Without a doubt, the Broncos’ season-opening loss to the Raiders was disappointing. And everyone had a hand in it.
“It was a team effort, so to speak,” Head Coach John Fox told 850 KOA right after the game.
Indeed it was. There is no getting around that.
As poorly as the Broncos played, and as disappointing as it was to see, it was only one game. I know everyone knows that one game does not make a season. One game is not a pattern. One game is not a trend. One game, whether it be a bad one or a good one, is not an indication that things will continue in the same way.
Just so no one misunderstands and thinks I am making excuses for the Broncos on Monday night, the Broncos made too many mistakes to beat the Raiders. They could not run the ball. They could not stop Raiders’ running back Darren McFadden. They committed too many penalties and turnovers. They played poorly.
And they still only lost by three points.
Even in the what-have-you-done-lately world of the NFL, perspective is such an important commodity. The Broncos are trying to pick themselves up off the mat. They are trying to come back from the depths of a 4-12 season.
The road back will be bumpy. Consider the Raiders game bump number one.
I see, however, an improved performance this Sunday against the Bengals. While nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, I don’t see a repeat of week one’s systemic breakdown.
Here are a few reasons why.
1 – A BETTER EFFORT AGAINST THE RUN. Right now, Darren McFadden has the Broncos’ number. I don’t see the Bengals having the same success on the ground that the Raiders had on Monday night.
2 – A CLEANER PERFORMANCE ON OFFENSE. Call it season-opening jitters or whatever you want, I don’t think the Broncos will commit as many penalties and drop as many passes this week. Things seemed to get rolling in the wrong direction on Monday and the Broncos could not reverse that. I don’t think that will happen two weeks in a row.
3 – THE LEARNING CURVE. The Broncos just played their first game under a new head coach. There is a learning curve and the Broncos experienced some of that in week one. I have to believe they will get more and more comfortable in John Fox’s systems.
If we are having this same discussion about the Broncos’ consistently poor play in six to eight weeks, then that would clearly be problematic.
For now, I’ll sit back and believe this team can and will play much better.
What will be the key against the Bengals this Sunday?
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Best,
Mike
Tags: Broncos-Raiders, John Fox, Raiders
sacrosanct
penultimate
maudlin
Marshall called Henne the “White Vick” LMAO
I wonder what he called Orton? The “White Steve Urkell?
synesthesia
termination
rbf1, thanks for the valuable inside our stadium info.
News report:
Orton to be treated for Rigamortis after standing dead in the pocket all monday night!
New blog
This offense is about as inspiring as a half a valium…
I’m no Tebow fan. But man, it would sure be fun to watch a Bronco game again. Can’t remember the last time I actually enjoyed watching a Bronco game. Please, front office, listen to the fans and make a change that will allow us to ENJOY watching our team again. I don’t know how much longer I will continue to watch.
key will and will always be stopping the running game! very simple. Jason campbell only threw for something like 108 yards the other night. Had we shut down darren then we would have forced campbell into throw the ball which he wasnt doing great at against our secondary. also we need to run the ball so Kyle dosnt have to win games.
my prediction this week is we lose another stinker
CIN 30
DEN 14
ced benson can get off when he needs to and he has a good matchup against our poor run stopping LB corps. we’ve never really had good run stoppers up front for a loooooong time
Yes even Bunkley got his nose bloodied we just got SPANKED on natl TV again by the Faiders. :~( I hate those guys!
Will we see Brian Dawkins play a bigger role at the MLB position? Clearly Joe Mays is at the bittom of his learning curve at the new position and it showed Monday night. He lost focus on McFadden’s 47 yard gain and failed to plug the gap, he failed on Campbell’s quarterback draw on 3rd and long and he struggled on many other plays.
I hope in the near future that he’ll learn his position and play it well, but for now would we be better off stunting BDawk in the middle on running downs? Showing Mays as the MLB and then switching up with BDawk at the snap? Solutions to problems need to be addressed and we all know Cincy will try to attack the left side and left middle just like Oakland did with success…
Excrement= Kyle Orton
Sorry Excrement > Kyle Orton,
It still moves faster even during constipation
“I know everyone knows that one game does not make a season. One game is not a pattern. One game is not a trend. One game, whether it be a bad one or a good one, is not an indication that things will continue in the same way.”
This is simple denial… or idiocy. We have the better part of two years of trend data to look at, particularly on offense where we’ve got most of the same pieces in play. Orton used the Monday Night stage to showcase all the same failings that his critics have been harping about for a long time. Poor play in the red zone, poor play in crunch time… he’s exactly who we thought he was.
@Warhawk, my sentiments exactly, Kyle Orton ( whom I have dubbed “The Garbageman) has never been a consistent QB, hence the easy trade for Cutler. I wonder why only the fans, and Studs see in Tebow what the rest of the organization is blind to. I say send Orton to Indy, for a 7th round draft pick and pick up a waterboy with that pick, cause that is smarter than leaving him to run our offense!
Don’t forget if Orton goes out which I wish he would Quinn is next in line.
The key is to play football, not passball.
I keep hearing from reliable sources that Kyle Orton is a great practice player. So why don’t they use him to QB the practice squad?
A progressive minded coach would evaluate the players and stay up late concocting new schemes and plays to take advantage of the talent on hand. What would a lazy, old school group of coaches do?
There is just one reason, I can think of, why the Broncos would even want to play Tim Tebow; that would be to score TD’s. I mean, what else have we seen from this guy?