There is an adage in baseball that when one never knows what one will see in any given game.
It’s one thing to say that in baseball, when there is a game virtually every day. But you don’t usually hear that phrase uttered when talking about a football team.
Until now.
Welcome to the world the 2011 Denver Broncos are living in. You never know what you’ll see when they take the field.
Consider a handful of unlikely scenarios.
Against the Jets, the Broncos gained 59 yards on the team’s first possession. Over their next ten series, they had 75 yards of total offense. Then, with 5:54 left in the game and trailing 13-10, the Broncos drove 95 yards in 12 plays and scored what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown.
Seriously?
In four of the five games that quarterback Tim Tebow has started, the Broncos have scored 18 points or fewer. Yet, they have won four times in Tebow’s five starts.
Figure that out.
In addition, over the same five-game span, the Broncos offense has converted 17-of-69 third down opportunities (24.6%). Over that same span, they are 0-of-7 in fourth down situations. But again, they are 4-1 in the five games Tebow has started.
Theories, anyone?
For as much that is inexplicable about the Broncos’ recent success, there are two things that have become readily apparent.
First, the Broncos’ defense is playing some serious ball. Denver has allowed 15 or fewer points in three of its last five games, and only 23 points in its last two.
Beyond that, the defense is developing a tough, nasty attitude and making big plays. There is little doubt that the Broncos are playing with great confidence on the defensive side of the football right now.
Second, Tebow has a knack for coming up big when the moment demands it. Most dramatically, he did it against the Dolphins and the Jets. That’s tough to coach. If the Broncos defense can keep the game close and Denver is within a possession or two in the fourth quarter, they can always hope the Tebow Factor kicks in.
I have no idea if, over the long haul, the Broncos can expect to rely on its recent formula to win games and be a consistent playoff contender.
Perhaps they can. One never knows.
San Diego is up next. Will the Broncos get even for an earlier loss to the Chargers?
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Mike
Hope we keep winning so we can focus on defense when draft time comes.
I’m reviewing tape of the top CB talent
Hey Mike, thanks for the post……….
As ugly as it’s been at times, you can’t argue the end result. TT sure has a long way to go in becoming a well rounded QB in this league, but the guy just seems to be able to win games by any means neccessary….and for that I have to give him props.
Our D has been unreal. Everyone is contributing and playing like a well oiled machine. Von is a beast and I agree, both our O-line and D have developed a mean streak, which is always fun to watch and makes for great football.
I don’t think it can be sustained over the long haul…….but I don’t think it’s intended to. It’s something that’s being utilized to focus on our current strengths we have with TT….and something they can rely on while the other parts of him game improve. It will take some time, of course……….but if it ain’t broke yet, why try to fix it?
This upcoming game will be, I think, the defining game of the season. Not just for our record and keeping up with the raiders…….but just the moral victory and boost to the confidence it will bring will pay huge dividens the rest of the season.
GO BRONCOS!
If Tebow can play half as well as he did in relief in the last game against the Chargers, there is a good chance we win. Of course the D and Von Doom have a lot to do with that….
Looks like Orton is not going to houston they signed clemens or something. Not familiar with him
Orton is going to his couch……….and sit the rest of the season counting up the easiest money he’s ever made.
Here’s my theory. First of all, yes, it starts with the defense doing its job well. But apart from that, I believe what happens is the opposing team comes in hyped up to deal with Tebow and the lowly Broncos, and what they see for 3.5 quarters just confirms that Denver’s got nothing they can’t handle. So they start to relax and get overconfident. Which is just when Tebow’s engine starts revving up. He senses the letdown, he’s dealt with these situations before, and he takes his game to the next level just when the opponent has dropped their guard a little. Bang – comeback.
Of course, this does imply that it’s a pattern that can’t repeat indefinitely, teams will stop underestimating, and we do have to get better early on in games.
Great special teams. Great Defense. Greaat rungame and last but not least TEBOW TIME = Playoffs in 2011. Talk about a team effort. Can’t always rely on da formula but its a great failsafe to always make sure the game is in range for Tebow time. Offense will need to improve as a unit and contribute more tho
Vote Von, Dawk, champ, decker and of course colquit for pro bowl. They deserve it. And other broncos too of course lol…clearly tebow needs no help lol. But with heavy hitters in the AFC sucking, he just might make it. Heck even flaccos in the lead and he stinks. Manning hurt, all we got is brady. Rivers playing like trash. Only other option is big ben. Fitzpatrick is falling off.
TRB
I think SD is a very “winnable” game. First, neither team is the same team that played earlier this season. I think we’ve gotten better, and SD has gotten worse. Our D is playing lights out right now, while SD’s offense is struggling. Having said that, though, our offense needs to find a more balanced solution. I think our run game will hold as long as the defense holds.
It’s hard to explain this phenomenon. At least we are winning. We have a chance to put SD away. Make a run for the wild card and even the AFC West. At the very least, we will have a say in the playoff race. Starting Sunday. So instead of trying to explain it or trying to make sense of it- I’m just going to enjoy the ride!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
Yup, enjoy the ride……….it’s the only thing to do.
Come on Broncos………..take care of your business and don’t worry about anyone else.
The one thing that gets me is I can not remember the last time that we had t.v. analysts actually arguing with each other about the Denver Broncos. These guys amaze me.
Mike, excellent article once again. Maybe you should send this to Skip Bayless with ESPN. He is totally in our corner and argues every day with the others.
This is a revenge game against the Chargers for the boys up front, remember what they did to the Raiders in the same situation. O-line will I hope dominate and open lots of running lanes. I like our o-line, they got attitude! Doom and Miller are going to give River’s the shivers. Bad coaching has got San Diego in a bad way.
The Tebow thing? He’s going to have to make the magic happen through the end of the season with those crazy comebacks to make me even think he can do it at will. This is the NFL. It sure is fun to watch, just when you’re thinking he can’t do it again , he does it again. I’d love to see him succeed on all levels with the Broncos. If not, I hope he stays in Denver to continue to confuse opposing defenses.
Hope our coaching staff continues to think outside the box as they have done adapting the teams game plans to the talents we have. They’ve done a great job this season, hats off to them!
Rob Ryan’s comment was we have a college style offense. What that meant as a slam against his brother, who got beat by our college style offense? LOL
Orton is going to be picked up by the Bears according to ESPN. Good for him, hope he does well except against us. It will be tough filling Cutler’s shoes, he was having a probowl season before his injury. I think Orton will play better for Chicago than he did for Denver, he’ll better fan support , that’s for sure.
kyle orton is claimed by chiefs. he will now be losing games for our rival not us. sweet lol
Injuries. We have always had a team that could succeed, just a chunk of it has been injured.
Mr. Rice. My opinion is on third & forth down situations is the play calling is very poor. Everything is running up the middle or trying to go for a long pass which everyone watching the game knows what is going to be called. They have no imagination calling the plays on these situations, it might just through the defense off when they don’t know whats coming. They need to open it up in these situations.
Thanks for the great article Mr. Rice. Equally as confounding to me is how htey can have all those gaudy statistics with Orton at the helm and yet consistently lose and often badly. Now the opposite seems to be true. It appears that the effort and enthusiasm is drastically different however. Perhaps the most accurate explanation is that they are finally playing as a team.
Oops “how they”
Sorry I missed your blog Mike but no I don’t think the Broncos can win at SD against a desperate team, desperate people do desperate things.
Bay with the team, we haven’t been in this good a position in a long time and I think you are wrong. Which is most unusual. We are going to beat the electricheads and then go on to win the west this year with a 4-2 conference record and host a WILD CARD GAME 9-7 WINS THE WEST!!! GO BRONCOS GROUND THE ELECTRICHEADS!!!
Bay get with the team, we haven’t been in this good a position in a long time and I think you are wrong. Which is most unusual. We are going to beat the electricheads and then go on to win the west this year with a 4-2 conference record and host a WILD CARD GAME 9-7 WINS THE WEST!!! GO BRONCOS GROUND THE ELECTRICHEADS!!!
AND AS FAR AS THAT GOES THAT WAS MY NEGATIVE FORECAST , AS UNLIKELY AS IT MAY SEEM TO SOME THE OPTIMIST IN ME SAYS THAT GIVEN OUR SCHEDULE AND THE FAIDERS AND THE ELECTRICHEADS AND THE CHEFS WE GOT THE BETTER CHANCE OF GOING 11-5 OR 10-6 GIVEN THAT WE WON’T SEE RIVERS AGAIN AFTER THIS SUNDAY.WE WON’T SEE CUTLER, WILL PLAY AN AWFUL PATRIOTS RUN D AND THE WAY YOU BEAT NE IS TO NOT LET BRADY PLAY LIKE OUR OFFENSE DO!LONG TIME CONSUMING DRIVES TIM IS GETTING BETTER AT. THE VIKINGS, ARE THEY MOT TRYING TO SUCK FOR LUCK TOO AND BUFFALO HAS LOOKED MIGHTY PLAIN AS OF LATE….NO I LIKE OUR CHANCES..BRONOHOLIC FOR LIFE!!!
OH AND I CANT WAIT TO GET ORTON ON JAN 1 2012 CAN YOU SAY PIC 6 THREE TIMES LICKETY SPLIT!!!