Game 6: Denver Broncos at San Diego

It is very nice to leave San Diego with a big goose egg in the loss column. Knowing that San Diego isn't as good of a team as they were last year, and knowing that this year we have a very formidable Defense; there was a great chance of us going into the bye week with a 6-0 record.

The first quarter San Diego came out and moved the ball down the field with out too much of a hitch. It might have appeared that they could have got their running game off the ground. But when they stalled at the 3 yard line and had to settle for a field goal, things felt rather good. LT threw a fit on the side line since he was pulled on 3rd down and Sproles was given the attempt to run for a TD.

Eddie Royal had a heck of a return game! A kick off return and a punt return for 2 TD's was fun to watch. From last year we knew Eddie was a great returner, it was just a matter of time before he broke one (or two!) Sproles countered with a punt return for a TD of his own, which left me scratching my head wondering why we kept punting and kicking the ball off to him?

The offense came out in the second half looking better than it did in the first. However, it is kind of unfair to compare the 2nd half to the first half since Eddie was basically the offense in the first half. Orton was solid and had a ton of time to find the open receiver, and occasionally when none was found he threw the ball away. With second and third down opportunities he found Scheffler and Stokley for TD's in the end zone. The running game was stout and Buckhalter and Moreno were finding creases in the leaky San Diego defense to get 4-5 yard chunks every time!

Once again the defense shut down another high powered offense in the second half. Rivers was sacked 5 times (the most in his career) and San Diego only managed to muster up a field goal the entire 2nd half. So far Denver has only allowed 3 points total in the second half of the past five games! That's a pretty incredible feat.

We are now 6-0! I was a doubter that Josh McDaniels could come in after trading Jay Whatshisface, revamp a dismal defense, and have a successful season in his first campaign as head coach of the Denver Broncos. I NEVER EVER said I wasn't a TRUE FAN, I just questioned a lot of off season moves and a very dismal pre-season. I'm my opinion, there is nothing wrong with questions. I actually encourage my kid to question me or others if she disagrees, and that is something I wish everyone could agree on. In the same sense however, Josh has proven me and many others completely wrong. Winning game makes every questionable move meaningless. That's what Josh had to do, and he is doing a great job at it.

As said before, all things in my mind led to this MUST win game. And now we are past it successfully with high hopes going into the bye weekend. Right on Broncos for sticking it to the Bolts! This is a game I will savor for the rest of the week and into the next one. Cheers!

Pre-Game Devner Broncos @ San Diego Chargers

This is a big game, and appropriately it is going to be played on Monday night! Not only is this a rival game, but also the bad blood brewing between both teams has been gaining a lot of steam in the hearts of Broncos fans. San Diego has owned us the past 5 out of 6 games, the last game was probably the game that hurt the most. We were playing for the AFC West Championship and a playoff berth when all hopes and dreams were flushed down the toilet at QualComm Stadium in San Diego.

Next was the firing of head coach Mike Shanahan and most of his staff. Along comes former Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels (for whom this blog is dedicated to documenting the Broncos for better or worse!) Out of jobs are a lot of players on last years defense, a change to the 3-4 Defensive scheme with new Defensive coach Mike Nolan. Then comes the off season fiasco between Pro Bowl QB Jay Cutler, and Brandon Marshall. Out is Cutler and in come Kyle Orton. A so-so pre-season followed by a miraculous tipped ball followed by gutsy defensive performances and consistent offense and we're 5-0.

To say the least of this culmination of events, everything in my mind has pointed to this game against San Diego. I think we have to beat them in San Diego and go into the bye week at 6-0. The Chargers have had our number and have beaten us soundly, and each time seems to get worse.

After watching San Diego play Pittsburgh, it seems to me that they are a team on decline. Their window of opportunity for post season success is closing, and we have a chance to slam it shut for good Monday night. They are coming off a bye week and should be well rested and should have studied the Broncos good and hard. So they are at an advantage. The rivalry will fire up the veterans of the rivalry, maybe enough to get them through the game, but everyone will be playing with that extra fire inside.

San Diego is going to try to establish the run with LT and Sproles. Rivers is going to try and go deep on our secondary. However, our revamped defense will get to Rivers in this game. I have no doubts about it. Dumervil is going to have three sacks in this game because Rivers likes to hold the ball until the last second. For the first time in his career, Rivers will feel the pressure of the Denver Defense and just like Tony Romo and Tom Brady is going to make a mistake and throw lots of incomplete and maybe an interception or two. We should have no trouble running the ball, and if we continue to play ball control offense, Rivers will not have time to try and come back.

I'm predicting a 35-17 win, Denver dominates the game and time of possession and wins the turn over battle 2-0.

Game 5: Boston Patriots @ Denver Broncos

This game was a nail biter to the end. When Prater kicked the game winner in over time I was very intoxicated with joy. So far this was the best game that the offense looked. Kyle Orton racked up 330 yards in the air and in my opinion has no interceptions that hurt the team. He also engineered two crucial drives of 90 yards and 98 yards. That I have new found respect for KO. Next up San Diego!

Preview Cowboys vs Broncos

Not that Cowboys vs Broncos game, THIS ONE!!!

This game is the first real test as to whether or not we will have a successful season this year. The Cowboys are not a bunch of pansies like the Raiders and Browns, they are quite formidable. After all, they have been picked over the past few seasons (but not this year) to make it to the Super Bowl. Even though they did not fulfill their destiny, I can't deny that they are not a good team.

I've gone on a few sports sites about discussions of all the 3-0 teams in the NFL. To no surprise the Broncos have been labeled the worst out of all the teams. Mainly because of the soft early schedule and the fluke touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley in Game 1. Winning this game will definitely turn some points of view around.

We are going to see how good our defense really is and see if all the off season acquisitions were worth all the coin we spent. I personally think the defense is going to be fine. We've pressured the quarterback plenty over the first 3 games, and I do not see that coming to a halt against the Cowboys. Dumervil will get a sack or two, and the secondary should be able to get an interception from Romo since he'll be pressured. Romo does not do well against pressure, actually he is down right pathetic when there is a hand in his face.

Our offense on the other hand is going to need to score touchdowns when we're in the red zone. With Marshal back into the mix we look much more like a scoring offense than a conservative run first offense. I'm personally pulling for Gaffney to score a touchdown or two since he is on my fantasy football roster! XD But I would like to see more of Peyton Hillis in the middle of the field and not just at the end zones.

I believe this is going to be a good game, and if we are lucky we will be able to say we blew out the Cowboys. I personally do not like the Cowboys, and I really do not like their fans. They are some of the most obnoxious fans I have ever run into. I'd rather talk about the history between the Broncos and the Raiders with a die hard Raider fan than have to hear all the bullshit about how great the Cowboys are and the whole Texas cow pie. SO, A blow out would be sweet, but I'll keep my perspective in check.

Prediction: Cowboys 17 Broncos 24

Cheers!


PS: As I mentioned before in a previous post, history will repeat itself and Wade Phillips will be replaced by Mike Shanahan if he does not win in the post season

Game 3 vs. Raiders

The Broncos vs. Raiders game is considered one of the best rivalries in NFL history. The 1-1 Raiders at home taking on the upstart 2-0 Broncos looked like it was going to be a great game. The Raiders looked very stout against the Chargers in week 1 in a losing effort, and squeezed out a win against the Chief in week 2. The Broncos looked very sloppy and weak with a miraculous win against the Bengals in week 1, and very solid against the lowly Browns in week 2.

I anticipated that the Raiders had the upper hand against our running attack with off season acquisition Greg Ellis from Dallas and pre-season acquisition Richard Seymore from New England. I also felt that they had better running backs with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. I always knew Jamarcus Russel is not pro-quarter back material and that Orton would not make many mistakes.

What a blow out!!! We drove the ball down to the 1 yard line and Peyton Hillis had a false start that backed us up and put us off rhythm. After trying to run the ball 4 straight times inside the 5 yard line and turning over the ball, Jamarcus didn't disappoint me and he threw an interception. His first of two on the day. We took advantage and Orton threw Marshall his first TD of the season. Another Jamarcus interception set up a field goal by Prater. The Raiders finally got on the score board with a Janikowski field goal, but that was all the Raiders were able to muster. Moreno scored his first rushing TD in the 3rd quarter, and prater added another field goal in the 4th. That was all she wrote. We man handled the Raiders on both sides of the ball. Buckhalter had his first 100 yard rushing game of the season, and Orton continued interception free football. Our defense totally shut down and derailed the O-train.

We are now 3-0, however we should be 2-1. Realistically we shouldn't have beaten the Bengals, but as said before 'a win is a win no matter how it comes!' I thought after seeing the schedule that we would potentially be 3-0, but I didn't expect us to be, especially on how we've played offense on a few series in each game. But, we can only get better. Cheers

Game 2 vs. Browns

I have to say, our Defense is still looking quite stellar. Elvis Dumervile had 4 sacks against a one dimensional 2nd half Browns team that abandoned the run and opted for the pass. We won the turn over ratio 3-1 and our offense finally kicked into high gear in the second half. Kyle Orton did not force the ball, had no turn overs, and put on a good enough display to lead the offense down the field into scoring position. We finished the game running the ball, and the Browns defense looked as leaky as we did for past few years. It's nice to see some other teams defense struggling and not ours.

Let's face the facts here. The Browns are not a very good team. They haven't scored an offensive touchdown in over 33 quarters. That is a long time. Usually the Broncos are more than glad to let teams break demoralizing streaks, even in our own back yard, but not today. The stellar D kept the Browns out of the end zone, giving up field goals instead.

Going into week 3 we are on top of the AFC West Division with a 2-0 record. San Diego lost in the last minutes to Baltimore, and the Raiders beat the Chiefs in a low scoring game. We're off to a great start so far, and I was thinking that the first 5 games were the games we had potential to win. So far so good. Cheers!

Game 1 vs Bengals UNBELIEVABLE!!!

...is all I can say about the 87 yard deflected pass and catch from Kyle Orton to Leon Hall to Brandon Stokley!!! I have never been so mad at our offense throughout an entire game, and then scream in absolute joy at this NFL record setting catch! Accordingly it is the longest pass with less than a minute in a game. I have to say that Brandon Marshall received all the attention from the Bengals, that left Brandon Stokley with no one left to catch him. I'm still baffled at the thought of us winning this game! But I'm smiling too! Good job Defense for keeping us in the game.