4:22 P.M. MDT: With a 31-point deficit and the stands clearing out — I would estimate that there’s barely 20,000 people still in the stands — the updates here will be a little less frequent as I work on the game recap. I’ll post here from time to time … and you are encouraged, as always, to share your thoughts on the proceeedings below.
4:27 P.M. MDT: Boos followed a Broncos three-and-out … almost nothing has gone right for the Broncos today.
4:30 P.M. MDT: There’s a bright spot … the maligned special teams gets a play as Tony Scheffler blocks a Mike Scifres punt, givin gthe Broncos the football at the San Diego 22 with 11:19 remaining.
4:33 P.M. MDT: With fourth down, Cutler keeps it and doesn’t get the needed yardage, picking up 2 yards on fourth-and-4 … San Diego retakes possession at its 14-yard-line with 10:26 left.
4:36 P.M. MDT: From bad to worse … Michael Turner sprints 74 yards up the left sideline to put the Chargers in front 41-3.
4:46 P.M. MDT: Broncos managing to get some drives downfield today … but a second fourth down of the quarter fails, and the Chargers now have the ball at their 33 with 5:55 left.
4:57 P.M. MDT: Broncos making a last-chance effort to pierce the end zone for the first time today … The grandstands are desolate; frankly, it looks as though there’s an hour before kickoff rather than 1:27 remaining in the game. There’s a myriad of questions to answer and problems to solve for the Broncos … and perhaps the bye week is the best chance to do that, to reassess and start fresh. At this point, few things could help the Broncos more.
Tags: San Diego Chargers
Now I officially believe this season is over. Tom Nalen is probably out for the season with a torn bicept and Champ says his leg does not feel good at all. Not only have we been plagued by injuries but also by lack of emotion on the players and poor play calling. Hopefully we can turn it around in the offseason for next year…
yeah, that’s not good news about Nalen…or Champ. the last thing we needed was injuries to add to the insult of that game…
we need to fire the defensive coordinator, nothing is working and his schemes might get more sacks but it is killing us everywhere else. It is an all out everyone for themselves type Defense, which is leaving people out to dry. They have not played great teams this season and they are still getting man handled.
Can’t wait to see Shanny’s presser today.. gonna be bad if you ask me. Hell, it should be bad with how the team is playing, the way a team plays has and always will reflect the coaching.
Wa wa wee wa, what a loss! And as bad as they played they might lose Henry for the season too? The only positive thing to look forward to in the next game is that the Steelers might be lazy expecting a cakewalk and play sloppy. That’s about the reaction this Broncos squad has earned, and that’s pretty bad.
SADARAINE:
You obviously don’t read our site. We have detailed Shanny’s decline for 2 years now. Funny, everyone on hear calls for Bates to be fired. Whatever, all the same people called for Larry Coyer and Jake to be fired last year. Now you call for Bates….Maybe the problem wasn’t Jake, maybe the problem wasn’t Coyer…MAYBE THE PROBLEM is MIKE SHANAHAN!
To summarize our points, he can’t DEVELOP talent and that’s what Cutler needed, to late now.
I was at the game yesterday. It was probably the worst meltdown I have ever seen the Broncos let happen. I did not leave until the call for a QB keep on 4th and 4. Nothing seemed to click yesterday for us. It seems that the defense is playing as individuals and not a team. We are not dominating the line of scrimmage and not blitzing the way that Denver should. We have really good safeties that seemed to be out of position on a few plays. The linebackers continue to get burned by tight ends. The pressure is not getting to the quarterback fast enough. The zone schemes allow for exploitation of the entire middle of the field and various slant routes. The offensive play calling every week this season has seemed to abandon a different working aspect (PA fullback pass, and PA anything???). Are we suffering from a Williams, Wilson, hangover on defense? Where is our leadership? I love the Broncos just about as much as anything else. It hurts to see them hurt so bad from a loss of such magnitude. I predict a huge turnaround for the Broncos. 11-5 or 12-4 is what this team is capable of. We have so many weapons on both sides of the ball. We need Rod Smith out there, even if it is only for a few plays a game, the team needs to see him suited up. The Broncos will bounce back; it will be one of the greatest turnarounds ever in the NFL!
Sorry man, I’d love for them to bounce back but its not happening, especially if Nalen is out for the year aswell now. This season is basically lost, lets hope to get some good talent in the draft and for our rookies this year to learn the game at the pro level.
To George Bush : great game to your english boys vs australia but i’m sorry to tell we gonna trash you in the semi finale !!
LET PLUMMERPLAY DONT YOU UNDERSTAND WHY PLUMMER WAS LET GO BECAUSE HE COULDNT GET US TO THE SUPERBOWL WITH A GREAT TEAM . LETS GIVE CUTLER AS MUCH TIME AS JAKE HAD TO GET TO THE BIG GAME. HE HAS 10 GAMES IN THE NFL . JAKE HAD 10 YEARS GIVE JAY 3YEARS AS THE BRONCOS QB AND WATCH THESE RESULTS 1 SUPER BOWL APPEARANCE. IWILL NOT REPLY TO NO MORE OF YOUR BULL . IF YOUR A FAN BACK HIM 1OO PERCENT. GO BRONCOS!1!
I’m glad the Broncos went out this offseason and spent all their money on a drug-addicted 28 year old with nine illegitimate children. Awesome!! It’s good to see that money going to support Henry’s marijuana addiction and not supporting a defensive lineman or two!!!
Shanny, its time to go thanks for the two Superbowls, you should have stuck with the veteran Plummer and his 39-17 winning record as a Bronco and developped Cutler slowly, but now because of your trigger finger he might become Ryan Leaf instead of a Brett Favre……
Goodbye,
Next time stay with the proven veteran!!! Superbowls are great but only 1 team can win every year!!! Playoffs are fun too….. This year we wont even see that.
LPP – even though you are pretty much missing the whole point as to the reason for the Bronco’s debacle, I gotta hand it to you for getting some real life in this blog. THE REAL ISSUE IS LACK OF RUN DEFENSE THE ENTIRE YEAR!!.
In training camp Champ told us not to worry, we were just showing our base defense, and when the regular season began we would be much bettter. Instead we have gotten progressively worse as teams exploit our inability to stop the run. With nine men in the box much of the game SD still reeled of well over 200 yds rushing!. Now that even weak sisters know that they can run on us, they control the clock and keep our offense off the field.
I guess Al Wilson made a big difference huh………..He was good at stopping the run.