The Denver Broncos are 1-2.
What that record doesn’t show is how close all three games have been.
For the third straight week, the Broncos played a game that was decided by a field goal or less. It’s the first time in club history that Denver has opened the season with three games decided by three or fewer points and only the 19th time in NFL history a team has opened that way.
“We could be sitting here 3-0, or we could be sitting here 0-3,” Head Coach John Fox said Monday.
Sunday’s loss in Tennessee demonstrated just how easily games can swing one way or the other.
Had the Broncos converted on fourth-and-goal for a touchdown, they would have been up 21-10, and it’s a totally different game. Instead, Tennessee took over, and two drives later found the end zone to go ahead 17-14.
“We’ve had two three-point games and one two-point game,” Fox said. “The reality is we’ve won one of them, and in the fourth quarter in both the first game and the most recent game, we didn’t make those plays; in the Cincinnati game, we did.”
“At the end of the day, it’s on all of us,” he continued. “It’s not on one guy. It’s not on the quarterback. The quarterback and the head coach get most of the blame, and most of the credit when things are good. In this case, it’s the Denver Broncos who are 1-2.”
But even with that record and a “formidable opponent” in the Green Bay Packers coming up next week at Lambeau Field, Fox said he sees a lot of positive signs from the team going forward.
“I’m encouraged from the standpoint that I think we’ve gotten better every week,” he said. “I think the health of our football team hasn’t gone quite as nicely as I would have liked. I like the guys’ commitment, their attitude and their effort. We’ve just got to play a little bit better.”
Tags: Head Coach John Fox, Week 3
Love this statement:
“We could be sitting here 3-0, or we could be sitting here 0-3,” Head Coach John Fox said Monday.
Orton plays not to lose. We need a QB that plays to WIN even if we lose.
Bench Orton
Bench Orton
Bench Orton
PLEASE!
He is taking the losses like any coach should, blaming the Denver Broncos as a team, not anyone in particular, no one wants to lose the locker room at this point. We all remember what happened when McD did, and it brings back memories of bloggers telling me who do you dare think you are, saying that McD is losing the locker room, you know nothing of the kind, you’re not in the locker room, blah blah blah, how did that turn out, LOL.
Losing games isn’t good for the locker room but calling out individual players can add fuel to the fire. I agree with you comment baylinorcrush.
By the end of this season I might be able to make a book of “stories” LOL!
“Close” only counts in Horseshoes and hand grenades….
There is a very good chance we are going into the bye week at 1-5 now. So, if Elway was serious about evaluating the QB’s again at the bye week if we are below .500…. it is looking like there is a chance they will at least consider a change. I hope they do something. Heck, I don’t enjoy watching Orton at QB regardless if we were winning. I have been watching the Panthers the past two weeks (with the Broncos live blog next to me) just because it is more entertaining to watch.
Saw a hilarious article on The Bleacher Report that said the Colts should consider trading for Tebow. The fan vote was crazy in favor of it. Wouldn’t that be ironic if they traded him to the Colts and he ended up becoming a superstar after how we acquired Elway.
Fox is handling it right by not blaming publicly. It would be nice to see something change for a spark though.
But what if the grenade is “too” close, then they throw it back at you..
There have been one or two plays in every game so far that if they swing our way we win the game. The guys fight for 4 quarters , that makes it easy for me to be a Bronco fan and enjoy every game. I likes these fiesty Bronco football players! Go Broncos!
“The reality is we’ve won one of them, and in the fourth quarter in both the first game and the most recent game, we didn’t make those plays; in the Cincinnati game, we did.”
Exactly Fox that’s why Orton is not the best chance for us to win he buckles under pressure like my 90 year old grandmas knees
I love the Broncos. I am sad that now we have to start listening to the rhetoric once again. May he please start using his coaching effectively and not the language. We don’t need a politician coaching our team, the team deserves him to take up the slack and make those tough decisions that put’s them on the positive side of those close hard fought game situations. The locker room will see it as it should be. . . If you don’t man up the powers that be will.
Bay, it looks like the Broncos are losing those bounces in games that I thought we’d win close. I know it’s too late, but I wished under these circumstances that I could flip flop my predictions now. Anyways… Go Broncos!
This week we need to focus on winning the turnover differential and turning those turnovers into TDs.
I think our biggest focus in practice needs to be our pass defense. We’ve shown we can stop the run but not the pass. Hopefully if Bailey and Doom are back that may help as well.
I think Vaughn has been doing a good job but getting Champ back is a must for Sundays game
A little history on Mike McCoy….
A former Utah college QB who debuted in 1997 for the Amsterdam Admirals and Last played in 1999 for the Calgary Stampeders.
His coaching carrer began in 2000 as a Carolina Panthers Offensive Assistant.
In 2001 he was demoted to Wide Receivers Coach
In 2002-2003 he was remoted to Offensive Assistant
In 2004-2005 he was promoted to Quarterbacks/Offensive Assistant Coach
In 2006 he was demoted back to Quarterbacks Coach
In 2007-2008 he was promoted to Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
In 2009-2010 he was hired by Josh McDaniels and given his first chance to be an Offensive Coordinator.
Something that John Fox never did at Carolina was make McCoy the OC in 8 years of service under him.
Also, I think this answers the reason why we cannot run the football. McCoy Knows nothing about the running the rock. He is a former pedestrian QB with no idea how to coordinate a running offense.
Our LBs got beat on a lot of pass plays this week!
I still like Fox,give him a chance,he’s proven he can go from worst to 1st before,but not with a depleted team,hopefully we get healthy soon!!!!
The vanilla Offense has got to change tho,Hell we had a great passing game last year,where is it at now??
Oh yeah LLoyd and Royal are hurt,and Gaffney is gone!
Anyone else still feel like a mushroom? Even with the new transparency the Broncos have implemented for the fans?
While I get where Fox is coming from and making the statements he’s making, I don’t get how he and the other powers think we as fans will continue to take these cow-pattie answers week in and week out, when there’s no change in results on the field?
Agreed that the coach does not want to lose the locker room, but ownership doesn’t want to lose money. See late last season change for examples!!
Nice post imready….
You managed to say something positve about the Broncos without crucifying the rest of us for having different opinions… cudos to you….
Fox is already starting to get on my nerves with his ole skool attitude. Won’t bend but it seems like everything around him is breaking! Fox is having that Shanny mentality! This is my way and it’s gonna work, and I won’t adjust! I want Fox to be him, but at least adjust where need be.
At least we haven’t got blown out this year…..but there’s next week!!!
I think a few of us may be jumping the gun here on Fox. Keep in mind the team he was given here in Denver… Even in Carolina it wasnt till his 2nd year that he made something happen. We brought him in to fix our defense more than anything else! I think that he is making some good things happen on that side of the ball! Offense was never his strong suit. He is the type of coach that wants to win with defense. I think one more draft and free agency period including a complete off season and we will be in much better shape!
Go Broncos
The Defense is definitely showing improvement and is fun to watch. Yesterday, the D held up well with a depleted secondary and rookie starting again for Champ. While the pass D was pourous at times, they kept us in the game and kept fighting.
If only the same spirit could be infused into the offense as a whole. There are parts of the O that are there and others that seem to be going through the motions.
Will always support the team, even when they frustrate the heck out of me…..
Go Broncos!!!
nice 3:14 post OC, Posted something similar in the last blog.
They say Fox has a history with McCoy …. true … but never as an OC. Thats why the Panthers were able to run the ball. But now that McCoy is an OC over here, first time being an OC under mcdaniels and in a way adopting McDaniels Power O … it explains why we can’t run. Fox always ran the zone. Magazzu the OL coach is a zone coach … not a power coach (if i remember correcrly) … our biggest mistake was keeping McCoy and the Power O … the only reason I was in favor at the time (and many people were) was because it woulda been consistency for Tebow who he worked with in last 3 games and was thought to be the starter. I like Fox. I like the fight I see in this team … But in my Book Orton and McCoy are the 2 stragglers fromt he McD error which must go. TRB
Good call TRB. It’s rare that a change in the OC is done during the season though (unless your the Chiefs, preseason), right?
Who on the staff could step up to fill OC though? Studs?
Well if studdes ever wants to be a HC in the NFL … he will have to be a coordinator first. Im not sure how qualified he is for the job but at this point I would probably take him as a Coordinator over McCoy … Either way, It will never happen in the middle of a season. That is virtually impossible. Especially when its the OCs playbook, and the OCs plays are all the team has practiced and learned. To change midway would be catastrophic. I personally hope this year is McCoys last with us … but I doubt it … sigh. TRB
Caramello, McD was young and the same way … hard headed … not sure if its a age thing or a coach thing. But u are right … he does have a very old school mentallity but also in his first year he had no offseason so lets give him a break. TRB
Just curious head coach, how many Kyle Orton passes went for more than 20 yards? Is that going to be the norm with our offense, dunk and dink and hope the defense keeps the opponent down? Is that your “best chance to win” head coach? Um-Mmmm…
I’m on board with Fox. Thought it was a great hire and time should tell that it was. Right now he is saying and doing what is needed to keep the TEAM together. Good job.
While most of us can’t abide by his decision to play Orton, it’s his call and he will deal with it. I’m sure at some point we will either be proven he was right with the call (doubtful) or we will see/hear more information regarding the decision in the offseason. Provided Orton has moved on.
I’m not and never have supported Orton, so I’ll be glad to see him go.
I do and will always support the Broncos.
Go Broncos!!
Jake Plummer is only 36, I’m sure he could come back to help out the QB situation!
McCoy has got to go…the D is improving and the O is regressing.
It is definitely a team that win’s and loses a game, but then again, in both loses, we were trying to drive the field late in the 4th qtr, and Orton threw a pick…
Hey Mr. Fox you only need to get one more win to beat your record last year.
TRB I totally hear what you’re saying and I’m still behind Fox and his potential. The only thing I fear is Fox putting his trust in Orton the same way he did Jake Delhome. At some point Delhome showed he was just a good backup like the Saints had him. A guy who can hold down the ship untill the main QB came back to play. Yesterday’s game wasn’t all on Orton but he doesn’t do a very good job with his reads. McCoy gets a great deal of the blame for his generic play calling.
My wife and I flipped back and forth from the Broncos game to the Texans-Saints game and my wife said this…. The difference between the Broncos and other teams is “Other teams take shots downfield and they don’t give up just bc the pass ins’t completed. They come back to it in an effort to get the big play or a pass interference. Our offense loves short 20 yards and under passes.
while i like fox ,i personally think that he is gunna over look tebow and not gunna give him the chance we all know he deserves.Not saying he is the 1,just give him a FAIR chance not like preseason with #2s and 3s!!!ALL I no is Orton does not give us the best chance unless we are trying to loose !!!
with doom,champ n dj I say we still lose packers 20 denver 6 I hope I’m wrong.
Orton is currently in the bottom 25% of qb’s in the NFL based on efficiency rating.
Interesting post on MaxDenver. http://www.maxdenver.com/news/2011/09/26/titans-17-broncos-14-by-the-numbers/
The article points out that in the past two years, Orton’s qb rating is 46.2 when there are 10 minutes left and down by 8 or less points. It also points out that this was not the case in years prior. Here are the stats from that post.
•Completions-attempts: 22-of-46
•Yards: 267
•Completion percentage: 47.8
•Yards per attempt: 5.80
•Touchdowns: 1
•Rushes-yards: 3 for 12
•Yards per carry: 4.0
•Sacks-yards lost: 5 for 27
•Interceptions: 3
•Fumbles lost: 1
Seems to support that–at least in the past two years–Orton is not the qb you want leading the team in the fourth quarter.
Broncos defense has me impressed. I expected and stated in my predictions several times that I expected passing TD’s, but I also expected the Denver defense to not be able to hold against the run game for 4 quarters. Kudos the the defense. They are playing above my expectations considering we are missing Champ. Keeping the Titans to 17 – WOW! and very entertaining!
Offense on the other hand….it begins and ends with the line. The holes are not being opened. McGahee is running into the back of his own guys. The holes aren’t there and it would make a difference even if A. Peterson were a Bronco – the Bronco offensive line was dominated on most plays at the line of scrimmage – with a few notable exceptions.
Orton play was dutifully boring. I actually over estimated the performance of Orton in my predictions. I thought that Denver would at least have a passing game between the 20′s, but “oops” I was wrong. I was switching back and forth between the Denver game and the Carolina game as well. I’d rather watch Cam lose than watch Orton win. Just me. My thoughts were that the critical downs in which Orton didn’t perform were precisely the situations in which Tebow excels.
Fox is nuts on the subject of one or two plays either way and Broncos are 3 – 0. Raiders dominated in every facet of the game but almost penalized themselves into a loss. Titan’s did the same. Truth is Broncos got the majority of the good breaks and still couldn’t pull it off. They’re gonna need an offense !???
From their inception until the mid 70′s the Broncos were pathetic, but, no matter how bad they were getting beat, they never quit. We Bronco fans of that era cheered our butts off for them because we appreciated their efforts and because they were putting out 100%. We cheered for them because we knew that they we close and some day they would turn the corner. They did with it being capped off with the year of magic, 1977. The year the Lions went 0-16 what I admired most about them was that they never just went through the motions. Where are they now? An above average team with SB potential. What I see in this years Broncos is that same never give up attitude they had in to 60s and 70s. In a few years it will all be paying big dividends. This year is going to be a long and very frustrating one, but their never say die attitude will be there when the talent pool is deeper. It took almost 15 years before the Broncos first winning season so I’m not giving up on them now. Never have never will because I’ve never seen the Broncos go through the motions (except for last years Raiders game). I’ll always give backj the 100% the Broncos are giving me.
THink about this, the Bronbcos have had only 1 above average QB on their team for any length of time. Charlie Johnson and Craig Motron, who did much to get the Broncos to respectability, were, at best over the hill QBs when they played for the Broncos. But, they did the best they possibly couild with amazing results. An above average QB is a great thing to have, but the quality of the other 21 starters is just as important. As exceptional as Elway was, he’d never have won a SB without the quality starters he had with him. 0-3 without TD, 2-0 with him.
I do not subscribe to blaming McCoy, although that doesn’t mean I would not sack him.
Fox is at fault because he appears to have abdicated responsibility for the offence rather than just delegated some responsibility.
I want Fox to do well but he has been handed a poison chalice and the lock out has meant he is way behind teams who had the same coach last year. Maybe this year will be a write off, but we have to use it to our advantage and that means making a decision on Tim Tebow. The only way you can do that is to give him a chance and play him.
Play Tebow, we wasted a first round pick on him. Either he’ll succeed or get killed. He’s doing no good on the bench, the man wants to play.. Give the fans what they want, this is a proud organization that is not happy. Pull the trigger Fox!
Is Mike McCoy the “Real McCoy” or is he just a Fox in the hen house? Meaning, has John Fox reined McCoy in with his run first philosophy? There is something very fishy smelling about the offenses playcalling and it at times is no where similar to last years or year before, when in those games usually had a pass or two for more than 20 yards. Can the OLine be the blame for not giving Kyle enough time? That has been the chorus line of late, but it sure seemd to me Kyle had time to make his reads and throws. Could it be the running game that has changed the playcalling? They haven’t been anywhere as successful as they would like. What ever reason, Kyle Orton continues to find ways to make bookies and Vegas happy while us fans suffer in agony and defeat…This is one unhappy fisherman.
What has come of Denver Bronco football? Making the playoffs was a given 6 years ago. Now were supposed to accept mediocraty because “it gives us the best chance of winning” **** that! I say start from scratch, get some exciting players in there that play with passion! I read half these blogs and it reminds me of a cleveland browns blog. I feel denver has just as passionate of fans as Green Bay and they would not accept this debacle!! Something needs to be shaken up!
I watched every down of the Broncos game. Kyle Orton had time to make his one read, because only twice did I see him look off of that read. I don’t care if you have the greatest o-line in the history of the game. That alone will always kill you in the end. We all, even his most hard core supporters, know he does not compare to a Drew Brees, Tom Brady, etc. I don’t expect him to either, but look at what makes them different. Watch Brees in the red zone, he is taking 3-5 second to look through his reads, his head is on a freaking swivel.
kyle orton is 12-20 as a starter enough said.
I put the blame where it belongs – on you coach Fox – first you play Orton who is a great backup QB but can’t play under pressure – look at the tapes – he does not win the close ones never has never will.
Play Tebow now – let him learn if we have to lose then lets loose with the future of this team.
Next always take the points – kick the field goal – if you can’t make it in 3 tries what makes you think you can do it on the forth try?
Bad hire. He was basically chosen only for how many years he’s been in the league. I’m sure the thinking was we made a mistake going with youth and inexperience so we’ll go the total opposite way because it’s the safe choice.
I also think Fox is too much of a player’s coach as evident by Champ Bailey’s complaint about the lack of team intensity after the Raider loss. He’s basically a mediocre coach who’s neither a motivator or innovator. With Orton at QB who also lacks the same qualities this is going to be long boring season for Bronco fans.
Let’s hope the Bronco brass puts an end to it quickly.
On Elway live, Elway basically said that yes, Orton has to get better in critical situations and that they don’t want to put Tebow in until he’s ready because if he’s put in too soon and get’s hammered he’ll lose his confidence.
What a crock. He didn’t lose a shred of confidence in his 3 starts last year and he’s not going to learn nothing from riding the pine.
Did they already forget about his performance last year ? The whole team looked more confident and energized when he was in there.
Elway if you read these posts. Comparing what of seen from Orton is like watching Bubby Brister play for us. When I saw Tebow play it was not the same as you except in the fact that it was fun to watch. Also last year when Tebow was in at the end of the season he did scan the field before taking off on the run. Another thing you should sit with Fox and go on You Tube look up tebow video from last year! It’s exciting. Orton Sucks