This weekend’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills is listed under Week 16 on the National Football League schedule, but for the Broncos it might as well be a playoff game.
Denver holds a two-game lead over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West. A win on Sunday would secure the Broncos their first postseason berth in three seasons. A Broncos loss paired with a Chargers win would set up a winner-take-all final showdown in San Diego in Week 17 for the divisional crown.
Wide receiver Brandon Stokley said his team is well aware of the implications of Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
“There is no doubt about it,” he said. “It has been preached and it has been talked about. Everybody knows what is at stake. We need to get it done this week.”
The team will try to further instill a playoff atmosphere by not having the Chargers game on in the locker room or on the big screen at INVESCO Field at Mile High, per Head Coach Mike Shanahan, prior to the game.
“I think our main goal is to play good in December,” Stokley said. “Regardless of what happens with San Diego, we need to be playing good football this time of the year.”
The Broncos control their playoff fate, and Stokley said it is up to him and his teammates to pull through when they need to.
“This is our season right here,” he said. “This is what we have worked so hard for since March. If you can’t get up for this game, then you are in the wrong line of work.”
-Jake Grilley, DenverBroncos.com
i really think we need champ back to help against lee evans now i am not saying that lee evans is one of the best wide outs there is but he is solid and has big play ability, i think the 4-4 thing worked good and if we have champ play we should be solid on d.. on offense we need to start out good and not have these stupid turnovers. i’m sure we all can agree that when their is turnovers in the game it seems like our offense just isn’t trying to overcome them because we don’t really try to make a big play to come back its usually the same short to mid range stuff.. and i don’t know about other people but we are trying to do the screen to much i mean carolina read it out after watching the game against the chiefs were it worked good but it seems like we didn’t change our offensive game plan from the chiefs game but i have faith that mike is gonna conduct an offensive game so good that buffalo is gonna be walking crooked from getting kicked in the butt so much and hard all game…. woooooo go broncos and people may bash me for this but my favorite player of all time is Steve Atwater and i gootas say i kinda see a little bit of Atwater in Josh Barret, i’m not saying he is better and i am not saying he is the next Atwater all i’m saying is he reminds me of him a bit and if he turns out to be the next Atwater how tremndus would that be…
must win game. tampa should beat sd but we gotta win. we’ll see what happens
I would like to see denver bring back wade phillips as defensive coordinator. I think Wade Phillips coaches the type of defense that shannahan likes.!!
Well said Brandon Stokley!! I always knew I liked that guy.
And I’m glad to hear they won’t be having the SD game on anywhere while they’re getting ready for the Buffs. That’s the last thing they need to be paying attention to before their game, that would get us into the playoffs and the West title.
This team just needs to focus on what THEY have to do to win this next game instead of paying attention to everyone else. That’s the one thing my dad always taught me when I ran track… don’t worry about everyone else, just focus on what you got to do and get it done. That’s the best advice this team could take, learn and do.
I want the Crybabies to win more than anything to Tampa but I care alot more about US winning. We can’t depend on those boogers (Chargers) to lose when we all know darn well they’re going to do everything they can to win and get us out of playoff contention. As much as these 2 teams hate each other, the Chargers will do anything and everything to make us look bad and get us out of the picture.
Bottom line – we just need to focus on what WE need to do and get it done. Trying to win is one thing but actually doing that a whole other story. Let’s get it done Orange & Blue… I for one can’t wait to see us get to where we haven’t been in a VERY LONG time.
You guys smell that… smells like, hmmm… BBQ’d Buffalo!!!! Yummy!!
Have faith Broncos Country…
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
We must win this game! In the six games that we have lost, we have scored under 20 points. Bottom line: we need to score. and the only way we will is if we find a way to get the ground game going. I dont care if its Pope,Bell,or Young but whoever it is we need them to get 20-25 carries. If this happens look for cutler to have a huge day off the play action. We also need to blitz and be aggressive all day. Watch out for the rookie Leodis McKelvin in the return game. If we do this we will win for sure.
Go Broncos!
Whoa, sorry I made a big mistake….
I want the Crybabies to LOSE more than anything to Tampa…
Wow, sorry about that. Glad I caught it.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
It’s high noon for our Team this Sunday…. we need to come out mentally prepared to take care of business in our house! Our defense needs to focus on stopping RB Marshawn Lynch who has rushed for over a 1000 yds for the Bills this year. We also need to put as much pressure as possible on QB J.P. Losman who’s prone to making crucial mistakes when the heat is on. He can also throw the long ball to WR Lee Evans, or TE Robert Royal. Our offense will be ready to step up at home. Let’s not give those “Dolts” from SD any glimmer of hope….. it’s their turn to stay home and watch the playoffs. They’ve had their chances and now the opportunity belongs to us !! Seize the moment BRONCOS!!!!!
Let’s go Denver……..leave it all out on the field this weekend @ Invesco!!!
We’ll be there screaming our hearts out for you!!!!!
We need a FB that can run between the tackles… Where the heck in former FB “Cecil the Diesel Sapp????? What the heck, let’s bring him back now that we cut Cory Boyd.
Hey who said we cut Cory Boyd????
And by the way Cecil Sapp now plays for the Texans.
We don’t need a fullback. We picked up pinnock and we will have Hillis next year.
One guy though that continues to disappoint me and reall does not have a future with this team is Matt Prater. Im sorry but he is not the answer to be the next Elam. Not even close. Anyone who goes 4-10 between 40-49 is not gonna be a starting kicker for very long.
Ok im alright with the loss, we lost to a very good team but what im not ok with is with the lack of enthusiam. i mean come on it didnt even look like we wanted to win. we need to find a verbal leader like drew brees or joey porter brian dawkins (watchin mnf) cutler and dj both wear the C but they dont look like leaders to me. we better come and play sunday because buffalo has a lot of potential to come in hear and beat us
Go Broncos and lets see some Enthusiam
bronc fan in WA: there was a press release today re: the release of Cory Boyd. Thanks for the scoop on Sapp. Too bad he’s not available. I still have a t-shirt he signed for my son a few years ago… He became expendable with the drafting and development of Hillis… He was a fan favorite and a hard runner for us. The three backs we have are speed backs… Bell, Young, and Pope, so we DO need a FB. Pinnock has not been inserted as of yet, and we are going to need him (or someone else) to run between the tackles, if we’re going to make a run this year. We can’t rely just on our passing game.
RG Chris Kuper broke his hand and his replacement, (not sure who he was) allowed a couple of sacks.
oh royalbroncofan1..i think it was Kory Lichtensteiger (dont know the spelling) that replaced Kuper last game….pretty tough to have a first game late in the season against a pass rushing team like Panthers…but yea,,we need all the development…
still this is the best draft class ever…Josh Bell has all the confidence that makes up a solid corner back…hopefully Jack Williams gets more playing time, he did show flashes in the preseason.Barrett, I just realized how big the guy is on the field considering his speed..freakish..
we got to see our other rooks on offense and their abilities,,Clady and Royal (very tough as nails)still the best early round pair of picks..
i think if we come out and dont make stupid mistakes like fumbles or interceptions early in the game we will have a good shot to win. buffalo hasn’t been playing very well lately and u think our defense will be able to stop the run game. Buffalo’s pass game obviously isnt very good with Losman in there. With D.J. coming back in his second start he will be ready and he will get our defense fired up right away.
As for San Diego vs. Tampa Bay, the bucaneers defense should give Rivers a fit and make him throw interceptions. Tampa is also in a must win situation and with the game at Tampa, I think San Diego is in over their head.
Are you nuts TheBroncoFan30, Wade Phillips is an awful coach and I do not want to see him with the Broncos ever again.
I am mad that the Chiefs choked, but we can’t rely on the Chiefs or the Bucs to get us into the playoffs… We need to beat the Bills. That is all there is to it.
Dammit I don’t CARE what happens on in TB.. All I want to know is what happens at Mile High.. Take destiny into our own hands and win this game against the Bills. Do not talk about SD, do not worry about them.. thier win don’t mean jack when we win…. Concentrate on the job at hand!!!
We need to play with swagger as we did at home versus SD in Rd3.. Cutler throwing lasers to Royal/Marshall and for god sakes please start one RB!! FFS!!! We have the tools to do it lets not leave them on the bench.. this is not the time to be “experimenting” LETS DO THIS!!!!
I know that we wanna play well in December and not back into the playoffs, but doesnt it feel to anyone else that were still deathly afraid of San Diego? I know Im afraid of a week 17 playoff game, I think all this talk about the Bills this week is more of a “If we dont get it done this week, we may not get it done at all.”
We shouldn’t even be having this conversation, san diego possibly winning the division , are you kidding me, are we that inconsistent, YES we are Yes we are, pathetic game against Carolina, we are a joke all over espn and every other station, oh and your going to have the game on in the locker room huh, how bout you just play good have some heart, play consistent and win???? Our defense is horrible and Jay Cutler is the best I have ever seen one day and the worst the next, I love the Broncos but I have to say it how I see it…. It just amazes me, my fiance is a pittburgh fan and she roots for the broncos for me, but I will tell you what when i watch her team I see heart, where is ours??
I fail to see why some of you still mention Hillis as our FB, he was inactive a few games while he was a FB because shanny didnt like the way he blocked. He will 100% be a part of our RB corps next season and I truly believe he will even be our starter. He showed the most promise out of all our RB’s this year and his injury was just a freakish injury that so easily could have been avoided if he didnt catch the ball in such an akward position. Hillis was a serious stud at RB and I’ll be damned if his talent goes to waste as a FB, he needs the ball in his hand, he flat out ran over safteys and even straight up jumped a linebacker in the miami game. The dude can play RB.
All that matters is a win against the Bills. It perhaps would be more satisfying if the Chargers defeated the Buccaneers only to see their season end when we choke out the Bills.
Broncofan1088 – I couldn’t agree more! Hillis is a stud and without a doubt deserves to be the starter next season.
I think our team has heart, but they’re struggling to find an identity through all the injuries. Hillis gave this team and our offense a swagger that was lacking in the Carolina game. A power running game goes a long way in the NFL. Hopefully one of the remaining backs will step up their game.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
Im so confused why we brought Boyd up from the practice squad and then we all of a sudden release him….. Some of the players spoke highly of this kid.
I think Pope looked the best out of our 3 backs. Young does not have his game back yet and shouldnt be touching the ball.
Yea shanny is to blame for the past drafts that went oh so bad with all of our lack of young talent. He’s also to blame for 6 RB’s going down and one being injured for 8 games. And champ bailey being out for 8 weeks when the most he has ever missed in the past was 3 games.. all those things def have to be shannys fault, and considering the fact he continued to help this team win many tough games while champ was out, thats not credit to shanny or anything thats just the players, they all set up those game plans when we won, shanny only coaches this team during loses. I thought I was the only idiot who believed all this too, glad to see thebroncoguy is on my side.
Long time Bronco fan up here in Canada. Glad to see I can catch this game on tv this weekend!
I’m wondering how badly Scheftler is hurt……he has been non-existent for like a month now. When the Broncos offense is clicking, you’re getting the TE’s involved, stretching the field for Royal and Marshall…….but in the last few weeks, the TE’s haven’t seen hardly any passes. Let’s mix them back into the game plan Shanny. I like Graham too….he’s another big guy with good hands.
And on D, Why do we rarely see anyone rushing the quarterback? I’d like to see some intense blitzes and put some pressure on the Bill’s QB. Force him to throw some bad passes! And let’s hope we can slow down Lynch……that dude is a beast.
Let’s take care of business this week!
GO BRONCOS
I agree, where HAS Schef been? The only catches I have seen him catch were a few TE screens when he is the slot receiver. Haven’t seen him in the vertical pass game recently. I think it is mostly because we are not running the ball as much out of the 2TE sets. Schef is splitting time with Stokes in the slot. Seems like we are running the ball mostly as draw play’s out of the traditional singleback set and relying on the spread out defense to get the 4-5 yards or running WR screens as our running game. The only problem with not using the 2TE sets to run the ball is you lose the play action game, which is where Schef made most of his long catches up the middle. It is easier to get released by the LB to the safety for a TE when you are coming off the line and the LB’s are thinking run. Good play action can get safeties to make mistakes, and you see the 20 yd catches by the TE’s. Problem with going with Schef in the slot is he is ALWAYS going to get matched with a LB and have safety help over the top. Schef just isn’t fast enough to beat a LB off the line. We HAVE to get something consistent going in the run game, or the good defenses are just going to camp out on Marsh/Royal.
Shanny is a great coach and anyone that says otherwise (thebroncoguy) should keep their pie hole shut. If you could do a better job, get out there and show us how it’s done. Considering all the injuries and the youth movement on this team, Shanny has done a GREAT job this year. And Cutler is not developing bad habits and making bad decisions. He makes mistakes just like every other young QB in the league, but he is a GREAT QB. Just like every other successful QB in this league, they need a running game because it’s all about balance. As some of you have said, I think Pope has looked the best out of our current 3 backs.
GO BRONCOS!!!!
Bronc fan in WA: There will never be another Elam. Don’t subject our kicker (and any future kickers) to the same fate we laid on our quarterbacks since Elway. The kid’s new, give him some time. Imagine if we had gotten rid of Cutler after his first season…
What i dont get is why we give up when things arent going are way. Cutler needs a reality check and needs to become more or a leader in the second half instead of sitting on the bench by himself looking liek he is to cool for school and its everyone elses fault. Stand up and cheer on your defense and get you offense into the game. I love the guy but he acts like a little b__ch sometimes.
san diego had a momentum changing game against k.c. the broncos can’t afford to take this race into the last weekend. also, in relation to prater, remember early in the season how we cheered for prater. i can only remember 2 kicks that missed badly. most just missed, he’s close, definitely has to get his confidence back. how about a game winner this weekend, that should do it. lastly, in the next draft, we need a pass rush. that will make the rest of our defense look much better. GO BRONCOS!
What i hate to see is the lack of support that some of you so called fans out there give to this team and it’s players. yes we lost and yes it was ugly but we all knew that it would be a tough game and we all knew what the outcome could be. I hate to see this team lose as much as any other fan but i WILL NOT beat up the players or the coaches for it. we lost! move on and get ready for next week, thats what happens in the NFL, you lose and you win. we will close out and clinch the West this week against the Bills, even if SD wins i have enough faith in this team to know that they will go to SD and beat the Dolts at home.
stop bashing the players they are ones out there doing what they do best and thats play football. Cutler is the future of this team and i’m glad to have him as that. We have overcome alot this year and to be honest, shouldn’t even be in the position that we are with the injuries that we have had. They have come up with ways to win and will continue to do so.
SUPPORT THIS TEAM NO MATTER WHAT! AFC WEST CHAMPS here we come and on to the playoffs.
Keep the Faith
GO BRONCOS!!!!
Ok, if prater had missed a few field goals here and there, thats understandable, but he has missed 8 out of his last 9. I would rather them go for it on 4th-10 then let prater kick it. You cant miss 8 out of 9 from 40-50 in the NFL. Wave goodbye to this guy, when his year contract is up at the end of the season, I would be very surprised for Shanny to keep him. UNDEPENDABLE!
Yup thatz right people need to step up Letz Go BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!
PLAYOFFS MMMMMMMM I CAN SMELL IT.
if we do make it into the playoffs (which i am anticipating that we will)
i think we are more likely to play the Colts in Denver…. time to get pay back for those past wild card games!!
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Hey Jcutrocks, I hope Tampa wins to of course. But what have they done recently a whole lot of noth’n, hopefully that will change on Sunday. As far as Sandiego being over their head, they were over their head in KC with less then 2 mins to go and down by 11 and look what happened. Denver just needs to win plain and simple. Put up… or shut up! You BETTER PUT UP BRONCS. GOOOOOO BROOOOOOOONCOOOOOOOS!!!!!!!