Coach McDaniels said it best after the game. They’re a good football team and you can’t play poorly on the road against a good football team.
Both lines of scrimmage were dominated by the Ravens. I’ve always been told, “give credit, where credit is due.” They earned it. Our crew had dominated that sacred ground up until this Sunday. That’s really where the game is won when you really pay attention. No one knows or understands when you win because all ESPN, FOX and the rest of the TV shows share, are highlights.
Highlights: High flying catches, diving catches, great runs from scrimmage, dipping and dodging. Never the blocks that sprung them or the line of scrimmage being pushed back during the running plays or at the goal line and the amount of time Kyle Orton has to go to his third or fourth read.
I’ve been caught up in it too, so no offense to anyone. I’m as guilty as anyone. I’ve been taking the line of scrimmage for granted for seven weeks. It was easy…we dominated.
I won’t call the Ravens the birds, the black birds, etc, because they are due the respect they earned by whooping our tails. That’s a good group in Baltimore and they probably make the playoffs if they keep playing like that. I was impressed. I knew it would be hard fought but didn’t think it would be that lopsided.
First half was a stalemate, second half kickoff return was a nail in the coffin. Whew. Don’t even need to look at the stats on this one … it was (all telling) during the game.
So what do you do? Get up, dust off and get the film behind you and learn from the mistakes because Pittsburgh will be watching the same film and will be ready for Monday Night Football.
And yes the (obnoxious Cowboys) neighbor kept texting me during the game asking me the score and asking if I was alright, etc. He’s been waiting seven weeks to do that and I had to admit it was pretty funny for all the grief I’ve been giving him about the Cowboys and their loss to us earlier (yes Bill, LOSS to us earlier) 
)
One good thing I thought of while the game was going on … I thought we’d still make a comeback. Yep, that’s a good thing because we have the talent to do it and it’s a long season and I didn’t think we’d go undefeated. There’s a lot of good teams out there. One game at a time and win in the trenches is really the name of the game. Learn from mistakes and press on!!
GO BRONCOS!!
Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Postgame, Week 8
Cheers Coop!
Yeah, I’m sad, but not mad. Never thought it’d be 16-0, so better learn the feeling and lesson from a team outside the AFC West. Actually, surprised for our D performance. It just seemed a lot like last year D. What’s with the tackling?? We missed a lot! But more surprised with our OL. It just wasn’t our OL. Period. I don’t know if it was halloween or bye week, but our OL didn’t play yesterday. And a kick/punt returned for TD in consecutive weeks… Come on!! What’s with our ST?
This L showed a lot of areas in need of improvement (from game planning to executing). We better do it at full. And I know we can.
SD won, so that didn’t help either. But fortunately we don’t need to see what others do to know what we must do to be in playoffs.
Anyway, I love my team. And I hope the thing with RHarris isn’t bad.
Go Broncooos!
Great post coop,
you are right. Battle is won in the trenches, you would know that better than most. I knew it would be hard fought too coop but like u said didnt expect it to be lopsided. expected it to be a great game. I know exactly how you feel about your cowboy neighbor…..I live 10 mins from Ravens stadium….My friends aint letting me live this one down lol. Was gonna go to game too, glad I didnt cuz of schedule conflict. I’ll try to make redskins game, chances of winning are higher lol.
Simply put,
Ravens Played their best ball and we played our worst. when both teams play good its almost even, when a team plays best and another plays good, the best has the advantage, when the team plays best and we play worst…..the gap is insurmountable. Can’t point fingers, we lost in all phases of the game. We wanted it, but the ravens NEEDED it. The Ravens did well, applaud em
This Team will regroup well and bounce back. Its bad to lose but even feels worse to get blown out. Coaches arent happy, players arent happy and I believe in this teams work ethic to fix whatever went wrong. Its almost good to get that first loss monkey off your back. Now all the Broncos have to do is go back to playing good football like we know they can.
THE SEASON IS OURS FOR THE TAKING
GO BRONCOS
The true test is now…will this team get up, wipe the blood off ourselves and perform or will we lay there and take another hit on the chin?
I can guarentee you we get up. The leadership on this team won’t let us stay down. That’s what makes good teams, they keep fighting. Bad teams dwell on the loss and continue to lose. This one loss doesn’t mean we’ve proved anything, just like when we were 6-0. It means that we have work to do and we better get it going when the Steelers come to town. McDaniels and the staff and the players are going to get ready. I can bet that kind of loss leaves a bad taste in the players mouths. Leaves a taste that you want to get out of your mouth with a vicotry over the Steelers.
Time to tear down the “Steel Curtain”
Go Broncos!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, we don’t have to worry about getting our first loss anytime soon. It feels good that people might start to look past us again. I’m a perpetual optimist for the Broncos, but it might take a few days for me to stop making sad faces. This Ravens team is a lot better than their record reveals, they’re good, real good. Another tough one next week, but that’s how winners become champions.
GO ORANGE AND BLUE!!
Coop,
You are correct, the Ravens dominated the line of scrimage and set the tone on the first play of the game when they sacked Orton. I was impressed with the first half, the Ravens played well and we went into halftime in striking distance.
A lot of mistakes in the second half- kick return was a killer. A lot of missed takles. Things you cannot do when you are playing against a good team on the road.
I am not too depressed. Baltimore is a good team and a tough place to win. We may get a rematch with them in the playoffs (hopefully in Denver).
The best thing is the team is still 6-1 and leading the division. They need to play a sound game this week at home against Pittsburg. It is going to be another physical game.
Coop, as promissed, the predictions…. What a disaster!!!
I’d like to give some of you guys some love, but, man, this was uggly.
One guy early in the week wrote a pretty long post saying he didn’t think we would win this one, but he didn’t come up with a score prediction, so I can’t sit here and congratulate him, thank god, but I’ll say that he is the only one who got it kind of right…
Ok, Denwu, you called it, Denver loss.
Out of the 40 other guys who made a score prediction, they are five of them who are about the only ones we can recognized positively here, because they had us winning by the smallest spread, only a three point spread, lot’s of respect for Baltimore, which most of us did not have enough of, obviously, including myself. They are:
BroncoWildKansan 27-24
Iowa-bronco 31-28
Broncos504 16-13
Seeingisbelivin 20-17
Mark Cooper 20-17
Yes, that would be THE Mark Cooper, O lineman for Elway in the eighties. Congrats to these guys.
Most everyone had us winning by larger margins not worth repeating here, but there are a couple picks that cannot be ignored. One displayed a FLAGRANT LACK of respect for the Ravens Offense:
broncofan96 34-3
And the other one displayed WAY TOO MUCH respect for our Offense:
mudrat 38-20
We are going to be kind this week and not award a shame on you award to these two guys, we’re going to give them a break, because we were all so off in our picks this week, we all look like idiots! LOL.
There is always next week, will we have more loss picks? That’s what I’m curious about. I can’t personally get myself to make a loss prediction on my team, my conscience would not allow it. I would feel like a deserter, you know what I mean?
Coop, about the game, I am a down in the trenches kind of guy, I rather think of myself as substance, not fluff, so you have some company here. You are right, it was ugly in the trenches yesterday and what better way to spell out how ugly it really was in my eye than to re-post “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”:
The Good
On O: #15,…my bad it’s the one with the wrong jersey I’m thinking of! LOL. Orton’s 11 yard run, hope you got a good picture of that, probably won’t see another one like it this year. One good drive at the beginning of the second half right after their KO return for a TD. That’s it, one good drive, Moreno TD. Gaffney was effective when called upon. Hillis got in on the action on O with two catches.
On D:
Overall played well, held them to two FG’s in the first half and gave it a good effort until the 4th quarter, when it became painfully obvious to everyone including them that their effort was going to be all for naught with our pitiful O.
Davis, DJ, Dawkins and Hill were the stand out guys combining for 30 tackles. Fantastic hits and great pass deflection by Dawkins, best D player by far yesterday.
On ST:
Fantastic tackle by Larsen on KO to pin them at their 18, he is back!
The Bad:
On O: The O line, but I reserve that for THE UGLY segment…
#15, yes the one with the white jersey, ours. Other than getting the ref to throw the pass interference yellow hankie, real poor effort. As I said for now three weeks, I am very concerned that since he has turned around, he is now wasting way to much time with the national media and it shows. Still acting immature. Horrible running game, other than the Orton 11 yard run, only 55 measly yards. Moreno, I have been saying it all year but it is now official for me, a big disappointment so far for our #1 pick. We need less blind enthusiasm, more time better spent looking for blocks to run behind than to dive in there like a ragged doll, not to mention securing the ball which is now a real concern. This is not college anymore, you have to have a different kind of skill set, please try to adapt. Orton had a couple real bad passes.
On D:
Got eaten alive early by Heap, all game long by #15 (Washington) and late by Rice. Goodman had a bad game, both in position coverage and tackling, poor effort. Doom fans, what happened, he was at total non-factor.
On ST:
Royal went from riches to rags in one game! Real poor performance, running out from 5 yard deep in the end zone, struggling to make it back to the twenty on most every return, running backward on one of them and way too hesitant on others. Man, how quick can you fall from the mountain top… Berger, even so he didn’t allow any returns because of his high punts, was scary short on most of them.
The Ugly:
The O line, A SLAB OF IMPORTED SWISS CHEESE, with holes so big in the protection game, I could of run through it and get to Orton, and my legs are shot, hahaha. Not any better as far as opening lanes for the running game. I know the Ravens D scheme was responsible for it, but the end result is this was the most pathetic O line performance I have seen for years! They are the pride of the Denver Broncos, they were the humiliation part of it yesterday. Strangely, I am keeping McD out of this section this week, for a change LOL, because I thought that the game went in the direction it did mainly because of the O line play, and unlike most everyone here yesterday who were quick at jumping at Orton’s throat for not being able to throw deep and at McD’s throat for not calling for the long passes, I believe in the first half that’s what they were trying to do (going long) but the protection was so porous Orton never had the time to wait for guys to get open deep, so McD then went with a short game scheme for the second half. That’s the way I saw it, and I’m sticking with it! With all due respect, I really don’t care how others saw it, this is my post, I saw the game with my eyes and I’m reporting what I saw, not what I heard from all the experts.
First half was about what I expected and Coop you hit on the head when you said that 2nd half KO return for a TD was the nail in the coffin, I felt the same way but when we marched down and punched one in I believed we were right back in the game and could pull it out……..I was wrong! Good thing though I didn’t stop believing and was hoping to force the Ravens into another FG but when Flacco hooked up with Mason I knew it was over. I saw the same look on DJ’s face as I did last year when I knew it was over it was a look of bewilderment!
We didn’t match there intensity flat out…….that opening sack pretty much set the tone. Some bad play calls in crucial situations, running with Buckhalter on 3rd and 8 on our own 30, not throwing down the field enough in the 1st half. We went to Gaffney on some deep routes in the 2nd half but by then it was too late. O-line was no existant yesterday but these are things that can be fixed and I expect they will be, I’m confident in our team that they’ll come out hungry to make up for yesterday and play alot better against the Steelers. There were some positives to take from this loss but those don’t out weigh the negatives.
We’ll be alright, we are still 6-1 and in control of our destiny which is nice! I didn’t think we’d go 16-0 so losses will happen we just have to correct the mistakes and get a win next week! Chargers play @ the Giants next week and I believe the Giants we’ll be hungry for a win and they’ll get it. Chargers loss coupled with us beating the Steelers and we are back to being 3 games up in the division.
Go Broncos!
Well said Coopster.
I wore myself out from arguing about this game. I don’t even know what to say anymore. That was one ugly game on our behalf but I know they’ll get better. McD won’t tolerate them playing like this and the players shouldn’t either. They should know they can all do better as a team. We didn’t play like a team at all yesterday, very disappointing. That was not the Broncos team I know and love. The team we have this year is far better than what they put on display yesterday.
Keep the faith Bronco Country…
GO BRONCOS!!!!
One good thing came out of yesterdays game…we know now what we really need to focus on improving. Another good thing we learned is Larsen can still hit people even after his shoulder injury. Man, that hit on the kick return was brutal.
I think this loss couldn’t come at a better time. This team needed to be grounded for the long uphill battle that will define the rest of the regular season. I don’t think they in any way overlooked the Ravens, but it certainly showed that if you don’t bring your A-game to the field, good football teams will dominate you.
Hopefully everyone will go into practice this week angry, upset, and with a chip on their shoulder and work harder then ever to prepare for the Steelers cause this be as tough, if not tougher, than the Ravens game.
But I have faith that they will correct a lot of things and give Pitt a run for their money!
What are everyones thoughts on Moreno. I love the way he runs but his ball security is very suspect. Is this something he’ll learn over time or will this haunt his career?
@ killerkod: I know you were probably directing your question more at Coop but, I think he’ll continue to get better at protecting the ball. I’m sure the coaches see it. He is a rookie and the game is much faster and the guys ripping for the ball are stronger. As of now I don’t think it is a big issue, turnovers are always an issue but I think he’ll become a very sure handed back. He should maybe carry a football around with him everywhere he goes.
Better to lose now then in January.
Coach Turner is one of the best coaches in the NFL. KM will stop fumbling.
No one could have held onto the play the way Reed hit him. It was Reed making a play and I was thinking incomplete…make up call for Mason being held on the previuos Ravens drive.
I felt like the Ravens knew Kyle couldn’t scramble so they pressured him the whole game and covered the underneath stuff. If Kyle was a little more mobile we probably could have had some bigger plays.
I think we should get away from the screens on every 3rd and long. Every team know’s its coming and the Ravens blew up every screen we ran.
Flarios Mom- could not agree more- better to lose now than in January. Let’s face it, no one explected the team to go undefeated (at least I did not). They are 6-1 and leading the division. There are still 2 games against KC, and Oakland and San Deigo at home.
Looking at the schedule there were 2 games I thought would be very tough- this last game in Baltimore and the game in Indianapolis. Other than that the rest of the games are very winable, they are either home games or road games to marginal teams (not saying they are going to win all the games but the schedule looks good).
It just was not the Broncos day. They were on the road to a good team that was despirite for a win. All you can say is the Broncos need to lick their wounds, wipe themselves off and kick butt next week.
Another tough, physical team coming off their bye- so the Broncos need be ready and come out firing like good teams do after a loss.
The vikings had success with the screen against them…so I’m sure McD tried to implement it….unfortanutely the Ravens were prepared for it…really give the Ravens credit. They came out hungry and won. I am putting that game behind me and looking forward to next monday night…and I suggest everyone else does the same. We are 6-1! I never thought that would be the situation. I am thrilled. Looking at our schedule we are going to the playoffs….this is the year.
Go Broncos!
thanks for the positive vibe florio..we needed..
cant say enough…we got our tails kicked..I wont say they were the better team, rather I’ll say they were more prepared..home-game advantage or not…
next up, MNF!
will it snow on Monday?
Well, like veryone else, I didn’t see us going 16-0. Good to lose now against a very good Baltimore team and hopefully learn from it. 6-1 is a great start but there is still a lot of football to be played. Dispite what the scoreboard said, or defense did well in the 1st 2.5 quarters. It just seems like they almost gave up after that. Even after they scored that kick return, we still made it a 6 point game with a TD of our own. Monday we get Pitt in Denver. Hope our crowd shows up and shows Pitt why they don’t like playing in our house.
DENVER ALL THE WAY 2009 AND FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!
We have one of the toughest schedules, we should be going crazy that we are 6-1. Some times losing helps a team. Bring us back to earth. Our team will be better after this. Count on it.
i find it helpful to learn from my mistakes, and i’m sure the Broncos can do just that. Look at Kyle Orton, he didn’t have a pretty pre season but since then he hasn’t really thrown any interception that mattered.
It’s not like we’re going to go 16-0, with the schedule we have we’d have to lose sometime.
anyways, i think we should start throwing the deep ball some more. It seemed like the Ravens knew all our plays before they happened. they sure did do their homework over the bye week.
As long as i’ve been alive, the Broncos have never played good in the early games.
better luck next time,
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
I’m disappointed as is everyone else, but we are still a remarkable team and we’ll prove ourselves in front of the nation by pounding the Steelers in our ORANGE jerseys. Let’s make Big Ben pay the price for holding onto the ball for 30 seconds. GO BRONCOS!!!
No doubt Monday Night will be a big tell-tale Nationally as the announcers are “just now” getting on the bandwagon and changing their picks, etc. Locally, we know what we have and how good this squad can play.
One game at a time and honestly…just win the division… and the rest will take care of itself again ..one game at a time… into the Playoffs.
Look for similar pressure to be put on Orton and the O-line until they buclke it down and we did move orton around a little. Personally as a O-Lineman, I loved when we moved Elway around beacuse it does three things.
) yep, Fat guys love the d-lineman but love to bust them whenever I can.
)
1. Makes the Fat guys run around more
2. Tires them out faster.
3. We get to slice and dice them and then they have to get their big tails up off the ground and that’s like lifting a volkswagon.
Advantage…US.
They get to have breaks, alternate in and out like receivers and have pass rush specialist (what’s next, coffee breaks?) and the O-Line goes the whole game so any advantage….you take it.
)
If you’re bored to death, Friday night at 6PM EST go to keysradio.com and click on Keyz 96.9 and click listen live to a radio show I’m co-hosting in the Keys with Capt. Bill Kelley about the Charity Tournament I’m there to fish for Cystic Fibrosis.
Then Monday night (Jocks on the Rocks) show at keysradio.com and then go to SUN 103.1 and click listen live.
Monday Night 7:30 EST will be with former Pittsburgh Steeler Gary Dunn nose-guard 12 years with the Steel Curtain. Gary and I played against each other in the League and both went to the U. He’s older and slower and not as good looking.
) HA! HA! My blog right?? Power of the pen and all that stuff.
He and I go waaaaaay back to the early 80′s together and many-many crazy stories of running around in the Keys at night in flats boats that ran 72 MPH and if I wrote a book I’d get in trouble.
)
Quick glimpse: You run up to Gilberts (to start) which is the first bridge into the Keys and there’s a bar/restaurant there, you head south to Snooks, next to, at that time, the Caribe Club (old Humphrey Bogart place), then Senor Friolis, then to Snappers, then the OV (now Gary’s place) then to Holiday Isle, then to Whale Harbor (Wahoo’s) then to Lorelei, then to Papa Joe’s (no longer there), then to the dead animal Bar at Calusa Cove (named because of all the animal head mounts on the walls). Having dinner of course? no drinks.
Yep, some crazy days. His slogan at the OV is, (if the walls could talk). By the way OV stands for Oceanview. And his place is on the Bayside of the highway in the Keys….see what I mean about D-lineman. I’m working with him…..but helpless.
Anyway, I’m pumped about the Monday night game, so I’ll chime in again before the weeks up a few times from the Florida Keys and let you know how the fish are biting as we get read for the Monday Night SHOWDOWN.
GO BRONCOS!!
Thanks for the update Mark. My dad retired to Navarre Beach in Florida before his beach front home was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in ’92 then Opal in ’95. Before having to go back to work he spent all of his time on his first love, fishing. He spent most of his time in the upper panhandle of the Gulf but he did make several trips to the keys. If I remember correctly he mentioned the OV in one of his letters to me. He said the fishing in the area was stunning. Have a great time down there.
In relation to the Broncos I was wondering if having a bigger back in this particular game would not have been to Denver’s advantage. Putting Hillis in there to punch the Ravens defense in the mouth was a halftime adjustment that I thought McDaniel’s would make. I love the way that Buckhalter and Moreno run the ball but this was exactly the type of game that a big bruising back could have taken some pressure off the passing game. Also, what do you see in the blocking scheme for the current Broncos that you like and dislike. The power/trap system that Denver has moved to isn’t proficient in short yardage and seems to be predicated more on what mistakes the defense makes as opposed to what holes/lanes the big guys up front create. What does a coach do to improve on this type of scheme? I’ve been watching Denver’s Zone blocking scheme for so long that the legitimate intricacies of their new system escape me.
One more question then I’ll let you get back to your sun-downers. In McDaniel’s offense the long ball that we see in New England is virtually absent. What do you attribute this too. Is Orton’s arm that questionable? I know that the deep passing game has more to do with the blocking of the offensive line to let the play develop and the timing between the QB and the WR than it does with speed or arm strength so why is Denver’s offensive schematic so reticent to let the ball fly down field at least often enough to make opposing defenses respect the possibility that it is coming? Enjoy your time in the sun.
Break their will to compete!
Mike in San Diego
Ok Broncos lets concentrate on the Steelers. We are going to have to prove we are a good team & are well coached all over again. Prove it to the non believers. I for one believe we are a good team & can make it to the playoffs. Hopefully to the Superbowl.
16-0 wasn’t going to happen so I’d rather lose to the Ravens at home than to San Diego or Oakland. I think we had a good shot at winning until the Raven’s QB when on a roll in the 2nd half. KM is playing very well. Orton should have seen the fumble play developing for KM to take a hit like that. Reminds me of Griese when he laid it out there for TD to take hits. Sometimes check down means nobody is open and get rid of it….
I think the Pats proved that you do NOT want to go 16-0 anyway, so get the loss out of the way early and now we can move on.
several teams have only lost one game and went on to win the Superbowl. it is very possible, so I agree with a previous poster, I am sad but not mad about the loss because you can learn as much from a loss just as much as you can from a win.
cobra, “KM is playing very well”. Who are you, his mother? LOL.
Well Coop, I assume you are in the Keys fishing by now. BS I think with all those clubs you mentioned there is a party going on. Woo Hoo!! You go Coop! Beer in your hand, toes in the sand and such.
Tough matchup for our boys this week. The Steelers have a: Similar defense to the ravens but a more prolific pass offense. Not going to give a prediction in the score because the first time I did…we lost. I will say the Broncos win this in a tough game.
GO BRONCOS!!!! South Stands Forever!!! The Orange Crush Lives!!
What loss? Jus a bump in the road. Glad I don’t have a perfect life.