What a difference a week makes — not so good. The Broncos looked great into the second quarter and then the wheels started falling off one at a time.
The special teams got burned by Devin Hester twice. Man, can that guy run (from the U). I know what you’re saying — how do you kick to him? I wouldn’t either — or I’d try to pin him on one-half of the field.
Then the punt block. Even I was confused on the angle the punter took.
The defense looked good until late in the game. At that point the Bears only had two field goals and the two touchdown returns on the board. We went to bend-but-not-break and got snapped in half. I know how upsetting that was to watch, but the only bright side for me was they are getting there, just slowly.
I liked the way we ran the ball as Andre Hall is fun to watch and the way we moved Jay Cutler around in the pocket and the naked bootlegs and the pitch plays and run options he made. I liked all of that.
Sloppy weather, sloppy play on both sides of the ball cost us in the end. Tough loss in a tough season. I’m very optimistic about the future and as some folks will say the future is not now.
I had to eat a little crow at the end of the game as I called some friends in Chicago during the game when it was 34-20 to give them some grief. Still a fun game to watch — tough but fun.
I stayed on the edge of my couch till the end.
Go Broncos!
Tags: Game Analysis
That was a very disappointing end to a game. We seemed to control everything until the first Hester return for a TD. Then it was all downhill from there.
Now we have to win out to make the playoffs. I don’t see it happening any other way.
Then, let’s win out, yardo. It can be done. The Raiders, Chiefs, and Vikings aren’t necessarily world beaters and we should beat the Texans as well. As I’ve stated previously in other posts, San Diego has a tougher road to hoe than we do, we’ve just got to take advantage of opportunities and keep the pressure on the ‘Bolts.
We don’t have to win out to make the playoffs!!….as long as we beat SD in SD, we will division and have a home game for the Wild cad….why do you thinkl we have to win out…acutally I think the Bolts will lose their next 2 games…at KC and at TENN…if we can win our next 2 against Oak and KC..we will be in first place….Go Broncos
I still Believe!!
clutch734, your probably right, we dont have to win out to get in the dance but it would be nice for the team to have that mind set…that way they wiil play like they did in the first three quarters of the game on sunday. i think we stiil have a pretty good shot at getting in IF we play hard for FOUR quarters. GO DONKEYS kick some butt in Oaktown this sunday!!!!!!!!!!!
out of all the posts about the state of the broncos, you mimic my thoughts exactly. when shanahan is unpredictible with his play calling he is at his best. he’s always going to try to run the ball up the gut in the red zone with the smallish but athletic o-line we have makes me crazy. wish he would do what he does best , keep the defense off balance. other than that the offense has been outstanding the last three weeks.
don’t kick to devon hester……
the defense kept pressure on grossman all game, why change defensive stratigy at the end of the game? that’s just plain stupid. any quarterback in the nfl is skilled enough to pick you apart if given the time. those guys on the d-line worked their butts off all game, they deserved better than that , kudos to the defense!
coaches lost this game for the team, not the players.
Yes, the field was sloppy – sloppy for the Bears too !! I don’t think that’s why we lost. We were up by 15 with 5:31 to go, at that point their offense had only produced 6 points !! Even with Hester running wild, we were still up by two t.d.s. This Bates guy is HORRIBLE !!! Our defense was better last year. With all the young guys on defense, you wouldn’t think they would wear down in the last five minutes. Or, was it the scheme ? Early in the second quarter the Bears had a 3rd & 38. Our defense played prevent and we let a 25 yard run set up a field goal, effectively giving them THREE POINTS FOR FREE !!! Shanny had his moments also. First of all, how freaking arrogant do you have to be to kick to Hester AFTER he already burned you in the game ? Later on when the bears had a 15 yard penalty on 3rd down, Shanny refused it and we wound up getting the ball at our own 10 yard line, instead of the 25 yard line. Yes, we got burned by the refs twice. And that second challenge cost us a very important time out later in the game. But still, what is with the defense ? The offense put up a beautiful 34 points – very exciting – especially that 5’8″ mighty mite Andre Hall. Our defense has been woeful for years under different coordinators. It’s time to change coordinators again, this time we need to get a REAL defensive mind (and another change in schemes) & especially a REAL special teams coach. The phenom we have now must not be paying attention to wit: We punt them down to their 10 yard line and some special teams moron forgets to line up on the line of scrimmage !! Incredilbe, haven’t they been practicing that since July ? So, sorry to say, we lack consistency, again. This has been THE problem for many years now. The mental errors, stupid misstakes, bad decisions, have to stop RIGHT NOW. Yes, we are a relatively young team. Yes, we are a young team led by a young q.b. Our potential on offense looks unlimited. I think we could approach the Super Bowl years on offense even without T.D., Shape, & Elway. The young guys are stepping up. I’m starting to think that it’s really BAD coaching. It looks like Cutler is still on a short leash, especially in our own territory. We’ve had dreadful field position ALL YEAR, but that’s because of BAD special teams coaching and stupid penalties at the worst times – again, coaching. Shanny still looks the genius. How about that option !! Our running backs, offensive line & receivers coaches are doing fine. Sadly, it’s those defense & special teams coaches that are a real dissapointment. In Coach Bates favor, he has been out of the league for awhile, maybe he should have stayed out and what the hell was Shanny & Mr. Bowlen thinking with this guy anyway ? The most incredible thing this year is our special teams. We’ve had a couple of bright spots with the punt return t.d. the kick returning of Andre Hall. Our return averages are putrid ! Even though we have some studs on special teams, our return games both offensively & defensively are ATROCIOUS !!! This & the numerous penalties create bad field position which puts the heat on our young q.b. & what Shanny lets him run. Anyway, can’t rave no more. Put a fork in this Broncos team, they’re done !! But the future of our offense looks very good, the rest of the game will have to come along somehow. Go Broncos !!!!!
all i have to say is this…..bates, bly, webster, adams, and both ot cut..the rest of our boys are good on the verge of greatness….and on Bly i said it first, right when we made the trade…he’ll cost us some games…toast should be his nickname….with champ he has been playin hurt all season..plus he is constantly, having to look back for run support…
I was angry at the loss too…but i see a bright light at the end of this tunnel…may not be this or next season..but or boys are gonna mature into a elite team…I have loved the Broncos since i was 7…23 years later…my love for them is still there…so even if we went 0 and 16…i’ll bleed orange and blue…and you don’t…find another team…
OUCH!!!
We should have put the game away in the 3rd quarter! we had the points, chicago was on self distruct and all we needed to do was lean on them some more before they crumbled……. but no…….we STUPIDLY changed defensive scheme to prevent which allowed chicago some production.
Then we keep kicking directly to the guy that is known for burning special teams tackling…….all of the sudden we have a 3 point lead instead of 14!!!!!
I love the Broncos and always will, but we simply cannot choke like this!
The orange and blue controlled every aspect of this game until we started kicking directly to Hester.
Hell, kicking the kick off out of bounds and letting chicago start at the 40 would have been a better plan than kicking to Mr. Speed Demon himself!