What’s up y’all?  I decided to write a FanPost today, because I’m at the office, and I have no interest in working on this federal tax package that’s due to the corporate tax weenies tomorrow.  I wanted to specifically talk some Denver Broncos today, and I decided to go away from my own site to do it, and check in where the spirit of the Broncos Nation lives.

I’ve mentioned this on SmarterFans.com here and there, but I’m an advocate of picking either Mike Iupati or Maurkice Pouncey tonight.  I know a lot of people like the best player available approach, regardless of position, but I’m focused on need.  I think you have to evaluate how great the need is, and weigh that against your vertical board.  ESPN’s Seth Wickersham has some nice thoughts on this, and y’all know I’m not a guy to credit ESPN’s writers willy-nilly. 

Anyway, the Broncos have a major functional need, which is picking up first downs on third-and-short, and scoring TDs in short-field situations.  Part of the solution is Knowshon Moreno, who is going to be a lot better in his second season.  The other part is improving the size and strength of the offensive line.  If the Broncos had an outstanding LG, which Mike Iupati will definitely be, they could run at will over the left side.  Do you remember how effective Shaun Alexander was behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson?  It was unstoppable in short yardage, and that’s what Iupati means to me.  An enormous weakness becomes an enormous strength, very quickly.

I like Pouncey too, and if you want the best balance possible in the line, he makes sense.    The Broncos are saying that they’ll use one of a few players at Center as of right now (Hochstein, Olsen, etc) but Pouncey would definitely be better than any of them.  In fact, I think he’ll be the second-best Center in the NFL from day one, and he’ll be challenging Nick Mangold for the top spot pretty quickly.  You can’t go wrong with either lineman, and you can know that if either is the pick, I’ll be happy, like I was when Ryan Clady was picked 2 years ago.

Continue reading this post »

Greetings and salutations from beautiful Cleveland, Ohio.  I recently asked Chris Thorman if it would be okay to write a FanPost introducing myself to the excellent AP community, and he was gracious enough to grant his blessing to the idea.  Considering that I sent a similar note to every team blogger, and got his yes, one no, and 29 ignores, I appreciate it immensely.

You may have seen me around, but if not, I am a proud SB Nation alumnus, from MileHighReport.com, and yes, that does make me a Broncos fan.  I work really hard to be an objective analyst, but I'd always like to see the Broncos win.  I was a front page poster at MHR for about a year, and wrote a column called Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.

I recently launched my own site, SmarterFans.com, and it's intended to be an NFL-wide enterprise, focusing on dual goals of detailed analysis and interesting writing.  I've been doing much better work than national guys like Peter King for a long time, and I finally decided that I should take steps to really compete with him, and ProFootballTalk, and other national sites.  Writing for a strictly Broncos-centric site limited my audience, even if I was focused on the whole league.  With a non-specific national platform, I hope to reach a very wide audience.

I have a great deal of respect for your community here, and I'd be happy if some of you checked out my site, and considered becoming regular readers.  You guys have the Chiefs beat covered exceptionally well here, and I hope that I can impress you enough to become your go-to guy for national coverage.  Thanks for checking out SmarterFans.com, and happy football watching today.

Five members of the Denver Broncos were named to the 2010 Pro Bowl, the National Football League announced on Tuesday.

Cornerback Champ Bailey, tackle Ryan Clady (starter), safety Brian Dawkins (starter), outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil (starter) and wide receiver Brandon Marshall will represent the team at the league’s annual All-Star Game on Sunday, Jan. 31, at Dolphin Stadium in South Florida at 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Denver’s five Pro Bowl selections mark its most in eight years (7 in 2001) and tie for the seventh most in a season in club history.

Bailey, in his 11th NFL season and sixth year with the Broncos, was named to the Pro Bowl for the ninth time to tie Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Haynes for the most in NFL history at the cornerback position. A team captain, Bailey has started all 15 games for Denver and ranks fourth on the club with 70 tackles (60 solo) while adding three interceptions, 13 pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Named to the Pro Bowl as a Bronco five times (2004-07 and ’09), Bailey is the 10th player in club history with at least five Pro Bowl selections. His five Pro Bowls tie Louis Wright (1977-79, ’83 and ’85) for the most by a cornerback in franchise annals.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to the triumphant finale of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations on MileHighReport.com.  I'm obviously excited for my new venture, but I'm a little sad to have just typed that sentence.  The feedback I've received has been very positive, and I particularly thank those who emailed me offline with encouragement on my new direction.

For today, I'm still very proud to be part of the staff of the best Broncos site in the world, and tomorrow, I'll be just as proud to be an alumnus of it, and a branch from the John Bena tree.  (More branches are coming, trust me on that; quality like we have on this site breeds it.)  Taking my MHR responsibility very seriously, and recognizing that some might not care a whit about my new site, I am going to hold off on the details of it for now, and include it as a postscript to this ST&NO, for those who are interested.  Those who aren't can simply skip it, and not feel like I subjected them to undue pain and suffering.  I think that's a fair deal, and I'll assume by your silence that you assent to its terms. 

With that out of the way, it's out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!

1.  I'm obviously not too happy with Sunday's result, but I'm not really surprised.  I didn't go cursing out any random old men on Sunday, like I did after the Washington game.  Way back, when I picked this team to go 11-5, I projected a road loss to Philadelphia.  It was clear who the more talented team was on Sunday, and they were wearing green.  The Eagles have had a successful, decade-long, coherent player procurement strategy, and they tend to hit much more than they miss in the draft and free agency.  I am confident that the Broncos are on their way to being able to make the same claim, but it will take a couple more years to build the kind of scheme-planned depth that the Eagles have.

Let's remember to have some perspective.  I don't know how many Texas Hold ‘em players we have here, but when you go all in pre-flop with a low pair, heads-up against two over cards, that's what they call a race.  Say I've got a pair of Fives, and you have a Queen and a Ten.  I am in the lead at the moment the cards are flipped over, but there's about a 50% chance that you'll pair one of your cards, or catch another hand that will beat me.  If I am short-stacked, and I catch that low pocket pair, this is probably the best situation I can reasonably hope for, to get into a race, and I need to make the play when it's there.  I have a 50% chance, where I could either double up, or bust out.  That's all I can ask for, so I make my stand, and I live with the results.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  I am writing this lead-in on Black Monday, and I'm still not in a very good mood, as you can imagine.  I'm going to try to make the best of it, and drop a good column despite the bad feelings.  We'll see, because I still haven't watched this infuriating game a second time yet.  No guarantees.  For now, let's get on with it.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1.  So, I am not too thrilled, as you might imagine.  I don't think anybody particularly is, but this game solidified a thought in my mind about the Broncos, that I've been close to, but never fully there this season.  It kind of makes me feel like a fool actually, because way back, when I was the only credible analyst in the world predicting 11-5 for the Broncos, my main reason for thinking it is what I had wrong.

The Broncos offensive line is the weakness of the team, and I thought it was the strength.  When I envisioned beating Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it was because I thought the Broncos would be able to block them.  I've frequently observed the struggles of one guy or another, but the real conclusion we need to reach is that this group leaves a lot to be desired.  Nice Thing to Say About Jay Cutler Alert:  I think we all underestimated how much his quick release, mobility, and pocket awareness helped prevent sacks last year. 

This year, they've given up sacks at key times, often when it's been obvious that they had to throw the ball.  That has been the minor part of the problem.  The major part is that they've struggled to drive-block all season, and lately, they've struggled to effectively zone-block, too.  Russ Hochstein is terrible, and really hasn't been any kind of improvement over Ben Hamilton.  Casey Wiegmann has regressed this year from his previously high standard and gets pushed backward too much.  I haven't been too thrilled with the play of Chris Kuper over the last month either, and Tyler Polumbus has proven to be just a backup and special teams player. 

I think this season turned when Ryan Harris got hurt.  He's one of the best RTs in the NFL, and between he, Kuper, and often Daniel Graham, the Broncos had a good ability to open holes in the running game to the right, outside.  Now, the Broncos get pushed backward too much, and are very susceptible to run blitzing against their zone schemes.  In the short term, they can help themselves with plays like backside smoke screens off outside play action, inviting/exploiting the run blitzing.  In the long term, though, they interior of the line badly needs to be upgraded, because the Broncos will always struggle against physical fronts if it doesn't.

Now, the Broncos do still control their own destiny, even after losing two in a row.  They can beat Philadelphia too, if they can protect Kyle Orton, and run the ball effectively.  I really think that the Eagles' tendencies toward throwing the ball a lot play to the Broncos' strength on defense.  Like Kima Greggs said, sometime things gotta play hard.  The Broncos wiped the field with the Giants, who are very similar to the Eagles, so let's not lose hope that they can do it again.  Remember, every game is an independent event, and what happened last week is irrelevant to what may happen this week.    Go Broncos!

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  Christmas is coming - and I, for one, am hoping for a much more joyous holiday season than I experienced last December.  All I got for Christmas last year was the Broncos' historic collapse, and all I had to give was the one scenario that could possibly be worse than the season-ending Chargers game (it involved hypothetically cutting an apple, slipping, and stabbing myself in the groin WHILE watching that game).

I'm not much for moral victories, but today in Donny Deutschland, I will talk about why I feel better about Sunday's loss than I have about any Broncos loss in years.  There's no time to waste, so let's not waste any time.  Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!

1.  I learned on Sunday that what I suspected was the case, was in fact, the case.  That is, the Broncos can play with Indianapolis, at Indianapolis.  It happened a little differently than I thought it would, but the Broncos competed, and got back in the game after getting down in really ugly fashion.  Consider these statistics, as I pretend that I care about statistics for a moment.  The Broncos outgained Indianapolis 357-312.  They held the ball for 31:27, versus the Colts' 28:33.  They won the turnover battle 3-1.  The Broncos advanced into Colts territory on 8 of 12 posessions.  These measures would tend to indicate victory, but in this case, the Broncos fell a little short.

For next time, we can internalize a few thoughts:

a.  The Broncos have the players and schemes to cover the Colts receivers, pressure Peyton Manning, and generally disrupt their offense.

b.  The Broncos have the players and schemes to move the ball at will against the Colts defense. 

c.  As a fan base, we all mistakenly thought to ourselves "Here we go again" when the Colts got up 21-0 after four possessions.  We can take this game as a lesson that the past doesn't indicate the future.  Those Broncos teams which got their doors blown off by the Colts passing game are definitely not these Broncos.

Continue reading this post »

 
Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of ST&NO.  After being sick last week, and running an abbreviated version on Wednesday, I am back in full effect this week.  I feel kind of like Stringer Bell in season 2 of The Wire, when Avon Barksdale was locked up, and their supplier cut them off.  Stringer said he needed to put out a smoker to hold the towers, and I feel like a smoker is similarly needed this week with ST&NO.  After all, I can't really do what Stringer actually did, when he couldn't get his raw dope, and change the name.  Nobody is going to read a column called Death Grip, you know?  (Really, I don't know what kind of drug addict would buy dope called Death Grip, but that's neither here nor there.)  Anyway, here comes the high test stuff, with the same name as always.  So fill up your coffee, get comfortable, and let's get right to it.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!

1.            You have to like how the Broncos looked Sunday, even in spite of 3 turnovers by Kyle Orton.  They once again beat down a bad team, which is what good teams have to do.  They shot a hole in the terribly inane thinking that they couldn't win in Kansas City in December, and they strengthened their hold on the 5th seed in the playoffs.  Helping matters, the Steelers and Ravens both lost to fall to 6-6, so their two competitors who beat them head-to-head lost some ground.  I fully expect Jacksonville to choke, and I am starting to think that Miami is going to sneak into the 6th spot, actually.

In any case, the Broncos are in a pretty good place right now.  Peter King declared them to be toast two weeks ago, done, kaput.  On Monday, he called them a psycho team, and ranked them 10th in the Fool 15.  I am still feeling good about this Indianapolis game, and I am sure that the Broncos match up pretty well with the Colts.  Coverage is the only way to beat them, and the Broncos are back to covering as well as anybody.  I fully expect the Broncos to run for 150 yards against the Colts too, if they can keep the score within striking distance.

It's a good Tuesday to be a Broncos fan.  Our team is in in the midst of a season which we can only consider to be a success up until this point.  They've come together as a team, learned how to win close games against good teams, learned how to blow out bad teams, and figured out their brand new schemes.  They've seemingly bought into one of the main Patriots mantras, that Durability is more important than Ability.  Everybody is working hard to Do Their Job.  This is when it's good to be a fan of a team, and when it's good to be a fan of a team, it's great to be alive.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to a day-late, dollar-short version of ST&NO.    First of all, big up TJ for working hard to bring in his outstanding The Dude Abides... Stats That Don't Lie in a day early.  I am a bit healthier on Tuesday as I write this, and I am going to see what I can get cranked out in one day, with moderate sneezing, and a heavy Day 1 of close workload in that pesky day job.  I didn't take notes, and I didn't remember to record the Broncos game, so I am without a lot of detail this week, and will need to speak more generally than usual.  No time to waste, so let's not waste any time.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!

1.  So I mentioned that I would be in the Constitution State, and that I'd be playing in a football game with my friend Tony, a diehard Giants fan.  The morning game was fun, but I ended up pretty sore, for those who asked.  It's tough playing once a year at the most. 

As for the night game, well, my mom is not what you'd call a high-tech person.  Every time I visit, without fail, there's some junk Coby brand DVD player she wants me to plug into some junk/old TV set without RCA inputs.  (You have to drop like $40 on an RF modulator to run through coax, which is about 2.5 times the price of the DVD player.)  The "how" of plugging in a DVD player is too daunting for my mom to even give it a try for herself.  In her main TV-watching area, she has a 21ish-inch Symphonic brand LCD flat screen that I am sure came from Wal-Mart.  Her equipment is garbage, but it works for her I guess.  Law & Order SVU looks fine on it.  (I don't mean to make fun of my mother; she just doesn't share my priorities, or general attitude toward spending a few extra bucks for quality gear.)  It turned out to be moot anyway, because NFL Network is on a premium tier she doesn't subscribe to.

Continue reading this post »

Hi all.  I caught a pretty hellacious cold during my trip to Connecticut, and I am not going to have an ST&NO written for tomorrow.  I worked my day job from home, and I'm just not feeling up to it.  Sorry for any disappointment, but I will be back next week with an extra-special edition.  Have a great week, and Go Broncos!!!

Happy Tuesday, friends.  It's a short week, with another game on Thursday night, so there's no time to mope or feel sorry for ourselves.  In their scheduling wisdom, the NFL took away our right to do so - and I, for one, am glad.  The Giants can be beaten, with sound play, but we'll get to that eventually.  For now we'll put this week to bed and move on quickly.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1.  I am approaching one full year as a staff contributor to MHR, having joined at the beginning of December 2008.  It's been quite an interesting year, and my relationship to the team has kind of changed in an unexpected way during that time. 

I first discovered MHR in April 2008, right before the draft.  It, and SBNation, have come a long way since then, but the basics were the same; MHR is a respectful, knowledgeable community which discussed all things about their team.  I was inspired to join such a community, and I started posting some FanPosts (which were still called Diaries only a year and a half ago).

Unlike a lot of staff members, I wasn't asked to fill a specific role, so I had to figure out what mine would be.  I had always done some around the league stuff, but I wanted to find a delivery formula that would work well on a Broncos site.  I debuted ST&NO on January 12, 2009, with the following opening:

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends.  After being up late, and watching a hard-fought game go awry, I bet you're pretty bleary-eyed, and grumpy, but let's try to make this a good day.  I don't want to think that the Broncos have fallen into losing habits here, and I really don't think that's the case. 

Of course, those who speak, but don't know what they're talking about, will start screaming about how the Broncos have been exposed, and they're a fraud, and every other damn thing.   A few persistent issues have emerged, but they can be corrected.  If anything, losing back-to-back games against good teams can teach you a great deal about your own team.

Let's reflect on this, as I know the coaching staff is, and the players are.  Next week, the Broncos face the Redskins, which presents a great opportunity to get back on the winning track.  After that, San Diego comes to town.  The Broncos still control the AFC West, make no mistake about that. 

On the other side of the jump, we'll break it all down.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, if you can manage one.  Welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  Well, this was bound to happen, right?  Since Sunday afternoon, I have been thinking about what the right tone is to take with this week's ST&NO.  I still haven't decided, and it's Monday at 5 PM as I write this paragraph.  I guess I am just going to go with it, and play it like it feels.  We had an ugly loss, and to top it off, there were only 4 late games, and no Sunday night game, so I didn't see a lot of live football, at all.  We'll make do, because that's all we can do.  Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire y'all.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1.  The two plays which set the tone for yesterday's game happened at the beginning of each half.  On the Broncos' first play from scrimmage, Jarret Johnson came in untouched and unrecognized off the defense's left side, and creamed Kyle Orton for a big loss.  As I watched the play happen, I couldn't help but think that the Broncos may not be well-prepared if they weren't expecting a lot of blitzing.

As the second half got underway, Lardarius Webb took the opening kickoff back 95 yards for a TD.  That took a manageable 6-0 halftime deficit to 13-0, and essentially dictated that the Broncos start playing come-from-behind football.  You see the picture of this play, and I used it because it sticks in my craw (whatever a craw is), and I want it stick in yours, too.  I guarantee it bothers the coaches and players.  You can't have that happen and expect to win.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday friends, and welcome to another (shortened) edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  This is MileHighReport.com, the premier source of Broncos new and analysis in the entire world.  I have been feeling like we're still kind of peripheral, in the eyes of the rest of the worldwide media, but we beat the bejesus out of them every day, when it comes to covering the Broncos.

As they say, game recognizes game, and correspondingly, it also recognizes groupthink and suckiness.  By your being here, reading this today, and hopefully, every week, you mark yourself as having good sense, and at least a partial desire to be part of what is a collaborative learning and growth experience for us all.  I'm a front-page staff guy, obviously, but I learn interesting things from FanPosters all the time.  Those people are the lifeblood of the MHR community, and they should be commended for their outstanding contributions.

If you're a lurker, you obviously have the good sense to consume our front page content.  I wanted to take a minute to ask you to consider joining as an MHR community member, and participating in the discussion.  We always welcome people just like you, and chances are, you know something that will be of value to the rest of us, or you have a question which will spark a discussion, which has value to the rest of us.  Either way, we all win.

Okay, Ted's Own Personal Membership Drive is over.  My local NPR affiliate, 90.3 WCPN in Cleveland, has been doing a drive lately (seemingly, every time I am in my car), so I decided to do a quick one in Donny Deutschland this week.  I don't want your money, just your participation.  (For one thing, I think this is a great week for my lurking brother Chris to join.)  Do a smart thing, and get down with MHR.  As we say in the US Navy, welcome aboard.

OK, on to football, and whatever else pops into my head.  Out of the echo chamber, and into the fire, y'all.  Ready....?

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  I had a fairly selfish weekend, leaving Cleveland on Friday and traveling to South Bend, Indiana, for the Notre Dame-USC game on Saturday afternoon.  My friend Ramona has a brother who is a graduate student at Notre Dame, and he was able to get us pretty good tickets.  I didn't get home until about 5 PM on Sunday, so I missed all of the early NFL games, and only got to see the second quarter on of a few late ones.  I recorded the Short Cuts of the 3 most interesting early games, with a plan of watching them Monday evening, after work and before the Broncos-Chargers game.  I apologize if this is a slightly thinner ST&NO than usual, but I don't ever want to be the guy who comments on football I didn't see, scanning the box scores for some stats which may or may not be meaningful.  You know who I mean, all of them.  Without further ado, let's get this thing moving, ST&NO style.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!

1.  So, I am writing this at 12:16 AM ET on Tuesday morning, with the rest of the column basically already in the can.  Such is life when you have a Tuesday morning time slot, and a back-and-forth, hotly contested Monday night game.  I've only gotten to see the game once, obviously, and we're in a compressed time situation, but I'm going to try hard to manage the clock well, and come with some thunder on the short track.

This is a great feeling, isn't it?  Frankly, even if I had a lot of time to write, there isn't much to say that I haven't been saying all season.  I've covered most "isn't this great" angles, right?  It kind of makes writing a column like this difficult, when it comes to finding new material for the Donny Deutsch Big Idea.  I can't even really play the disrespect card anymore.

Luckily, I have two weeks to think of new ideas, until the Broncos take on the Baltimore Ravens.  I have a feeling that I'll be talking about the 7-0 Broncos after that game, because the Ravens can't defend the Broncos, and the Broncos defense actually matches up very favorably with the Baltimore offense.  Until then, let's enjoy this win, this place in the standings, and the feeling we're all feeling right now.  I remember this feeling, from the late 1990s.  It's the one where your team is a legitimate contender to win the Super Bowl. 

ZOMG!  That was a new angle in Donny Deutschland, and it just kind of slipped out, didn't it?  I knew something was right on the tip of my tongue (err... fingertips).  But, yes, I said it, and yes, I mean it.  Let's forget about Kool-Aid, and start thinking about Lombardi Trophies.  Remember, I'm the crazy man who had the Broncos on 11-5 before the season started, which would now only require playing .500 football the rest of the way.  Consider this an enhancement to my original forecast.

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends, and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations.  Is anybody else feeling like they could get used to feeling like this on a Tuesday?  It's great to be 5-0, isn't it?  Maybe Mark Kiszla is right, and we should all join him in welcoming Kyle Orton to Denver, since MHR is clearly bringing up the rear, there.  Y'all know how skeptical I have been. Despite our ongoing skepticism, and community-wide propensity for all things negative, we press on.  Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1.  Speaking of my skepticism, I was pretty high on this team, heading into the first game.

This is an 11-5 football team, and it's one that is only going to improve as it adds more quality talent in the next few years.  I put my money where my mouth is too, donating $11 to the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure, on John Bena's wife's behalf.  Please do the same thing, if you can, by donating $1 for every win you think the Broncos will get this season.  Things have to break right for that to happen, sure, but I think they will.  Forget last season, this is a totally different thing. 

Well, that caused a stir.  John Bena took a beating on Twitter about it, and even my brother Chris thought I was about 4 games too generous.  At this point, I am frankly wondering if I shorted the Susan G Komen outfit by a buck or two.  One mea culpa though. 

By the way, the Broncos five losses are to the Patriots, Giants, and Raiders at home, and the Chargers and Eagles on the road.  I know a lot of people will groan at the thought of losing to Oakland at home, but let's face it, the Broncos annually lose a game they have no business losing, and I had a feeling that that would be the one.  I think they can beat Baltimore and Pittsburgh, because they protect the QB, and will be strong defensively against the run.  It's about matchups, in those cases.  Really, I believe that the Broncos can beat any team on their schedule if they execute, and consistently do the things you need to do to win football games.

I had the Broncos going to 4-0, (in case anybody claims nobody did), before losing both (Sunday) to the Patriots and next Monday night to the Chargers.   They beat the Patriots, and I am pretty sure they'll beat the Chargers too, to move to 6-0.   I also don't think there is any way they lose to the Raiders, with the consistent preparation and focus they've shown, and Oakland's extreme awfulness.  So, even the most optimistic reasonable guy you know may have been underselling this team. 

Continue reading this post »

Hello again, friends.  Welcome to Lighting Up The Scoreboard.  I hope you enjoy it, and your feedback, as always, is appreciated.  I finally remembered to turn up the volume on the voice track, and found time to put together some music that I like okay, for the beginning.

Have a great weekend, and Go Broncos!!

Happy Tuesday, friends.  Welcome to what will probably be a somewhat shorter-than-usual version of ST&NO.  The first week of every month, accountants get to close the books for the recently ended prior month.  As I start writing this opening section, it is 7:17 PM on Monday night, so my day job has unfortunately gotten in the way of my primary goal on a Monday, which is to write this column.  (A today-specific secondary goal is to correctly punctuate all text in parentheses, because I am all about continuous performance improvement).  I'll be switching back and forth between this and that, probably for the next 5 hours or so.  So, the moral of the story is that there's no time to waste.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1.  I can't remember the last time I felt so good about a Broncos team and its total team performance over a stretch of games, as I do now.  I don't think I ever did in 2005, and I know I haven't since then.  There's a guy who I was in the Navy with, and knew a little bit, (we mess-cranked together, for anybody who knows what that means).  Now, we're Facebook friends.  Well, he's from Oakland, and he seems to think that each of these 4 Broncos wins has been 100% luck.  Even the Raiders, because, he says they are in a rebuilding year (decade).

What makes me feel so good is knowing that the 4-0 start has absolutely nothing to do with luck, not even the Brandon Stokley miracle play against Cincinnati.  That play, in and of itself, was lucky, but being in the position to have a break win you a game was not luck.  (I actually feel the same way about the Hochuli Game, incidentally.  The Broncos still had to score on 4th down, and win on a 2-point conversion.  The blown Hochuli call was not a 39-point play, and if San Diego had won on a fluke play like that, the luck just would have gone in the preconceived-notion-confirming direction).  But I digress.

The Broncos are playing well in all phases of the football game, and it's translating into victories, just like they tell you it will in Pop Warner.  The formula they are following is time-honored and uncomplicated.  Block, tackle, don't throw into coverage, run north and south, catch the ball, and hold onto it when you get it.  I'm a simple man with simple tastes, like Floyd Gondolli in Boogie Nights.  (Well, not just like him, but you understand what I am getting at). 

Continue reading this post »

UPDATED with louder audio

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends and welcome to another edition of Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations, where we're always aiming to deliver the best thing since Starks in Clark's Wallabees.  It's a feel-good Tuesday, right?  Our Broncos are 3-0, but it's a much more legitimate-feeling 3-0 than last season's version.  The respect is still slow in coming, but it's coming bit by bit.

The most important thing I've witnessed happening is a growing confidence and self-respect among our fan base.  MHR is mostly known as a positive-thinking community, so maybe a lot of us were on the feel-good train earlier than others, but I can feel it really starting to take hold.  Contrast that to Cleveland (where most are aware that I reside).  The feeling around here is just awful, and we can all be glad not to be feeling that way.  It's on to the Cowboys game, but first let's do this thing here.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!!

1.  I was browsing through my Facebook news feed on Sunday night, and I saw this gem from NYCBroncosFan (Later posted on MHR by John Bena):

"Denver rookie head coach Josh McDaniels doesn't have a grasp on how to build a team." - John Clayton, April 23rd, 2009

Doesn't have a grasp, huh?  That's a really, embarrassingly arrogant comment, because if you're commenting on other people's "grasps," it necessarily follows that you fancy yourself an expert, who is far beyond mere grasping of the operative subject.  I spent some time excoriating Clayton last week, but since that's like stealing a candy bar from a developmentally challenged baby chinchilla, I have no interest in continuing with that tack this week.  At some point, the referee calls the fight, and I'll take a bloody win by TKO.  It's his blood, and not mine, after all. 

Continue reading this post »

Hello and happy Saturday, friends.  I'm getting excited for the Broncos chances to start the season 3-0 on Sunday, and I hope all of you are as well.  Once again, here's Lighting Up The Scoreboard.  I got the production time down to about 4 hours (from 9 and then 6 1/2,) so that's moving in the right direction.  I also figured out and corrected the color problem, which was due to a bad S-Video cable.  I hope you enjoy the video, and I'll see you on the other side of the jump.

Continue reading this post »

As promised, here is Between The Lines, featuring two games, as promised.

Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos

a.  The first thing that jumped out in re-watching the game was how excellent the Broncos line was in pass protection.  I only saw two missed assignments the whole game in protection.  Ryan Harris whiffed on David Bowens on 3rd-and-goal, with Tony Scheffler wide open for  TD.  Orton was hit as he threw, and the ball was short.  Later, a blitz got to Orton from right up the middle, and Casey Wiegmann and Chris Kuper missed it, and left the hole wide open.  Orton was again hit as he threw, and the ball fell incomplete.  Other than that, the play of the Broncos line in protection was superb.  Kamerion Wimbley had absolutely nothing for Ryan Clady, but that wasn't too surprising.

The Browns never got pressure with four men, and when they didn't blitz, Kyle Orton had all day in the pocket.  When they blitzed with numbers, Orton and the line saw it, and got the ball out quickly, even if it did result in some incomplete passes.  The best success Cleveland had was delayed blitzing, but there was still only one play which was close to a sack.  ESPN.com counted 3 QB hits, but 2 were really innocuous.  Not a good performance for the Browns pass rush.

b.  The Browns did a pretty terrible job in protection, especially on the right side of their line.  John St. Clair never was too good, and he has nothing left.  I thought the Twitter Scout, Daniel Jeremiah, had a good line Sunday, so I will repeat it:

John St Clair is really bad. No feet, no punch, no chance. (@MoveTheSticks)

He was terrible all game.  The Browns also lost Floyd Womack to injury early, and had to plug Hank Fraley in at RG for the rest of the game.  Fraley is serviceable, but below average, as a Center, but he doesn't anchor well enough to play Guard.  Alex Mack had the bad snap, but he was solid in his blocking, and Joe Thomas and Eric Steinbach were solid, as usual, on the Left Side.  Steinbach was beaten badly by Robert Ayers on the near-safety of Brady Quinn.  If Elvis Dumervil didn't wrap up Quinn from the back, Ayers was about to smash him from the front.  Dumervil's first sack was surrendered by Thomas, but it was a three-step drop that was disrupted by a leaping Brian Dawkins, as described in the main ST&NO.  St. Clair gave up the other 3 Dumervil sacks.  Vonnie Holliday got pressure a couple times, and Marcus Thomas commanded a few double teams in pass rushing situations also.  Checking the stats, the Broncos had the 4 sacks, and 5 more hits on Quinn.

c.  The Broncos defensive linemen were tremendous in their run fits, once again.  What I really like about this group, generally, is that they're all good football players, even if nobody is a superstar (though Marcus Thomas can be.)  He, Ryan McBean, Holliday, Kenny Peterson, Ronald Fields, and Darrell Reid all took turns pushing their Cleveland offensive line opponents backward.  For two weeks now, the Broncos have been re-setting the line of scrimmage positively, and that's the best development I have seen yet.  This is a solid group, with no real drop-off between players.  Only one bad play; Peterson got blown up on an early 10-yard Jamal Lewis run around left end.

The Browns line is soft and plays like they want to finesse defenses.  I don't think that's really true of the rookie Mack, so much, but Thomas and Steinbach show little in the way of run-game nastiness, and with Womack getting hurt, the light-in-the-pants Fraley showed nothing good in the run game, either.  St. Clair may have been even worse in the running game than the passing game.  The guy is just useless, and I can't imagine that the Browns expected that he'd be good enough to win with.  There were rumblings that the highly-paid Steinbach was on the outs with Eric Mangini's staff, due to his softness, and I suspect he may be gone after this season.  If the Browns want to improve in 2010, they ought to make it a high priority to get a good RB, and about 3 more good offensive linemen.  The Browns ran 21 times for 54 yards, a lousy 2.6 yard average.

d.  In the Denver running game, the results were just as one-sided.  Checking my notes, I see no material egregious missed assignments, and Ryan Clady, Ryan Harris, and Chris Kuper had excellent days in the running game, especially Harris, who was driving Robaire Smith off the ball pretty consistently.  Clady was his usual dominant self, and was especially deadly getting out in front on a toss sweep to Correll Buckhalter, and a WR screen to Eddie Royal (which Royal blew by cutting back across the field.  Kuper did a nice job of hitting LBs at the second level, as did Casey Wiegmann.  Kuper, Wiegmann and Ben Hamilton had some trouble with the outstanding Shaun Rogers here and there, but they actually did better holistically than I had thought in real-time, as I re-watched the line play.  Kuper got blown up by Rogers on the Peyton Hillis TD run, but it was not material, since Hillis scored.  The good news was that all three TEs, Daniel Graham, Tony Scheffler, and Richard Quinn were outstanding in the run game, and they were joined by good efforts from Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Marshall downfield.  Note that Kuper sat down once the game was decided, and Russ Hochstein did pretty well in run-blocking this week, off the bench.  (By the way, Marshall's holding penalty on the Buckhalter screen was ticky-tack, and Graham actually had a much worse hold on the same play.)  The whole team blocked well in the running game, racking up 186 yards on 37 carries, for a robust 5 yards per carry, with 2 TDs.

e.  There was no question whatsoever who was better on both lines in this game.  The Broncos dominated up front, and it was the primary reason they won the game.  The reason you never thought for a second the Browns would win was their complete lack of ability to compete in the trenches.  My DVR recorded a local Browns strategy show with some local hacks saying the Broncos weren't good on either line, but I guess they might know better now.  I am here to tell you, it's increasingly clear that this Broncos team can compete with anybody in the NFL on the lines, both ways.

2.  Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans

a.  This was quite a game.  Beginning with Houston's passing game performance, I questioned their ability to protect against Tennessee's outstanding front four, and for that main reason, I thought there was very little chance the the Texans would win the game.  Well, the Texans got the job done in this area.  Duane Brown is growing into a good LT, and Eric Winston is a good RT.  Brown mostly got the better of the excellent Kyle Vanden Bosch, and Winston kept Jevon Kearse invisible in the passing game.  The only time Kearse got noticed was when he jumped offsides, and sacked Matt Schaub, causing a fumble.  Too bad it didn't count.  Brown also recovered two Steve Slaton fumbles in the game, which was key.  Brown had a false start, and was joined in that dishonor by Chester Pitts and Chris Myers, which means both games had Centers get false starts, which is pretty odd.  Pitts was pushed backward quite a bit by Jason Jones, but he mostly held up okay before getting hurt.  He was replaced by Kasey Studdard, son of former Bronco Dave Studdard.  Kasey did fine in pass protection too, and so did Myers and Mike Brisiel (a Colorado State alum, for you Rams fans.)  I was surprised by the lack of pressure generated by Jones and Tony Brown, who are both outstanding players, but the interior 3 for the Texans won that battle, playing backwards at least.  Schaub wasn't sacked, and was hit 6 times, which marks a very successful day against THAT defensive line.

b.  The Titans line also played pretty well in the passing game.  Michael Roos had a hard time with Mario Williams, but he's the best DE in the NFL, so you'll have that.  Williams got a sack against Roos.  #71 is good, but anybody who says he is as good as Ryan Clady doesn't know what they are talking about.  David Stewart held up pretty well on the other side, mostly facing Antonio Smith.  Williams did rush from the defense's left side a few times, and it triggered an automatic double team, a sign of smart coaching.    Houston's inside players, Amobi Okoye, Shaun Cody, and Frank Okam had very little impact, and Jeff Zgonina didn't do anything except recover the Kerry Collins fumble inside of 2 minutes which secured the game for the Texans.  The Titans inside 3 of Jake Scott, Kevin Mawae, and Eugene Amano did a really good job in protection.  Collins was sacked the once, and hit 3 times, with Mario Williams getting 2 of those.

c.  The Texans really struggled to run the ball on Sunday, which was more in line with what I thought would happen when the two lines met.  Jason Jones and Tony Brown were especially stout inside, and were joined by the Vanden Bosch, and Tennessee's excellent backups Jovan Haye and William Hayes, who each had a tackle for a loss.  The Titans have so many good defensive linemen, it's almost unfair.  I really think it's the best group, and the best-coached group, in the NFL.  (Jones got ejected for throwing a punch, so the depth helped.)  The Titans consistently pushed the line-of-scrimmage backward, and it was really not such good work by Duane Brown, Pitts, Studdard, Myers, and Brisiel.  Winston did a good job against Kearse in the running game, but he was the lone wolf in that regard.  This was physicality against finesse, and physicality utterly dominated.  The gory details:  29 carries, 63 yards, a 2.2 yard average.

d.  The Titans blocked pretty well for the running game, and it's a little mind-boggling why they didn't run more often.  Let's start with the two long TD runs by Chris Johnson.  On his early 57-yarder, Mario Williams lined up opposite RT Daivd Stewart, and the Titans ran a 3rd-and-19 draw to their left.  Key downfield blocks by Mawae and Roos sprung Johnson, who is so fast, it doesn't take much to get him loose.  On Johnson's 91-yard TD, Houston's Tim Bulman overran his edge-setting responsibility, and Johnson just followed Eugene Amano through a wide-open hole.  If you take those two plays away, the Texans did somewhat better, but they still got killed here overall.  A bright spot was Mario Williams running down Johnson on a 3rd-and-1 sweep, in the open field.  Very few players make that play.  The Titans rushed 26 times for 240 yards and 2 TDs.  That's a 9.2 yard average, which drops to a still-decent 3.8 yards if you strip out the two long TDs.

e.  The Titans are better on both lines than the Texans, and really should have won this game, if not for some excellent play by Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Owen Daniels, and losing the turnover battle.  Tennessee has to be really upset to lose a game like this at home, and you heard it here first.  They will clobber the Jets next week, because they can block New York's blitz packages, unlike the Texans and Patriots.

Happy Tuesday, friends.  We're back with another edition of ST&NO, because this train can't be stopped.  Fresh off a weekend full of football, we have a lot to discuss; so read it, ponder it, and share your thoughts.

 1.  Respect.  It's almost as if a whole song could be written about it or something.  Picture Eddie Murphy's dad drunkenly hollering "R-E-C-C-C-T-P, mother-%^$er you know how to spell it."  The 2009 Denver Broncos have gotten no respect, still, after being 2-0.  There have been a tepid acknowledgment or two, but no mea culpas.

From John Clayton at ESPN:

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels is off to an impressive start -- thanks largely to a defense that appears to be much better than last year's version.

From his colleague Bill "Pork Chop" Williamson:

The defense has been a problem area for Denver in recent season. (sic) Yet, the new 3-4 system in Denver seems to be working. If the Broncos can continue to play well, they could have a decent season. So far, it’s been a good start.

Clayton, remember, thought the Broncos would win 3 games this season, that they were in disarray, and that their defense was terrible.  It's all right here and here. 

DIVISION FINISH: 4  Face it, the Broncos are a mess. They could be a three- or a four-win team if Kyle Orton struggles, the running game gets off to a slow start and Brandon Marshall continues to pout and be immature. To add to things, the defense that gave up 28 points a game is trying a completely new scheme. Ouch.

If you watched any Broncos preseason football, you'd draw a conclusion from all 4 games that the defense was vastly improved, right?  I mean, it didn't take a professional scout to see; it was clear as day.  And, where I am from, when something is completely broken, you throw it out, and start over.  So, I'll take a completely new scheme after giving up 28 points per game, thanks.

No word yet from Adam Schein, Jamie Dukes, or the other disrespectors from the echo chamber.

Continue reading this post »

Continue reading this post »

Happy Tuesday, friends.  It's a happy week in Broncoland, hopefully one of many to come this season.   There was some good, some bad, some lucky, and some spectacular on Sunday.  We'll discuss it all, like we always do, and we won't apologize for winning, because a win is a win.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!

1.  The Broncos on Sunday reminded me of the Patriots of about 2005, only operating at about 60% of potential.  The defensive looks were varied, the tackling and coverage were solid, and the whole was generally greater than the sum of its parts.  On offense, there was a lot of commitment to running the ball, some screening, and mostly lower-risk stuff when they did go downfield.  The team played like they expected a close game, and did the sorts of things you have to do to win close.

Consider the following:

a.  The Broncos committed no turnovers, and forced two.  (I personally count the bad snap on the FG, which doesn't technically count, and don't count Scheffler's interception, which does.)  I now reiterate my belief that turnovers are the number one determinant of winning and losing.

b.  The Broncos committed few penalties, and they were minor ones, the obvious exception being the Casey Wiegmann holding call on the successful 4th-quarter Correll Buckhalter screen.

c.  Brett Kern had one notable shank, but mostly punted very well, helping the Broncos in field position.  (I now reiterate my belief that field position is the number two determinant of winning and losing.)  The return work for the Broncos was very shaky all day, and I would say the Broncos lost the field position battle by a bit.  It would have been a lot worse without Kern's solid work, and some good coverage on punts.

d.  The clock management methodology at the end of the first half was right out of Bill Belichick's book, and we can expect to see it repeatedly over the coming years.  I want to talk about this in some detail, because it's going to become a key part of the character of the Broncos football team.

Continue reading this post »

It's a regular season Football Tuesday, friends.  What could be better?  Welcome to another edition of ST&NO.  I didn't watch a lot of Week 4 preseason football this week, because, let's face it, most of those games feature very little play by regulars.  I did get into college football though, and I did put together some thoughts toward a season preview.  Without further ado, let's jump right into it.  Ready......... BEGIN!!!

1.  You have to love the MSM echo chamber.  A couple of these guys get to saying something, and next thing you know, the (mostly uneducated) opinion of a few becomes FACT.  The funniest example to me was the 2006 Draft.  The evening before the big day, the Texans, who had been assumed by everybody in the media to be preparing to draft Reggie Bush first overall, announced that they had agreed to terms with Mario Williams, and would be picking the Defensive End first the next day.

The Texans got brutally hammered by the instant analysis, as you'd expect.  This must be about money, the punditry said.  Charley Casserly must be cheap and/or out of his mind.  Why would Bob McNair even let him run this draft, when he knew he was being let go?  Was Casserly trying to sabotage the team on his way out?

After one year, it was ACCEPTED FACT that the Texans had screwed up.  Williams struggled a bit, like young defensive linemen usually do, and Bush showed some flashes, especially in a playoff game against the Bears.  The Texans screwed up, and they should serve as a lesson to other teams who are blessed have the first overall pick, and who don't want to screw it up themselves.

A funny thing happened in 2007, though.  Mario Williams turned into (and continues to be) the best Defensive End in the NFL, and Reggie Bush proved to to be an injury-prone, part-time player.  You haven't heard any mea culpas from Len Pasquarelli or John Clayton, in the aftermath of this.  They were sure, and they had it DEAD WRONG, and there's no acknowledgment of that fact, whatsoever.  I personally think that makes them cowards, and I remember it as an example of how not to behave, when I get something wrong, which I do from time to time (but far less often than they do.)

Remember when Bill Belichick stuck with Tom Brady for the playoffs, even when Drew Bledsoe got healthy back in 2001?  He got killed, until Brady won their first Super Bowl against the mighty St. Louis Rams.  This happens all the time.

Fast-forward to 2009.  Clayton projects that the Broncos will go 3-13 this season, and be the second worst team in the NFL, behind Detroit.  Unless a New York Mets-like spate of injuries befalls the team, he is DEAD WRONG.  If I am wrong, and he is right, I will man up to it publically, like I always do, but that's not going to happen.  The 2009 Denver Broncos are a competitive football team, I am sure of it.

Continue reading this post »

Well, I have been scoring entries into the impromptu ST&NO contest, and the winner is AlanC11, with 51 correctly identified players.  A whole bunch of entries tied my total of 50 correct, so it was very close.  All results are out of 54 total players, since Brandon Marshall is still on the Reserve-Suspended List.

Results

AlanC11    51 correct

ITPro - 50 correct

bchiper - 50 correct

USMCWall - 50 correct

BroncosBassist - 50 correct

orangeandblueblood7 - 50 correct

Mikebirty - 50 correct

Calijoefornia - 49 correct

dr. mort - 49 correct

BShrout - 46 correct

Alan was the only entrant to get Brandon Gorin correct, and it gives him the victory.  Alan, send me your well-earned contribution to a future ST&NO at ted.bartlett at gmail dot com.  I can run it whenever you want to submit it.  Great job, everybody, and thanks to every one who participated.   

So, this is my 53 man roster, if I am picking players based upon what i have seen so far in the preseason.  Jarvis Moss made my team last night, and I feel he has looked salvageable throughout the preseason.  Brandon Lloyd beat out Chad Jackson last night too, but I was generally leaning that way before.

So i decided to hold a fun Friday ST&NO-sponsored contest with this.  Who are your final 53?  Create a separate FanPost, and list them, and the person who gets the most right wins a chance to rant about whatever they want, in an upcoming edition of ST&NO (as long as it meets the MHR rules of conduct.)  I won't even send the fairies to your house while you're sleeping.

Don't include the practice squad, and just name 53 players.  Don't worry about formatting it any special way, I am an Excel guy professionally, so I used it.  The person who gets the most correct gets bragging rights, and a little bit of time on my soapbox.  Ready.... BEGIN!!!

Well, there's a lot to feel good about after a game like that.  Even the biggest critics would have to probably smile a little bit.  Everybody can feel good that the defense is vastly improved, top to bottom this season.  The line is physical, the linebackers aren't over-running plays, and the secondary has played very well, especially the past two weeks.  Tom Brandstater played well, and so did Darius Walker, whose performance has to make the staff consider keeping him over LaMont "Mr. Tentative" Jordan. 

David Bruton was 850 KOA's player of the game, with an interception and a fumble recovery.  Robert Ayers played well, and got his first sack, and Jarvis Moss played a tremendous game, and may have made the team, and the defense finally forced a bunch of turnovers, and batted down a bunch more passes, nearly getting some more.  The only blemish was the continuation of some red-zone ineffectiveness on offense.  I tend to think that will improve once everybody is healthy.

Savor the victory, and more than that, the good play by the Broncos.  Since I am feeling a little verklempt, feel free to talk amongst yourselves...  GO BRONCOS!!!