On Tuesday, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway and Chris Hall of DenverBroncos.com discussed the Broncos’ win over the Chargers, running back Willis McGahee’s injury and the upcoming game against the Chiefs in the latest installment of Elway Access.
With the Broncos’ 30-23 win over San Diego on Sunday, the team improved to 7-3 and took a three-game lead in the AFC West over the Chargers, who fell to 4-6. The victory puts the Broncos in firm control of the division race with six games remaining.
“I think that any time you get a win in this league, you have to be thrilled, especially against a divisional foe,” Elway said. “And if you look at the position we’re in, really being three games up, by winning this it puts us four games up with the tiebreaker on the Chargers with six to play. It was a big game for us to be able to put ourselves in the situation that we were.”
Though San Diego was able to hang around and keep things interesting by cutting the lead to seven with less than three minutes remaining, the Broncos prevailed despite the offense not firing on all cylinders. Elway was pleased with the bottom line, but said the performance left room for improvement.
“I think when you look back, we would have liked to have been able to get this thing over quicker than we did,” Elway said. “But the Chargers kept hanging in there and we had a chance to make some plays offensively, we just didn’t quite hit them. Defensively we played tremendous the first half. And they got it going a little bit in the second half to stay in the football game. These are always lessons learned from wins. This is another situation that we had some chances to close this thing out a little earlier than we did, but weren’t able to do it. We’ll look back and hopefully learn from this and be able to close some people out as we go forward.”
One of the biggest bright spots in the victory was the play of the Denver defense, which started the game by extending its streak of preventing the opposition from converting on third down to 26, the most in the league in 10 years. On the night, the Broncos sacked San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers four times, forced three turnovers and held San Diego to just 53 yards rushing. Elway credited the defense’s recent success to the impact of Defensive Coordinator Jack Del Rio.
“It’s amazing,” Elway said. “You look at it, there were 26 straight third-down stops. That is unbelievable. You look at what Jack Del Rio has done, you look at the scheme that he has put in there, the guys are playing with a lot of confidence. He’s putting them in positions with defensive calls that give them an opportunity to make the plays. That’s what you want to do and that’s what makes a great defensive coordinator. Jack has done a tremendous job with that, plus the mentality that he’s got them playing with. They’re playing fast, everybody’s running to the football. It’s fun to watch the way we’re playing defense right now because we’re really playing great team defense.”
While Denver’s win made it five consecutive victories, one difficulty as the team looks to make it six in a row will be the loss of McGahee to a knee injury. With McGahee, the team’s leading rusher, out with a torn knee ligament, the Broncos will be down a veteran leader, making it important that the rest of Denver’s backs step up in his absence.
“It’s kind of a day-to-day situation, but any time you lose a veteran like Willis that has been a great influence not only on the field but in the locker room in teaching those young guys,” Elway said. “Plus, he’s having a good year, too. He’s going to be missed, but Ronnie Hillman, Lance Ball and now Knowshon (Moreno) is going to be active and hopefully he can pick up the slack. Hopefully we don’t lose too much with Willis gone, but it’s hard to replace his leadership and experience that he has in this game.”
Next up for the Broncos is a trip to Kansas City to take on the AFC West rival Chiefs, an opponent that gave Elway plenty of memories during his playing days.
“It was a great rivalry back in the 1990s,” Elway said. “The Chiefs were a really good football team. (Defensive end) Neil Smith and (linebacker) Derrick Thomas rushing the passer off the edge. I remember we played on the old AstroTurf, it was a really fast track. With Neil and Derrick Thomas coming off the edge with the crowd noise, it was always a battle. I always knew I’d come out of there with a lot of bumps and a lot of bruises. A great memory we had was beating them in 1997. We had to go through Kansas City. They had the home field advantage and we beat them 14-10 in the divisional round of the playoffs in probably one of the best battles that I can remember when we went into Kansas City. We were able to get out of there with a win.”
Facing an opponent with a home-field advantage as formidable as Kansas City’s, the Broncos cannot afford to take the Chiefs lightly based on their 1-9 record. Elway said a strong early start will be one of the keys to preventing the crowd from making an impact on the game.
“Any time you go into Arrowhead (Stadium), it’s a tough place to play,” Elway said. “I know the Chiefs are struggling this year, but as we know, everybody in the NFL can beat anybody on any given day. (Quarterback) Peyton (Manning) has the right attitude. The fact is, it doesn’t matter what their record is. They can get hot at any point in time. So hopefully we can go in there and take control of the football game early, keep the crowd out of it, because it’s probably as loud a stadium as there is in the league when it’s going.”
Tags: Elway Access, Executive Vice President of Football Operations John Elway, Week 12
Please please please don’t play “no show Moreno”!!!!!! Any chance of going after LaDainian Tomlinson or any other quality running back?
Believe it or not knowshon is our best bet. And at this stage he has fresh legs, so thats good. You kind of lost me when ladanian tomlinson and quality back showed up in the same sentence. Thats like asking for Clinton Portis. Knowshon fumbled once in week two and thats the only thing I can think landed him in the dog house (But im sure the coaches saw more). Willis, Ball and Hillman have coughed it up quite a bit so it can’t only been that. They probably just ran out of patience with him and can’t blame them (especially with his DUI too). I was hoping we would go for DeAngelo Williams before trade deadline, not because I am some Guru that for saw this (even tho almost every week I pick up hillman on my fantasy teams) but because even when healthy, towards the end of the year, the 30 yr old McGahee just doesn’t churn like he does in the beginning of season, kind of like the Orton Dead arm syndrome we used to suffer from. I believe Moreno will have a masterful game, especially against a poor KC team … but either way, He, hillman and Ball (plus JJ) are like all we got. Not unless baby Gronk wanna get in the mix lol
later days, TRB
@John. I agree LT is worth a look, if he is in any sort of game shape. I vaguely remember our talking with him in the summer, but obviously nothing panned out.
Why go get someone who’s at home when we’ve got Knowshon and JJ who’ve been here all season? I know it’s not easy to replace Willis. But Knowshon was a 1st round draft pick and has had flashes. JJ even had some playing time last season. I say 5 or 6 carries for each back as we only use the run game to keep D’s honest anyway. Not to mention Ball & Hillman might actually surprise us. We’ve got our options and McCoy has a chance to get creative…again
Broncos Country Strong 2012!!!!!!!
three cheers for my favorite sundevil sandoval lol. Hope u doing good buddy. Havent played u in WWF in a while. Expect a challenge! lol. I agree with your sentiments. We got guys that know the playbook and the players. Fresh and ready. By themselves maybe avg with flashes but together, possibly formidable.
Later days, TRB
We are playing the worst Run defense this week. The Combo of Hillman/Ball/Moreno will all do just fine.
Id give Hillman the start and let him have a 20-25 carry game. See if he can breakout.
Kuper should be back and that helps the run game (and pass protectio).
“Like” on sndvl’s post!
Lets go RB by committee, Ball, Hillman, JJ, and then Moreno in that order. IMO
Hello Royal! It’s been awhile bro!
im sorry i do NOT agree with the bronco staff with benching moreno in the dog house….1 fumble?i
i also dont agree with the “Bust” label he’s had to carry for the last couple of years….i think its been a real stomach turner to see how my fellow bronco fans feel about the productivity knowshon has brought to the table….understand this when moreno was drafed…he was drafted in a pass first offense…with an offensive line that at the time wasn’t at its best yet moreno accumulated a thousand yards (rushing and receiving) both of those 2 seasons not to mention it wasnt a running back besides corry dillion in that made up patriot offense we where running that actually had 1000 yards rushing….moreno wasnt picked 12 overall by magic …besides being injury prone moreno has showed us he is as good as any decent back in the nfl in the open field..we call him a bust but if my memory tells me correctly he led all rookie running backs in rushing yards that year..i think at the end of the day bronco fans are bitter that hes left over from the mcd era… it is what it is
how could you actually feel ball hillman and johnson anywhere better then moreno…its obviously a clear cut who the better back is,yet you put moreno on the back burner …..lml aww man
Just get on their throats early and stay on it. The D seems to let up a bit with a good lead sometimes. Just choke ‘em out.
Nobody’s bitter about Moreno being a McD pick….
Moreno just has no eyes for daylight when trying to run between the tackles…
He usually takes the handoff and then runs straight into the back of a gard or the center and then his feet move real fast like Fred Flintstone taking off in his car, and then he loses a shoe and falls down and gets hurt…..
That pretty much sums up how I remember Noshoe Moreno…….lol
LMAO @ OC , classic!!!
two glaring issues that need to be fixed.
1. Turning the ball over – I’m not sure if we’ve gone a single game this season without a turnover. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
2. Softer D with leads – You mentioned this denverscott and I agree. The D tends to let up a bit in the end of the third/beginning of the 4th. They need to play 60 minutes and stop giving up these garbage TD’s at the end of games. (granted the other night Tony got beat in good coverage. Just good plays by rivers and alexander.)
If we can shore up these lingering issues, I dont see us being stopped. However, if we do not, it’s gonna be hard to get anywhere in the playoffs.
Noshoe, Noshirt, Noservice…..lol
I agree OC, Moreno has had his chances and has been found lacking. If he can help for a few weeks I’ll be happy and maybe we can peddle him in the off season.
I did hear Elway say that we would look to see whats out there though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a free agent signing if McGahee is not showing good signs of healing in the next week or so….jmho
I don’t know who to believe about the extent of his injury, the media reports that it will be 6 to 8 weeks, Fox says he has no clue so he’ll say he is week to week.
I mean this is from ESPN:
Willis McGahee (knee) will be on crutches for about a month. He isn’t going under the knife to repair his torn MCL or broken leg, but his injury is still serious. Even if he ditches the crutches in three weeks, he’ll still need a bunch of time to strengthen the leg and get back in game shape.
It sure seems like a stretch to call that week to week if that info is anywhere reliable.
Anyhow, said all I could about our running game and the current situation for the last two days, it’s a lot more serious than anyone would like to think in my opinion, playing the #25 team against the run Sunday will tell us a whole bunch about where we are heading with all that, they allow about 130 yards per game on the ground in average I believe, if we get under 100 it’s not looking very good…
everybodys bitter he is a mcd pick oc…..prove to me that hes a bust…really….. cuz it doesnt make any other logical sense why when the Preseason started fans felt a 3rd round rookie who had yet to prove ANYTHING wanted to see him in front of moreno
….soo what you telling me is Ball and johnson is ahead of moreno to right …..LMAO its funny cuz its nothing else but pure hatred and wanting to see him FAIL,please really im dieing to know what besides him being injury prone makes him a bust
u dont accumulate a thousnd plus yards with a rookie guard rookie center star left tackle who got injured fron a not football injury and sharing snaps with buchalter its really dissmissive and disrespectful
Moreno also should have the worse yards after contact. Has he ever gotten hit and not go down seen him go down from forearms hits.
Devafan you couldn’t be more wrong about OC, he was the biggest McD supporter on here for the longest, drove me crazy about his vocal support on here, haha.
Fans will never agree on everything and it’s totally understandable that many including I think Moreno has blown it often enough and was given plenty of chances. He has a huge attitude problem, like he can’t contain himself whatsoever, his adrenalin takes over him when he makes a one yard gain for a first down at the end of a game we are losing by 30 points, takes it all the way in the end zone dancing around like a total fool, and that was just last year, after three years you have to act like you’ve been there. I said many times I don’t believe he is teachable due to that out of control fire that consumes him, that’s why he can never find holes or follow blocks, running into the first tackler that’s there, and if he finds a gap it’s pure luck, and he then makes nice gains of it. But he cannot work in a system, not an NFL system anyway, that’s what I’ve seen of him and whether you can appreciate that or not is not really important, some of us think he is great, some don’t, that’s just how it is in a free country. I just as well see him play somewhere else.
Haha! For sure TRB. Challenge accepted!!!
I like your post too royalbronco! Lol
Thanks OC. Now I’m gonna have images of Fred Flintstone in Orange & Blue. “Yabba dabba shoooooe”
Maybe it’s an attention disorder thing of some sort, I have no clue, but something is wrong for him to be in the doghouse for so long, no way it’s because of that one fumble, there is something fundamentally wrong with how the guy presents himself in practice and on the field is my opinion, the coaching staff has just given up on him the way I see it. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so he might get yet another chance, but he certainly wasn’t these coaches’ first choice obviously. We are not the only ones who don’t like him as a player seems like to me…
Now sndvl that would be different, he was one of the three biggest McD hater on here, and yet he wants Moreno, so your theory really doesn’t hold water.
BTW sndvl, is there enough contribution from me now, or too much already? LOL.
Know Show came from the SEC East! Georgia of all teams. Not too many good RB’s come out of the SEC East. They mostly come from the SEC West if they come from the SEC. Know Show was overrated when he was at Georgia but thats just the LSU fan in me.
Terrell Davis was out of Georgia…
Bed time, still early riser.
I do think that the word “bust” is often used to liberally by fans. A real bust would be a player who was cut by the team who drafted him before his rookie contract expired, and wasn’t picked up by another team.
In my opinion, the reason Moreno made the team, is we knew another team would scoop him up of we cut him, so in other words, he carries a value. How much value, is up for debate. I think the real issue for fans is that TD celebration, when we were getting destroyed, as some have already pointed out. That kind of thing is not easily forgotten, and really rubbed people the wrong way..
We’ll see what he does if he gets another shot, but one play that stands out to me was in the preseason, when he used his elbows to gain forward progress – military style. Let’s hope the kid is hungry, as he’s had a long time to build a proper appetite..
I know hence why I said not too many. Plus he didn’t really shine for us til that special teams play
Glad to have you back. Contributing. Baylin! Lol
I have no problem supporting anyone who is gonna contribute and help us win. I don’t care for the way DJ has done things but I was throwing him love and support on Sunday.
Being from SoCal and a SDSU fan, I was really pumped when the Broncos drafted Ronnie Hillman … I knew the record he had there and was very impressed … HOWEVER – watching him play on Sunday, I didn’t realize how TINY he is (relatively speaking) … I don’t see how he’ll ever become someone like Ray Rice, for instance … certainly not another McGehee … that considered, he has had a few moments of brightness – some swing passes, and some runs to the outside … he’s so quick, if he sees some daylight, he makes very nice gains … and – correct me if I’m wrong (and I don’t want to jinx him) – but I don’t think he’s yet come close to fumbling, even when he’s tried to run off tackle and he runs into a mountain … that said, he can be very useful, just not as an every down back to force his way into 5 – 10 yard gains … it will be interesting to see how the Broncos choose to use him and the other available backs going forward … I suppose they’ll set up a procedure, see how it succeeds, and then improvise … fortunate that KC is our next opponent … hopefully, this game will give us more latitude to try things out …
Has anyone ever seen Gronk carry the ball? He seems to do alright as a blocker – what’s the deal? Use him more regular with Hillman and Ball – (I’d still be surprised to see Moreno suit up at all) – and hand him the ball every now and again….
im just stating what i see….its bias….name the backs that ran for a 1000 yards in that patriots offense we ran and you tell me if that scheme works to any decency to running backs?????then when your done with that tell me how many times mcgahee fumbled in key possessions and didn’t lose his job …its hard to see whats going on with this kid….and as far as him being troubled lets talk about how he wears 27 in honor of Darrent Williams and what hes seen to do for the Denver community.. I understand no one agrees with what im stating but i ask you to comprehend the facts im stating
Emmit Smith-Florida
Terrell Davis-Georgia
Hershall Walker-Georgia..won Heisman
Jamal Lewis-Tennessee
Fred Taylor-Florida
Arian Foster-Tennessee
just to name a few,I could look up a lot more.
I forgot all about Smith and Foster! I stand corrected!!
There are plenty of bloggers who feel like you do about Moreno denvafan, guys like monodono and Turtle in particular, so much so you’d think they are family related, just like you, so you don’t need to waste your energy trying to make the ones who don’t think he’s got it “comprehend” since you have plenty of folks on your side already. Just trying to ease up on your stress level is all. Moreno is not a casualty in all this and not one we should feel sorry for. McD is not our coach anymore, if he doesn’t play it has to be because there is a good reason, Fox is mister nice guy, anyone would agree with that. Plus he has more money than god already since he signed well before the new bargaining agreement. Back then first round picks made a killing, so whatever happens he should be taken care of financially for his lifetime, so his worst case scenario is he has to deal mentally with the fact that he may never make it big in this league, big whoopee, it’s just a game, same for Tebow, these guys can move on. Wish I was any of those guys….
And the mountain man from Tennessee stands up for his SEC East, well done, LOL.
On August 7, 2009, after an eight-day holdout, Moreno signed a five-year, $16.7 million contract with a $5.08 million club option for 2014. The deal includes $13.135 million guaranteed and Moreno can earn an additional $6.3 million through incentives.
That’s a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving, LMAO! Poor guy, he is so misunderstood….
Maybe the Broncos have a hidden agenda to not let Moreno reach that $6.3M by not letting get to those incentives.
I know the Broncos are smart but I just don’t want them to completely abandon the running game (even if it is not as effective) and have Manning throwing it 40+ times a game. I don’t think they will the running games been fairly effective and with Manning you never know what he’ll call at the line. If we make the playoffs I don’t want Manning to be already burnt out after the season because he’s had to throw it 40+ times a game for the rest of the season.
Strandsky – what ‘s up bro – yeah it’s been awhile! Hope everthing is good for you in the Springs!!
I don’t believe Moreno will be the starting RB, but agree with you strand that it will most likely be RB by committee.
Hilman is obviously the quickest, but after seeing him get floored a few times on Sunday at the stadium, he would run off to shake if off. It looked like he took a head shot, (helmet to helmet) on one play, from where we were sitting.
Ball is built like a fire hydrant and I believe he’ll get the starting nod… we’ll see. Just hope he can learn to hang on to the ball better. Moreno obviously has dug himself a hole and will need to do his best to help the Team…(blocking, etc). Moreno can be an asset catching dumpoffs/swing passess out of the backfield as that’s where I believe he could contribute.
As a ball carrier…. well nuff said already.
As others have mentioned, we do need a running game to offer some balance and keep Defenses honest.
Never know ’bout Knowshon…. if he has any success, it will be a reflection on RB Coach Studesville, in helping turn him around.
Denvafan, to a certain point I agree with u. Im always backing Moreno as well, since he made alot out of McDs weak run system. My only knock on him is that he gets hurt. Last season he was in a grove in fox system. Getting momentum. Got hurt on a big gainer. We haven’t really seen him in this system. He may not be worthy of the 12th pick but kids got something to offer, he is on our roster, and we need him. He has the most experience. And I would give him the start with Hillman splitting carries and Ball in every now and then. The dislike for Moreno minus the obvious fact that some hated the dance or his “lack” of skill is … we wanted defense, McD got him instead. Thereby losing guys like orakpo, cushings and clay matthews. Luckily our D is back on track. But once again, neither RB maybe able to pick up the slack solo but together, all we can do is hope. And I agree with OTBroncos on why he was not cut but also, even if fans don’t like him, I highly doubt the coaching staff would bench him for NO reason. Even when McD put Hillis in the doghouse and was unwarranted, u could still point to his fumbles.
TRB
Keep in mind our running game has been less than desirable the last several weeks. Moreno, Hillman, and Ball will carry the load just fine vs KC and in the coming weeks. We may see 120 yds total this weekend and around 90 vs TB…which is about the same as we would have seen with Willis. The one positive in using Hillman more and Moreno is they have the ability to break a big run…. Mcgahee does not. I certainly wouldn’t worry any more than normal about our running game. The toughest spot will be our 3rd and 1 offense…McGahee is one of the best at picking up first downs in that instance. That’s where I agree Gronk Jr. needs a few carries. Peyton Hillis was the no name FB that blew it up when he got a chance…Gronk could also be that guy.
I’m with you Schmidt. My only worry is 3rd/4th and 1/2 yards. Other than that, things will be fine.
Denver only needs to be a top 20-15 run team with Manning and that is just to keep a defense honest.
BTW the team did work out Steve Slaton yesterday. But as discussed already, unless he somehow killed it, there is no need to bring in a guy who doesn’t know the plays this late in the season.
On a personal note. I would love to see Knowshon have a good game and be the primary back while McGahee is out. Do I think he will? No, but I would still like it to happen.
O.C. nailed it with the Fred Flinstone description. I have also seen Moreno break some tackles but it is rare given his strength. I wouldn’t call him a bust by any means but he has been disappointing. If I was to try and pinpoint his weakness, it would be vision. He has a hard time finding the running lane quickly. Which leads to the Fred Flinstone thing.