Pretty frustrating way to lose, in overtime, having played as well as we did, for the most part, defensively. We had a rough first half on defense, but still managed to hold them to 13 points, because we played well in the red zone. We didn’t give up any red zone touchdowns, which is something that we focused on throughout the course of the week– just improving in the red zone and on key third downs. I don’t know that our third down percentage was all that great, but the important third downs when we really needed to get off the field, we were able to do that.

So defensively, I think we played outstanding overall, especially against a really good 6-1 football team. With the exception of a few plays here and there on both sides of the ball, I think we played pretty well. The red zone fumble from our offense was a tough one, and the two big touchdowns, the two deep touchdown passes were pretty big plays that hurt our team. I guess the most frustrating part is that I think we’ve been improving since Day 1, which is something that all teams want to do, just get better week after week. I think that’s something we’ve done, and I even include this last week, even though we lost. We showed major improvements defensively. You look at this defense compared to the defense that played against Jacksonville or even some other teams earlier than that, and we’re a better defense. We’re a better defense now, we just gave up some big plays, which is uncharacteristic of us.

The most frustrating part as a defensive back is we feel like we’re the strength of our defense, and I think throughout the course of the season we have been the most consistent and strongest part of our defense. Last night, we just weren’t. As you can see, it happens to the best players in the league. The most frustrating thing is we played really well, but there were a lot of mistakes made by the entire team throughout the course of the game, and it’s frustrating that it has to come down to one play at the end.

I just hope that Dre’ especially doesn’t turn into a scapegoat for this game, because we passed up many opportunities on the way. I can sympathize with Dre’. My rookie year we were having a very good season — I don’t remember what our record was — but we went to New York and played the Giants. We outplayed them the entire game, and the fourth quarter, as a team, I don’t know if we relaxed or if they just stepped up, but they played a whole bunch better than us in the fourth quarter and closed the lead down. Then they had a game-winning drive and threw like a 3-yard touchdown to Amani Toomer, who I was covering, to win the game. After the game, I took responsibility for the play, but kind of became the scapegoat for a game where there was a lot of other mistakes being made. So I can sympathize with Dre’, but he’s full of confidence, and I was then and I am now. The following week I think we played the Eagles and I had a key interception to help us win that game when the game was in jeopardy. I think it goes without saying — we all expect Dre’ to have that type of bounce back, and he’s had some key interceptions for us up until this point.

I think one of the things that’s kind of upsetting and encouraging at the same time is that the only way they were able to beat us was catching passes on Champ and Dre’. That doesn’t happen too often and it won’t happen very much more throughout the course of this year. So if the only way teams can beat us is by catching 80-yard touchdowns on Champ and Dre’, it’s going to be really tough for anybody to beat us throughout the course of the year. It happens to everybody, especially the way the league is set up. It’s really an offensive-minded league, so even the best corners — which Champ is probably the consensus best corner in the league — even the best corners are going to get beat sometimes. It’s just unfortunate that it had to be in such a close game. I just look forward to the entire team bouncing back from that loss.

The perception of this last game and the way this team is going, it really came down to one play. Had we won that game and scored on that last drive, or had a turnover in overtime and scored or whatever, we’d be talking about how great this team is and how much we’ve improved on defense and how great Jay Cutler is in the clutch, driving us to game-winning drive after game-winning drive. But I still feel that way, despite the outcome and the final score. I still feel like we’ve improved a great deal, especially since the beginning of the season, and tremendously since the bye week. I still feel that Jay is a great clutch leader and I still have a really positive outlook on the team, despite the fact that we lost this past week. We’ve shown a ton of improvement and we’re still getting better. Especially defensively, I’m really proud of how we’ve been playing. To not give up any points in the second half until the overtime period is something to be proud of. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way and it’s important that we start forcing the ball to bounce our way in the next couple games and get some more notches in the win column.

To be honest, playing against Brett Favre on Monday night is probably a big deal to a lot of people. But I don’t know, I don’t get too excited about playing against other players. I definitely respect Brett Favre, and he’s a great talent and he’s meant a lot to the NFL, but it’s just another game and another quarterback for me. I’ve played against Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb and a bunch of great quarterbacks. I play with Jay Cutler, who is the greatest of the great, as far as I’m concerned, or at least will be one day.

Tonight, the writing club is going to INVESCO Field for the Halloween party for the kids, so we’re getting a little volunteering in tonight. We’re looking forward to that, it should be fun. I’ve got the radio show tonight also at 4:30, rather than 5:30, so I’m looking forward to that. I welcome anybody to call. After a loss I always get much more difficult questions than after a win, so the show isn’t quite as much fun, but I think Mike Bell and I do a good job of still making the show entertaining without being all down. We give everybody insight on the perspective of the team, and I think we’re pretty honest and candid. We don’t always say the PC thing, which I guess could get us in trouble from time to time, but whatever. We don’t always have to give the 100 percent media-safe answer, we try to give the honest truth.

I read all the responses this week, as usual, and I appreciate everybody’s encouragement and thank you for responding. It is the only reason why I do the blog, because I know you guys are reading and responding. Broncos D-Under’s response really caught my eye as a proper touchdown celebration. I guess on defense I don’t get a chance to score too many touchdowns, but if I do, I will definitely take into consideration the celebration that you recommended, to find one of the military personnel who are on the sideline and present them with the ball, a handshake and a thank you. I think that’s perfect, especially in a time of war. It’s really important to show them the respect that they deserve and I definitely will take that into consideration. I hope I can find somebody, because I don’t know that they’re always right in the end zone. But if I can, that is definitely what I will do.

As for Halloween, I think I’m going to bypass the Jake costume this year due to the blog responses. Not everybody thought it was creative enough. I guess it’s not that creative, but it’s pretty funny. I had some good ones back in the day, so I might bring back one of my classics. In fourth grade I was Homey the Clown. That was the best ever. My mom made that costume, actually. She did a great job. It was like a stocking cap with yarn around it to make Homey the Clown’s bald old man haircut, like George Jefferson. I had a nice, red George Jefferson haircut and a clown outfit that my mom made, and a sock stuffed with socks. I definitely went to the principal’s office quite a few times that day from hitting everybody with my Homey the Clown sock. If you don’t remember Homey the Clown, I feel sorry for you, because In Living Color was one of the best shows ever for at least four or five years. It produced Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, and the Wayans brothers and sister, like 40 of them. Anyway, I always reference YouTube, but I’m sure you can find some Homey the Clown clips on YouTube if you are not aware of who he is. I should bring that costume back. That was a great one. Well, I have until Wednesday, so I’m open to any recommendations till then.

I definitely check up on the other blogs quite a bit and I’m proud to see that everyone else gets a ton of responses just like me. They also have interesting blogs so keep reading them and responding. AG started the blogging process, Amon Gordon, so definitely give him some support. I’m the king blogger though. I am king of the blogosphere, so even though Amon stepped in, I’m not intimidated at all about competing for readership or competing for responses. I do have the Blog Master on my side, which makes me a dominant force in the blog world. I’ve overtaken Andrew Mason, who was the previous king of the blog world. Now he’s like a prince. We have a whole blog court, and I’m definitely king of the blog court. I don’t know, you guys can assign everybody else their titles. Maybe Andrew is the jester. I can picture him in one of those funny octopus-looking jester hats with bells on the end. I like bells on the end. That would make me laugh.

Signing off. All Ready.

Tags: Amon Gordon, Andrew Mason, Brett Favre, Dre Bly, Halloween, Jay Cutler, Mike Bell, Radio show, YouTube

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2007 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Archives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.