Last time the Broncos and the Chargers met, Cory Boyd and Tatum Bell were watching NFL football from their couches. In this Sunday’s rematch against San Diego, the two are the only healthy tailbacks remaining on the Denver roster.
During his Monday press conference, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announcement that P.J. Pope and Selvin Young will be placed on injured reserve, joining an already long list of rushers lost for the season — Anthony Alridge, Andre Hall, Peyton Hillis, Michael Pittman and Ryan Torain.
“I have never been a part of this or heard of anything like this at all,” Bell said. “Having seven running backs on IR — it is shocking.”
Both Bell and Boyd agreed that despite how hard their position is being hit by injuries this season, both rushers are looking forward to seeing the field on what has come down to the Broncos biggest game of the season on Sunday.
“I’m not worried at all,” Boyd said of a potential running back injury jinx. “The buck stops here. We’ve just got to go out and keep playing to the best of our abilities. Everything happens for a reason, so I’m not worried about it at all.”
Both backs are looking to make the most of their opportunities on Sunday.
“It is my first primetime game since I have been back, so I am excited,” Bell said. “I don’t know the rotation yet. I just know when I get in I have to be productive.”
Two Broncos players were sure to keep their names out of the mix at running back.
“I gave up running back after the sixth grade — that was the extent of my running back days,” Brandon Stokley said.
Surely at 6-foot-3 and 257 pounds, Daniel Graham must have some desire to line up at the running back position.
“None at all,” he said with a laugh. “They need me at tight end, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Even Head Coach Mike Shanahan, who has been coaching in the NFL ranks for nearly a quarter century, couldn’t have imagined seeing so many injuries at one position.
“I think anything is possible, but I would say you were completely nuts if you said (at the beginning of the season) we were going to go through seven or eight running backs,” he said.
- Jake Grilley, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Brandon Stokley, Cory Boyd, Daniel Graham, Jake Grilley, Mike Shanahan, Tatum Bell
Nuts? Or…Maybe your training staff sucks…. Your players are not being conditioned to the same standards as the rest of the league!
You guys and your comments about the training staff is a joke…..seriously!
So when Ryan Torrain hit the hole that night in cleveland, and had his upper body completely turned the opposite way his lower body was going, only to tear an MCL….that was the training staff’s fault ? And Pittman/S. Young’s injuries could have been prevented by better training ?
Wow…fairweather fans at there finest !
#7forever……You were a bit hard on hotsizzle. Obviously not all injuries are on the training staff but how many injuries were groin and other pulls? Our conditioning staff seems to be as talented as our defense and special teams. Did you really mean fairweather fans or did you mean fans in denial because it seems like we have more fans in denial than anything else.
Actually, #7forever said it all… very nicely put. We do have ALOT of fairweather fans around here who can never make up their silly little minds. They come and go as they please, they never stick around for when this team needs them the most. Its like they just leave this team high and dry when they’ve hit a low point… absolutely fascinating how quickly “fans” around can change on a dime.
Injuries happen… yeah it is VERY strange that we’ve gone through 7-8 backs this season alone but again its not all one person’s fault. Things like this do happen for a reason, what that reason is… God only knows. But we’ve dealt with it unbelievably well, its shocking that we’ve stayed alive at all through all these injuries. Now I’m not saying that our conditioning staff couldn’t use better ways and techniques to keep these players healthy but its not all their fault. Injuries like this just don’t happen in football and football alone… other sports have to deal with this stuff just as much if not more than what we’ve had come our way. Its ridiculous to even think that all these injuries should be put on the shoulders of our conditioning staff… stop being so naive!!
With faith…
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
Let’s see. Broken foot, broken hand, neck stinger, torn acl, torn hamstring (not from running), not one of those is a result of poor conditioning. The loss of running backs is not due to the conditioning or the training staff.
7 BACKS 6 DAYS 5 NIGHTS AND ONE A.F.C CHAMPIONSHIP!Can you feal that, the playoffs came a early this season!If you cant’t get pumped for a game like this you aren’t a fan! Can we all focus on whats to come and not what has happend Jay said it best “If at the start of the season if the season somone said it will come down to a winner take all game in S.D. the last game of the season who among you would have not said I’LL take that?” not a perfect quote but its close enogh. As for the bandwagon jumpers see ya and dont come back ! We will beat S.D. count on it! Then Cuttler in the playoffs and who knows? keep the faith and GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
07elway nailed it…. Nothin worse than “fans” sayin the team is great till a loss and another. Dam it suck it up a support your team don’t trash them. I know it sucks and it hurts when they lose but thats a part of it. Thats what makes us fans…
well said colorado and 07elway and broncs24 its good to know there are some REAL fans around
At this point, who cares who is running the ball……Put Shanny in so they can kick the crap outta him….wake him up.
How disappointing is this team? Unbelievable how we can’t win games we are supposed to……..What is sad is the dam Chuggers are going to embarrass us
You girls need to calm down. Focus on the Chargers and lets see what the team can do on Sunday night.
i just want to reiterate what i have been saying all season! if we dont have a running game, our offense is going to struggle! think about all the games we have been leading or at least keeping close and suddenly we lose a running back. suddenly shanny quits trying to run the ball, hell he even stopped putting anyone in the backfield last weekend, and suddenly our offense begins to struggle. when we dont even attempt to run the ball, the opposing defense just starts dropping 7 or 8 into coverage! that is ALWAYS going to make things more difficult! i dont care who runs the ball anymore, hell i dont know who half these guys are until they take over the position, but we ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT ABANDON THE RUN!! its KILLING us! at least when we keep trying to run the other team has to respect that and commit guys to stopping us. plus how many of our plays revolve around the play action, and getting cutler outside the pocket? my final analysis on this situation…. no run, no win! there is no reason we should not beat SD, but if we try to go with an empty backfield for 2 and a half quarters, we are going to be hard pressed to win this weekend! if our backs are having a hard time learning the play book, then just simplify as much as possible. obviously this is a less than ideal situation, but we have to do what we have to do.
on to the defense, it seems that once we fix one problem another arises. take for instance our run defense. at the beginning of the year everyone said our inability to stop the run was our biggest problem. well, i feel like we have VASTLY approved on that, but now we cant seem to slow down the passing game. i was hoping that with champ back that may not be the case, but with champ only playing sparingly we are still struggling. and unfortunately SD has been throwing the ball pretty well as of late! i have seen too many plays where opposing teams have WIDE OPEN recievers. i dont know what needs to be done to fix our defensive woes, but i hope they can figure it out soon!
lets put all these doubters to rest and finally win the afc west so we can look to the playoffs.
GO BRONCOS
I dispise the Chargers, I sure our guys can step it up a put a whoopin’ on them. Guess we now know why Selvin seemed to be avoiding contact Sunday, he was hurting! I hope Cory Boyd realizes this is a chance of a lifetime for him to show the world what he’s made of, if he plays well we can beat those Chargers!
Step it up defense when the call comes to save the day! you just got to believe!
Go Broncos!
I am not sure why some of you think that the trainers are such idiots, I would like to see your background in the sports medicine and training fields. Obviously you are working in this profession in some capacity either at a high school level or above. Football is one of the more intense sports as far as conditioning and stretching, it is hard to keep injuries at bay, most times it comes down to luck or bad luck. I have enough training to know that the coaches that are working with the Broncos have more experience than I have,so I am not going to say they don’t know what are doing. The defense is being let down by the Slowick possum defense, when them came out attacking it was great to see some intensity. Then in the second quarter the possum D came out and problems began. The missed field goal by Prater didn’t cost the Broncos the game, the lack of back bone by the defensive head possum did they let up and it was over with. In the last quarter with minutes to spare the Broncos brought the house and got them to three and out, they should have played that way the whole game. The defense doesn’t need to be the best, they just need to be able to hang in there. Larsen needs to be back in the middle, Webster has really struggled the last two games, I know I will hear about hating Webster but I have stated my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. But Coach Sanahan hasn’t called me either about who to play. Run just enough to keep the Defense honest, throw the ball against one of the worst pass defenses in the league, and don’t play passive and we can put a stake in the heart of those whining sparklers!! Go kick *** Broncos
wow im in arkansas and i can feel the negative vibes ,have some faith people.
Is anyone else a bit disappointed in Matt Prater… He just hasn’t been performing… I too hate the Chargers… I want to see Phillip Rivers knocked out by one of our defensive players so that our defense can make a statement and help us get some momentum for when our offense gets on the field.
You negative guys are a bunch of wining arm chair idots who think they know so much but probably haven’t figured out how to loose the flab on their own bellies. Talking about firing…you ought to fire yourselves as supposed fans. Bunch of female dogs. Glad to hear there are at least a few true fans on here that are loyal and positive.
well put trent.
there are alot of people that say we need to get a running game going but if anyone does any reserch guess what we are 12th in the league guess what type of teams we are ahead of the steelers, the stupid chargers, jags, eagles, and the cowboys.. guess what how many of them have a main running back, that would be all of them so it isn’t that we don’t have a running back its that we haven’t had a healty running back for more then 4 games and when we have to put a new back in there we don’t get stablity and so the running back doesn’t always pick up there blocks, run the right reciving route, make the right cut or know what the d is more likely to do so i would say that being 12th in the league isn’t to bad and we have 1700 yards rushing, thats not to bad at all when we have 4000 yards of passing, and that my freinds is why we have the number 2 offense in the league.. just on paper we have a really good chance i mean we have a higher ranked offense and our d is only ranked 3 spots lower then the stupid chargers, plus like i said our rushing offense is better and they are ranked towards the bottom we actually have 300 yards on the chargers so lets keep the faith broncos fans and lets not just look at a team just cause they made the playoffs last year lets look at the facts…WOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LETS WIN AGAINST THE CRY BABY chargers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt Prater did kick a a high pressure field goal to even the score last week! (Elam strugeld his first few seasons to). But he needs to be calm and keep his stroke the same (so saith coach me lol)we will need him this game thats a fact, and one that will make me hold my breath each time he lines up in S.D.But he will do fine. Denver 34 Dolts 24 And I bet Rivers has a tantrum at least one during the game! Anyone think he would be a good kleen-ex spokes person “when things dont go my way on the field I reach for kleen-ex” why dosen’t he ever get called to the suspension happy comish for his constant disrepect of other players,refs.and fans wow did I drift off topic but i truly dont like the guy! WE READY!!!!!
macczilla – you should have stayed in your cave. WTF?? Cutler is a GREAT QB and is the face of the franchise. If you can’t see that, then there is no sense in talking to you. Denver has not had a healthy and stable running back all season. Hillis was doing a fantastic job and looked how our team was playing until he got hurt. All the pressure is put on Jay’s shoulders. Just like every other QB in this league, mistakes happen. INT’s are not always the fault of the QB. I would rather have Jay throw a pick because he was trying to make a play, then throw the ball OB or take a sack. Do you really think the Giants would have won the SB last year if Eli didn’t throw that crazy pass to David Tyree? Eli put the ball in the air in hopes that his guy would make the play, and guess what, he did! Jay gives his guys the same opportunities. Do you realize that Elway threw 22 TD’s and 23 INT’s in 1985. Were you bashing on Elway, too? Shanny is a great coach and has done a tremendous job with this team. Given all the significant injuries, I am pretty damn pleased that we even have a chance to compete for a playoff spot. How many teams do you know would have chance at the playoffs with 7 RB’s on IR??
The game this weekend is a playoff game. The teams that are in the playoffs are way better than the Whiners. Are the negative attitudes and blogs going to be present if we end up playing the Colts? Since when did Bronco fans become afraid of losing to the Whiners. Historically they have been the b^$ch of this division. I strongly believe this team has a chance to win and if they don’t, then they are not ready for the playoffs. As I’ve said before, if you are a fan of this team, you cheer for them win AND lose. We all know last year that this team is going through a rebuilding process. The coaches can only fill so holes during the offseason. There is always room for improvement. The defense and special teams need attention this offseason.
GO BRONCOS!!!!
man this has to be some sort of record of injuries. i agree with all the people saying that its not the conditioning coaches fault; almost all of them are injuries not caused by the players being out of shape or inflexible. and we cant say fire all the defensive coaches, cuz we’ve had new coordinators every year, and u wonder why our defense cant improve. its cuz we dont give them enough time to settle in and improve. damn people have some patience. but either way i hope cory boyd is a beast n tatum steps up huge, cuz like everyone else here i hate the chargers and i especially hate philip rivers. we better kill him sunday night cuz if not im gonna cry
What’s wrong with being negative about this team?! The defense SUCKS!! Are we all supposed to just sit back and agree with Coach (?) Shanahan that “We just didn’t get it done”??? Is that supposed to be all we should ask of these over-hyped, over-paid professional athletes and their coaches??? What other ‘good’ team has lost 4 out of its last 5 HOME games? What about the season ticket holders who have to endure embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss? Do we all want to pay to be losers? Heck, I can do that for FREE. Ever since Terrell Davis retired, Shanahan has insisted we don’t need a premier running back. With our OL and offensive scheme, any ol’ RB will do. What shyte! We need a top running back!!! We must take pressure off Cutler. We need to tell Marshall to pull his ego in and start playing with dedication and intensity. We need a DC who knows what he’s doing!!! Shanahan also must put his ego on the back burner and hire some guys who aren’t just ‘yes’ men. What about offering Dewayne Walker, the DC of the UCLA Bruins, a job?? That guy knows his business and gets results…with pretty puke-poor players. Get rid of the hyper-inflated dead wood. Get team players. Get play makers. Get a great running back!! Get a defense!!! Whew. I wish I felt better, but I really don’t believe things will change or improve until a very large broom sweeps through this organization. For what it’s worth…beat the Bolts. Yay.
Lets see if we can get a W in SD, its been a while! We’re do right?!?!?!?!
Come on Bronco Fans lets cheer for our team this season finale (regular season, God willing we beat the bolts) and forget the injuries we can’t do a thing about them!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!
There is sumthing wrong with the Training Staff & Strength and Conditioning Coaches! 2 healthy runnin backs which need to be used and used very very well in order to have a successful game! RB is a concern but my biggest is the defense! Linebackers are alright, safeties ok, but Defense live and CB need alot of work! I really cant wait to see wat happens in the off season! Please Win Denver! REMEMBER DEFENSE FIRST!
Line
Dude most of the injuries to the backs don’t have anything to do with conditioning. A disc injury is a hard hit one and can be life changing and you can’t train to avoid it. Hillis and Pope both have hamstring issues that came from hits and falls, both part of the game. I don’t know what happened with Albbridge, Hall, or Pittman, but Torain got his knee messed up and that isn’t from poor training. These are all injuries that come from hard hits and blows which is what football is based on. But I’m glad to see Boyd back so that he can get his shot at success and hopefully Tatum can hold on to the ball a little better.
Macczilla:Shanny as most fans and some press call him is not going any ware (love it or hate it)as long as Pat B. ownes the team(and he will untill he dies) as for Cutler you do know hes thrown for more yards this season than any Q.B. in team history right? and the refs did not throw the the T.D. or the 2 pointer(on the same play) The refs. call was as much a fluke as Cutler droping the ball in the first place karmic wash if you ask me.
Oh yeah why is it that we talk about the 7 RBs but I have yet to hear about not having Cecil Sapp in that backfield as a FB??? Any clues
Young gets hurt is the wind blows the wrong way so i wasnt surprised when i heard he was put on ir. The hillis and torrain were freak injuries anyone would have gotten hurt on those plays. u have to remember pittman age with his injury.ive been really excited to see what boyd can bring to the table, you can find he just as fast as chris johnson at the combine with the 4.3 speed he’s just bigger than chris johnson is. denver really need to work on the all around defense, the charges came back to win in the 4th quarter the last two games so hopefully they know that.
REAL FANS DON”T CONGRADULATE PLAYERS ON A JOB POORLY DONE
We shouldn’t even have to be talking about this if this so great team had won three games they should have, like say the Bills, Chiefs, Jaguars and Raiders three of these games were at home four wins if we just play l little just little deffense but we didn’t now all the fans are eating each other alive and the team can’t seem to right themselves. Don’t even talk about how injuries hurt us because two of those four were in the first 6 weeks long before we were missing most of our deffense, and come to speak of it our D got worse when those key players came back um lets see Champ, D.J., Webster and Manuel the d played better with them gone rather have that other D cause they played hard and won games
Shaun Alexander Denver has not run for a year gotta be ready to go hit some people and tote that rock and he has got to be a better option as a backup than Boyd or that other guy I can’t remember.
Injuries happen. This is nothing new. Actually, I’m suprised this doesn’t happen more often at this position. These guys are conditioned and the injuries were not condition injuries.
The bottom line is Bell and Cory have to step up and get the job done. The playcallers can’t get away from the run. The upcoming game is a playoff game. You don’t need much outside motivation for this one.
Go Broncos!
There is a difference between complimenting players for a poor job done and having faith. Faith is always believing in what you hope for even when things go wrong. Jay Cutler has been outstanding this season and the defense, while in need of improvement, has had some good moments this season as well. True fans always have faith in their teams. If not, why should they go through the trouble of pretending to care when they only criticize the team when things go awry. The beauty of the NFL is none of us know what will happen at San Diego. With that said, we showed in Week 2 that we can compete with the Chargers, so victory isn’t as improbable as many on this board think it is. Keep the faith and as always GO BRONCOS!!!
FIRE THE WHOLE COACHING STAFF HOW WE GONE HAVE A 3 GAME LEAD AND COME DOWN TO THE LAST GAME TO DETERMINE OUR FATE WE DONT DESERVE TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS ALL WE GONE DO IS GET EMBRASS
Ya know I said this on the other blog, and I will say it again.
The conditioning staff can only tell the players what to do, and help them stretch, they can not make them stretch or condition. So you have to put just as much of the blame on the player themself as the staff! I mean if they pull a hammy in a game you can’t say stupid staff because whose to say that while the staff was stretching them out the player didn’t fake like it was hurting so the coach wouldn’t push and stretch it further?
Seems like WE are ALL ready to point fingers in some direction because we are having a hard time right now. But keep it in mind guys we can beat the chargers, a reason I saw why we lost to the Bills that wasn’t pin pointed:
1. Kick off coverage, JUST KICK IT TO SPROLES, OR HESTER, OR ROYAL OR ANYONE BACK THERE! I mean why squib it short so someone else gets it at the 20 and runs 10 or 15 yards before being met because there wasn’t any hang time? KICK IT HIGH AND LET OUR GUYS RUN UNDER IT CONVERSING ON THE BALL!!!!
I mean even if he runs it back, that took what 15 seconds off the clock, and now our Offense is back on the field, and not our defense letting them eat up the clock and keep us from executing for points!
Plus Shanny said:
“I saw it the first time around — we were 2-for-6 converting in the red zone,” said Shanahan, whose team would enter the playoffs at 9-7 with a victory this weekend or finish at .500 and out of the playoffs with a loss. “I have told my team not to worry about what is said on the outside. They said the same things about us before we won at Cleveland, at Atlanta and at the Jets. You lose a couple of games in this league, and you always have to go out after that and prove yourself even more.
“We had 500 yards of offense against Buffalo. It’s getting things tightened. A lot of times, you go out in a game and do nothing on offense, defense or special teams and get your tail kicked. That would concern me. That did not happen. So, we know we have something to work with. This game has turned into a big rivalry.”
I mean come on guys, had we executed in the red zone a little better we would have won that game despite everything else. I do want to add that I liked that Shanny didn’t let the team see or hear anything about the SD TB game during or before the game. But I really think that knowing that SD won it would have given our guys a bit more boost and they would have rallied together better for the win Sunday rather then TBD game this Sunday!
Cutler keep your anger in check, know you get frustrated but control it, cuz when you don’t you become arid and try to eat the elephant in one bite rather than in steaks, burgers, ribs, rhoasts and everything else thats nice and good!
Maintain your gaps Defense,
Hold onto the ball Offense,
Keep the faith fans!
07elway where we going tonight? I’m in the mood for some steak!
I get so up for the team…….and they jus seem to always let me down. I have been in a fan emotional roller coaster all year and i really hate it. but i cant give up on the team I love. We usually win a couple of games and then lose a couple…thats how its been going on all season and guys i got something to make you guys happy……WE ARE ON A 2 GAME LOSING STREAK!!!!!!! thats points some good signs. Now lets take it 2 the chargers………GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
I would LOVE us to beat the Bolts and better still rub that clown Rivers face in the mud! But as much as I want it I really cant see us winning!
The injuries at RB have took its toll and it just puts too much pressure on Cutler to win us the game against a defence totally commited to coverage!
Cant believe people on here are questioning Cutler aswell! He is the figurehead of our team and will/is a great QB. I know our’D’ is terrible but I think we need to look at the front office and not the coaches to solve this problem……the players we have signed and drafted (2008 draft apart) have just been horrible! What are we going to do with Jarvis Moss?!
I can’t believe our fans are still cutting these losers some slack. 2champ…said “had we executed…” Had we executed!!! C’mon, bro. That’s what we’re talking about! Had we executed! That’s like saying, “Had I brought along my crayons I coulda drawn a pretty picture…but I didn’t, so I didn’t.” Our guys don’t execute. They haven’t for years. Different players. Same result. The culture of this organization must change. The coaching staff must be overhauled, starting at the helm. Shanahan must go. Right out the door. We have been on a downhill slide ever since Elway retired, and Shanahan doesn’t have the knowhow or basic personnel skills to put together a championship program. If I hear, “We just didn’t get it done today” one more time from Shanahan, his staff, or the players, I’m going to tear up my season passes and stick the stubs up their collective a$$es. Go Broncos. Go Shanahan…go, go….just GO!
Aloha everyone… this is my first time blogging here, so i just wanted to greet everyone with the best for the holidays from beautiful and warm Hawaii. I know everyone is upset on how our team is doing. Believe me, i’m just as disgusted as everyone else. We had many EASY oppurtunities to take the division, but haven’t taken advantage of them. I “BELIEVE” that Mike will have something up his sleeve, and will be prepared for this Sunday. He know’s how important it is to the team and us fans. I really wish that it didn’t have to come down to this, but i know that everyone on the team is going to do everything that they can to take that AFC West title on the plane back to Denver on Sunday night. We are better than the Chargers, we will beat them this time again. My fellow Bronco fans, please have faith…keep your head up! We may be cursed with the RB injuries, but I’m sure glad that we got # 24 back. Wouldn’t you agree?
Alright everone, stay warm! ;o)
Also…if we could beat Cleveland, Atlanta, and New York on the road… I know we can do it in SD. I just moved from SD back to Hawaii recently, so I know how irritating charger fans are all the giant bolt stickers on the back of their cars and SUV’s all the # 21 jerseys in powder blue. I actually went to the Denver/SD game 2006 in Jay’s rookie year. My boy and I were being hassled by some couple in powder blue jerseys a row above us. my friend and I were having a conversation on who sacked Jay, to find out it was Merriman. My friend thought # 56 was someone else. To put a stop to the disagreement, we asked the couple who was hassling us. They couldn’t tell me. The funny thing was the female of the couple(The one talking the most S#!+) was wearing his jersey. Morale of the story is there are so many real fans. charger fans cheer when they win. I despite them, even though 75% of my friends are fans. I know we will go to SD and dominate. Sorry for rambling, i just had to express my feelings!
I think that everyone forgets how young a team we have. Our nucleus is built with guys ranging from rookie to 3 years. With youth comes inconsistent play. And with all of our injuries we have never really seen what this team can do. Our defence needs work. But with injuries and a new defence coordinater we need to be patient. If we have Hillis and Torain in the backfield all year next year. Then Cutler will have an all around offence. Do we not have the most or close to the most rookies in this year. Shanahan has done decent with what he has had in the lineup. I hope we crush the Chargers. I hate their guts! But next year watch this team. And for anyone who is saying fire Shanahan and this team sucks. Weren’t you the same ones praising him a few weeks ago and saying this team is amazing coming through with all of these injuries. We will be fine. A great young team for years to come. I have faith. One last thing. I tell my son. A real fan stands behind his team through trying times. That is what makes it so great when they do come through.
Ive been a broncos fan since 6yrs old i live in atl. Im so sick after sundays game I really get tired of seeing teams like Ravens,Colts,Steelers,Giants,And HELL EVEN THE CHARGERS step up and win when they must why my defense is never making big plays on sports center? We need a change trade or cut D.Williams and Webster because Woodyard out plays em both fire D coach im just upset now we gotta beat the chargers in they backyard while they on a hot streak. Hope we win but i wont bet aginst the chargers any week.
it seems like we have been ‘rebuilding’ for years, but it looks like that is where we are currently. i think we finally have a solid core to build around though:
young guys gaining experience (hillis, woodyard, larson, barrett,kern)+
becoming superstars (cutler, marshall, royal, clady& harris, heck the entire O line…espcially considering how much we have had to throw this year!)+great vet leaders (pitman, dj, wiegmann, nalen, stokley, graham)
gotta say, it would have been nice if Lynch would have stuck around…
I think that in order to win we need to not abandoned our running game so quickly. 2 or 3 yds a rush isn’t really that bad. If you do that a couple of times it is 3rd and manageable. With our backs I don’t know if he have a guy that will break a 50+ yarder. If we can gain a few yards and mix in run and pass we won’t smother Cutler with the pressure to win. That’s what I think happens, we rush for only a few yards a carry and then we abandon it and just go to an empty backfield and let Cutler throw all the time. That obviously doesn’t work all the time. Then Cutler starts forcing throws and $#!^ hits the fan and poof we lost the game. I definitely think that we have to try and run the ball more.
I think being negative about the team is not really a bad thing. If anything it shows that WE as fans care. It shows how passionate we are about the Broncos. If we all understood and just acted happy about what is going on then this site would just be so boring. This is what we need to VENT what we feel about the broncos and to tell a fan that they are fair weather for being negative is just not right.
I remember one year back in the Elway Era when the broncos were really bad and this guy (fan) climbed up this billboard in Denver and camped out and he was up there for a long time. He said he was not going to come down until the broncos won a game. He probably was up there for 4 weeks or more. Crazy as that seems his passion for the broncos was unsurpassed and it shows how his negative actions we constructive, funny and stupid but were also the mark of a TRUE FAN.
LOL, come on folks, find the humor in this…don’t let it drive ya nuts. There’s nothing any of us can do, it’s been a BAD seasonf or injuries, we have just lost too many players. I expect them to put up a fight, but every team is dropping 7 and 8 guys into coverage on every play!
I knew this might happen, even after they were up 13-0. This happened two years ago against SF. The Broncos have a clear problem, they cant a play a complete game for 60 min, especially on defense. The problem lies with the inability of the coaching staff to make adjustements to what the opposing offenses are doing over the coarse of the game and in addition the talent on the defense is just down right bad.
When the Broncos offense gets the tight ends involved we are a superior offense and stretch the field. When we go two quarters without even attempting to get the ball to a tight end we struggle and get out of sync.
I was crushed after the game and could not believe what had just happened. Jay Cutler needs to step up and win football games that are close and important. One of the things that made John Elway the greatest quarterback ever was that he could play a horrible game and in the end you knew he pull it off. Jay Cutler has played two meaningful must win games since hes been the starter and both games (SF 2006 & Buf Sunday) the Broncos lost, both games saw the Broncos go up early and in total control early but the offense fails to convert in the red zone and get a big enough lead so that the defense is not required to play good football. Then the offense trys to get back in the game late but the defense cant get off the field. All of the above characteristics are of a mediocre football team. Consistency is the key on offense and a revamped defense with actual football players and scheme that utilizes their strength and a good kicking game are key for 2009.
With regards to the SD game Sunday night, I truley believe that the Broncos will play a good game and win 27-24, that all depends on the first half, if they keep it close and are competitive I see Jay in the second half growing up and making all the right plays.
The playoffs start early for the Broncos this year, in the playoffs teams that win are the teams that are well prepared and stay within their game plan and are mentally and physically TOUGH. The Broncos need to match the intensity that SD will come out with hit em in the mouth punch for punch.
This game will say alot about this young football team and if they intend to win for years to come or if they will become yet another NFL football team with wasted talent (on offense I mean, the defense thats a different story) like our opponent the Chargers.
I recommend the Broncos see what the Chargers and media are saying about this game and play last years Monday Night game and see Rivers goin after Cutler, everbody is ruling the Broncos out and that if anything is disrespectful although the Broncos havent done anything this year to make anybody trust them. The Broncos can beat any team on any given Sunday and can lose to any team on the next. Lets all hope and prey that the Broncos that come out Sunday Night are the Broncos that beat Atlanta and the Jets on the road and not the Broncos team that got blasted on MNF to NE or lost at home to the Jags, Raiders and Bills.
One last thing, all i want is that the Broncos play a tough game and make it clear to the NFL that this team will get better and be dominant for years to come. Plain and simple DONT GET BLOWN OUT, we fans have pride and it would kill me if that happened.
The Special teams coaching needs to be ousted next Monday, along with -Slow-lick and most of the D staff. Its not a player issue on D or special teams its a coaching issue. I give Denver a 50/50 chance of winning seeing how well Denver has played on the road this year, my family and I are ticket holders and ill tell you one thing, I hope Denver can have a little more energy and deliver at home next year, I was very disappointed with how we played at home after September. And common people I know people don’t like having a crummy voice after a game but when our D is out there especially when were pushed back in the red zone, MAKE SOME NOISE NEXT YEAR PEOPLE!
Ok here’s how it’s going to shake down. We must contain Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson although after what LT said the week after they lost to us at home I’m a little concerned about him as well. LT said “I can’t wait until it comes down to us and the Broncos, last game of the year at our place for the Division title”. So judging from that you can be rest assured he’s going to bring his ‘A’ game Sunday night. The entire Broncos team must match the intensity of the Chargers right from the get go. Also if you all remember last year when Rivers (I hate this guy) was jawing at Cutler to get off the field and go home, this should light a fire under Cutler to not only excel but to try to play the best game of his early career!
Brandon Marshall was right when he said the Chargers are playing there best ball of the year right now and they have all the momentum but if you remember people were talking about how good the Jets were and how we shouldn’t even get off the plane but we went to NY and dominated the Jets.
Now the Chargers are a different team then the Jets but we have to have the same focus and determination if are we to beat the Chargers.
I’m excited for this game, how can you not be and I hope the team or someone on the team reads this and can translate to them a scenerio I’m about to present, now this isn’t a factual situation but it is similiar in the aspect: When Rocky (in Rocky 4) made the decision he was going to go to Russia to fight Ivan Drago and when he came home to Adrienne she yelled at him from the top of the stair case “YOU CAN’T WIN”, that fueled a fire in Rocky! Now alot of people on here are saying how we can’t win and alot of the so called football experts are saying we have no chance. Supposedly Rocky didn’t stand a chance either but he battled and grinded in a hostile territory and in the end he won! I believe the Broncos can pull it together and as a TEAM and only as a TEAM can go to San Diego and win this game! It’s time for this young team to make a statement and prove to themselves and the rest of BRONCOS COUNTRY and the nation that the power of the AFC West is about to change! Win this game, if you guys win one game this year let it be this one! I live in bandwagon Chargers country out here in So. California and even though this past Sunday was a dissapointment my Broncos flag is still flying out side my house! I BELIEVE AND SO SHOULD ALL THE OTHER BRONCO COUNTRY MANIACS!
In closing and I’d like to speak for some of us on here that believe and say I have no doubt we can win, now just prove us right and win this game!
Go Broncos!