More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

During practice this week, and under the watchful eye of Coach "Jedi" McDaniels, Broncos QB Kyle Orton practices levitating a football. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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I have a lot on my mind right now, and I want to touch on each issue that is rumbling around in my head.

1) The loss of Bengals receiver Chris Henry

2) The great effort by Denver in their loss in Indianapolis

3) The beating we are about to administer to the Raiders, and...

4) What is in store for the Broncos, this year and next.

Let's start with the big news of the week, the death of Chris Henry.  I don't know the circumstances surrounding the death of Chris.  I know there was a domestic dispute, and Chris fell out of the rear of a moving pickup truck.  But that's it.  I'm not interested in who was at fault, and what led up to this tragedy.  Here's what I do know:

Chris was a young father.  There are young children whose lives are going to be impacted by this death, and that is more crucial than anything having to do with football.  My prayers are with them.

Second (and not even on the scale of importance as the loss of a human life) is the question as to how the Bengals will choose to react to this tragedy.  This week the Bengals play the Chargers.  As we know, the Broncos would like to see the Chargers lose as many games as possible in the final three weeks.  CIN is the biggest threat left for the Chargers (the other two games are at TEN and home against WAS).  Will the Bengals take this death too hard to play four quarters of football, or will they play an inspired game?

I was against SD in this game, but now I'm for Cincy.  I'm sure much of the football world will be, too.  Let's keep Chris's children in our prayers.

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This is it; the big game.  Indianapolis and Denver are both likely to go to the playoffs, and this game is the toughest game on the Denver schedule.  IND is undefeated, has the best QB in the League, and a defense that hasn't missed a beat even when three of four starting defensive backs went down to injury earlier this season.  The Colts feature an amazing one-two punch with their pass-rushing ends.  They have an offensive line that protects their QB very well.  In short, the Colts are a team to be respected for their well-earned accomplishments.

So there is only one question on the minds of Denver fans this week - "Can the Broncos beat Indianapolis this week?"  My answer is "Yes".  Let's face it, IND is a great team and they are (in my opinion) Super Bowl-bound.  However, while a betting man ought to go with the Colts this weekend, the Broncos are better situated to hand the Colts an upset than most analysts might think.  Denver is built to win this match-up in terms of system match-ups, and we'll explore the possibilities below the fold...

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More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

The Denver Broncos get their mojo back. Yeah Baby yeah! (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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After getting off to a great 6-0 start, the Broncos lost their mojo and dropped 4 games, including a costly game to rival San Diego.  On Thanksgiving night, the Broncos did exactly what they needed to do; not only to beat the New York Giants, but to set the tone for how to play the season out.

I'd like to think the Broncos took a page from MHR Chalk Talk last week, and made a decision to play more physical ball while letting the precision wait a little longer.  I'm certain that Coach McDaniels has better things to do than to listen to advice from folks outside of his coaching circle, but he did place an emphaisis on more physical ball for the Giants game.  It not only worked, but it worked out better than our game plans for the first 6 victories.  Why?  Because we played a dominating style of football instead of a finesse style, and it worked to a tee.

There's nothing wrong with finesse.  But a team needs time to learn a new system before it can take the step to execute more complex plays.  Right now, Denver needs to execute the basics better than the bad guys, and punch other teams in the gut.  That is just what Denver did, and what they need to do moving forward.

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Football is important to me.  I love the game, and it took up a lot of my time when I was a younger man.  I loved teaching so much that I was one of the first faculty to arrive at our building each day and one of the last to leave.  When I started coaching, I arrived at work about an hour before the kids arrived and left about an hour after practice.

It was one of those jobs (teaching and coaching; I was paid to do both) that one loves enough to look forward to in the morning and to miss on the way home.  Then I got a family, and I had the best of both worlds (home and work).

But football isn't everything.  It isn't even close.  Here are the things I am thankful for today:  My God (for everything), our military men and women (who protect everything I hold dear), my country (which allows me to enjoy the fruits of my labor), my family (from where my happiness comes from), my friends (who are like my family, and I include my MHR friends and family here), and my employer (I'm grateful to have a job during these tough economic times, and I'm grateful for each of my co-workers).  I just wanted to get that out there.

But you aren't here to hear all of that.  You want to know what has happened to our Broncos, and what we have (if anything) to look forward to.  I'll give it a stab.

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

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

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

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

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I'd like to breakdown the upcoming game against the Redskins, but I want to put in my two cents worth on the state of the team as well.

Let's start with the fan base.  That's right, let's start with the fans.  Home field has several reasons for being advantageous, including elevation (Denver), facilities, rest, and N-O-I-S-E.  I was disgusted at the number of Terrible Towels in the stands during the last game - a clear indication that many Denver fans had sold their tickets to the enemy.  With a 6-1 team, does that really make sense?  I won't buy the economy as an excuse, since the PIT fans buying the tickets are likely no better off than the Denver fans (and have to add in the cost of travel in many cases).

By the way, factoring in tie breaks, are you aware that the Denver Broncos are #2 in the AFC right now?  We are ahead of CIN and NE (we beat those 6-2 teams head-to-head) and are ahead of PIT (they aren't first in their division and we have the better conference record).  Before jumping off the bandwagon, realize that if the playoffs were today, we would have 2nd seed and a first-round bye.

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Folks, this is the game I've been waiting for all season.  There is an awful lot to look at between these two teams, and from a purely Xs and Os standpoint, this game should be a feast for football lovers.

The Steelers are the defending SB champions.  Their young coach had to start under the shadow of a big name.  This is a team that has excellent players in just about every facet of the game, and they are used very well by the coach.

The Broncos have emerged from a few years wandering the wilderness, and have a near perfect record.  Their young coach had to start out in the shadow of a big name.  Excellent players?  Check.  Great coaching?  Check.

And this game will be on Monday night.  Does it get any better?

Read on....

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How good are the Ravens?  Don't be fooled by the 3-3 record.  They've beat the teams they should have (KC and CLE), and won against a tough SD team.  Their losses came to teams that are pretty good (NE, CIN, and MIN).  Don't sell this team short.

On the other hand, many folks are more likely to sell Denver short.  Vegas has them down by 3 points at the time of this writing, despite a 6-0 record.  Denver beat two teams that beat BAL (NE and CIN), as well as CLE, SD, OAK, and DAL.  How good is Denver?

Special Teams - Sep and Oct players of the month (Kicker Matt Prater and Returner Eddie Royal).

Offense - Kyle Orton, who played the first four games with a protective glove has thrown only one INT (a bomb throw to end a half with no time left) and holds a 100+ QB rating.

Defense - Keeping opponents to an average 11 points a game.

But how do the teams match up?  Both teams come off of a bye week, and have had ample time to draw up superior game plans.  Who wins in each aspect of the game, and how should they plan the game?  Let's look at some possibilities....

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I get a lot of questions regarding three formations.  The first is the 5-2 variant of the 3-4 (such as employed by the Denver Broncos).  My last MHR-U was on this topic, and several members and staff have written on this issue.  Since Denver uses it, you can expect MHR to be on top of it.

I also get a lot of e-mails about the wildhorses formation.  I've told several members that I would write on this, but many members have stepped into the gap and written excellent posts about the formations and how they are used.  For my part, I am going to put together a reference guide so that the inquiring scholar may look up all of the information he or she needs in one, easy to find place (below).

The 4-4 is a common formation at many smaller HS programs, and a great number of middle school programs.  It isn't really seen at the pro level, but an understanding of this formation is a building block for anybody's knowledge of a good defense.  I'll discuss the two main variants of this formation, and how the formation was used at one middle school program that I was associated with.

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From the Associated Press -

SAN DIEGO - A member of the San Diego Chargers' game-day staff died 12 hours after falling out of the press box before the Denver Broncos played the San Diego Chargers on Monday night.

Walt Daniels, 66, died at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at Sharp Memorial Hospital, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.

Daniels appeared to sustain a head injury after falling about 25 to 30 feet out of a booth that was to be used by Broncos assistant coaches and landing on the loge level.

He was administered CPR before being taken to the hospital.

Workers later cleaned up a puddle of blood.

The accident happened about three hours before kickoff and delayed the opening of the gates by about 40 minutes.

"The San Diego Chargers' family is greatly saddened by the loss of Walt Daniels," the team said in a statement. "Walt loved the team and loved working in the press box on game days for more than 20 years. Our prayers are with his family and friends during this most difficult time."

Our thoughts and prayers from MHR go out to the family of Mr. Daniels, and to the Charger's community.