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Fox Reflects on Sunday’s Win

September 19th, 2011 - 2:14pm by Kenny Legan

Head Coach John Fox met with the media Monday afternoon to discuss Sunday’s exciting 24-22 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and to look forward to this week’s encounter in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans.

Fox said that he was able to enjoy his first win as head coach of the Broncos last night, but it was short-lived as he arrived at Dove Valley this morning ready to prepare for the Titans.

“I definitely cherished it,” Fox said. “There’s not much time to celebrate in this business, because it’s, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ I had a nice meal with friends and family and was back to work today early.”

Fox and his staff will not only have to scout Tennessee this week, but also their own team. Four Week 1 starters missed Sunday’s game due to injury and two more players left injured during the game, leaving Fox with just two wide receivers.

Fox said he’s hopeful to get some of those players back this week and would rather not play that short-handed again.

“That was tough sledding, especially at minus-two in the turnover ratio,” Fox said. “I don’t want to do that every week. It is not my first choice.”

However, the Broncos were able to pull out the win despite the absence of many key players. Fox pointed to the “next-man up” mentality he has instilled in the team as a significant aspect of the win and said that the execution from his players was much improved.

“I thought it was a character, toughness type of win,” Fox said. “We had two big stops on defense in the last five minutes of the game that were critical. I thought the way our offense started the game, both in the first half and the second half with extended drives and ended up with points, I thought that was critical to what I’m looking for. I thought the way we ran the ball was more what I expected from the beginning. Our players and staff worked very hard to improve in that area.”

Fox and the team return to practice Wednesday as they look to build off Sunday’s win.

-Kenny Legan

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28 Responses to “Fox Reflects on Sunday’s Win”

  1. baylinorcrush says:

    Nothing surprising in any of those comments, enjoy this fleeting moment Fox, good overall effort Sunday, from coaches to players, much better than the first outing.

  2. seweatherman1 says:

    One thing is certain. If it wasn’t for the stops by the D, he would be singing to a different choir.

  3. CarnageBronc says:

    soooo….why does everyone expect this team to score 50 points per…..they scored 24…which is above average….Orton completed 60 percent of his passes, was only asked to throw 25 times, because we ran the ball like He wanted to. Threw two TDs…apparently though according to the blogs, decker threw those passes to himself. Had some drops in there as well. I am happy with the direction this team is going in. You ask any quarterback to play a game with only TWO receivers available and losing a TE early…that is a diplay of character to me

  4. 1nOnlyTRB says:

    sounds to me like Eron Riley up and JJ back to PS. But depends on many things. If Moreno is good, If Lloyd is good etc. But I see Eron being promoted just in case. I thought it was wierd that we still had 2 RBs and boosted another RB who would probably not get on the field. But I guess they wanted to be safe. I was more likely to believe a WR getting hurt over another RB … but maybe im just saying that in hind sight. Either way, once again we still have free space on our PS. TRB

  5. Broncfalls says:

    It was an overall good effort! Now as others have mentioned! Let’s move forward and see what we need to do to get after the next team up!

    Congratulations Coach staff and players….now let’s get after again!

    GO GET’ EM BOYS!

  6. Broncfalls says:

    Hey Bay, is there a site and/or link you utilzie for unsigned players? Correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t the deadline to sign waiver claims like the 1st week in Oct? Just wondering who is out there was all?

    GO GET EM’ BOYS!

  7. pokoya says:

    Congratulations to the Broncos on a win, that quite frankly, left me inspired. I thought the team made plays which showed preparation and correct anticipation — in short, well-coached. You’d think that fans of the Broncos could unite in the privileged after-glow of victory. Not the case, at least with many posts and emails I surveyed, even right after the game, many of them displaying gross unawareness of the actual events on the field. What can I say? The medium that allows me to communicate my pleasure and pride in the Broncos, is the same medium that allows anyone with a desire to be sarcastic, sardonic, or even cruel in their comments, a place to see their posts in public, and give their emotions an opportunity to be voiced. I am gradually learning to be a little more mute online, and trusting that my perceptions are shared by those who simply decline to take part in the team bashing that passes as “fan comments”. One heads up, I think I might pass on — the euphemism that is known as the “QB controversy in Denver,” is not only not going to go away — it is about to heat up. I predict it is on the verge of becoming an incredible media fire storm. To the Bronco organization, I recommend to “batten down the hatches.” It will be hilarious — but only if you do not allow the emotions of it to ensnare you.

  8. HardHitting27 says:

    The negative will be there as long as Orton remains at QB and shows no signs of changing or improving his game.
    What I mean by that is the same thing that is voiced by several here, he is vanilla in his game play. Very predictable. While a good game manager, he isn’t a strong leader and definitely not a gamer.
    If Orton can make strides in improving his game and stringing together decisive wins, the bashing may subside.

    While watching the game, each time the offense came on the field, I felt nervous wondering what the O could do to get another 3 and out and seems to be our MO in recent years.
    Another area we all know needs work.

    All in all a great effort by the Defense and Offense. With a few exceptions, I am happy for the win.

    And to those earlier who graded the QB and A and the WR a B or lower, due to a fumble by Decker, please note that Orton also had a fumble too!!

    Go Broncos, get healthy, we want to see Doom, Champ, and Lloyd back on the field sunday when we face and beat the Titans. (Noshow was excluded because I think he will be healthy but lost the starting position to #23).

  9. bfree2bronc says:

    I wonder if Demaryius Thomas is ready? He has practiced for about 3 weeks now and his healing has progressed faster than expected…The pressure is on to either crap or get off the pot. If he can’t go then make a roster move to IR. Darn offseason basketball…

    Possibly bring up Eron Riley, the big 6’4″ WR could surprise some people this week in tennessee…

  10. baylinorcrush says:

    Broncfalls, there are no players on waivers, they were only on waivers for 24 hours after the Saturday when they made all the cuts to 53 prior to the regular season, ever since then all those waived players not signed are free agents. Trading deadline is like October 18th.

  11. millertime2 says:

    Bay where can we find a list of those free agents.

  12. baylinorcrush says:

    I don’t know of any such current list because there were 1184 players released that day and maybe about only a dozen or two were signed by other teams, so basically that’s well over a thousand players no one wants anything to do with, best thing to do if you’re that interested in that bottom of the barrel search is look up the final cuts of each team, they will all be there and keep in mind a handful have been signed by other teams, but I certainly wouldn’t waste my time with that. More interesting until the October 18th trade deadline is players whom teams might be willing to trade and what player of ours we might be willing to trade for them if at all possible because I don’t like to trade draft picks for players at this time of year, or pretty much anytime anyway. But even that doesn’t make much sense unless you guys think we have a team built for the playoffs and I don’t, so I say go with what you got and use your PS, that’s how I’d do it and I think Fox will too, that’s what he has done so far.

  13. baylinorcrush says:

    Broncfalls and miller guy,

    I don’t know of any such current list because there were 1184 players released that day and maybe about only a dozen or two were signed by other teams, so basically that’s well over a thousand players no one wants anything to do with, best thing to do if you’re that interested in that bottom of the barrel search is look up the final cuts of each team, they will all be there and keep in mind a handful have been signed by other teams, but I certainly wouldn’t waste my time with that. More interesting until the October 18th trade deadline is players whom teams might be willing to trade and what player of ours we might be willing to trade for them if at all possible because I don’t like to trade draft picks for players at this time of year, or pretty much anytime anyway. But even that doesn’t make much sense unless you guys think we have a team built for the playoffs and I don’t, so I say go with what you got and use your PS, that’s how I’d do it and I think Fox will too, that’s what he has done so far.

  14. baylinorcrush says:

    Sorry for double post, it wouldn’t take it first time so as soon as I added a line to it so I could attempt to post again, instead of seeing duplicate comment, the first one popped up, it figures, LOL.

  15. daddybronc says:

    I expected Denver to lose to the Bungles and I am happy that in the end they did not. I guess I must move the Bungles lower in my ratings.

    It was clear that the defense is not the problem in Denver as even with injuries leaving obvious gaps in the secondary – Rookie Dalton and AJ Green sliced that secondary to shreds – very entertaining – but not enough for a W. I missed the interceptions and FF that should have happened – likely due to Bungles receiving core being better than I expected. Saw Dalton hanging on a ball that should have come loose – credit to Bungles.

    It was the defense that preserved the victory. I love Joe Mays! He stepped up and learned – credit Mays with shutting out Benson and giving Broncs a chance.

    The rush was good! Very entertaining!

    The offense did just enough. Eeyor (Orton) limped through and didn’t throw away the game. Very frustrating with the offensive spark that is needed sitting there on the bench.

    I give Fox credit for fixing the penalty issue. I think it was 14 accepted penalties v. Raiders and 3 v. Bengals. That’s huge!!! The Broncos only looked like juvenile delinquents once during this game. (I still reminisce the days when athletes didn’t come back if bad character was displayed.)
    Fox still needs to learn the effects of the intangibles on the team record at the end of a season. Emotion – tempo – home field – camaraderie – these are the stuff of which champions are made. Fox is managing the team fairly well – but can he inspire them? He has the spark plugs installed on defense. Offense has no compression! There was one offensive lineman that was able to open some holes and contain the rush that allowed McGahee to acquire some yards, time of possession, and some 1st downs. Wouldn’t blame McGahee though – anyone could have run through those holes. I don’t think McGahee did near enough to win starting role – Knowshawn isn’t it either.

    Hope I’m wrong but I don’t expect Denver to win in Tennessee. Titan’s are moving up.

  16. daddybronc says:

    Excuse me – That was 11 accepted penalties v. Raiders. – 6 v. Bengals. Still a great stat improvement. Kudos John Fox!

  17. pokoya says:

    Speaking for myself, I find what you say very contradictory. Nothing wrong with that. You say, that, “It was clear that the defense is not the problem…” but you go on to say that, (there are) “injuries leaving obvious gaps in the secondary” and you support what you say with “Rookie Dalton and AJ Green sliced that (Bronco) secondary to shreds…

    You don’t need to explain what you say to me, but hey, as long as it is an open forum, I thought I’d react to what you say.

    You go on to say that: “It was the defense that preserved the victory”.

    I have to assume you are referring to the “victory” created by the points that the offense put on the board.

    You say, “Very frustrating with the offensive spark that is needed sitting there on the bench”.

    Obviously we are not talking about a spark that is needed to win games. Perhaps we are talking about the spark that would simply make you happy by validating your views? Hey, nothing wrong with that. I’m just reacting to what you say.

    I’m not trying to bag you, but, I don’t understand your last paragraph at all:

    “Fox still needs to learn the effects of the intangibles on the team record at the end of a season. Emotion – tempo – home field – camaraderie – these are the stuff of which champions are made.”

    I have no idea what you are talking about.

    “Fox is managing the team fairly well – but can he inspire them? He has the spark plugs installed on defense. Offense has no compression! There was one offensive lineman that was able to open some holes and contain the rush that allowed McGahee to acquire some yards, time of possession, and some 1st downs. Wouldn’t blame McGahee though – anyone could have run through those holes. I don’t think McGahee did near enough to win starting role – Knowshawn isn’t it either.”

    I find this paragraph pretty confusing. I’m not trying to correct your composition skills, I’m just trying to understand what you are saying. For instance, to pick one sentence out of what you say, “I don’t think McGahee did near enough to win (a) starting role….”

    I assumed he did start, although I missed the first few minutes of the game. Are you saying that McGahee didn’t do near enough to win a starting role, because he started?

    You close your post with: “Hope I’m wrong but I don’t expect Denver to win in Tennessee…”

    I’m just curious why you don’t expect Denver to win in Tennessee. You don’t really give your reasons. Is it because they are bigger, and more experienced?

    Again, don’t knock yourself out with a reply. I’m not a biggie, or some bigshot who really cares what you think. As I say, I’m just sharing my reaction to your post in a Bronco fan site.

  18. stevecan2 says:

    He said:
    “We had two big stops on defense in the last five minutes of the game that were critical.”

    Which is very true. IF you can’t appreciate that, then well, there is nothing good to say about any aspect of our win. He didn’t claim the defense played a perfect game. Hell, people want to crown Orton for completing 60% of his passes? Orton did alright, not worth basing like that Monday Night. Watch Decker run those routes again. The 52 yd touch down pass. Heads up through, and great step up after the catch, knowing that the saftey was balls out going to kill him if he tried going forward. Good through, good move by Decker.

  19. stevecan2 says:

    good* throw.

  20. daddybronc says:

    Sorry Pokoya,
    I wrote from a context that I felt didn’t need to be explained. Not gonna write for fun here on an open forum and parse my sentences like I was discussing theology.

    The defense that preserved the victory was the defensive line, the rush, and the run defense which has been so heavily criticized of late. Benson tested that run defense and Broncos came up strong – (This in my opinion was a true test and evidence of real improvement from the defense) unlike in the Raider game. Considering the loss of Champ – even the pass coverage can’t be severely criticized. The pass rush came up with the first turn over in the game. Again, though they won, I expect the Bronco offense to be able to move the ball in the red zone and score touch downs. The Broncos should have had a touchdown out of that first turnover and it is on Orton, and conservative play calling, that we didn’t.

    The context that McGahee steps into is that of Drohn and Davis and a myriad of others who have made a tradition of a Broncos strong running game particularly through the Shanahan era. I personally don’t like Moreno or McGahee as solutions to get the Broncs back to their winning ways.

    On his best day Orton is boring to watch and ‘yes’ Decker might as well have thrown the pass to himself. Truth be told – I still haven’t gotten over how uninspired Orton looked in the Raider game so I might not be objective enough yet to evaluate him in the Bengals game. Regardless, I predict a trend – (Broncos get behind – Orton throws 300 yards – Broncos lose.) (Broncos start fast and get ahead – if the run game can average 4 yards per carry – Orton only passes for 200 yards – Broncos win.) The key is the offensive line. The Broncos won because the Bengals defensive line didn’t manhandle the Broncos offensive line like the Raiders defensive line did.

    Every pro team is full of talent and winners. I don’t believe that teams win because of talent. Execution is far more affected by the players confidence. Confidence is controlled by a coaches ability to inspire the players, a level of security, the support of a team, and the momentum of the game. Great coaches control every aspect of this. Other coaches sound like victims of the process. I think Fox knows these things but as an outsider looking in, I think he is making severe mistakes for the present and even more for the Broncos future.

  21. daddybronc says:

    Oh – I think the defense of the Titans will outperform and confuse the Broncos young offensive line = win for Titans.

    I don’t think the Broncos will be embarrassed by the Titans.

    Broncos 9 – Titans 21

  22. daddybronc says:

    I expect Green Bay, Chargers, and Detroit to each humiliate the Broncos. If the Broncs can play with the packers at all – I promise I’ll change my tone and become a great deal more positive.

  23. CarnageBronc says:

    Sooooo, people are sooo hard on Orton that they will give the game to ANYONE but Orton…ORTON led the Offense to 24 points….the defense did not score those points, the offense did. So saying that we won BECAUSE of the defense is a minomer. The defense is SUPPOSED to stop teams from scoring. That is their job. PERIOD. The offense in conjunction is SUPPOSED to score points and they did. The NFL average for points scored in a game is 17-21. Orton led the offense to a point total above that. The defense needed to do their job. Orton ran the plays that were called, and i had no problem with it. Tebow is a “spark” you say? To do what? Cam Newton is a “spark” he has thrown for 400+ each game…Carolina 0-2. Sam Bradford, spark Rams 0-2. ANDY DALTON, spark, team 0-2. All three of those QB’s are BETTER THAN TEBOW, and you know what so is Orton.

  24. ddk002 says:

    24-17 broncos. defense will come up big, and offense should have a soliid showing, hopefully getting doom and or champ back.

  25. stevecan2 says:

    Good stop by the defense after the Offense took the ball with 3:53 left in the game and went 3 and out.

    Everyone stepped up at critical times, at least enough to pull out a w.

    One major problem I am seeing by a lot of folks. Last week, we lose by 3 and how many were commenting, hey we only lost by 3? Well if losing by only 3 is supposed to be comforting than winning by 2 should not be anything special.

    Not one particular player won this game. That Monday night, there was one particular player who throw an interception at the end of the half and then dropped the ball. Those are two attributed solely to him, not one other person caused those two things to happen on our offense.

    25 passes, 2 td and no interceptions is not single handedly doing anything. So que the anti-Orton crowd to stay anti-Orton for the time being.

  26. elwayallday says:

    i feel the broncos did enough to win the game but not having champ doom and dj really hurt us. If champ was on the field i doubt aj green and dalton put up half the numbers they had on sunday

  27. Lenster7 says:

    Broncos got lucky to get win Orton will never lead Broncos to playoffs. He is not the future of the Broncos, Fox don’t start Tebow and piss off the fans then ask McDaniels what he got!!!! Broncos fans are not stupid we all saw what Tebow did in the last 3 games of last season. Orton a BIG JOKE!!!!

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