It is official: the Broncos are average. A 4-4 record qualifies as such. At times, they have been really good this year. At other times, they have been on the other end of the spectrum.
Sometimes they have been just good. At other times, well, they have not.
When you shake everything out at the halfway mark of the season, the Broncos’ pluses have about equaled out to the minuses.
There is no doubt that the Broncos’ defense played one of its better games in the 26-17 loss to Miami on Sunday. Denver kept Miami out of the end zone until the Dolphins’ final 80-yard drive. That was a doozy of a possession to be sure but the defense played well enough for the Broncos to win the game.
The offense continued to be generous, committing three turnovers and continuing the trend that has seen the Broncos be their own worst enemy. In four losses, Denver has turned the ball over 15 times. Ouch.
Injuries have undoubtedly contributed to the offensive slump. When a team misses players such as Tony Scheffler, Eddie Royal, Brandon Stokley, Selvin Young at various times, it is bound to have an impact.
The defense has been hit, too, with Champ and Boss Bailey getting hurt and Elvis Dumervil playing with a broken finger early in the year.
That impact is greater for the Broncos, who early in the season showed that, more often than not, the pass would set up the run. They tried to run first against Miami but the Dolphins bottled it up and some costly turnovers were one reason Denver couldn’t get into a rhythm.
When the offense was rolling to start the season, the defense struggled. Now, the defense seems to have figured some things out but the offense is stuck in low gear. To this point, the Broncos have yet to play consistently well on both sides of the ball and one can’t blame the injuries. For many reasons, they simply haven’t played well.
While their 4-4 record is good enough to keep them in first place, the Broncos have their work cut out for them if they are to stay there.
The Broncos have lost four of their last five games. Five of the final eight games are on the road. The injuries keep coming with D.J. Williams and Marlon McCree getting shaken up against the Dolphins.
The Broncos have turned the page on the first half of the season. The second half begins Thursday night in Cleveland and the Broncos are desperate to rewrite the script from the first three weeks: winning.
What must they do to get that done?
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Best,
Mike
Tags: 2008, Defense, Miami Dolphins
Wow, am I the first to comment? Well, I instinctively want to blame all the coaching staff, because the players are not disciplined or playing intelligently. But really, like many people say on tv and the radio, the coaching problems or successes are overrated. The players have to be the ones that play well. I think this team does not have a great experienced leader. We need a veteran all-pro leader like Al Wilson used to be. It’s going to be a long time before we have that. Cutler and Marshall can be all-pros but they’re babies. They need a few more years to mature and become professionals. If the Broncos can keep them happy and keep them here in Denver, and with Clady, there can be 3 perennial all-pros on the offense for years. But right now it’s a sad team with all the new, young talent with no maturity or experience. The defense is another long story.
The broncos are an above average team who is playing average football … simple as that, the turnovers have been the games so no matter what anyone says in regards to the defence the offence has been losing games this year.
It’s pretty simple actually. Get a defensive coordinator. There was an article in either the Rocky Mountain News or the Gazette that said Karl Paymah went up to the dolphins receiver that caught the exact same pass like 10 times in the game and stated that paymah told him that the coaches should have changed something up against that. Even marshall was quoted as saying the same thing. Well Duh!!!!!!!!!!. People who are sitting at home are better defensive coordinators then the one we currently have and the others we have had the last 3 years. We don’t change anything, we simply hope to bore teams into mistakes rather than create them
They are not an above average team. They are ranked 3rd in offense and 29th in defense. Average those two rankings and they are 16th in a 32-team league. That, plus a 4-4 record, means the Broncos are average.
Although that was a pitiful performance, talk about mediocracy, our D did step it up a little. They still let Miami put up 26 pts including the last TD they had which should’ve never happened but they played better than they did against NE.
I truly am speechless. I mean they have so much to work on where does one begin to think of all that needs to be fixed. Offense – for sure, it affects how our D plays. Defense – absolutely, it affects how our offense plays. Both sides of the ball affect how our special teams will play – which by the way, was the highlight of that game for us. Royal was a giant firework – sizzled his way up the field and then… BOOM!!!!! We’ve got some incredible field position for ourselves. The other major highlight – Peyton Hillis – nice, very nice work for a rookie who has managed to keep himself out of the spotlight. Stop doing that man, you’re good!!!! It was the little moments like those and the sacks from Moss and Ekuban that really made us look good. But the problem with those little moments is that they’re little – we need to make the ENTIRE game our moment. It needs to last from start to finish. We could have and should have won that game, plain and simple. We had our opportunity when we were up by 1 point but we let their offense blow right past our D. That’s our D’s biggeset issue – STOP THE RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t figure out for the life of me why they can’t do that for the entire game. I’d love to see them do that for more than just a fleeting moment or two. They better step up fast before they’re all out of a job.
As for offense, oh brother!!!!!! Not a good day for us yesterday at all. I love Cutler, he’s a great QB, I’ll never stop saying that but 3 plays into our first drive and we have ANOTHER INT!!! Now I know very well that the first two INT’s on us were a huge reason why we’ve done so badly but they apparently now need to work on their communication between each other. If you watch that play of the first INT, Cutler and Stokley were thinking two completely different routes to get down the field. Cutler was expecting Stokley to be on the outside but he went inside. We have enough things to work on already, but now we have to add in how to communicate with each other better – Oy vey!!! We’ve become a very discombobulated team (and no I did not make that word up, its in the dictionary). We’ve got problems popping up all over the place and they need to get fixed and fast.
We have 8 games left people – take advantage of that Orange & Blue. We need a win ASAP or were gonna end up at the bottom of our division and I’m not going to put up with that. To be lower statistically than the Raiders and Chiefs would be like us becoming the scum of the earth. We are a much better team than what we’ve been doing in the last 5 games. We cannot let ourselves become as bad (what an understatement) as the Chiefs and Raiders. I mean look at the Chiefs game yesterday, they had that one in the bag ready to check out and go home – but Tampa Bay caught up to them to tie them go into OT and beat them by a FG. They just let themselves go. Their D gave in – if we don’t fix our situation we’re gonna be that team soon if we haven’t already. We’ve already let other teams defeat our D… these players know what they have to do we just have to trust that they’ll fix these problems.
And I’m going back on this trail again, those refs need to find a new job. Other than our own mistakes, that one call on Marshall pretty much did us in. We were on our way to correcting our game in that game and Mr. Party Pooper had to call the worst call I’ve ever seen. The grudge that these refs have against us for whatever reason (or excuse) they have, they have got to let it go and move on men!!!!!!! Enough of that.
We’ve reached average, but look at it this way. We could be worse, much worse. I’d much rather be 4-4 than the 0-8 Lions!!! I’d much rather be average than already hit rock bottom like the Lions, Chiefs and Raiders have. We are better, we could be better, we should be better and there’s room, plenty of room for this team to improve. Who knows, maybe on Thursday we’ll all get a shock of our lives and they’ll win this game and be a whole new football team. The team we expect out of these guys. I expect great things from this team and its all a matter of TEAMWORK!!! They know it, the coaches know, we know it… do something about it. We’ll never win a game unless its done as a TEAM effort. But no matter what happens we take the wins and losses as a TEAM, and that includes us fans. No more of this half-hearted stuff where you only give a crap about this team when they win and you completely give up when they lose. Take a chill pill my friends, its not the end of the world if we lose one game. However, if they lose anymore its gonna be very close to the end of our season. Just remember we could be worse than 4-4.
Keep the faith in this team, someday, we’ll get to the end our tunnel. That I know for sure I can promise you. When, is the question no one can answer. That’s up to the players and coaches.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
I’m tired of the exuses from these guys. This performance has been goin on for the past 4-5 weeks and nothing has been done. I’ll admit the D has gotten alil better and thats a plus but come on 3 int. I remember reading back to when cutler threw his first int of the season and the team was saying how cutler can throw a int and not be phased by it even shanahan said it but he has been consistent with throwin int. he has thrown more int than touchdowns since the saints game and no one seems to care…they make it seem like its ok for cutler to throw a pic…Bill parcells dont run his team like that…its either put up or be replaced because there is someone else out there just as hungry as you maybe more to play..is there any discipline going on around that lockerroom on the practice field or anywhere i mean whats up…i agree with dbronc71 the discipline is just not there Cutler needs a wake up call and from what i read marshall was pouting and lettin joey porter get in his head but joey stated marshall got in his own head bkuz he is a soft reciever i mean come on man….u let joey insult u and he got the best of u with his words and playmaking ability you have to redeem yourself from that…the broncos have been saying the samething over and over…we are still on top of our division and there is still a lot of football left…what kind of mess is that…u play every game like its your last…and time does run out..u keep that and ur goin nowhere..u see our playmakers are out….to many exuses running around and nothing has improved on the offensive side…kudos to royal clady and hillis yall did yall thing though..Im still the number 1 bronco but i mean come on this is ridiculous..something really needs to be done…even marshall was at the press conference stuttering like idk wut needs to be done but somethin has to be done..am i wrong on this…does anybody agree with me…school me or something i need to know whats happenin…i need some kind of confidence goin into the browns game..they dnt even have a mascot…especially wit our playmakers out…somebdy help me!!!
This game was not on the defense, they held MIA to 77 yards on the ground, this game was on turnover Culter only, TRADE HIM
Not For Long is a common expression heard these days, the NFL really is a very competitive league. It’s so hard to gauge any team right now. I do know that the Broncos are just like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get. They have so much promise, and also so much internal confusion.
Life and the Broncos are similar because they are both full of surprises, you just can’t lose faith when bad times happen. Dust you shoulders off and get ready for tomorrow.
Detroit Reggie:
You are Retatrded…plain and simple. “trade him” in reference to Jay Cutler, our franchise quarterback, who, in despite of his mistakes, is still a top five quarterback in the NFL in every category. Everyone remember…this is jays first full year as a starter in the NFL, if you even want to count the second half of last year’s un-diagnosed diabetes fiasco. Be PATIENT. While we may not be as deep in the barrel as KC, we too are in a building proccess… all you have to do is count the rookies and second year guys on our roster. If you don’t want to wait for this team to be good…go on to another team and let the true bronco fans look on the brighter side.
this team needs someone to step up and lead, it seems like everyone just going through the motions you know lolli gaggin to the line of scrimmage and stuff players are just sitting on the bench not talkin to one another, someone has to go to the sidelines and say “c’mon man lets get it done or step it up” or just rally the team so next time they’re on the feild they can have a lil more confidence and swagger! On defense i believe we need to bring more pressure regardless of who’s in or out we seem to do better when we blitz, blitzing puts more pressure on the QB to make decisions faster and usually that leads to mistakes and turnovers like they’ve been doing us lately! and for once can we run the ball 3 consecutive times it seems when we not successful for one run we quickly go right back to the pass, i mean c’mon shanahan maybe the third run will be the one that breaks for the TD, i also think we’ve had a lot of success with pitch or toss run to the outside i think we need more of that with some option passes more often than not. we must continue to run the ball through out the game regardless if it’s been successful or not b’cuz sooner or later it will work we just have to keep doing it especially on 1st and 2nd downs.
where’s rod smith been lately maybe we need to get him back on the sidelines to do some tutoring, these turnovers have been disastrous how can we keep doing the same mistakes week after week after week and i don’t think its bad luck! what ‘s happening in practice?aren’t we working on these things? i think we need to go back to the offense we had when plummer was here we weren’t doing a lot of shot gun formations now it seems like thats all we do we should do more single back forms and shot gun only when we think it’s necessary! at any rate I love my broncos and I truely believe we will be close to if not at the SB this year the second half of the season starts this thursday and I am looking forward to at least a 3 game winning streak to start the second half just like the first half so if your a player on the team and your reading this just tell all your fellow teamates that no matter what happens in the game just believe your gonna win the game it only takes one person not to believe for everthing to go wrong so suck it up boy’s and let’s get back on this road to the SUPERBOWL back in the fast-HOV lane quickly. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
How many people believe in this team still? I DO!!!!!!!! HOW ELSE I WANNA HERE IT? GO BRONCOS YOU GUYS ARE GOOD NOW GET IT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE PLAYOFF HOPES STILL ANYONE WHO DOESNT MUST NOT KNOW WERE STILL FIRST PLACE GUYS!!!
i’ve been a bronco fan for a while meaning as long as i can remeber and it makes me mad that when someone has a bad game alot of prople start saying trade hinm or cut him, i mean really, do you even remeber that elway was never a perfect qb and neither has any of the other great qbs so get off this crap of trading cutler. now that being said dre bly hasn’t done very much since he has been here how about we trade him since he hasn’t played well while being here. and for hall he was solid but he fumbled twice against new england granted that was really frusterating but not everyone plays a perfect game all the time. d stepped up good job but we still need more, like maybe playing press in stead of backed off 15 yards chad pennington doesn’t have a strong arm so why worry about him going long. offense we need to come out thinking and playing fun and with some swagger like no one can stop us, good job hillis we all saw he can play. torrain i am still not sold on. clady, royal, marshal, and cutler are all good young players but with young players we will have to put up with the mistakes that young players do. everyone talks about d for next years draft how about we try and get a solid running back that will scare people could you imagine if we would have got michael turneer this past year oh my god. i still have faith in the broncos, so lets get it togeather and lets not only take the division but win some playoff games. and how about the refs stop being jack a**es and let us play instaed of trying to make the broncos over come the refs bs calls. just cause one of their own made a bad call doesn’t mean they have to make a crappy calls in every game the broncos play this year. just let us play, maybe shanhan should send a tape of the refs bad calls in our games since the chargers, you all know that when we play the chargers agian we are gonna get so screwed over so if the divison comes dwon to that game we can say good bye to the afc west championship.
masturch33f, this is Jay turnovers 2nd full season if he makes it,
he played 5 games in 2006, 16 games in 2007, and 8 games in 2008,
2006 TD 9 INT 5
2007 TD 20 INT 14
2008 TD 15 INT 10
Can’t wait to see 2008 totals, he will not exceed 20 TD but he will exceed 14 INT, and I am a Bronco fan a Jay is a loser.
This is getting to be the same old story every week. I do know one thing the D is playing alot better. But it doesn’t do anything for our team when all we do is play from behind the magic number is three turnover every game. We stop the offence but gave them points off our turnovers. That were they scored most of there points. that were most of the teams have scored there points on us I think we have given up 59 points off turnovers. I’m tired of seeing our first possesion end up in a turnover. its Stupid. The offence is just off bad. all we can is just hope they fix it fast.
Yo 07elway are you writing a article or a blog. the problem with this team is they are a bunch of p_ssy’s and to many of them get hurt every week. the coaching staff the first couple of games had some of the best play calling i have ever seen and now all we do is run sweeps and pass out of the pocket. what happen to boot legs and reverses and all the other stuff to keep defenses on there heals. cutler and marshall are our best 2 players and there both cry babies grow the f up and play ball you guys look like a couple bitches out there with your head down or shaking your headn and crying to the coaches. neither one have you have done anything yet and shouldnt expect everything to go your way, out work your competition and you will get results. lets go out and spend as much money as possible and make as many moves in the draft as possible and lets get this going quit taking guys with good character that cant play.
1st Trading Cutler would be the dumbest thing possible. Stop talking about it. It will never happen!!!
2nd There are plenty of experienced leaders on both sides of the ball, so quit making that statement.
I feel the game plan and coaching is weak. Where were the bubble passes to Marshal, where was the short 3 step drop pass. Where was the run. Where the f#&K was help for Paymah. Did Slowik really think he could be left man on man all day. They looked stagnant and predictable.
Guess what it is just going to get worse. The Dolphins suck… Period. And they beat us pretty easily. Get over it… NO PLAYOFFS, NO CHAMPIONSHIPS ANYTIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
Trade Cutler? Are you freaking kidding me? Would you feel better having Daunte Culpepper as our QB? We have no running game whatsoever, so all of the pressure is put on Jay to make a play over and over again. This is only his second full season. Why do you think Kerry Collins has so much success with the Titans? Because they have a great running game and a stout defense. Do you think Eli Manning would be having the same success without a defense or a running game? Look at his brother, the Colts have no running game this year and Peyton is struggling every game. Elway couldn’t even win consistently without a running game or a defense that makes the big play when it’s needed. Get off of Jay’s back and be a fan that supports the team. He is great QB and has the potential to win a lot of games, but he needs time to develop just like every other QB in this league. And if you still think Jay is a “loser”, get your butt out there and lead a NFL team to the promise land. Oh wait, you can’t…then shut your pie hole.
This is a very young team that is only a year or two away from being a championship team. We need continuity on the coaching staff and if our draft in 2009 is as good as 2008, look out! Give this young team a chance, be patient and keep the faith. Go Broncos! Don’t listen to all the negativity and BS.
Detroit reggie you were right about us losing this week but trade cutler com on how crazy is that, look how thin qb position is in the nfl and you say trade him no way, what about that 3rd and sixteen and we do an all out blitz and they pick up fifteen that was such a horrible call it seems like slowik has no idea what he is doing i would love if he got fired, this this the Denver Broncos we have made no big pickups hired coaches this stuff has to end but we still have faith its not all on the players hotsizzle is right wheres the bootleg the little bubble passes who knows i cant wait to com on here after a big win and have something good to talk about but right now theres not to much good goin on, elway07 get a life.
Yo, columbusOHbronco, obviously you haven’t been on here enough times to know, I’m infamous for writing really really long comments… keep your girddle on grandma!
And for those of you who think we should trade Cutler… what the heck are you smokin’??? He’s the best QB we’ve had since Elway retired and YOU know it. He’s made his mark on this team, he’s still a young QB still learning while going along. He’s not perfect, but he can come pretty close though. If you think he should be traded, you are without a shadow of a doubt either a Chargers fan or a Raiders fan or both. You know he’s young, you know he’s still learning so stop putting ALL the blame on him. He can’t do this alone — IT’S TEAM EFFORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get that through your pea-size brain. If you can’t see that, you’re one lost little person. Its takes a TEAM to win and a TEAM to lose. Its not that hard to figure out. I shouldn’t have to repeat myself over and over. You nay-sayers drive me nuts!! Good grief.
This team deserves a chance and if you can’t give them that chance then get the heck outta here!!!!! Kapeesh. Alright then, as for those who still care about this team and have faith in these young talented guys, keep believing in this team…. they’re worth it!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!
And scott2212, if you’re gonna keep having a fit over my long comments then at least get my name right, its – 07elway!! And it only takes me about 5 minutes out of my day to come on here and write what I did earlier up there. Of course you won’t believe me but it only took me 5 minutes. I’m hardly wasting my time or my life away with 5 minutes. So just chill out. You need to keep your girddle on too grandma!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!
well well well here we are again people, talking about all the same stuff, like I said last week it is panic time, got to wonder if our defense will ever be good, definetly have to get rid of the coordinator, also jay Cutler has me holding my breath every time he throws a pass, this team looks horrible lately, what happened? i think we have no leader on defense and our offense is playing like high schoolers. This team accepts playing the way they have been, that is why san diego will catch us and once again we will be watching other teams in the playoffs, I am a true fan people but sometimes you just have to hear the truth……. as sad as it is
If we would have limited or eliminated the turnovers we wouldn’t be in this position. Jay needs to use his eyes a little more and choose wisely before throwing the ball. The ball handling skills and protection of the possession on offense needs to increase and the “w’s” will stack back up. The defense looked far better and continues to improve. Lets welcome this Quinn kid to the NFL properly with some bruises, his first start needs be a memorable one.
SACK HIM HARD! ALL NIGHT ON THURSDAY.
LETS TURN THIS AROUND GUYS.
There doesn’t have to be a long letter to express what was put on the field after the embarssing loss two weeks ago and the no fire give up effort this week. With little intelligence to go along with sub par talant it is amazing this team has gotten four wins. I can’t say this has been the best coaching effort in years and if it has been, than it dosen’t say too much for the talant level. How do you even talk about the porospects of the future when you have glaring needs at every position other than tackle. Before Jay Culter can be added into the fold of great young talants you have to ask where has he been the last four weeks. This team as it stands may have the worst talant it has had in years. They will be lucky to break 500. If it wasn’t for the rest of the division being as bad or at least more ubnluck that the Broncos they would be out of it by now.
There doesn’t have to be a long letter to express what was put on the field after the embarssing loss two weeks ago and the no fire give up effort this week. With little intelligence to go along with sub par talant it is amazing this team has gotten four wins. I can’t say this has been the best coaching effort in years and if it has been, than it dosen’t say too much for the talant level. How do you even talk about the prospects of the future when you have glaring needs at every position other than tackle. Before Jay Culter can be added into the fold of great young talants you have to ask where has he been the last four weeks. This team as it stands may have the worst talant it has had in years. They will be lucky to break 500. If it wasn’t for the rest of the division being as bad or at least more unlucky that the Broncos they would be out of it by now.
Well I can’t speak too much on what’s going on with the broncos bc I’m a Bronco fan living in New Orleans( Saints Country). So the only way I get my Bronco info is through nfl.com, this website, and you guys. So let me first say thanks for everyones opinions n thouhgts.
I just wanna say a few. I feel like there’s no fire from some of our main players. Rod Smith and Ed Mccaffery were very laid back but showed signs of fire and intensity @ times! Esp. when they felt like the team needed that spark. So called sports analyist wanna say B. Marsh is baby T.O. well they just might be right. B. Marsh is a great young talent but damn he fades away when he’s not getting his touches, and then goes and pouts just like T.O.
We have no running game and we used to be in the top 5 in rushing every season for a long time. Every since we lost Gubiak it’s like we’ve become more and more of a pass team each year. Like many of you have said….. WE HAVE ALOT TO WORK ON. Injuries and lack of effort is no exscuse.
Eli Manning had a five INT two fumble game last year. He looked then how Cutler looks like now. He will be the starting QB for a long time now (Cutler). He is playing with a lot of pressure b/c the QB in Denver has always been the savior of the franchise in an organization built on offense first. Imagine if he was the QB on the steelers, a lot less pressure b/c always a great defense. If he has a few more incidents like throwing his towel he will lose a lot of respect all over the league. He started this season as a hero, playing with a disease, fighting it out last year. Now he is more known for his stupid comments and baby antics. He needs to relax and focus in an learning and not winning and being perfect. Show him Johns stats his third year, look at them, not outstanding. Elway in his third year did start to become the team leader and built trust and instilled his griddiness by leaDing by example on the field. Jay is not the leader of this team ALL GOOD TEAMS HAVE THEIR QB AS THEIR LEADER. Remember when Elway tackled Brian Bosworth after as pick ( a lousy pass) and then stood looking down at him after he tackled him. This is what Jay has to do the rest of the year : first, build character and secondly, learn the game. Us accepting that the franchise is still rebuilding takes pressure off Jay Cutler. Peace
First correction I have to make is to you 07elway, the defense did NOT allow 26 points against Miami, they only allowed 19 points, 1 touchdown. The other 7 points were from the 2nd Cutler interception that was returned for a touchdown.
them, Carolina and the Browns will focus to take away our run game “what little there is” and make Jay beat us, I look for Jay to do so. He will break 20 TD and he will limit the ints.
Second correction I have to make is to you Detroit Reggie, you HAVE TO BE A LIONS FAN in wanting to trade Cutler. Your Lions desperately need a qb and you see Cutler as being the next rising start to win a ring. Also he will throw more than 20 TD’s you are completely wrong in thinking he won’t, Shanny will work out the kinks just as you see in the picture to read this blog, he is not happy and he will bring back the mile high magic. Plus look at the defenses we face for the rest of the season, KC got the better of us cuz of fumbles not ints. We face Oakland again in their miserable state without Kiffin and his D experience, Jay will get atleast 2 TD’s that game again. SD will be a shoot out in Jay’s eyes again and he will be ready once more. Atlanta needed help in the pass D that’s why they traded for Foxy,
columbusOHbronco I am also a nitrorious long blogger, that’s why 07elway and I are about made for eachother. She’s my football babe!
scott2212 how many times you try and get a girl’s attention by insulting her? This isn’t elementary school, kicking her desk as you walk by doesn’t get any respect!
We really are in a rebuilding stage still wether a lot of us realize it or not, the difference is we have a key players that will be key leaders vocally on the field in the future, be patient I want them now too. That’s what we are missing despite one of you saying we have leaders on the field, we do, but our leaders don’t get in people’s faces to pump them up and help make the corrections the coaches aren’t seeing.
CARAMELLO I said exactly what you said about marshall in another blog, he really is being a baby T.O. literally just like him when he isn’t getting his touches. I hope Rod talks with him and shows him how important each route run in a play is for just one of them to get open. That’s something players seem to forget when they get a few games with 8-10+ catches.
I really think a big reason our offense is in shotgun a lot is because our line is so young and it is helping them with the curve of learning how to pick up blitzes and mesh together as a unit, while not getting their morale down with giving up sacks. Imagine the morale of the line of the Texans when Carr was their qb. I also think that with our line being so young, they aren’t really in depth for the zone blocking scheme yet. I say it’s atleast until next year or the year after before they are ready and executing it fully and we see another no name back emerge.
Final note that I can think of currently is that injuries do a lot more than a lot of us are seeing. I put it in perspective for some of you, think when Stokely went down, it doesn’t only affect on the field because he isn’t there. It messes up the timing that him and Cutler have, it also throws a curve ball when he comes back from injury because that timing and fluidity has to be re-gained. Next game there won’t be that “I thought you’d go inside, but you went outside” mistake we saw. They just have to be on the same page and that takes some time.
Sorry really the final note, I agree with you millsdesign, let’s welcome Brady Quinn to the BROWN dirt below the grass he is starting on for the first time! Throw off the timing he is working to develope with the team.
Hold onto the ball offense, maintain your gaps defense, keep the faith fans, AND STOP GETTING ME HOTTTTT BY DEFENDING YOURSELF SO BOLDLY BABE. I’ll do that for you……
Oh ya I forgot my third correction (I’m not diving back to see who wrote it) but Hall didn’t have 2 fumbles against NE, it was 3! :’(
CARAMELLOO, this TEAM started passing more the day A.GIBBS left and hasnt been the same since.
D.REGGIE Tradeing Jay is THE dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! say no more.
Frohawk15 I agree the Coaches are at fault but its not Slowick, its on the O. 11 run plays for 12 yards & 47 pass plays, thats hardley a ballanced attack. 3 turnovers and 2 3 & outs, 13min time of possession differential BOOOO !
icarus23 your right this TEAM is rebuilding and young, and they wont be Great for a while but the fans want them to be Great every year thats why we are fans GO BRONCOS ! ! !
grizz1your right the TEAM has been lucky to win 4 and the rest of the division is bad. But you are wrong about the talent on this TEAM. There is alot of talent out ther playing thier hearts out but tactics without strategy and communication is a real problem.
I saw some really good things happening on the D that we havent seen all year. Communication before the snap everyone was talkin and adjusting right before the snap. Good job linebackers !
I also think if Pittman doesnt get hurt this would be a different game. They actually called 8 rushing plays on first down, of course they only called 11 run plays the whole game go figure.
I also think that C. Paymah & J. Winborn played well! You cant blame the D when the O constantly puts them in bad position. 12 possesions and three scores isnt going to get it. ( one score was a gimmie thanks to special Teams)
I hope DJ Williams and M Pittman arent hurt to bad get well guys.
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
It’s simple. Our coaches are getting out coached. Offense and Defense coordinators can not adjust throughout the game. If something doesn’t work try something else. Our O would be find without the turnovers and our D is painful to watch. I know and most of you know what D they are going to play before the play. What do you think the other team’s coaches and QB are thinking when they know what they are playing. We need new coordinators that have more experience and somebody that can adjust throughout the game. All out blitz on 3rd and 19. C’mon WTF. Greg Robinson is available.
Trade Cutler cause he’s throwing int’s. He’s pushing too hard. If memory serves, Elway threw more int’s than td’s in his first couple of years. Even lined up behind the guard against the colts in his first year cause he became so flustered with being thrown into the fire as a starter. As much as these troubles on offense can be blamed on Cutler, there’s a cure. Run the ball. I think that it’s come back to haunt Shannahan that denver can use any back and get 1,000 yds. This group can’t do it. Now a rookie in Torain has to do it with a rookie fullback Hillis. FIX THE RUNNING GAME AND THE BRONCOS OFFENSE WILL BE BACK TO 30 PTS AND 400 YDS A GAME.
First post. Enjoy the site.
I’ll start off by saying that the all-out blitz on 3 & 19 is one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. The cushion that Paymah repeatedly gave Camarillo was sickening to watch. If we were not up against a short week, I’ll assume Slowick would be fired. I don’t care how many DC’s we’ve been through in X amount of years, that does not justify not firing Slowick.
As far as the offense is concerned, it is obvious that we need to get the running game going. When fully equipped (Marshall, Royal, Stokely, Scheffler, Hillis), I think Jay can mask our running deficiencies. But, without Sheff to stretch the field over the middle, we have to run the ball.
As far as Thursday night is concerned, I think it’s safe to say our season is on the line. I fully expect the team to play with a sense of urgency that was missing on Sunday.
GO BRONCOS!!!
Hurry back, Scheff!
Thanx for the correction, my football stud!!!
19 or 26 points it was still too many for our D to give up. We’ve got 2 major situations within the team that need to be fixed – 1) obviously turnovers are killing us and even more so when the other team immediately scores off it and 2) our D needs to stop the run or we’re facing a very ugly downhill in this second half of the sesason. They’ve got the talent and the weapons to fix both of these problems its just a matter of their will-power to do so.
Injuries are also a big factor in how we play… like by man up there said, when Stokley went out obviously there was some communication lost between him and Cutler and it showed in this game. No matter what happens in this next game against Cleveland… this next week they really need to work on catching passes against our D and NOT dropping the ball. They need to set up a kind of scrimmage game for themselves and it would also be a good way for Champ to come back healthy. Our offense needs to be put to a test against our own D to see if they could get past Champ. If you want to talk about a beast on the team, Champ is it.
And as for Marshall, he does need to have a talk with Rod about how to carry himself on and off the field. He was starting act like a little baby and they doesn’t go over well with the coach, obviously it didn’t get on Cutler’s good side and frankly, it doesn’t go over well with fans when you start acting out like that. He better wise up and stop acting like T.O. because I for one cannot stand that guy. I’d hate to see a young talented guy like Marshall end up like T.O. I found it strange that Cutler wasn’t throwing to him at all in the first half, it started to make me wonder what’s going on b/w the two of them but when Marshall started showing his emotions – it became clear that Cutler didn’t want to throw the ball his way even more. Whatever is going on b/w those two, it needs to boil down, we can’t have friction b/w our players and try to win games as a TEAM. It doesn’t work like that.
I hope Scheffler can come back soon, I’m starting to really miss him. Hillis was awesome on Sunday – keep it up!! And I can’t wait to see what our defense will do to Quinn… make me laugh!!!!!!!!
And as for you my football man, thanx for standing up for me even when I’m able to do that myself. I’m very strong willed, in case you didn’t notice. I was raised on standing up for myself – its a habit.
Keep the faith Broncos Country…
GO BRONCOS!!!!
Things are going to come around as long as we keep our cool.
I’m glad you guys are the fans and not the players, because I hear a lot of girly panic coming through many of your entries. I hope the players are professionals and not as fickle as you are.
This week the defense stuffed a formidable run game in the Miami Dolphins.
On offense, (and defense for that matter) we are a very young team, but we are learning a ton right now–especially how to handle adversity. Again, I hope the team is holding their s*** together better than some of you.
We have 8 games left. Don’t give up.
Now, as for Cutler, I think he’s playing way too tight our there. His trouble right now is more spiritual than anything else (as in he needs to do some actual soul-searching). We need to have some fun out there, Man. Personnally I think we need to see some razzle dazzle. Stretch your legs a little bit Jay–burst out of the pocket and make something happen, but have fun with it.
And as for you… the (supposed) fans. I’ve been a Bronco fan through the good and the bad. I remember the Super-losses, how about you?! that’s when we really had something to feel sorry about. Since when have Bronco fans turned into such second-guessing whiners?
Stop it. Just stop it. Think positive thoughts, or go add your fair-weather fandom to a team that could use someone like you… Go be a Chargers fan, or a 9ers fan or something. This is football not CandyLand. Get on board during the season, or get off the buss. Get behind the team or go away. Stop with the second guessing. You all sound like sissies?
Anyone with me?
Detriot Reggie! how could u sit here and say trade cutler! hes our franchise qb nd one of the best in the league. hes only in his 3rd year nd hes puttin up vet. type numbers gimme a brake. If u trade cutler who u gonna go nd get? huh! NO ONE !! look at all the other qbs frm the 06 draft lienert the “hiesman winner” was replaced wit kurt warner, nd as for young is it just me or is he kind of a weirdo! i mean wuhda u wanna do trade cutler for some D players nd start Hackney! detriot reggie seek help. Cutlers the best thing to happen to denver since elway left. nd hell be here for a very very long time!! so maybe next time detriot reggie. Are you even a true fan? eh i doubt it
Cutler Sucks. I’m tired of hearing how good he is. Yeah he is strong. . . But Stupid. Any QB in the league could have had a game like he had in week one and that was the only game he played well in. I still can’t believe he took over for Jake Plummer. Al least Plummer could lead a team, and I think only a good leader like that would REFUSE to play for another team. It hurts me to say this, But I am ….. Gulp… I am a Broncos Fan.
I strongly agree with the first comment made. I have noticed that everything is a snowball effect with these young, unexperienced guys, more so with Cutler and Marshall. When things are going well, it keeps going well, but if there is a glitch — its like they start pouting and it effects the way they play. Cutler looked like INT’s didn’t phase him in the beginning of the season, and I thought it was good that he used his frustration from that as motivation to go right back out onto the field and make something positive happen. Unfortunately he is now using that in a very unproductive, and somewhat childish way. Which leads to my opinion of why the Broncos are having so much trouble winning games as of late. Childish mistakes — namely turnovers and penalties (fair or unfair). While I think this game against Cleveland is a great opportunity to get back on track, the Broncos next victory will not come until they win the turnover battle and have less than 5 penalties.
Well, the seasons half over. How do the varoius parts rate?
Kicker: A+ He’s not Jason Eam yet, but the potehtial sure is there.
Punter: A A whole lot better than I thought he would be.
Punt/Kick off coverage: C- If the kick off doesn’t go into the endzone the other team gest it past the 30 way to many times. Punt coverage is just as erratic.
Offensive Line: C+ almost a B-. Thery are dooing a great job for the minimal amount of time they’ve played together. In 2009 they will be one of the dominant O lines.
RB: C Injuries have kept them from developing any consistancy.
QB: C- Too many rookie INT’s. Jay will get more consistant with time. As it is, his passing numbers compared to Elway’s at the same point in their careers are better. Will he be the next Elway? Anybody’s guess.
D Line: D+ almost C- They’ve actually played with some fire three of the last four games.
LB: C Still getting used to one another. Not consistant.
DB: C- With a D line not harrasing the QB as much as they should, it’s really hard to get a true read on them. You can cover your man/area for only so long.
Top priotities for 2009 team:
1) DT a dominant DT will take our defense to a new level
2) Running back if Torain doesn’t turn out to be as good as Shanny thinks he can be.
3) Safety. Don’t need to expound on this.
4) TE who stays injury free and can catch the ball.
5) Young starting Center. We’ve got one, but he’s currently backing up almost every O line position.
Wow, and we got rid of plummer for Cutler. remember his streak of 0 ints.
plummer didn’t have near the time jay has in the pocket. and whats with all the illlegal formation penaties, i thought these guys were pros
jays doing fine hes got a lot of pressure on his back and hes taking it well he still had good passes and 2 TDs just because we lost 3 in a row does not make this season over we have a good run with the next 3 or 4 teams and were still leading the devision, the defense although banged up looked decent if we can get a decent defense with a good run game in denver we will be a playoff team but being that we have to throw the ball 90% of the time we cant get it done. Our O line is the best in the league jay has had so much time this year. all i can say is if we can get selvin young and ryan runnin 50 – 60 yards a game each we can pull off the win every time. With Champ gun people aren’t afraid to throw to that side n e more so now dre can look like the pro bowler he use to be. have faith
I hate to point out the obvious, but I think we need to accept that this team is not very good right now. We all got our hopes up after 3 weeks despite knowing our defense looked absolutely awful. We had hope in the offense, but can we stop calling them an incredible offense already. I realize 1 or 2 games doesn’t mean a whole lot, but the offense has looked mediocre or horrible in 5 straight games. We need to remember the teams that the offense destroyed. We played Oakland, San Diego, and New Orleans. These aren’t exactly premier defenses. In fact, San Diego ranks last in pass defense. They are actually worse than us against the pass, which is hard to do. Oakland is almost last in total yards and rushing yards allowed. New Orleans is 25th in passing defense and 24th in total yards. Let’s face it. These teams suck on defense. We haven’t done anything against a good team. The defense looked OK this week, but it usually is really bad. So I think we need to be realistic. This team is just OK. We aren’t going to the Superbowl this year, and probably not the playoffs. This division is so bad that the winner may not have more than 8 wins. San Diego looks equally as bad right now. I’m not sure if they can win 6 out of 8 remaining games to be 9-7 at the end. I’m not sure if we can win 5 out of 8 to be 9-7. I think both teams are capable of 8-8 records. This Thursday is our season. If we win, we have a chance on at least winning the division. Lose, it is all over.
Based on records and how teams have performed so far, Miami was supposed to be a win. We lost that already. We play much better teams towards the end including Carolina, NY Jets, and Buffalo. We have Cleveland, Atlanta, Oakland, KC, and San Diego also. We must have this win on Thursday. If we get it, we know we are cabable of beating the divisional teams like Oakland, KC, and San Diego. They all suck. I’m not sure if we can win the others.
Either way, were not going anywhere this year. Not with our defense, all the injuries, and the woes on offense now (largely due to injuries). I’m not a cynical person, but I am a realistic one. I love Denver, but we have to be honest. This organization needs to start making long term moves that will help us next year and further into the future. We need to stop bringing in temporary fixes, and focus on real fixes for the future. That is why the John Lynch idea is absolutely ridiculous. He is just a temporary fix.
I think we have to stop saying we need a great defensive tackle. They are unbelievably hard to find. There’s been so many picked in the first round that are just slow or lazy and not great. We need as many playmaking LB’s and DB’s as possible. Playmakers is what we need. A Troy Polamalu type-safety. Maybe another DE but our LB’s and DB’s have to improve. I can’t believe we wasted a draft pick on a LB last year and now he’s playing FB. What a joke. But yes, I believe the Broncos are going to be average-to-bad for several years, unless we get a few great free agents. One positive to our LB’s is DJ Williams, he is great, too bad he’s hurt. Too bad we can’t find more driven and mature young players like Eddie Royal.
PREY!
I definately think we have a lot of talent offensively. Injuries are hurting us and we haven’t adjusted well to the cover 2 that a lot of teams are running. We need a running game or it is going to be tough.
Defensively, we are in a lot of trouble because our guys just haven’t adjusted well to any system. We have had 3 different coordinators in the last 3 or 4 years and things keep getting worse. We have talent at our LBs with DJ and Webster. We have talent with Champ and the other DBs are good. I still think the biggest problem is our safeties and our lineman. I agree that lineman are hard to find, but I have never said that we should do it through the draft. It is too risky. We need proven players at these spots. It is OK to draft skilled players in the draft, but it is much more risky to get the guys in the trenches. We have had a lot of success drafting LBs, RBs, and WRs. We tend to miss the mark on most of our lineman though, except Clady. It may just be our system too. All I know is other teams get a lot more done with a lot less. Some of the players we had did better prior and after to coming to Denver. I think it is the system. I hope Slowik continues to take risks and send some blitzes. He still doesn’t do it enough or disguise it enough. We need pressure and confusion. Look at the Eagles and Steelers. They do a great job disguising blitzes and mixing it up. We need this with our defense. I am so sick of watching 3 or 4 men rush every damn down. The only time we tend to send a blitz is on 3rd and very long like 15-20. That is the one time it makes less sense. Teams just throw screen passes anticipating it. I agree we could be average to bad for a while, but I don’t think it is because of talent and Shanny. I think we just need to rethink our defense.
Hey TonyTZ7: Did you mean Pray? I would normally be for this except I don’t think God cares how the Broncos do in the greater scheme of things. It is never bad to pray though. Perhaps the Broncos should prey on their opponents and kick some butt.
What do I see !!!!! Offen. play calling,Pass 1,2,3 and out. Next possesion 1,2,3 and out, next run,pass 2,3 out. Over and over, in the Jags,New Eng. and Miami. No rest for the D. Other fans see the same,why dosn’t Mike see this. Any good D can be worn down by the late third and forth quarter.I like the weat coast off. slip Pittman through the line and drop the ball to him. It’s alot of pressure for a sophmore starting QB to call in 80% pass plays. Love the BRONCO’s Raider Hater Now and Later!!!!
Shanahan brings again to Plummer, changes to Jay ” Chabelo” Cutler, you are not going to arrive at any side with him