I know the NFL is a bottom-line league. Close games, good effort and heart don’t mean too much if a team can’t win games.
I also all know it’s very early in the season. It is tough to come away with many solid opinions because so little football has been played.
After what I saw Monday night against the Falcons, however, I think the Broncos are better than I originally thought they would be.
I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t remember feeling better after a loss.
It would be tough to imagine the Broncos playing a worse quarter offensively than the first quarter against the Falcons. They turned it over four times in that quarter alone. Those giveaways helped the Falcons race out to a 20-0 lead.
Yet, by the end of the game, the Broncos were one stop away from getting the ball back and having a shot to win the game.
Huh? Are you kidding?
The Broncos were on the road, playing one of the best teams in the NFC and they gave away virtually every opportunity they had in the first quarter.
And yet, the Broncos nearly won. This is what happens when you have a talented quarterback and a solid defense.
There is no doubt that the Falcons did a great job disguising its defense early in the game and forcing Peyton Manning into some mistakes. Well, Manning adjusted. He rebounded from the interceptions and engineered touchdown drives covering 80, 88 and 45 yards. In the first two games of the season, the Broncos already have five touchdown drives of 80 or more yards.
Manning struggled mightily in the first quarter. But he is more than capable of making adjustments and leading his team back. He nearly did both on Monday night.
My guess is Manning won’t have too many quarters like his first quarter against the Falcons. Even with that tough 15 minutes, he was more than good enough to help the Broncos get back in the game.
In addition, one cannot overlook the job the defense did against the high-powered Falcons’ offense. The Broncos’ defense allowed two touchdown drives and the critical third down conversion late in the fourth quarter that enabled Atlanta to seal the game up.
Beyond that, Denver’s D was outstanding. The Broncos held the Falcons to just 67 yards rushing. They kept talented wide receiver Julio Jones in check. But most impressive was the fact that the Broncos’ four turnovers only led to 13 points for the Falcons.
The Broncos defense kept Denver in the game until Manning and the offense got things together.
“As rough as our start was, our defense enabled us to have a shot to get back into the game,” Broncos head coach John Fox told 850 KOA on Tuesday. “Guys just kept hanging in there and lo and behold, we had a chance to win that game as poorly as we played.”
Again, it is worth repeating. The Broncos were on the road playing one of the best teams in the NFC. They had an uncharacteristically tough first quarter. They fell behind 20-0. Nonetheless, they almost won the game.
I can’t say I feel good about the Broncos losing to the Falcons. At the same time, I am hardly worried. The Broncos are a good football team. Yes, they have to win games. I am confident they will.
What are your thoughts about the game against the Falcons? Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Mike
Tags: Atlanta Falcons, Mike Rice, Week 2
B-R-O-N-C-O-S BRONCOS BRONCOS BRONCOS!!!
No Worries is Right! Long Season and no one should be surprised!
Players who need Cut Yesterday… Brookings, Leonhard, Willis (How is this clown even still in the league?)…
Thanks Mike for the great article! I couldn’t agree more. Those were the exact same thoughts and feelings I had after the game. Overcoming all that adversity against one of the NFL’s best teams – at their stadium – and still having a chance to win, that shows some balls! I have no doubt that Peyton Freaking Manning and our Broncos will be just fine. Plus, better to get all these turnovers out of our system before the end of the season!
GO BRONCOS!
Could not agree more… But I really wanted it… I had a Denver 28 Atlanta 27 pick… Dang… You just gotta love ‘em… Have since the days of Bears stadium, Cookie Gilcrist, and vertical stripes…
Well done Mike. I too am proud of the Broncos and especially Superman-ning.WTG!
PUM PUM PUM!!! BLOG SCORING PREDICTION WEEK 2 PUM PUM PUM
The Scoring Prediction Contest (Blog Version) was quite simple to tally this week! Only two Bloggers had winning predictions so without the usual Pomp or Circumstance Here are the points…
Total Points were 48…
1st place is Dy_Nasty_D! He predicted 27-23 for the Dirty Birdies and Whabam… Off by two and good enough for 10 Contest Points! Cool guy bonus points for having the Correct Falcons score and this means you are out of the hole NASTY Buddy!!!
2nd place was the only other correct prediction and that was Cdudbronc24 who had the Broncos going down in a Shoot-Out 32-29 and on a week like this it was just enough to receive 7 Contest Points!!!
There is never any Shame in Picking the Broncos to win and for that Cudo’s to everyone who did, but as per the Rules someone has to be on the Wall’o'Shame and this weeks honor goes to none other than my man Strandoftds82 with a Score prediction of 41 -34 Good Guys!!! For SHAME Strandsky!!! (-7 Points)
And honorable mention for this weeks Wall’o'Shame goes to Baylinocrush, for feeling the need to berate me last week for doing something that he walked away from and taking it as a personal slight that I didn’t do it ‘His’ way!!! For SHAME Bay!!!
Thank you all for Playing and feel free to continue making those predictions!!!
B-R-O-N-C-O-S BRONCOS BRONCOS BRONCOS!!!
Nice article Mr Rice. I couldn’t agree more. I found myself not getting angry with poor play and saw some of the same positive elements come from a loss. This is also one of the games on the schedule I thought we may lose. That factors directly into my prediction of 10-6.
Turtle, I disagree about those cuts. Brookings and Leonhard are coming off injuries just like PFM is. Players always have a down year after those. Willis is not getting a chance thanks to Stokely coming in. Stokely is playing quite well however.
Tough loss no doubt, but I agree, there were a lot of positives. I Think we just need to commit a little more to the run, and Peyton needs to check it down more. YAC is his friend..
Defense better?!
Thanks Mike……………as frustrated as I was with that first quarter, this team showed just how resillient it can beand clawed their way back into the game. And who knows………if the refs actually called the Moreno fumble right, we might have just won it. To me, it just felt as though all the calls were going against us the entire game.
As much as I hate that we didn’t rack up a W…….It’s as happy as I’ve ever been after a loss. Put a lot of other teams in that situation and the game would’ve gotten out of hand………but we hung in there and battled. And this loss will only help make this team better.
Another tough test coming against the Texans………….but i think this is where we show the league that we’re for real and the team to beat in the AFC.
GO BRONCOS!
Rob Lytle. Thanks for many memories. Hope all is well for you.
Man, those are encouraging numbers for drives for TD’s. I see more to come throughout the season. And yes our D played a pretty solid game considering the circumstances.
I hope the loss makes us that much more hungry against a good Houston team. If we can come out of a Steelers, Falcons, Texans streak at 2-1 I’m happy.
3rdGen, the Texans have only allowed a whopping 17 points in the 2 weeks they have played. Thats outstanding football!
And ole Rob Lytle shows up to give a word. It’s good to see some of the vets pop in. This is getting to be an interesting season. HaHa
Or shall I say Vet. LOL
Good morning strand and raidhadr.
Guys- I believe Rob Lytle passed away a couple of years ago…..
Good write up Mike!
It’s early in the season – Broncos have 14 games left to see if they will qualify for the playoffs. Tough loss the other night but Broncos showed some gusto, trying to climb out of the hole. Tough test coming up at home!
I didn’t know that! Oh man, now I’m embarrassed.
Royal, I saw this morning that Houston is favored by +1, whatever that means. Crazy I think.
Decent wright up in the DP about the officiating. Not slamming the refs much but just the position their are all placed in. Kind of a different look from the outside in kind a thing.
Their defense is top tier right now so I can see that strand. It’s going to be a challenge stopping their running game, but if Broncos dig deep and put a lock down on run game, should be interesting.
Their defense will present a big challenge… JJ Watts is playing lights out right now.
It articles like this that I read and say “There are people who think exactly like I do.” Thanks, Mike.
JJ Watts is a good young up an coming player for the Texans. He played for Wisconsin right?
Mike, I’m still listening to Grid Iron after games. Always keeping us balanced. LOL
Yup – sure did strand.
new blog Royal.
I think also that that BS PI call against us in the 3rd quarter that happened on 3rd down and would have forced a punt, but instead lead to the Falcons only scoring drive of the 2nd half killed us as well. These replacement refs are killing us!
Also, wasn’t there a horse collar tackle on one of the sacks of Manning? No call or mention of it from the announcers either.
They did say something about it, John Gruden called it out and the other announcer corrected him. Peyton was in the pocket still, horse collar tackles are legal when QB is in the pocket.
Thank you, Mike!! This article is the TRUTH!! Everyone is getting down on Manning and us…Again, it is worth repeating. The Broncos were on the road playing one of the best teams in the NFC. They had an uncharacteristically tough first quarter. They fell behind 20-0. Nonetheless, they almost won the game. Absolutely CORRECT!!
Thanks, Mike.
Go Broncos!!
It was a tough loss for me as a broncos fan..i knw it jus our first loss nd still very early but i just dnt want to see the broncos losin espclly when we hve PFM undercenter..it not a good feeling at all for me in the last couple days…..i thought that broncos should of won if the broncos wld of play better in the first quter….it wld b better to start 2-0 but it over with it time to mov on to the texans…..thanks to this article i could not agree mor…
Thanks for the article.I believe we missed chris harris alot that night.tony carter did well i thought so this night should only bring our secondary alot closer.chemistry is so hard to come by but ever since fox took over you can see the team plays with more fluidity and tackles a hell of alot better.Go broncos
I feel that we should put Dumervil as a LB because he is to small for a DE. We need defensive lineman to put pressure on the QB, we have not been doing this. To stop a team from getting a first down on third downs we need pressure on the QB & defensive backs that can cover. It starts with pressure on the QB. Von Miller is getting double teamed on every pass play. He needs help from the rest of the defensive line. If they can’t do it find someone who can. If I remember right Dumervil lead the league in sacks when he was a LB. Correct me if I’m wrong Mr. Rice. I feel that we need to work on stopping teams on third down. Something is wrong when a team has a 3rd & 18 yards for a first down & we can’t stop them. This when we need to put pressure on the QB or sack the QB. I know I keep repeating myself sorry.
Actually the Falcons were held to 4 of 13 on third down. Pretty darn respectable considering it should have been only 3 w/out the bs PI call on Carter.
El-Fox are doing a superb job of putting more talent on the field and getting them to play hard. I believe coaching and motivating has become the deciding factor in the NFL. Every team in the league has the talent to win each and every game. This has not been the case in the history of the league. My trust has been hightened by way the organizational chart has been filled. You will win a few games with talent on the field, you will be contenders with great leadership. We have that! Go Broncos! If you are at the game Sunday and have a voice left afterwards, shame yourself for not doing your part.
The commissioner should be ashamed of himself. Division 3 referrees, thats like taking High School refs & putting them to ref an NFL game. I know they are doing the best they can but they are also ruinning the game by slowing the game down. What is it that the regular refs are asking for that the NFL is not will to give them, if its money then give it to them & lets get back to the game we are all used to watching.