The bottom line is always the most important factor in the NFL. The bottom line is wins and losses.
From that standpoint, it was a tough day for the Broncos in Jacksonville.
But I don’t think it is the entire story. Because the bottom line tends to dwarf everything else, some of the things the Broncos did well get overshadowed by the fact they lost the game. I understand, that is the nature of the beast and it likely always will be.
At the same time, I don’t think there is any need for the Broncos to think they won’t, at the least, be a pretty good team this year. Sure, I could break down the Broncos’ struggles on Sunday. It was pretty clear they committed some costly turnovers and penalties. They need to do better executing in key situations. The offense, defense and special teams all had breakdowns and some of them came at crucial times.
I’m not, however, going to harp on those things. It’s just too early in the season. That’s not to excuse the bottom line from Sunday. It’s just to say that I’m choosing to accentuate the positive.
I realize that the Jaguars are not a juggernaut and, heading into the season, they were not a team that most people considered among the elite in the AFC.
Still, they are talented. It was a road game for the Broncos on the east coast. And Denver had a great opportunity to win the game.
What did I like?
1 – THE OFFENSE CAN MOVE THE BALL. No doubt they have to be more efficient in the red zone. No doubt they have to clean up the turnovers and the penalties. But the Broncos moved the ball fairly consistently against a Jaguars’ defense that is always talented and physical.
Kyle Orton played well on Sunday. He continues to show me that he can be a very good quarterback and I fully expect him to have a great year.
2 – THE RUNNING GAME WILL BE FINE. Given that he missed the entire preseason, Knowshon Moreno actually played both more and better than I thought he would. That is a great sign. The guys up front have to clean up some things, but Moreno averaged 4.0 yards per carry. That is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Assuming the offensive line stays healthy, it should only get better. That will bode well as the season progresses.
3 – I’M STARTING TO THINK THE WIDE RECEIVER BY COMMITTEE MIGHT WORK OUT. I never thought it wouldn’t work but it isn’t the way most teams go about it. The trio of Jabar Gaffney, Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal looks like it could be a potent one. Getting Royal more involved this season is critical for the Broncos and eight catches for 98 yards is a terrific start.
Gaffney has shown he can put up numbers and Lloyd is giving signs that he is going to take full advantage of the opportunity to be a starter. Granted, it’s early but it was a good start.
4 – THE DEFENSE IS A BETTER TACKLING UNIT THAN WE HAVE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS. There were numerous times when the first Broncos’ defender who got to the ball carrier made the tackle. And on several occasions, that prevented the Jaguars from making a first down.
I also saw guys rallying to the football. When the first defender made contact, it wasn’t long before others were there. That was good to see.
Hopefully these traits become a part of the identity of the Broncos’ defense.
The Wednesday before the game against the Jaguars, Kyle Orton said he really didn’t know where the Broncos stood. He couldn’t get a true feel for the team because it is difficult to do that when all they have played is preseason games.
Based on week one, the Broncos are about where I thought they were. They certainly are not a bad team. At this point, they aren’t a great team.
They played well at times against the Jaguars and they struggled at times. I figured the Broncos would improve as the season goes along. Nothing I saw in game number leads me to think the Broncos can’t, and won’t, have a good season.
What things stood out for you from the first game? Thanks for reading and posting your comments.
Sincerely,
Mike
Tags: 2010, Brandon Lloyd, Denver Broncos, Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney, Jacksonville Jaguars, Knowshon Moreno, Mike Rice
Looking back, specially after seing some of the other teams in action, like the Jets and the Ravens, the Skins and the Cowboys, the Chiefs and the Saints, the Texans and the Colts just to name a few I watched, there is a major difference between most of those teams and us, a different level of intensity, like a different league difference of intensity, I saw a lot of heart with many teams this weekend, I saw little of that with ours, at times some players showed some, but as a whole , as a team, there was no huge collective heart effort in there I’m sorry to say.
And that is indeed a very troubling aspect of where we are at now and where we may be heading, forget about all the X and O’s, the play calling, the units that play well the ones that don’t, the players who do the ones who don’t, all that become pretty much irrelevant if there isn’t a united heart in their playing like their life depended on it. There is no sense of urgency, no huge rallying of the troops towards the common goal, so what’s the problem?
Well, I’ve already touched on that on plenty of other posts the last couple days, and I am unfortunately coming to the conclusion that it is becoming more and more evident to me that the troops don’t have full gang ho confidence in their leader. It was already a point of contention when last year the team squandered away a great start getting progressively worse game after game going on two 4 game losing streaks, letting teams embarass us worse and worse as the season went on and there was talk of dissenssion in the players, so McD got rid of the so called bad apples, eventually sending Scheffler, Hillis and Marshall on their way. What has this accomplished?
Hillis ran for a beautiful long TD run on the outside for the Browns, amazing what a player can do when personal differences are set aside, Marshall had 8 catches in Miami but I still think it was a good move to let him go and Scheffler was kind of the go to guy in Detroit. Us, not so much, a lot of the attitude I saw on the field last year seems to be already present this year. Some say McBean only grabbed the second face mask to spite his coach after his screaming obscenities after obscenities on the sidelines. I don’t know that that was the case or not but it is undeniable that McD lacks the vision of what it takes to be a leader of men. Numero uno, earn the men’s respect, and screaming and yelling at his players in front of a national TV audience will not accomplish that. No one man in this world likes to be publicly reprimanded, yelled at and insulted in front of his peers, those things have to be done behind closed doors on a one on one basis. Humiliating someone in front of others not only will lose you the respect of that player, but of many others. Take Rex Ryan, HC of the Jets for example, the toughest son of a gun out there, he will let other teams and other coaches have it, but when it comes to his team, it’s total unity, last night on the sidelines he never yelled, screamed, ranted and raved at anything, not his players, not his coaches, nothing, he stood there as an island of calm in that sea of utter mayhem that was that game, and he had many reaons to get mad, but this was not the time nor the place to do so, he would do it after the game behind close doors. That is a HC for you, McD for now has unfortunately not showed me that he is anywhere close to being HC material yet.
So you can see why in my eye this 0-1 start is more troubling than others. I said all off season that this year would be squarely in McD’s hands, and that his future here is up to him, and in order to achieve the things he sets out to do he needs to learn how to become a leader of men, he has so far failed in this first game this season as he did as soon as he started losing last year. And when the leader fails to gather up the troops to give it their all, it’s like an avalanche, it gets worse and worse, the betrayal feeling spreads around and all of a sudden you are burried in a mountain of losses, just like last year.
Getting rid of unhappy players is not the answer, the answer is making players happy, McD has yet learned to do that, or he probably doesn’t even realizes this is what he needs to do. Unless the man grows into his HC role, I’m afraid we are looking at bleak results this year. Maybe I’m all wrong? If so I wasted a lot of time writing this! LOL.
Hey, what do you know, I’m not the only one on the planet thinking McD’s handling of his players on the sidelines is wrong, here is what Klis says about it, very diplomatically of course, since he still needs access to Dove Valley and coach:
In my opinion, knowing the fragile nature of the modern athlete, I think McDaniels would be better served if he got on his players or coaches without showing them up.
You want players to leave their lecture wanting to do better the next time, not to duck their heads in shame.
AMEN.
I agree Bay, I had a pretty terrible high school coach who would humilate team members in front of everyone else. It was always totally counter productive. A coach should alway praise publicy and criticize in a respectful manner. That makes people actually want to go to war for you as a head coach.
The writing was on the wall, so to speak, IMO baylin. But I will continue to support my team. No matter who the HC, DC, QB, DT, waterboy is.
Great 1st week of action!
The Broncos looked good and bad. Definitely room for improvement.
The AFC south will be an interesting race. How about McDs old boss? Which leads me to the spectacle in Cincy. There will be some fireworks there soon! And not the good kind! Jets are all hype. Defense is physical, offense is abysmal. Baltimore is good. I wonder if they play the
Texans this year? We have all 3 on our sched!
KC. Does that rhyme with ST?
NFC- Saints are still good. The Pack aren’t too far back. Shanny beating the cowboys! I love it. Calvin had the Catch. And the TD. Sure, rules are rules, but 5 points of contact??? Ah whatever. A loss is a loss. Just ask the niners!
We get a little taste. Hopefully our homefield advantage is just that!
24-21 Broncos
If Harris can get back in I’ll go 34-17.
Get Healthy, Stomp the Seahawks- GO BRONCOS 2K10
My apologies Mike. Another fine piece. I share your optimism! Tho guarded. Could it be the injury factor and the mental toll it’s had on our team?
i see no need to go after josh mcdaniels like dat…. to me josh is doing a good job look wut he has done to our defense that was lacking the last yr of shannah and look at our offense with kyle orton… b. marshall sat out of the last game of the season last year and yall are going to praise him for that… man get out of here with that…. he quit on the team.. name any other bronco in history to quit on their team and still b with the broncos.. i like josh approach and leadership got MCD.. We should have won that game last sunday but we didnt oh well…. get over it.. the seahawks will get handling in denver….
Mike, I also share your optimism. But I do agree that the injuries have really taken a toll on the fans and the team. But it seems that the health issue is starting to turn around. We need Harris to get healthy and Clady and Moreno to continue their progress. Also, I hate to bring it up but it would be nice to have Bay Bay back healthy. I know he needs a lot of work to live up to his potential. But I feel he can win individual match ups against many corners in the league. He is big and fast and knows how to go and get the ball. He may not have been in a pro offense but anyone who watches his highlights can see that he has the ability to out leap defenders and postion himsefl (like a rebounder) to get the ball. He may not be ready to make an impact now but I feel as the season progresses he will be.
Everything that was flawed in our game against the Jaguars is coachable. They are things that can be fixed. McD is a young emotional guy. He may need to take it down a notch in some instances. But I do feel he is very intelligent and knows how to instill the attributes of a winning organization.
Time will tell, anything can happen, just ask the Chiefs.
I LOVE ME SOME DENVER BRONCOS….
sndvl regarding the score let me know again when you make up your mind. I heard Harris might be out another week.
The most troubling aspect I see is really the defense. I see the ravens, jets, even the chiefs defense tightening up. Our defense is to afraid to tighten up instead they play loosely to not allow the big play. So other offenses then just keep getting first downs until the red zone and then it is too late. That is why our pass defense isn’t as good down the stretch. Instead of playing man and playing the pass/run and just putting the safties back to help allow to stop the big play they allow the little plays that lets the offense get first downs and keeps them on the field. As far as the run defense it was ok but still has holes. The offense was good and the run game well it will come as soon as the offensive line finally gels.
McD doesnt handle personel well. we already knew that. The only ones remaining are the ones that understand that is his personality and can deal with it. The ones gone, cutler, marshall, sheffler and nolan are the ones that have a similar personality and kept butting heads with him. But yea, Richard Quinn doesnt look like a pillar of self confidence to begin with. and even tho we couldnt hear him, we could read his potty mouth lol
I love passion but not like that. Mike Tomlin, that man shows fire and passion but yet is soooooo cool lol. Coolest coach ever. Does it so effortlessly lmao. Chiefs on top the afc west…..now aint that funny lol
anyway, the optimistic bronco fan in me says we beat the seahawks, 23-21. TRB out… Go Broncos….
1 more thing. any chance we can trade BQ to chiefs. Cassel is stinking up the joint and we dont want quinn anymore. plus wies who loves quinn is over there. and if we need a 3rd QB we can pick up brandstater, i believe the colts cut him. he already knows the system
one more thing. Moreno still has great balance but was it just me or was Moreno SLOWER than usual. cuz he was slow out there. Lingering hamstring maybe?
ok im really done this time lol
I think this team has some potential but i also think we are going to lose a lot of close games and will end up losing 10 or more games. Our O line is not very good and either is our running backs. Im hoping for the best but our D is kind of soft and our O is not exsplosive and lacking a game breaker. If we can get a RB, 2 O lineman, 2 d lineman and a middle LB in the draft and free agency next year I think we could win the AFC west. The nfl is now a 2 rb and defensive league. Lets go get another rb for that 1-2 punch and a few more play makers on D and we will be fine.
I think the o-line play has got to improve, especially when everyone (including my dog) knows that the blitz is comming. D line looked better than last year against the run but needs to keep improving. I had ‘em at 6-10 before this week, but i might have to adjust that after the performance the chiefs came up with against the chargers.
Jax was one they should have won, and so is nest week when the ‘hawks come to town – we’ll see
Hey Mike,
Great post! First of all I agree 150% with what you say. Bay, I have to dissagree with you a little. Dallas, the Jets & Washington are not above us! Did you seen them games. Washington and Dallas was horrible! I mean horrible! The Jets couldn’t run an offense to save their lives. That was god awful. Yes the Ravens is an elite defensive team but the Jets couldn’t even get a play in for God sakes! Sanchez looked lost out there!
Heck even the Monday Night crew couldn’t believe what they were watching from a communication, formation, stand point….Sorry but the Jets do not scare me!
GO GET EM’ BOYS!
I never said they were above us, I simply listed a number of games that I watched, that means yes I saw the games, and noticed a different type of intensity with MOST of those teams, not all, but even the Jets, Dallas and Washington you are refering to, while pathetic on O, they had a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and intensity on the field, mainly defensively, hence the other guys’ O’s looked like crap. That type of intensity is basically absent from our team so far is my observation. But I have grown to know how you like to disagree with me in a friendly way so I can see why you jumped to that conclusion. Now some of the other teams I listed are definitely leagues above us right now, like the Ravens, the Saints and the Texans, while we probably could match up well against the Colts and the Chiefs, if we somehow found a way to figure out ST coverage that is…
This is what I originally said:
Looking back, specially after seing some of the other teams in action, like the Jets and the Ravens, the Skins and the Cowboys, the Chiefs and the Saints, the Texans and the Colts just to name a few I watched, there is a major difference between most of those teams and us, a different level of intensity…
Most those teams and different level of intensity… I don’t know how you got “above us”, but actually I do, and it’s all cool, love to agree to disagree with bloggers anyway, that’s what makes it fun, keep it coming, I can take it, haha.
Thanks for the great post as usual Mike! I agree all the way with you. We are a team that looks to improve week after week over the season. This is a good thing for us. Just like the Chargers of past years they start out a little sluggish, only to gell as the season goes on and peak at the right time and be a force heading into the playoffs. If we can correct the mental mistakes, get Harris back healthy, and pound the rock with Mareno, we are looking at a positive season. I hope we are right.
Go Broncos!!
Man..fillup Rivers was soo funny mad last night…hahaha! I loved it, watching him yell and scream at his teammates and even kicking the ball…haha..
On the other hand, I bet the SD fans feel the same way about Josh….. hummm??
I always get queazy when someone says we should be “just like the Chargers”…uugh….?
Who’s this Mareno fellow? Maybe he could tech Knowshon how to “Pound The Rock”…lol
ILMSDB!!! W or L!!!!
OC.. I loved it too! That was awesome watching him rant and rave like a two year old! And yes, other teams say that about our coach. My good friend is a Chiefs fan and he laughs his a$$ off a McD’s behavior.
What, would you not want us to have success like the Charges. Five division titles in a rows sounds pretty nice to me, not queazy at all.
All this doubting after week 1? Without the buck fumble and 30 yards of facemask leading to a jacks touch down we more than likely win week 1 and instead of over examining the flaws from the game we’d be celebrating all the positives.
We held one of the best rusher under 100 yds and out of the end zone, knowshon averages 4.0 yds a carry, Orton had almost as many completions of 25 yds or more than all last year, Ayers got his first sack ever, and the 3 receivers we’re going to count on all years all stepped up.
Yes I will also recognize we have low pressure on Gerrard for the majority of the game and we gave up 3 big returns on special teams but these things are easily fixed with coaching and practice.
Stay up Bronco fans!! plenty of good things to come this season.
I would have loved to see vincent jacksons face when the chargers couldn’t get the ball in the end zone at the end, probably thinking you guys will call me in a couple of weeks. Phillip cry me a river can’t win without him either. Loved it last night because KC offense sucks except jamaal charles which also shows us that SD sucks and well raiders well I don’t need to go there. I think a 6-10 record for the afc west will win this division. So I have to say broncos have fighting chance.
Go Broncos!!!!!
Thank god..er…I mean Tebow, we are playing at home this weekend. Lets bring back the Mile High Salute and one of the best home field advantages in the league!!!
Way too many predictions on how we are going to be this early in the season. Its one loss, not the end of our chances by far. Last year after 6-0 start everybody was saying playoffs and divison title here we come! Wah wah wah
We have a long way to go still.
I find it interesting that so many viewers believe that McD should have coddled the disgruntled, spoiled little brats that we’ve had when he showed up?!? I think that as fans, we deserve a higher quality of player and we should expect our coaches to deliver that. I am a Denver Broncos fan and I cheer for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back. Now don’t get me wrong, I love great players on my team, but great players also try to be great teammates and great people as well.
Let’s start expecting more from our players, rather than less, and heaping all the responsibility on the coach.
I like the way McD coaches and I am one of the few that firmly stand by what he is trying to do with the team.
Go Broncos!!
all i can say is it’s the first game you guys. chill out.
lol OC always gotta point out peoples name typos
our only saving grace is that everyone in the afc west seems to evenly suck. so we aint that bad off lol. Chargers always start slow and end strong. Hopefully we start slow and end strong as well…
Yeah, sorry OC, MORENO!!! I really should know how to spell his name since I lived in Athens for awhile
baylin you said the same thing I’ve been screaming to others and I thank you. As I sat watching the game at Fox and Hound Sunday with my wife and brother I kept telling them and fans of other teams (who kept adding their 1 cent to the game) that we were lacking intensity.
The same intensity McDani shows when he tears down should be the same intensity he shows when it’s time to build up! I hope we become the aggressor this Sunday and stop allowing teams to dictate what we do. Even the KC Thiefs had an attitude and intensity about them on D and ST last night.
One last thing….
Hey guys! What did yall think about the trade we made to get Laurence Maroney? Was it a good trade or a bad trade?
I like the trade because we need a bigger back and we don’t have one. The RB’s on the roster should be Moreno, Buck, and Maroney. The other 2 are expendable.
So it is true? Someone just posted that on my facebook but wasn’t sure if it was for real. Who did we give up?
from what i was reading it was maroney and a 6th rounder for a 4th rounder
Well he’s a big back who knows the system although that’s not saying much. Lamont Jordan knew the system but forgot how to run the ball.
Bay, Bay, Bay! LOL! love blogging with you my friend. With that said, I stand corrected as I read over the word “most” so your point is taken.
I will say I do enjoy reading everyone’s blogs and respect them fully. Like you said it’s what makes it fun. The last thing I want to do is dissrespect someones view points! In the end no matter what the topic, I know as Broncos fans you and all on this web, cheer just as loud as I do on Sunday’s and that’s probably what matters most!
Bottom Line is….we got a tough game on Sunday and simply just need to play better and eliminate the dumb mistakes!
GO GET EM’ BOYS!
well Maroney was an ok back in New England! we will wait and see…could this mean buck is having some troubles?
hey we will trade for any marginal plaayer…and especially fourth string Pats. We gave up a fourth rounder, which is a prime place to find contributors to the team. AND MARONEY IS INJURED. We are blindly following the “boy genius” into the cellar. For the blogger that said Marshall quit…he was SUSPENDED by McDaniels as was Sheff. Fans don’t come to see boy scouts they come to see superior athletes win. Forget all that character mess. Oh and if you go back, when we were 6-0 last year, I said we were not very good then. From a football perspective. The JETS played probably the best team in the AFC, of course they are gonna look bad, but were one point away. If you notice the Ravens couldn’t run either. Second, are you guys really acting like we “held” MJD. 98 yards…4.3 per carry, yeah we held him…I understand looking at the glass half full, but when it is filled wwith poison, it is no good for you. I wonder. Remember that Cassel, who everyone says sucks, is the guy McD wanted to run this team. Notice the Pats are still scoring without McD and we are not scoring with him. This team is going downward. Here’s hoping for a win Sunday…I hope they drop Elway from a plane this year
I’ll agree with needing to pick up another back in the draft. I think Daniel Thomas of Kansas State would be a good fit for the Broncos and McD.
(Dropping Elway was because last year at the home opener they dropped Shannon Sharpe from a plane) I wish no harm on Elway, my favorite Football player ever.
I really wish we would stay away from ex-Pats players. This is the DENVER BRONCOS not New England Patriots. However this might turn out well for us. Might not. Time will tell.
OMG…that Raven’s defesnse was incredible..powerful front seven…and they did it with an average secondary,NO Ed Reed..wow..I want to see our LBs flying all over the place..they didnt even have rush/sack specialist Sergio Kindle in the game..they feed off Ray’s leadership..we need our own Ray.. oh! that Jets guard was manhandled by Haloti Ngata..sheesh!!
Lets do this Broncos! get that destructive swagger..and destroy some teams..lol..
I feel that mcd got mad ,because you practice all week long to be prepared for game time. but the least you can do is be lined up correctly and avoid dumb penalties. In the charger game that is why rivers was so mad even turner was screaming at his players. That is just my opinion. If we can fix those things we can find ourself winning our games by halftime. Maybe I’m just to blind to notice other things that are going on. We have a good offense I know its just one week but it curently ranks 7 in the nfl.
Broncos Trade for Running back laurence Maroeny….
Laurence Maroney’s a hard runner, who’s style reminds me of Barber from the Cowboys. I believe both played for Minnesota in college.
Maroney has been dealing with a number of issues, including an abdominal strain and groin and ankle injuries, so I’m hoping he’s ready to go.
Baylin you also forgot to mention Marshall Beastly block and that play where he balanced oh so well, eluded the defenders and got the first down. The man fight for every yard, what I always respected and I agree with VAbroncoguy
Laurence Maroney, injured Maroney, same maroney that cannot cut it in new england, we trade a 4th round pick, the same rounds we got studs like Marshall and Dumerville. 4th round is a incredible thing to waste and Maroney is almost as injury prone as bucky.
McD only watches with patriot colored shades, i wonder if he even ever tries to trade with anyone else in the league. anyway, hope its a good pick up, hope we win, and blah blah blah. All im gonna say is if McD doesnt succeed in denver, we woulda lost young promising players that just needed proper guidance and coaching and not some onesighted wannabe….My take, hate it or love it. TRB out….
wait, is that trade true OC?
who’d they trade with?
oh! thanks TRB for clearing that…
hope this works..teams always end up losing out to the Patriots in trades. they find gems in the draft.