For the record, we will win this weekend. Why? Because we are better than Kansas City. That doesn’t mean I think we are a great team, Tebow is an NFL MVP candidate or that a win over the Chefs means we should make Super Bowl plans. I’ve never talked about the Super Bowl with this 2011 iteration of the Broncos because when you factor in talent, coaching, injuries, inexperience, luck, officiating and whatnot, we are presently a middle of the pack team coming directly off a season we were every bit as horrible as our 4-12 record.

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Watching Tebow interview with NFL Networks after the win on Thursday, it’s clear Tim has bigger goals for his life that have nothing to do with football.

The link below supports Tim Tebow and Cure’s fund raising efforts to build a hospital in the Philippines focused on treating children with curable disabilities.     

http://cure.org/my/tebow/

Tebow is someone whose actions speak louder than his words. Someone I am proud to cheer for and someone I'm learning to admire beyond his football abilities.  This is the Season of Giving and those of us that can, should.  

Go Broncos.  And Merrill Hoge, don't be "embarrassed" to donate too.  

I introduced myself to MHR and you fine folks in late 2008, towards the end of that late season meltdown.   As such, none of you have known me even one day where I haven’t been pretty miserable as a Bronco fan.  Truth be told, I’ve felt this way since 2007. This is my 5th consecutive year as an unhappy Bronco fan. 

Kyle Orton’s play and demeanor continue express the way I feel about my team.  Joyless. 

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I’m a person that has a burning desire to see the world for how it is instead of how it should be.  Maybe it makes me a pessimistic instead of an optimist.  During my many MHR battles throughout the McJedi era, I tended to call myself a realist waging a common sense battle against the fantasists.  Whatever the titles we choose to describe ourselves and others, I am certain MY ability to see others weaknesses is stronger than my ability to see their strengths.  Not surprisingly, when I look at this Bronco team, I see a lot of weaknesses and far fewer strengths.  EFX has a tough job in front of them.  Not as tough as Josh McDaniels, a guy that somehow held the job duties of E, F and X… but still.

Our most pressing weakness is the installation of a new regime and new systems coming off a lockout.  That, I promise you, is a bigger job right now than picking the starting QB.  If Tebow can’t practice effectively, how can EFX install a new offensive system when Tim touches the ball every play (practice, scrimmage, games, etc)?  And it’s a catch 22 because how can Tim improve if he isn’t getting the reps?  Do you hold the team back so Tim can get experience or do you sit Tim while playing Orton allows the coaches to install the offense?  This is a rhetorical question.  As important as the QB is, I’d still go with the latter in year one, week one of a new regime. 

Don’t confuse this as an endorsement of Ort as our QB.  The Orton apologists will say deceiving statements like “Kyle didn’t have a great game on Monday”.  In truth and fact, Orton played somewhere between bad and horrible. It was his third terrible game in row dating back to his nightmare performances vs KC and Arizona in 2010.  But again, we are installing a new offense, coaching staff, mindset and program.  There were plays on Monday where it looked like Julius Thomas had no idea what he was supposed to be doing.  The O-line made about 15 major misreads.  Franklin played like a rookie.  Kuper played like a rookie?  The new and vastly improved Moneno lost a fumble and got banged up (a record is skipping somewhere). The running game was dysfunctional.  A lot of MSM folks said to expect bad football in September and that is exactly what we saw in Oakland @ Denver.  It will require time, some therapy (MHR being mine because Gnarlybroncodude and I can call you an idiot) and patience before we fans see a consistently better Denver team.   

Do I think Orton has a future in Denver beyond 2011?  EFX tired to trade him a month ago so that pretty much says it all.  But Ort does allow Fox/McCoy to install an offense because Ort can run an effective practice.  Based on what I saw Monday, that installation is far from complete on so many levels.  I don’t see a change in QB anytime soon.  If we put in Tebow when it’s clear the O-line is out of sorts, TE’s don’t know the plays, coaching staff doesn’t know the players, our offense could turn into jungle ball.  Which, IMO, is worse in both the short and long term than the junior varsity offense we saw on Monday night. 

Things are going to be weird for a while, like Orton's mystery fumble on what should have been the game winning play.  That sucks because things have been weird in Broncoland for a few years.  The weirdness is why I put therapy before patience in my list above. 

We could continue to smoke orange crack and see a playoff contender in 2011, but once the high wears off, we are left with the junkie shakes that kept me awake on Monday night.  That I have this strong belief Elway fully intends on using a 1st round pick in 2012 on a QB does my nerves no favors.  John.. please.. focus on the glaring needs at DTs, ILB, #2 CB, one or two O-linemen and RB.  

But again, EFX needs to see Tebow actually practice well for Denver to install their game plan each week, their offense in preseason, make sure all WRs run their routes even if the WRs think Tim will take off running, etc, etc.  I’ve never seen him practice, but Kaptain keeps reporting that Timmy is running sneaks and skipping passes of the grass play after play.  I trust Kaptain and can’t fathom of how Fox could get comfortable playing QB on Sunday than can’t run the offense on Thursday in shorts and a red jersey.         

So my advice is that I don’t have advice to give.  Boo if you want, cheer if you want, cuss if you want, complain if you want, cry if you want.  Rebuilding takes a while when it starts from the foundation up, especially after a lockout.  It’s your money, time and energy.  Orton has already said Bronco fans are the last people he cares to please.  And to be fair and balanced, I know I feel no obligation to please Orton either.  It doesn’t make me a worse Bronco fan if I boo or rip him, just as it doesn’t make Orton a worse Bronco player that he doesn’t care about Bronco fans or spilt milk. 

Don’t let people tell you that you’re a worse fan because you boo Orton or want Tebow to be converted to a TE, that you think Ryan McBean should be selling hot dogs in the stands instead of getting pancaked play after play, or you want to suck for Luck (that sounds too ummmmmm, no).  

You are only a worse fan if you bail on the Broncos for another team or you like a particular player more than the Broncos franchise.  For me, being a Bronco fan is not a choice; it’s a birthright and a blessing.  I cheer for them, I boo them, I punch holes in my wall because of them and fall on my knees and weep like a baby when they won that first Super Bowl.  If you fall into this category, feel free to express your feelings about the Broncos any way you like. 

I should probably not be the one to stress patience when I was more than fired up to run Josh McDaniels out of town after the Cutler catastrophe followed by the 2009 draft debacle….  But has that ever stopped this pot from calling the kettle black!   

Bronco fans need to chill. It is July guys.  We have 2/3s of our 2011 team out there practicing IN SHORTS.  Super Bowl champs are not forged on days like these.  I was looking at ESPN’s list of UFAs and like 90% haven’t even been signed yet.  If Tebow doesn’t take 104% of the reps at today’s practice, it will not ruin his learning curve and derail his career.   And as for the UFA whining…   Super Bowl champs are also not forged by charging into UFA to overpay mediocre players like Mebane, Cofield or late 20 something RBs.  How have those headline grabbing UFA signings gone for the Redskins?  How did it go for Denver when we signed the premier UFA RB (Travis Henry), DB (Dale Carter), DT (Daryl Gardner or Sam Adams or Michael Dean Perry)?  When it comes to UFA in the NFL, one team’s trash is usually another team’s trash.  Denver has usually done best in UFA with signings like Dan Graham, Gaffney, Alfred Williams, Eddie Mac, Howard Griffith and Goodman.  None of these were headline grabbers on day one where we beat out 14 other teams for "the IT" player.  You know what good teams do?  They draft the IT guy and then resign him.            

I know you guys hate hearing this because spiked Kool-Aid makes you feel good and there has been sooooooooooo much denial in Broncoland over the last few years, but this has to be said and it really has to be heard.  It needs to sink in.   

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These are the dog days and while this topic isn’t my favorite to discuss, the QB chat keeps popping up.  So let's settle it…  Orton, Tebow and Quinn.  Let me reorder that, Tebow, Brady Quinn and Orton.

Look, I’m not a football coach, but the sport isn’t rocket science, medicine or actuarial mathematics.  It’s just football.  John Clayton is a professor of football and his PHD plus a dollar will buy him a double cheeseburger at McDonalds.  Although Clayton probably prefers a steady diet of field mice and tootsie pops.  So while I’m not a professor of The NFL like Clayton, I can reason via common sense, logic and my sense of sight.

I was leaning heavily towards pessimistic when Brian Xanders (haha) traded away three high to mid round draft picks to select Tim Tebow.  But I did what most of us do and watched Tim in the preseason and later in the regular season trying to confirm or change my initial views.  It didn’t take long for me to figure this one out.  I remember vividly, it was during a preseason game vs Minnesota, as I watched Tim make play after play.  I picked up the phone and excitedly called my father to rejoice.  It was beyond obvious to me that NFL success was within Tebow’s grasp.

Denying the truth is unhealthy and unproductive.  Tebow was a mega star and extraordinarily productive at the college level (the SEC no less).  Tim has always moved the chains, scored points (Most TDs in college football history, Tim had 11 TDs in barely more than 3 games worth of action and Denver scored 23 or more points in all three of his starts), he inspires the defense (see the 3rd and 4th quarters of the Texans game – I still have that one on my DVR), he fires up the crowd (see Texans and San Diego game or just ask a damn Florida Gator fan about Tim).  

So why are we supposed to be down on Tim and what are his tragic flaws?  His footwork, his progressions, reading defenses, his release, his inexperience?  Okay.  But Tim is 23 years old and here is where the logic starts to kick in…  Doesn’t Tim have plenty of time to work on his drop back footwork, his reads, his ability to decipher defenses, even the mechanics of his throwing motion?  BTW, his release, which seems to be everyone’s biggest gripe, is a little slow and ugly.  But we’re talking split seconds longer than a typical NFL delivery.  It’s not a big deal at all if he never fixes that.  You want to worry about something real, worry about Tebow’s running since we don’t want to see him take off 10 times a game because that is 160 hits a season and that is about 100 too many for Bronco blood.  But the things that Tim needs to correct or improve upon are ALL issues that can be addressed with practice, attention to detail, film study, experience and hard work.

You sports science guys as well as the enteral optimists will have a hissy fit, but I know certain things are impossible.  We humans have certain athletic limitations that we can’t overcome, even with all the training or desire the best of us can muster.  As Warren Sapp would say "you’re either born with that or you’re not".  I’ll make up an example.  Say Moreno runs a 4.55 40 (I pulled that out of thin air so don’t tell me my facts are wrong).  He wants to get faster so he spends his entire offseason training on speed.  He will probably be able to shave a few hundredths of a second off that time, but he’ll NEVER EVER EVER be a 4.3 guy.  He can only get so fast and there is a ceiling to his top end speed.   Unfortunately for us Bronco fans, that ceiling is pretty low.  Moreno wasn’t born that fast and he can’t train himself to be Chris Johnson fast.  Same thing with Orton and many of his shortcomings.  I like Orton.  He’s a good solder.. Scratch that, he’s a great soldier, he’s tough, he maximizes his limited talents, he rarely takes unnecessary risks, plays hard and is quietly professional in an era where several other NFL QBs "what to be icons and entertainers" or just douche bags like Jay Cutler.  I feel like a lesser man when I bash Kyle.  It’s like cussing.   It’s a release valve, but it’s also the way we communicate when we can’t come up with something intelligent or meaningful to say.  So Kyle, I apologize when I say mean things about you.  You’re not getting the best of McGeorge, you’re getting my worst.        

But God gave Tim Tebow certain athletic abilities that Orton will never have, no matter how much Kyle wants it or trains.  Tim has a stronger arm, can harness greater velocity, Tim is faster and physically stronger, Tim is quicker, Tim is less injury prone because he can avoid or withstand bigger hits.  Tim is also better looking.  Life isn’t fair, but Orton will make $8.5MM next season, he married a nice gal and he’s a good egg so let’s not feeling sorry for him.  We’re just acknowledging some truths.  Elway and Fox likely see the same things which is why we didn’t draft a QB, why Tebow will be our QB in 2011 and why Orton will be playing somewhere else.  

I’ll go a step further.  Tim has a higher ceiling than most young NFL QBs because his flaws are almost exclusively flaws that can be fixed (not just marginally improved upon).  Tim needs to learn how to draw a D-lineman offside, improve upon ball fakes, pumps and play action, he needs to get to the line of scrimmage quickly, look at the D and see where blitzers are coming from or where the passing lanes might open.  Tim needs to cut down on Ints and improve his accuracy.  Guys, that’s great for us because those are flaws that can be fixed with experience and practice.  And that is exactly why we need to trade Orton, so he’s not potentially stealing Tim’s reps that Tebow will require to make the leap from good prospect to star NFL QB.  It will require patience (not my specialty) but we’re going to be bad in 2011 with Orton or Tim under center.  For the first time since the early 1980s, we head into a football season as a true bottom up rebuilding team with no playoff expectations.  Common sense time again.  THIS is the year your insert a young QB, take your lumps and prepare for something bigger down the road.  This is NOT the season you play a never will be Super Bowl caliber QB that wins you one or two more games so you can say you went 6-10 instead of 4-12 way back in 2011.

And for that last question - would I rather see Brady Quinn in 2011 if Tebow gets hurt or busts?  Hell yes I would.  We CAN trade Orton this off-season for a good draft pick or two in 2012.  I’m not big on Brady Quinn (unlike Tebow, Brady played like garbage much of last preseason), but Brady is young and has several physical tools to be a good NFL QB.  If Quinn were to play in 2011 and play well, we’d have another valuable trading chip along with that 2nd rounder we got for trading Orton.  Yes please.

Or maybe (and more likely) Quinn struggles and we lose a bunch of games in 2011.  The worst case scenario is NOT that we’re picking very high again in 2012 and have to draft Luck, Matt Barkley or Landry Jones.  The worst case scenario is that Tebow gets hurt or plays poorly and Orton comes in to will Denver to a 6-10 record and the 9th pick (which is too low to draft the potential franchise QBs that will go in the top 5 of the 2012 draft).   Awesome, now we’re stuck drafting a CB or DE we hope develops into an impact player instead of Dealtha O’Neil or Dan Williams.  Or even worse, we do what Minnesota and Tennessee just did and draft a 3rd round QB talent with our 9th overall pick.  Since Orton is an UFA, do we resign him as a stop gap until Terrell Prior or Kellen Moore is ready to play?  Is this how Super Bowl champions are built?      

I’d rather build around Tebow.  If that doesn’t work, give me Luck or Barkley next year.  That leaves us with the obvious.   Just trade Orton.  It’s such a no-brainer if you can get a good draft pick for him.  Build for a real future, don’t pull a Jacksonville or Houston and get stuck in 7-9 to 9-7ville.

2011 is Tebow’s year and his alone.  I’m very very very comfortable with not having a quality backup to push Tebow because Tim DOESN’T need that.  He’s got more than enough motivational fuel as it is.  And let’s be fair to Orton.  He is in his prime and deserves a shot on a team that isn’t at the ground floor of a rebuilding project like Denver finds itself today.  Or just trade him to Arizona, at least he'll get to start.  

I do not know football like Hoosier Teacher or Jeremy.  I'm without the creative writing talents of a Colinski, Sayre, Ted Bartlett or Papigrande.  I fall short of the high IQ of Doc Bear, Spock or Jeff G. 

But if there is one thing I do pretty well as it relates to MHR and my love of the Broncos, I’d like to think I’ve demonstrated first round abilities when it comes to reading our tea leaves. 

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The Jump?

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I hate where we are today as much as anyone.  I’m in agony watching this team struggle on a weekly basis.  I hate that I woke up two Sunday’s ago and was not excited about a Bronco game in London.  I hate that I was relieved we had a bye last week.  I really hate that my enthusiasm for the rest of this season is less than it should be or has been in years past.  I hate thinking about the 2011 draft before Halloween.  I hate thinking about the 2011 season so soon.    

We find ourselves in an usual place today, at the bottom of the NFL.  I don’t have a frame of reference or anything to compare this too.  It doesn’t pencil out or feel right to me.  The Broncos don’t suck?   

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This is a post about how McDaniels is starting to win me over as a fan of his methods and approach.  For some of you, it will be painful for a bit, but necessary for the story to fully develop.  I’m not a journalist in training like Sayre so grit your teeth as best you can. 

This is titled “Blocking the Kickoff” 

I re-watched the Detroit game yesterday.  I cannot come up with a plausible explanation for what the Phonz was doing when he took that penalty.  As all his teammates ran one way and he went the other, it almost looked like he thought we were kicking off instead of receiving.  My sometimes creative mind took me down a funnier path thinking....  Maybe he was trying to block the kickoff?  If you try to visualize such a play, it’s a funny picture - a guy attempting to block a kickoff - and it also makes NO SENSE. 

I did not (past tense), like McDaniels for two primary reasons.  He did two things that made NO SENSE to me.  I didn’t like that McDaniels pursued trading for Matt Cassel and I didn’t like anything about his approach and execution of the 2009 NFL draft (i.e. his first impressions).  When McD was named our head coach, he had never coached a single game at any level.  When he traded away Cutler and our 2010 1st and 5th round picks, he had yet to conduct a single pads and contact practice.  He didn’t nor he couldn’t know his team, their needs, the problems or the solutions.  In my opinion, cases like this require a conservative approach as one wades slowly into unknown and muddy waters.  McD clearly comes from a different school of thought.  The dive right in head first without looking approach.  For someone like me, this was extremely off-putting and it also reminded me of the worst aspects of 2006–2008 Shanahan.      

The Matt Cassel thing can be boiled down to my belief that Matt Cassel is not and will not become a franchise QB.  After reading Peter King, Thomas George and some of the local reporters’ background on the botched trade, I fully believe McD went beyond simple discussions.  I believe he actively pursued such a deal once this concept came to his attention.  Cassel would have been a familiar security blanket for McD, but an expensive one with very questionable credentials.  I said it often last season and I still maintain that I would not trade Orton for Cassel straight up.  If KC called tomorrow offering Cassel for Orton, Xanders should say “you mean Cassel and Jamal Charles for Orton”.  Cutler is certainly flawed in many ways, but to me and a lot of people, he is a vastly superior prospect to Cassel and one that was also much cheaper as he had three years on his rookie deal vs a franchised and UFA in Cassel.  To me, the concept of trading Cutler to get Cassel is one of those phone calls where you laugh and hang up.  I don’t think McD did, and I found his lack of discernment very troublesome and naïve all the way thru his handling of the Cutler fiasco.      

That leads to the 2009 draft not much later.  We fired the Goodmans and several of the scouts in January.  We filled these positions over the following months.  These are not hard dots to connect so I was none too shocked to hear McDaniels fully admit we didn’t have time to prepare adequately for the 2009 draft.  The 2009 draft was considered a weak one by many NFL observers, especially weak at CB when the #1 guy (Jenkins) was viewed as a possible safety.   We were using new scouts, a very short prep window, short board, but had a lot of ammo due to the Cutler trade.  To me, this called for that wade cautiously into the muddy waters approach.  What you don’t do is climb a cliff and dive in headfirst without testing the water’s depth.  That is exactly what McX did by trading away valuable 2010 draft assets to leap back into a draft he knowingly didn’t have a great read on.  Why was a guy that didn’t know his team or this draft making all kinds of drastic and wild roster moves?  Why was he was trying to block the opening kickoff?  His attitude at this point struck me as cocky, naïve, erratic and someone that thinks he/and Xanders are the smartest guys in the room, when they were clearly unprepared.  IMO – he wasn’t exercising good sense and he was behaving in a most arrogant manner.  He and I were not going to get along.        

I think this is where I should put the jump.

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http://walterfootball.com/offseason2010den.php

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I don't want to talk about Marshall or waste words on the Phonz.  I want to ask one simple question. 

Draft Dez Bryant at #11?  WHAT!!!

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It's been a hard four weeks.  Maybe some positive vibes from McGeorge can find their way to Denver.   

This is what I like about the 2009 Broncos.

Andra Davis.   I really like this guy.  Most everyone at MHR (myself included) had low expectations for Davis.  In retrospect, I don’t know why.  I never watched him play.  Lazy regurgitation of the stupid MSM I suppose.  The rest of you guys can fess up or keep quiet, but I vividly remember the majority of posters at what is otherwise a wildly optimistic MHR being rather unkind to Davis during the preseason.  Once the regular season started, the guy was/is making plays, making a lot of plays.  He is great at blitzing, he is strong, solid in run support and a team player.  Bowlen is getting a great return on that investment. 

Ditto on Fields.  Money very well spent.  He is doing a noteworthy job at NT.  I think Denver would be foolish to draft an NT early in the 2010 draft as Fields should have several good seasons left as the starter.  Fields plays hard, holds his ground well, and makes a play here and there, which is not even his role.  The MSM would call him a lunch-pail guy.      

I love Brian Dawkins.  He is so cool.  Leadership, hard hits, big plays at important moments, he was there for Marshall in Brandon’s time of need, and he is a great citizen.  The Eagles were insane to let him leave.  INSANE.  A guy like that is impossible to replace.  Denver could put him on the stadium Ring of Fame at halftime of Thursday's game and I'd be like, "Yeah, he earned it".  If he'd been a career Bronco, he'd have a place in my heart just a little bit below Elway.         

I really like Renaldo Hill.  He may not be the best safety in the NFL, but I love how he preps for a game.  There have been few long passes given up by our secondary this season and he must be part of the reason why.  His pick vs the Raiders was awesome.  He makes more good plays in one game than Manuel made in the entire 2008 season.  Did Manuel make any good plays in the 2008 season?  Renaldo Hill > an orange pylon > Manuel        

I like Goodman too.  It has happened more than once this season where I felt as if Goodman played a better game than Champ.  I can’t think of any one WR that lit up Denver this season.  In a league with rules that favor WRs over the CBs, I think Goodman is doing a commendable job.     

I really really like our defense in general.  I don’t break down stats like The Dude, but I can count to ten.  Ten is a bigger number than the amount of points our O scored in three of the four losses.  Denver scored 7, 3 and 3 offensive points in three of those four games.  That really sucks.  It’s terrible.  How the heck can we fans get mad with the D when we consider the lack of run-support they are getting from the O?  Do you guys realize Eddie Royal has no offensive TDs thru 10 games.  I love Eddie Royal, talent drips off that guy.   No offensive TDs this season for Royal?  What the heck is that about?  Anyway, back to what I like about the 2009 Broncos.  Our D has played above itself all year, or maybe they are just that awesome.  The D did all it could to keep us in the games where our offense failed miserably (which has been far too frequent in 2009).  Obviously I like Mike Nolan and his defensive staff.  Great job defensive coaches.  By chance, do any of you coaches know something about Special Teams because Priefer doesn't?  

I really do like Kyle Orton.  I had a smile ear-to-ear when he was cheered loudly by the home fans as he replaced Number 2.  That was a great reaction from the crowd and it sure looked like it gave Orton and our offense a big boost.  Curse that goal-line fumble that spoiled the moment.  Orton plays hurt and he is brave.  He is easy to root for, unlike the player Cutler has become. Orton loves Jack Daniels and chasing the skirts around (or at least he did, I think he is married now).  Orton is bad-ass.  I know we don’t swear at MHR, but it’s kind of the best way I can to describe the guy.  I prefer cheering for a QB that is a bad-ass instead of a whiner.  Is Orton the long term answer at QB?  I don’t know and McDaniels isn’t going to ask me anyway.  But Orton will more than do for the time being (if being=years then I’m cool with that).        

I like McDaniel’s clock management skills.  At some point, this highly developed skill set of his will win us some close ball games.  We just need the offense to score once in a while.  The 2-minute coaching is there.       

I am really starting to like Matt Prater.  His touchback leg returned after a short hiatus.  His onside kick was money.  Damn-it Barrett, catch the ball.  I wish we scored more than once or twice a game so I could see Prater pin the opponent back at the 20 after each Bronco score.     

I love Ryan Harris.  When he pulled all the way across the line from his RT spot to make a massive block on a Raider OLB, a block that sprung a long Buckhalter run, I nearly wet myself.  It was a block that maybe one or two other tackles in the NFL could have made.  Maybe no other tackle could make that block.  He is, IMO, the most underrated player on the Broncos.   

I love Clady, Elvis, Champ, Royal, and Brandon Marshall, but those guys are too obvious. 

I’d love to see us play much harder, smarter and with more discipline on Thursday night.  I’d love to see us win again.  Go Broncos. 

I hate talking in the third person, so I won't do that again.   

While watching Cutler throw bad pick after bad pick tonight (instead of taking sacks) I realized our 2008 O-line, while really good was not nearly as great as the super low sack total we enjoyed last season.  Cutler artificially kept our sack total low (in part) by making several stupid passes when a sack should have been taken.  

Our O-line did not have a great game today, but maybe they were never THAT great to being with.  Orton took too many sacks today but better to take a sack than throw a pick.  Cutler simply refuses to take sacks and has already thrown three picks in the 1st half.  Some really dumb throws and Chicago fans are probably freaking out right now.  I really hope Chicago loses so I can see what he has to say because his WRs have made some huge route running errors and his O-line is below average.  The third Cutler pick was exactly the kind of play were a QB should just eat the ball, but he didn't and I bet he blames a WR that quit on his route.    

Aaron Rodgers took a sack in the end zone.  It sucks to take a sack, but it’s better than throwing a pick almost every time.  Green Bay lost two points, Chicago lost seven.   

Cutler is going to have a long year in Chicago.  Their O-line is not good and neither are their WRs.  He doesn't have a Royal or BM or Stokely or Graham and doesn't seem to realize it.  At least not yet.  Whatever, their 1st round pick is ours so I have no problem rooting against Chicago.  It's fun actually.  If Cutler doesn't learn to take sacks, we will be picking in the Top 10.  If Orton doesn’t play much better than he did today, we can use that Chicago pick to draft our QB of the future.  Should be some good ones to pick from.     

McDaniels won a lot of Bronco fans over with his oft stated emphasis on: winning the turnover battle, discipline/leadership, improving in the red zone, and Orton's ability to effectively run this offense.  These have been among his primary talking points for several months.  I hear a lot of talk from our coach, but I’m not seeing much to back it up.

Starting with the turnover battle, we have given the ball away 8 times and taken it away zero times.  That is pathetic and luck has nothing to do with this stat.   I don't see our players making the necessary effort to strip the ball carrier and our DBs have dropped the very few opportunities we've had to make an int.  We have not come close to creating even one turnover this preseason.  Where/who are the defensive play makers?  On offense, we have been sloppy with the ball, and we’ve been sloppiest deep in our territory or deep in theirs, the two worst places to be careless.  Our 1st string offense has five giveaways in little more than 6 quarters of football.  We are giving the ball away too easily and not making a concerted effort to get it back.      

The lack of discipline and leadership are huge problems for me.  Last night, we were shoddy in several areas.  The 2nd team defense embarrassed themselves with poor tackling, coverage and gap control.  Several penalties to the O-line were a function of poor positioning and poor execution.  This group looks completely out of sorts in the running game and have looked this way all preseason.  We have been a great running team for a long time and the whole O-line returned intact so there is no excuse for the regression we have witnessed from our O-line in the running game.  The penalty to Elvis was boneheaded on his part. I hope he gets a fine for that hit on Jay.  Not because I like Jay, but because it was ridiculously inappropriate in that situation.  Elvis let emotions override his better judgment and it lead directly to the Cutler TD pass.   And it wasn’t even a good hit anyway, more of a love tap.  If you are going to do something stupid, at least make it count Elvis.  Well Cutler made it count for one TD.  Orton has lead us to one TD n 6 quarters of football.   Thus far, this Bronco squad shows little to no improvement in discipline from the 2008 team where lack of discipline was very apparent.  I think we need leaders to sort out lack of discipline, but I still don't see the leadership on this team.  Seeing Marshall make a mockery of practice without rebuke was painful and I can’t imagine believe that was an isolated incident.   I don't see the leadership from Orton, not DJ or Champ, not Royal or Hillis and not from their coach.  I just hear or read about it.  The Broncos have paid it lip service to discipline and leadership, but on game day, it's still not there.

I'm really unimpressed with our 1st string red zone offense.  We have seen Orton's picks, the Gaffney TD drop, Orton's questionable throws to Scheffler, one TD vs two turnovers, one TD in 6 quarters.  Even our one TD was a beautiful throw (Orton’s best as a Bronco) on a play that was clearly a delay of game.  The red zone is still an obstacle for our starters that remains unconquered; in fact, we’ve barely even made a dent.  Again, there is little evidence to make me think we are close to clicking in this area.  I’d like to think we could run the ball more in the red zone, but right now, our running game can be described as inconsistent at best.   If we’ve been focusing on red zone work in practice, that is a bad sign because this work is not showing itself on game day.   

Orton's play has really disappointed on several fronts.  The guy looks decent enough throwing short routes to open WRs, but he has shown precious little diversity in his ability to move the ball or get us into the end zone.  His has not produced one big play in six quarters of football.  His mechanics are disappointing, his accuracy on his medium and long passes is off the mark, he has not protected the football and he has shown little scrambling ability.  This guy has been in the NFL for five years so I'm not sure why he still displays poor passing mechanics and lack of play action skills.  I’d expect this from rookies, but not a vet with a lot of regular season games on his resume.  Thus far, Orton’s play shows me why Chicago also included two 1st round picks and a 3rd to get Jay.  Orton needs to play a lot better than a trade throw in.  So does Ayers for that matter, but that is another disappointment I won’t touch in this post.      

I'd like to see evidence that we are getting closer, but last night was a big step in the wrong direction.  This team looks a long way away from fixing some glaring problems McDaniels talked about in the offseason.  Surprisingly and to my disappointment, most of the problems are on offense.  McDaniels has a good grasp on saying the buzz words that make you think he has a plan that he is going to put into action.  When is his team going to put anything tangible behind the words of their coach?   So far, they have not.  And with a final preseason game that is likely to feature mostly the backups, it will have to come in the regular season.    

Please read this article from Don Banks at SI.com.  He has a realistic take on what is happening from a MSM point of view.  The article’s theme is how BM is basically shooting himself in the foot in his attempt to get a new deal and/or trade.  I have no idea how this BM mess will get resolved, but Banks points out that BM will be best served to play his way out of the hole he dug himself into.       

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You'll have to sit through John Clayton going off on us again to see Schlereth, but you should hear what he says about our Broncos.  It's not pretty.  It’s harsh, it’s definitive and seems like a cheap shot.  "Denver's stock is down" "BM is disgruntled, but is our best player"  "Denver's front seven is GARBAGE" "Denver is going to have a very tough 2009"   

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4373785

Is Mark Schlereth the new Jamie Dukes?  Is there is much difference between what Schlereth just said and a typical Dukes sound bite?   

Thoughts?