainted with Mr. Doom, and will meet Mr. Bailey and Dawkins a time or two as well.  This is a very good football team that beat the World Champ SD Chargers in their house - what is one more world champ when they are visiting out house?

One of the downsides of starting of 6-0 is that we tend to forget we have a rookie head coach, and that this really is a very young football team.  Opposing coaches now have an idea what McD will throw at them, they have the experiance to counter it.  McD is now entering the sharpest part of his learning curve, he will be responding to and anticipating their reactions.  In brutal game situations he now has film on all of our players, each of our units.  It appeared that at some point just about everyone on the feild made a mistake, this happens probably every game.  The difference is now every player on the practice feild will now be coached on those specific mistakes, and will have the pain of this loss to motivate them beyond the error.

I bet I was not the only one thinking in the back of his head during the fourth quarter just how nice it would be to have a cannon arm QB taking snaps.  One particular one comes to mind .... but the outcome would not have been any better.  The cold hard fact of the matter is we got out played physically.  Their game plan was not better, their play calling was not any better, and their QB play was not better.  What was better is that they executed what they planned on doing by being more physical than their Denver opponents .... period.  I have read the comments of one particular member of this group ... he seems to delight in the demise of KO.  He must be a fan of the Pick 6, owing his allegiance to Mr Cutler of Chicago and berating Orton for not going deep.  Well, he who shall not be named, the league's BEST O Line got figured out and exploited Sunday, leaving KO with about 2 seconds to locate a receiver and deliver the ball.  Long routes don't develop that fast.  But ohhhhh, Mr. Reed was sure wishing KO would do his best Cutler imitation.  The fact of the matter is that when you lose the battle up front no one is going to look good.

The unit that failed worst is the much vaunted O line.  Dennison and McD will reevaluate everything with the big guys.  I would like to see more of a return to the zone blocking scheme with a rolling pocket.  Denvers use of this in the past tended to reduce the vulnerablity to the blitz and slowed down the pass rush by exploiting the agressiveness of the defense.  Dennison and our O line already know this scheme and are expert at it, now McD needs to figure out how to incorporate that into his offense.

Unlike many I am not overly upset with the D.  Yes, lots of mistakes were made on that side of the ball also.  There were also a lot of really good plays, traps, sacks and passes defended.  We were playing a very explosive and highly motivated team in their house.  Neither the Offense nor the specials teams did much to help the D.  I did not see a D that gave up in the 4th, I saw a D that played desperate in the 4th and gave up plays in an attempt to change the dynamic.

We were tested by fire yesterday.  We did not look too good - but then we really did not look that bad either.  We now know one way to not win a football game to use Edison logic.  The next team will have to find a different way to beat us - there are probably 10,000 ways to beat the Broncos, but there are 100,000 ways the Broncos will beat you.

Final note:  I am running to Walmart to buy a new set of cleats - next week will be notable for the first start of the NFLs oldest rookie - even I can punt better than that new fool!

I am not a stats guy, I am much more into the feel of the game.  With that in mind here is how I see monday's game against the Chargers will shape up.

The most significant difference between the Broncos and Charges is the quality of coaching.  Denver wins hands down, going away, it really is no contest at all.  Done deal.  Chargers are a seriously one dimensional football team - they have Philip Rivers and ..... well they have Philip Rivers.  Sprouls should be a factor, but with virtually nothing of an offensive line and an injured LT the run game simply is non existent.  Coach Nunnly has already devised a scheme to contain Rivers, keep him under pressure to prevent the deep ball, all while rushing just 4 guys and defending the rush without putting anyone extra in the box.  The defensive game plan will be pretty simple, let them have the 2.2 yards per carry, put the game in Rivers hand and dare him to compete 1 on 4 against the best secondary in the league while Doom is draped all over him.  Absent a running game, Rivers will put the ball in the air 35 times, get about 225 yards, one TD and two picks against 18 receptions while being sacked 4 times.  This will not be one of his all time memorable games.  Simply put, San Diego does not have the coaching staff required to devise a scheme to handle the Broncos defensive scheme - or to even anticipate it well enough to give it the good ole college try.

If you coach a high school or Pee Wee football team be sure to set the DVR.  Denver is going to put on a clinic.  Some creative someone needs to score the highlight reel to some classical music, the poetry of the O line working the zone blocking scheme will be a thing of beauty, much like a ballet performance with pads and violent collisions.  This week will be pound the rock, nothing cute, no wild horses, nothing unnecessary to show to future opponents - just pound the rock.  The passing will be intended only to remind the SD staff that 8 in the box means 7 on the score board.  Denver will dominate the TOP and be well over 35 minutes closing in on 40.  Orton will be 18-22-3-0 with 250 yards.  KM and Buck will combine for over 200 yards on the ground.  If Buck is out or hobbled look for 170 or so. No turn overs!  The offensive mindset will be prefection in the fundimentals of football.

The sole SD scoring drive will come in the early fourth quarter.  Following a good kick off return to about the SD45 the Chargers will be facing a third and long.  Jackson catches the ball 20 yards down field and does a BM to get into the endzone.  3 plays, 55 yards great individual effort by both Rivers and Jackson.  Other than that SD will not be able to sustain any drives and will convert only 3 third downs all day.

Final score Denver 31, San Diego 7.  Norv Turner starts sending out his resume.  With the exception of Denver the AFC West really sucks!

The wild horse formation that Jedi threw at the Master BB was confusing enough to force a couple time outs, and effective enough to gain decent positive yards each attempt.  To me it appeared as just a wrinkle to confuse the defense - which it did - but was little more than a direct snap running play or or traditional snap from center that started off with Orton in the slot.  Someone on MHR suggested that the defense did not need to cover Orton as we would not subject out QB to an open feild hit.

Last night the potential of the formation hit me like a ton of bricks.  Yesterday morning I found a link on an MHR fanpost to a New England sports radio show.  One of the participants claimed that McDaniels had told Cutler he could turn a high school QB into a probowler with this offense.  Hummmm .... Brady, Castle, and now Orton.  Maybe all the Jedi needs is a willing student.  KM was a highschool QB, and he appears to be very willing to learn under the Jedi. 

The ultimate play action ... Orton in the slot, snap to KM, tuck the ball in and two steps to the line ... bang!  Stokley down the side line.  Safety on a dead run toward the obvious running play.  After a couple of these just a good head bob during the approach to the line should be enough to freeze the DBs and get the LB double checking.  Then there is the possible sprint out, a true option play, and passes off of the reverse.

Or how about a snap to KM, screen play back to Orton - behind KM - and a loose BM down the side line.  Of course the blocking scheme on that one would be a thing of beauty but more than a little difficult to work out.

The real beauty of the formation is that once KM developed the reputaion as an adequate passer the defenses would have to spend many hours each week preparing for that possibility. 

I think McDaniels has really demonstrated the fact that each week's game starts on Monday in the film room.  The opening kick off is only the start of the final act.  I have a feeling we have a real chess player that uses every minute of every day to give his team the best advantage.  Now that the team has started to grasp the playbook he can start messing with the opposing teams co-ordinators during the week. 

Why do I read the Mile High Report?  I am a great fan of the Denver Broncos and have been since the 1977 season.  This offseason was perhaps the biggest off season for any NFL team ever.  Bowlen fired Shanny - which I applauded - brought in some wet behind the ears young kid to be head coach.  The whole front office changed.  Then the Cutler problems and ALL OF THEM DRAFT PICKS!  I combed the MSM including the Denver Post, SI, ESPN and anywhere else I could find.  I got so tired of the negative slant, McDaniels is an idiot and Cutler is King reporting.  I wanted to know what was going on inside the Broncos, why were some of the decisions made, what were the prospects for the upcoming season.  The excellent articles by the primaries on MHR are worth a visit to the site by themselves.  What really makes MHR the number one source for news and opinion on the Broncos is that the whole community of fans are invited to express their opinion, and others are allowed to respectfully disagree.  The result is that I am a very well informed Broncos fan.  Being well informed helps me enjoy not only the Broncos games more, but the general football insights allows me to enjoy the entire game more.

Denver Post ..... well it is good for starting the fire on cold rocky mountain evenings.  That is about the only Orange Glow you will get from the Post.

Much has been made of the close relationship between the Jedi and BB.  Certainly their familiarity with each other is good press, but in the end it is one head coach preparing his team to go against another team prepared by their head coach.  Good coaching can prepare players to play to a higher level, and then hopefully put them in situations to make plays.  Coaching cannot however cause a single sack or create a single touchdown - on game day it is about how the players execute.

This week the keys for victory will be the respective front lines.  Last week the Defense faced one of the biggest and best offensive lines in the league.  The boys averaged nearly 200 yards per game rushing - shut down to 74 against the Broncos.  Romo spent almost as much time sitting on the turf as he did sitting on the bench.  The Pats O line is no where near as dominating as the Cowboys.  To make up for this BB will use every device possible to slow down the rush, short drops, screens, draws, play action.  Mostly the Pats must make the defense respect the run.  Denvers key is to do what they have done in the previous 4 games - maintain their discipline, play their gaps and know that all other other players are there to back you up if you do your job.  Denver's secondary is the absolute Elite of the League with two future hall of famers anchoring the unit.  The coordinated play of these four give the front seven the confidence and freedom to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage. The solid play of the front seven gives the secondary the confidence to read the play and digest it before jumping into a play action decoy.  The one team concept displays itself perfectly in this Broncos defense - every position supports the others, no one is left on an island.  Against a somewhat weak Pats O line, the Broncos will be dominating.  Brady will be harassed, sacked and find his passing lanes plugged with Bronco defenders.  The Pats may attempt to establish the run to slow down the rush - this will net them about 2.2 yards per carry over the first half. 

Brady is far too talented a quarterback to not pick up yardage.  In anticipating the excellent secondary and and a determined and effective front seven, the Pats will have to rely on quick outs and short crossing patterns - lots of pick plays and the screen.  Again Denver discipline will hold these to minimal gains.

Denvers objective on offense will be to control the ball, keep Brady on the side line, and chew up clock.  The Pats D is the weaker of the two units, this is the team we want to keep on the field.  Look for Orton to hook up with BM or Royal deep two or three times in the first half - with BM's catch firmly etched in everyones mind the Pats should - even being well coached - be very aware of BMs threat and devote resources to shut him down.  The early deep threats will open up the running game.  KM will post 160 yards on the ground.  Orton may once again have us screaming at the TV only to discover he had a good statistical day in a winning effort.

In short I expect a game very very similar to the Cowboys game except Denver will chew up the clock with the running game and will not trail on the score board.  First half the Pats may find they have limited success and can drive inside our 30 and pick up a couple feild goals.  The second half will see them playing from behind and facing lots of third and very long situations.

I have heard it a hundred times today alone.  Cincy would be 3-0 if it were not for that fluke play.  Denver WON that game ... plain, period, simple as that.  For 3 1/2 quarters the scoreboard showed a great big goose egg for Cincy.  Denver out played Cincy in every aspect of the game to that point.  ONE drive!  One point difference with 30 someodd seconds left to play.  One completed pass was all that was needed, it was not pretty but they got it.  Denver DID HONESTLY beat one of the hotest teams in the NFL, and it was not due to a fluke play. 

We WILL have the complete respect of the MSM this time next week. 13-3 BABY!!!!!

"The Worst Quarterback to ever Start in the NFL", that will be the Monday Morning headlines in the Oakland area.  ESPN will naturally be dogging Champ Bailey for dropping 3 of the 7 JaMarcus balls thrown right into his hands (at 90MPH), Champ will be questionable for the Cowboys game due to severly brused palms.  By half time the boos of the remaining 5 fans will have gotten into JaMarcus' head to the point he is pulled for ..... oh, they don't have anyone.

A great athlete can have a bad game and bounce back to regain respect.  JaMarcus is not a great athlete, he is an undiciplined wreck with some real serious physical ability.  He lacks the integrity to condition his body or learn his craft.  Not having learned the basics of the NFL game, he is extremely vulnerable to being baited into bad throws, in fact his unwillingness to learn the game makes him all too willing to 'show them all' by gunning a few into double or triple coverage.  Dawkins, Bailey and Nolan are caggy veterans of the game and know how to set up a poorly prepaired quarterback.  Steve Deburg needs to stay close to the phone, by Monday he will probably be getting a call from Mr. Davis himself.

The Raiders have some seriously good players, ones that need to be accounted for and planned for.  Most of the Raiders are in fact real athletes with real pride and discipline - but how long can they hold on to the spirit when their best efforts are being negated by a wanna be and a decoy?  How long do you stick your head in and risk injury when there is no hope of victory?  If the Broncos jump to an early and significant lead there is a huge risk the Raiders will be demoralized as a team.

So on to the game predictions.  The Broncos know they must stop the running game and force Russell to win the game through the air.  Expect the Raiders to come out running, up the middle, on the edges and even doing handstands if they need too.  The Bronco's 5-2 will close them down, having little fear of the passing game.  IF JaMarcus can exploit the stacked box early the Broncos might be in for a long defensive show down.  I do not expect him to be given the oppertunity, I do not believe the raiders actually have enough remaining faith in him.  They know the only way to win is to establish the run sufficently to give JaMarcus some breathing room for that unguided cannon.  Face it, when the Raiders are on offense it will be much more like a 12 on 9 game than 11 on 11 (JaMarcus counts as one of ours). 

The game will start off with the Raiders going 3 and out on consecutive drives, all six plays running plays.  On thier third possession they will once again attempt a run on first down only to be stopped with minimal gain.  Second down will find a frustrated and presured Russell being baited by Bailey into a stupid throw - six points the Broncos!  The real constest will be to see who scores more points, the Broncos offense or the Broncos Defense.  My money is on the Defense.  Final Score 38-0 - Bronco's offense 17 Broncos defense 21. 

Monday the pregames shows will conclude with the afterthought, the 3-0 Denver Broncos have still yet to beat anyone real.  No mention of three ints for touchdowns, no time to point out that the Broncos held the Raiders to under 100 yards for the day - nope, we will still just be pretenders among the ranks of the undefeated.

It is a W - the headcoach and the QB are both heros!  Yet there are always things to consider.  I was not even slightly impressed by the play of Kyle Orton.  To be fair there are a lot of valid excusses to be considered.  The finger did seem to bother him and most likely resulted in some of the low balls and tips.  Drops were a big problem that need to be corrected.  Big positives to consider include no INTs and reasonably good team management.  Before I jump into the big concern let me stress that I do not think that Simms or Brandstater are better equipped to manage the team at this point - Orton is our guy for the immediate future.

The concern, it is a big one, how many times was an open receiver required to make heroic attempts, go to the ground, turn arround, or stop and allow the defense to recover?  This offense is designed to use short passes to produce big yards - yards after the catch.  To do this the receiver must be able to catch the ball in stride and use his separation and momentum to advance the ball.  An off target catch disrupts this scheme and allows the defense to end the play at the point of reception - or to defend against the reception entirely.

Orton's preseason work was almost exclusively devoted to very short passes of less than 10 yards at the point of reception (or intended reception) .  Today we did get to see him open it up a little bit.  Due to the lack of actual game experiance in this offense, being sidelined with the finger, and having his best target being even rustier than he is (BM) I am willing to give Orton a pass on todays performance - but an objective grade would probably be a D overall. 

We were blessed with a relatively easy starting four game stretch.  I do believe that next week we will see a dramatic increase in performance by Orton - he will spend the week having a much better idea of what his recievers will actually do in real game situations.   BM has fallen off of his high horse and will (hopefully) practice and play to his potential.  A couple clutch catches this week and we are talking a blowout - instead we are fortunate to have a win due to amaturish defensive play at a critical moment.  Next week I expect Orton to have much better timing - leading the receiver - and better release with many fewer low balls and tipped balls.  This week the offense sucked - bigtime!  McD, Orton, and BM each have far too much pride and ability to not address the problems.

The defense played well - until it really counted.  Lesson learned?  Great individual play by many.  Great scheme ..... until for reasons unknown we decided to become conservative and gave up the lead.  Sure they picked up the blitz and scored a critical first down - deep in their own territory - but Palmer is far too good to not pressure.  Lesson learned?  I hope so.

As generally predicted, we will open 4-0.  By the end of that stretch I expect to see a very well oiled machine on offense and a brick wall on defense.  I hold with my earlier predictions (pass the koooooolaide!) 12-4.  But there is still much that needs to be done.