Last night was clearly a tough loss for our team and for all of us. There are many different angles that I could take in exploring what went wrong that I will forego for the sake of brevity. My one thought that I was left with is this:

After supporting the idea that Orton should be our starter for this year to allow Tebow time to develop, I have flipped positions based upon the entirety of the offensive performance last night.

What led up to my change of opinion was that last night I observed that Orton has not made any sort of a jump this year beyond his performance level the past two years. He can move the ball, but has a great amount of difficulty getting touchdowns in the red zone. I concede that he is a much more polished QB than Tebow, and he is able to move it between the 20s better than Tebow (and that the line played atrociously last evening and that our running game was laughable), but at some point we have to look to score TD's.

Tebow may not be the guy who can score TDs. He may not be a great pro QB. Frankly, I have a lot of questions about whether or not he can ever be an effective passer, but my reasons for changing to Tebow are simple and two-fold (please note, they are not based upon my confidence that Tebow will amount to anything):

 

1. Orton is at his level of potential, and that level lacks three of the most important characteristics of a great QB: red zone efficiency, 3rd down efficiency, and resilience in the 4th quarter.
2. Tebow is not yet at his level of potential. If he starts and does well, we know that we can move forward with him. If not, we can draft one of the excellent QB prospects that are expected to leave college this year.

 

Please feel free to fire away, but also please be charitable to one another in the comments and realize that we are all cheering for the same team. Level-headedness, although extremely difficult to achieve, is an ally in frustrating circumstances. This is my humble attempt to work from reason rather than emotion. What are your thoughts?

There's a great trick for dealing with creeping anxiety. It sounds counter-intuitive, but actually can pay great dividends for your well-being in difficult times.

What's the trick? It's simple: sit down, address the situation that is bringing you stress, and think about the worst possible outcome. As long as there isn't a major life altering situation involved - and with football there certainly is not - the result can often be a mind that is a bit more at ease since it has faced everything that it fears. The writers of Lost picked up on this a few years ago when they wrote in Jack's trick about "counting to 5."

In an effort to help all of us in Broncos' Country take a load off of our minds, I would like to take us through a team exercise. No need for dumbells, Sayre. No need to drink your Muscle Milk, Tim. Nice sweatband, John - but this shouldn't cause you to perspire.

Simply read the next few lines and allow your mind to ease itself a bit for the coming weeks.

Poll

What are you expecting from Tim Tebow's first start?

10%

Tom Brady-ish: 67%, 399 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT

44 votes

30%

Joe Flacco-esque: 59%, 302 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT

132 votes

51%

David Garrard-like: 51%, 201 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

224 votes

3%

Todd Marinovich-y: 44%, 157 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT

16 votes

3%

Gob Bluth: "We've made a huge mistake."

16 votes

432 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

My argument here is simple. Starting Tim Tebow for the last three weeks of the season is a "win-win" situation no matter how you feel about Tebow.

Here are the two reasons why:

1. If Tebow starts and does well, then we know we have our QB of the future whom we can build around. With Quinn in town as well, we do not even need to look for a QB until late in the draft.

2. If Tebow does not play well, then we lose out and position ourselves extremely high in the draft - perhaps high enough to right out pick Andrew Luck, or at least give up less to trade up and get him.

Either way this would play out, everyone associated with the Broncos wins.

Staying with our current plan and keeping Orton in the game leaves us winning probably one or so of the last three games, thus worsening our draft position and leaving us with unanswered questions about our future QB situation.

Poll

Should Tim Tebow be named the starter for the rest of the Broncos 2010-2011 season?

94%

Yes

242 votes

5%

No

15 votes

257 votes | Poll has closed

He's passionate, a long-time member of the Broncos' family, and is legendary for his impeccable communication skills.

Continue reading this post »

When emotions become involved - and as sentient beings they certainly do for all of us - claims tend to be made that go along with a general wave of opinion, but are actually specious. Considering this, as a fellow fan and lifelong supporter of the Broncos, I want to submit a thought for your consideration.

There is one claim concerning Josh McDaniels that I would like to simply refute in the midst of the salvo that is currently being fired at him (some of it, no doubt, deservedly). It is based upon the supposed claim that, during a private meeting with his assistant coaches, McDaniels attempted to clarify the difference between this current situation and the one in New England in 2007/2008. The claim that is appearing more frequently over the past few days is this:

"Josh McDaniels is spineless for throwing his former team and coach under the bus in order to protect himself."

Here is why I find the argument specious:

The meeting in which this statement was supposedly uttered was private. His declaration of the differences in the situations was not intended to be public in any way. Furthermore, there is no precedent for private meetings with his staff being leaked before this incident, so any argument that he did this knowing it would become public cannot be based on prior examples. McDaniels may indeed have poor character, but this is not an example of it.

Second, what McDaniels stated is correct. There is a real difference in the two situations. The easiest place to see this is in the disparity of the punishments between NE in 2007/2008 and DEN this past week. The second easiest place to see this is in the reports issued by the NFL. Intent was not found beyond the one individual who was fired, and it was not proved that anyone beyond that individual viewed the footage. Both of those points are in contra-distinction from the situation in NE (see this summary in the NY Times for more information on Spygate, as well as links to all of their previous articles about the subject).

On this point I would like to digress for a brief second: there is no evidence for the claim that McDaniels, or anyone besides Steve Scarnecchia, viewed the illegal footage or ordered it to be taken. The only evidence that I have seen offered is based upon intuition, which is highly subjective and specific to each individual. Conversely, the NFL has written statements from McDaniels, Sarnecchia, and other members of the Broncos' organization stating that the official view posited by the NFL is correct. Thus, while the claim may certainly be made that those who believe the report was accurate are gullible, it must also be claimed that they have the weight of evidence in their favor. Or, to state the obverse, the claim that McD did order the practice to be taped and did view the video lacks evidence.

Third, to throw someone under the bus implies vitriolic intent. This is difficult to determine, and seems especially faulty considering McD's apparently positive relationship with Belichick: for example, remember when Belichick sought McD out in his office after our win over the Patriots last year?

In summary, although McD may be many things, he is not disloyal to his former team and coach. Thus, I hope that in the midst of our swelling frustration and anger we will strive to give McD a fair representation and not let this claim also be added to him.

It is being reported at ESPN today that the Jets are quietly shopping Pro-Bowl Guard Alan Faneca (http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5120486). The report goes on to say that, if they are not able to find a willing trade partner during the draft, the Jets will consider simply releasing him.

Faneca has two primary down-sides. First, his salary is steep for an interior lineman at $7.5M per year. Second, he is 33-years old (or 32, depending on which web-site you check).

But Faneca has his upsides as well. He is still performing at a high level. Also, he has excelled playing for two teams in his career who are known around the league for their power-blocking schemes - the Steelers and the Jets. Think of the years that Willie Parker had (2+ years ago) and Shonn Greene had (last year) running between the tackles with Faneca clearing the way.

It is my assertion that, given the great need the Broncos have at interior line, McDaniels and Xanders should consider offering the 5th round pick just gained from the trade of Tony Scheffler to the Jets in return for Faneca.

Why? First, the trade would, essentially turn Scheffler and a 7th round pick into a Pro-Bowl Guard. Although Faneca is in his 13th season, great interior lineman tend to produce until they reach approximately 38, which would give us five quality years at that position. Second, it would allow us to concentrate on other positions during the draft - MLB, C, WR. Third, the trade would allow Moreno space to run between the tackles - think about what acquiring Brian Habib and Gary Zimmerman did for Terrell Davis (and we already have a dominant LT with Clady). Fourth and finally, the likelihood of our fifth round pick turning into a Pro-Bowl level talent at any position is minuscule.

I realize that the Jets may be shopping for more than a 5th round pick, but at this point it would be wise to test the waters and see how things develop over the next few days.

What do you think? Would Faneca fit our needs? And, if so, what would be the right price for him?