In their last two fourth quarters coming into Sunday’s game against Houston, the Broncos had been outscored 40-13. Denver reversed that trend in a 24-23 win by coming up with the contest’s final 14 points to complete the comeback.
A day later, Interim Head Coach Eric Studesville pointed to his defense’s ability to get off the field with key third-down stops as one of the big factors in helping to complete the come-from-behind win.
Houston went just 1-for-8 on third-down conversion attempts in the game with quarterback Matt Schaub tossing an incompletion on the Texans’ only fourth-quarter attempt. That play forced the punt that led to Tim Tebow’s go-ahead touchdown run.
“I think everybody buckled down and paid a little more attention to detail and made a couple changes, and everything came out on our end,” said Justin Bannan, who later tipped the pass that became Syd’Quan Thompson’s game-sealing interception.
Over the last four games, the Broncos defense has thrived on third down.
The unit, which also held Arian Foster – the league’s leading rusher – under 100 yards on the ground on Sunday, has allowed opponents to convert just 13-of-49 third-down attempts during that time.
In that span, the defense’s 26.5 percent successful third-down conversion rate ranks second lowest in the league behind only the Vikings, who face Philadelphia on Tuesday in a rescheduled Week 16 game and thus, have played just three times.
“That is outstanding for our defense to be able to accomplish that,” Interim Head Coach Eric Studesville said, “and to lock in each week and give ourselves a chance — particularly on third down, which is a huge down in the NFL.”
Studesville said that going forward the team’s play on the crucial down is a positive it can build upon. After big stops buoyed the team on Sunday to its first win in six games, the coach outlined a simple plan for future success.
“Defensively, we need to get them in more third-down situations,” Studesville said, “because we are playing very, very well on third down.”
TEBOW TO START
A day after Tim Tebow became the first rookie quarterback since the NFL merger to lead a 17-point comeback in his first home start, Studesville said the 2010 first-round pick will start the season finale on Sunday against San Diego.
The coach said he saw progress between Tebow’s first and second starts and expects the youngster to continue that trend in his third.
“The more he plays, the better he will get,” Studesville said. “The more experience he has, the more situations he sees – everything was not perfect. It was not perfect – but he will get up there, he will look at the tape, and he will get better from those things. And, we will get better from him the more he is there. There is something about that guy when he is out there running around, you just never know what is going to happen.”
In the two starts, Tebow has combined to go 24-of-45 passing for 446 yards with two touchdowns and interception. He’s added 18 carries for 105 yards and two more scores as the team has averaged 23.5 points per game.
With the division rival Chargers coming to town in Week 17, Tebow will have a chance to build upon those numbers.
“(Tebow) is going to get better at things this week that he did not do so well two weeks ago,” Studesville said. “That is the natural progression of things – is that guys see things. I think Tim is developing.”
INJURY UPDATE
With the day off from practicing Monday after the win, players who were nicked up in the game have a chance to rest before preparation for the season finale begins in earnest on Wednesday.
Studesville gave status updates on a pair of injured starters during Monday’s media session.
Knowshon Moreno re-aggravated a rib injury against the Texans and did not play in the second half, but Studesville said that while the running back is sore, he could have potentially returned to the field if necessary on Sunday and could be available against San Diego.
“He got rolled up a little bit and we will take it day by day as we go through,” Studesville said. “We are just going to try to get him healthy again and let him go.”
Studesville also said Champ Bailey has a bruised heel – the same injury that slowed him earlier this season. Studesville indicated the All-Pro cornerback is also sore and will require more time to judge his status for the week.
“It is the same foot and the same injury he had earlier in the year,” Studesville said. “We will just wait and see as we go further in the week.”
Tags: 2010, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Interim Head Coach Eric Studesville, Justin Bannan, Week 16
i agree with sndvl… even if we don’t win this game with Sd we better have the best effort from our best players. If champ does not play, i can see a loss, if i am not pleasantly surprised …. gd draft pick either way. Who all agrees that we should auction off orton 4 the offer with the most draft picks? we could build some d around Doom and champ and dawkins and maybe pick up a real physical rb and a gd TE who can block and catch
Sorry I don’t have a link but the different scenarios are posted on http://www.milehighreport.com. Of all the teams we could tie including Vikings, 49ers, Browns, Lions and Texans the only one that would get a higher pick would be AZ due to strength of schedule and 4 of those teams play each other; 49ers vs AZ and sorry I can’t remember the other one.
The fanpost is by agentj007 and listed under Fanposts in the far right column.
I hope that helps
To me only the Cowboys, Vikings and Texans should have harder schedule than us, so in case of a tie that could leave the Lions, Browns and 49ers picking before us, so that could set us back further than #5, like possibly to the #7 or even #8 spot. Hate when folks come up with stuff without backing it up…
Sorry about the delay Baylinorcrush…I wanted to make sure I had the author of the post correct since I didn’t have a link
Disregard above post, thank you I will check it out since it is super important, but just because the MHR reports it doesn’t make it correct, they are all bloggers like we are.
I understand that, but the scenarios are listed along with winning percentage of opponents. I’ll admit I didn’t take the time to figure it myself but the post is worthwhile IMO.
The other two teams going head to head with 5 wins is the Vikings vs the Lions
Actually, they don’t go by winning percentage but the actual combined 2009 regular season record of each team involved in a tie, and the worse record gets the higher pick.
I look at it this way, we do not want Clausen to not declare and Cincy to draft before us at the same time, both teams would likely go for d-line in that scenario taking away Fairley and Bowers, although i would not mind pickiing up Kerrigan in the second round he has good motor skills and is relentless at getting to the QB.
They go by their opponents combined winning percentage from 2010 (so depending on next week’s games the winning % will change slightly) or strength of schedule. The lower the SOS the higher the pick. I’m not trying to oversimplify, more like trying to keep from getting confused myself lol
But if Luck declares I can’t imagine him not being taken by Carolina which would alleviate that problem and one of the two D-lineman would still be available
Even though this makes fun of us its still pretty funny
http://www.bangcartoon.com/2010/horse_apples.htm
This is the official SOS rule:
Remaining ties are broken by strength of schedule. For draft order, a lower strength of schedule results in an earlier pick. If strength of schedule does not resolve a tie, division and/or conference tiebreakers may be used. If the tie still cannot be broken, a coin toss at the NFL Combine is used to determine draft order. (Note: Strength of schedule is the combined records of a team’s 16 opponents, including games played against the team in question, and counting divisional opponents twice. Because of this, each team’s opponents’ combined wins and losses—counting a tie as a half-win, half-loss—will add up to 256, so a team whose opponents had more combined wins has a better strength of schedule.)
I shall wait until after the game to find out our pick, LOL, however I would be extremely disappointed to fall off the top 5, that goes without saying, except for sndvl who says he doesn’t care…
I just found the worst case scenerio for us if all the teams remain 5-11. Worst we could be is #9. Lookup…. Fanpost- Mile high Report For Denver Broncos. Find the title (draft scenerios) under name (something clever). Click on and you`ll see all the scenerios. Best case is #2 and worst case is #9.
HAHAHAHAHA, thanks broncaholic, I needed that, much easier to watch than trying to figure out the teams strength of schedule, great cartoon.
Thanks strand that’s much more along the lines of what I figured on my own, check out that Bowlen/McD/Al Davis cartoon above, totally worth it.
I saw that one too but it was posted before the one I was referring to.
Either way I agree with baylinorcrush and will wait and see. I really appreciate the conversation and I’ll end the evening with Go BRONCOS!! Thanks again
Sure #2 or possible #9? Let me think…. NOT, hope we lose Sunday, LOL.
Same here faninIL.
Thats alot of scenerios. Lets just do this the easy way and lose. Then we`re #2. Plain and simple.
All I care about is that Tebow eliminated Luck from the Denver conversation. He is the truth and he is the future. Shame on the papers for getting that garbage going. Not to take anything away from Luck. He looks like a superb technician and tough as nails but Tebow is our man and defense is what we’ve been needing to address for YEARS now. San Diego will be tough to beat so I think you guys get your wish. I just hope Tebow makes a game of it and accomplishes more toward cementing his future in Denver. And if we do win… well than the Chargers can get one last serving of humble pie at season’s end. I can’t tell you the joy derrived from knowing they’re missing the playoffs with us. Definitely rooting to get Bowers or Fairley though. No matter what, this is probably going to be the most exciting off season since they fired Dan Reeves. Let’s just hope we get to see some NFL football in ’11!
Bay,strand,I agree with you guys,and that cartoon was too funny.LMAO!
lose? c’mon I finally was happy that we won..
I dont care about the draft.. we’re gonna give our spot to somebody probably!! lets Win this sunday!!!
Tebow is our QB. nothing against luck but no team drafts a QB in first round then following year drafts another in first round not gonna happend!!! Its a dumb move for a franchise to invest 1st round draft picks and money into two QBs, so end that discussion. And to lose to assure a higher draft status is a losers mentality!! Detroit,Arizona,Cleveland,Buffalo and etc. have had high draft picks for many years and hasnt seemed to make them a winner!! Lets beat the chargers, which ends the season on good note, adds confidence to the players that will be back with us. Go into offseason and hire a staff that is experienced (NO first time coordinaters pls) and attack the free agency market for quality players and draft defense defense and more defense…….
Tebow is definitely our QB of the future. If we draft a QB in the first I will probably have to change teams…JK but I would think about it!
Lmao… Cartoon was hilarious
Bay is right, its combined records
After seeing we can go from 2 to 9 I might have to retract my hope we win against SD prayer…Would love TT to be undefeated at home and for the broncos to ride off into the offseason with hope while thrashing a divisional rival….but 2 looks a helluv alot better than 9 (which I am aware is only worst case scenario)
There is no way the new coach would not start Tebow. Too much money invested in him anyway. The new coach will have to work with him. Why do the experts make that sound so bad? He is a great leader. You can not tell Tebow to lose. He wants to win badly. And I don’t want to see us lose to SD. The major chokers got what they deserved. They could not depend on another team to fall apart. They were the ones that fell apart.
Man, there’s a couple of good facts in the “win or lose” debate… I really want TT to beat the gay bolts! I mean, that would be awesome! I hate when rivers kicks our butt! Actually, I can’t stand it!
I understand the importance of the draft, specially when you are looking for certain players(and is a considerable difference from #2 to #9) but a better spot in the draft does not guarantees success as “scottvonbehren” mentioned.
Another thing that caught my attention was this silly idea of the Broncos thinking on going for Luck if available, I just don’t think a competent organization with smart personnel in charge of the draft would do such a thing, and again I will have to point what “scottvonbehren” posted(agree with your thoughts all the way bro!)
Stop this loosing madness, we have been trough a lot this season, I am sick and tire of ppl(even raider fans) saying we got nothing!
So if you hate rivers more than the chargers(I do LOL) let’s try to shut his BIG mouth on Sunday at Mile high! Our house should be respected(at least give the best try)!
Who knows, if we win we might be a top 5 still…
Go Broncos! Let’s get the gay bolts something to remember entering 2011!!!
Well, to each his own, I will take my “LOSER” mentality any day in this case, absolutely no freaking doubt about it.
I wonder if the guys who think it would serve us better that we win are either:
A. Unknowledgeable about College Football so they have no clue about how Bowers, Fairley and Peterson stand above the 2011 class.
B. They don’t think getting a beast to rule the trenches on D is a priority of ours.
C. They would rather we draft on O like usual.
D. Their hatred of Rivers and the Chargers stands in the way of any common sense thought process in the matter.
But hey, it’s a free country and we love all opinions here, so keep on your hopes of winning and I will hold on to my dream of a #2 pick. That’s the only thing to me personally that will make this crappy season go down easier, not a meaningless last week win because I already got that last week: A wonderful Tebow 4th quarter comeback win for the ages, so the team is therefore already going into the off season with the right positive frame of mind, and whatever happens against the Chargers won’t change that one bit.
Therefore we stand to win absolutely nothing by winning but satisfying you guys thirst for blood against Rivers and his team, but we do stand to lose a crapload of draft positions, like potentially going from a guaranteed #2 pick all the way to barely hanging on to a top 10 pick!!!
Call me stupid, call me loser, call me whatever you want but rest assured I will in no way shape or form and under any circumstances regardless of whatever reasoning or arguments you guys bring to the table get on your we are better off winning Sunday bandwagon.
You can feed that pile of garbage to anyone else, but no thanks, not to me. Thank you for respecting that point of view.
Everyone make sure to go on NFL.com and vote for Tebow for the GMC Never Say Never Moment of Week 16. It’s between Tebow, Aaron Rodgers, and the Bengals WR Jerome Simpson.
On another note…. This time next week Mr. Elway will be official and thefun begins. There’s gonna be alot of coaching vacancies this year!
Hey, we finally got what seems to be a half way official draft order scenario from the DP:
Draft update.
Lose their final game and the Broncos will have the No. 2 pick in the 2011 draft. Beat the San Diego Chargers on Sunday and the Broncos could fall to No. 6.
In the Broncos’ best long- term interest, they should handcuff Tebow from playing his game against the Chargers.
Just kidding. Sort of. At 4-11, Denver is tied with Cincinnati and Buffalo for the NFL’s second-worst record. Strength of schedule is used as the tiebreaker for draft slotting. The weakest opponent schedule draws the higher pick.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Denver opponents have a combined 114-111 (.507) record, considerably worse than Buffalo’s 129-95 (.576) and Cincinnati’s 127-96 (.570). Buffalo and Cincinnati can’t catch Denver for No. 2.
But let’s say Tebowmania can’t be stopped and the Broncos win their season finale against the playoff-eliminated Chargers while Buffalo and Cincinnati lose.
This scenario would drop the Broncos into a tie for the fourth-worst record at 5-11. With San Francisco and Arizona both 5-10 and playing each other Sunday, the loser of that game could pick higher than the Broncos. As it stands now, Arizona (.464) and San Francisco (.505) have played weaker schedules than the Broncos.
The Dallas Cowboys, who are 5-10 with a .509 opponent record, also could leapfrog the Broncos in the 2011 draft order.
Three other 5-10 teams — Houston (.527), Detroit (.561) and Cleveland (.565) — likely would lose the tiebreaker with Denver.
If all that is correct, we still could fall off the top 5 and Bowers, Fairley (and Peterson) will all be gone by then for sure. The top three picks in the draft are very easily projected correctly just about every year as those players at the very top are just too hard to pass on, and I’m not about to want to pass on Fairley and Bowers, whom we need to anchor our D trenches for years to come, building through the draft, the right way to do it, not relying on FA to do that any longer as we all know how that hasn’t worked for us. Please play great Sunday and lose by a FG at the very end, that would be my happiest new year since 2005.
Interesting facts about Tebow’s contract value for next year:
All of Tebow’s $1.62 million salary is guaranteed in 2011. He also will get a $6.28 million roster bonus 29 days after the start of the 2011 season, and he would get a one-time playing-time bonus of $1.54 million if he plays at least 45 percent of the snaps next year. So if Tebow is the starter, he would make $8.23 million next year.
Much higher pay than I previously thought, if he starts in 2011 we definitely will need a inexpensive back up and Orton is simply not that:
If Orton stays on the Broncos would owe Orton $8.4 million if he’s here next fall — far too much for a backup. The deal includes a $1.5 million roster bonus due after the start of the league year, whenever that may be because of the labor uncertainty. The salary is $6.89 million, but only $2.89 million is guaranteed.
It will be either or but not both, that much is certain. And Quinn for a back up to Tebow just because he is due to make just $700,000 next year makes me cringe, but could be a necessity unless we bring someone in like Brandstater back, which I would be all for.
D. Their hatred of Rivers and the Chargers stands in the way of any common sense thought process in the matter.
This comment has me pegged. It is a delicate situation, seeing the big picture it is very logical to accept a loss. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies, White Men Can’t Jump. Rosie Perez had the line, “Sometimes when you win, you really lose and when you lose you really win.”
Bay…thanks for the info. While I would love to get a stud defense player in here next year. Draft prospects rarely turn out as advertised. In addition, I hesitate to put confidence in a new regime keeping a high pick and making a wise selection.
wow, I am starting to sound like one of you…..sad, pessimist/ realist.
Go Broncos!!!!!! I vote for a complete annihilation of the Bolts!!! or stellar Tebow performance and a collapse of the defense!!!!! (which seems more likely)
007, that’s the great thing about next year’s draft, there should be a rookie salary cap agreed upon enabling teams to not blink and select the player they wish to get regardless of the high pick, no need to trade down, I can see trading down later picks to get more players, but not the #2 pick, that would be unfathomable to pass up on such talent as Fairley or Bowers since money won’t be the huge hurdle it used to be for the top picks. Now about not making a wise selection, I will rely on Elway to do the right thing.
I say keep Tebow and Quinn Orton did pretty well this year and there are teams that need a QB so I think we should trade him now for some picks while he still has trade value and rebuild the team through the draft.
what do you guys think in bringing in John Fox as DC?
Orange I like the idea of J Fox as DC. He’s an up beat guy that our D needs.
Man this right here makes me even more excited about seeing my 1st ever Broncos game this Sunday! Check out where Invesco ranks…. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/554001-power-ranking-the-nfl-stadiums
Carolina’s D is rated 16th in the league in total D, which is dead on in the middle of the pack, but the more troubling part is they are 23rd against the rush, not exactly a huge vote of confidence from where I stand since the weakness of our D is against the run. So no big excitement about that possibility from me, count me out.
I wouldn’t mind having Greg Williams but he won’t leave New Orleans for another DC job. Plus Sean payton gave up some of his salary to bring him here to New Orleans. So I think they might be together for a while. So maybe a Wad Phillips or Ron Riveria.
I would much rather prefer a high draft pick to pick up a stud DL.
I do not think we draft Luck. With Tebow closing out the year on a solid note, I just don’t see the organization doing something that ridiculous. We need defense, and if we neglect that again I will be forced to take up drinking to an extreme level haha.
And although I want a loss for a high draft pick, I will admit that I will not be disappointed if Tebow rallies us to a victory over the Chargers. I will be like “oh no our draft spot” but it will be replaced by “OMG TEBOW!”.
So whatever happens happens. A win or a loss will both carry enough positives.
Go Broncos!
Broncos – 24
Chargers – 17
That’s why we need to offer Williams the HC job!
If we dont get the number 2 pick…it is undoubtable that Bowers will be gone…and I want Da’Qaun Bowers….badly….or fairley….and worst case scenario CB Peterson…but honestly like bay said…if we drop to 6 … these guys will be gone….
I will say one thing, The only gaurantee is Fairley, CB Peterson has not declared, Luck has not declared, and Bowers have not declared. They are expected to declare (all except Luck) but we dont know.
Its funny, we are talking about winning and losing like we have a choice in the scenario…coaches are gonna do what they are gonna do whether we like it or not…and the scenario will play out the way it was meant to whether we like it or not…I would say play Quinn for a gaurateed loss but I wanna watch Tebow next week…no gaurantees he wins either…SD is no slouch. Its any given sunday…what will happen will happen so lets all just sit back and enjoy the ride….
I think that it may not be fair to judge a HC on how he would perform in a more focused role like an OC or DC. Take McDaniels…made a great OC, poor HC. Coach Nolan, Great DC not quite there as a HC. Both Fox and Singletary would get the nod from me as DC. As long as they were committed to it as a craft not waiting for the next HC vacancy.
Rivers hates the Broncos and he’s po’ed about being out of the playoffs.
SD 45
Denver 17
Yeah, they’re all going to fight tooth and nails to win Sunday, but that doesn’t mean I can’t root for losing, haha.
Bay, nice to know the REAL SCENERIO of the possible draft position win or lose. Hears a monkey wrench that can be thrown into the mix. What if Fairley, Bowers, and Peterson all decide to stay in school. How about one or two of them enter the draft or stay in school. Just something to be ready for. The clock ticks ever so slowly.
Way to go oldsouth! You are my new favorite blogger, haha.
By the way, when I was name former Defensive coaches that are successful HCs now (Tomlin, Belichek, Rex Ryan, Harborough, etc) I forgot to mention Mike Smith of the falcons…another defensive minded coach succeeding in this era…Altho I am sure their are just as many successful offensive HCs…the thing I like about Defensive HCs is they tend to be Disciplinarians and this team could use some discipline. not yelling, not hypocricy…..Disipline.
strand Fairley is a senior.