After three preseason games, the only certainty surrounding the Broncos is that there is none.
They have shown good things. They have things upon which to improve. They have played well at times. They have played poorly at times.
Perhaps the most certain thing with the Broncos is that they are losing key players to injury.
Quarterback Kyle Orton hurt his finger against the Bears. Guard Chris Kuper came out of that game with a leg injury. Wide receiver Jabar Gaffney didn’t play against Chicago because of what some reports are calling a thumb injury. Back-up quarterback Chris Simms is trying to recover from an ankle injury. Running back Knowshon Moreno is getting his banged up knee back to full strength.
This sounds like a great time to take a deep breath. Then we simply must wait and see.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to sugarcoat what has been an inconsistent three games this preseason. It is clear the Broncos have plenty they need to work on and the time until the regular season starts is drawing short.
But regardless of what the Broncos have shown this preseason, the fact is, I don’t yet have any idea what kind of team they will have when the regular season gets going on September 13th against the Bengals.
I look at the offense and when healthy, I see a lot of talent. I see a really good offensive line. I see a deep and talented corps of running backs. And I see good, solid wide receivers, even better than that if Brandon Marshall is producing like we know he can.
But I also see a lot of red M*A*S*H crosses, too. Every NFL team has to stay healthy to have a chance to be good and right now, the Broncos are not healthy. So I wait…and hope the injured players get better soon.
I look at the defense and see improvement over the course of the first three preseason games. I see more pressure on the quarterback. The number of sacks is up. It looks like the Broncos are making a pretty good transition to the 3-4. I see some young players who seem to be getting the hang of things and look like they will be able to contribute.
But I also see a unit that has yet to force a turnover. The Broncos have given up some really big drives. They have surrendered 27 points in each of the last two games.
In the bottom line world of the NFL, the final score says it all. And on that front, the Broncos have not had a good preseason, with the game against the Bears being the latest example.
But I also remind myself that this is still the preseason. And we all know what that means. Need I dust off the stat that showed the 2008 Detroit Lions went 4-0 in games that didn’t count?
I’m an optimistic person. And I don’t wear glasses, let alone ones that are orange and blue. I wish I had a sense of what this season might bring. The schedule appears to be tough. The challenges with injuries appear to be mounting.
While I’m not going to pretend I think the Broncos are a lock to make the playoffs, I’m also not ready to say I think they’ll only win a handful of games. I just don’t know. I am, however, really looking forward to finding out.
In the meantime, I’ll take another deep breath and simply wait and see.
Have your expectations for this season changed during the preseason? If so, how? I’d love to get your thoughts.
Also, please be sure to vote for your 50th anniversary Broncos team. You can do that at www.denverbroncos.com/50th by this Friday. I’ll share my team with you this week.
Best,
Mike
Tags: Chicago Bears, Postgame, Preseason
Nice read Mike… Always enjoy you’re material.
I’m looking forward to seeing Brandstater in next weeks preseason game… Now that he’s gotten his feet wet (vs. Seattle) and has gotten some good reps in (vs. Chicago)… I hope to see him continue on the track of improvement (vs. Arizona)…
Still waiting…and waiting…and waiting… Still nothing to get very excited about yet… Hopefully something good starts to happen pretty dang soon…
BRONCOBAILEY99…thanks for the kind words. I agree with you about hoping Brandstater continues to improve. At the same time, I hope Orton or Simms is ready for Cincinnati. The regular season is a whole different story from the preseason.
PhotoHoundAK…I hear you. On the one hand, it is hard to wait and see. At the same time, I am looking forward to seeing exactly where the Broncos are. I would also say that I believe the Broncos have shown good things this preseason. Those good things tend to get lost when a team loses. But again, the games don’t count yet. So…it’s back to wait and see!
All true Mike,
Though they say injuries is part of the NFL and everyone plays banged up as of recent I can’t help but believe we are cursed in that Area. Its not yet time to panic but with the 4th preseason game in 2 days, Im sorry, from what ive seen we wont cut it in the season.
Recieved recent fire for saying Brandstater should start. My take on it is, If Orton and Simms arent ready to go and the kids improving in arizona and bengals dont mess up the flow. Dont get me wrong, the kids got a loooooong way to go but if Orton doesnt show something real good real soon, I see no reason why we can’t gamble on a rookie who would give us the same, maybe better results than orton. He would be farther along if we didnt have a QB competision between Orton and Simms. As a result of the competion they have had all the reps. and during the third quarter the kid played against Chi starting Defense if im not mistaking.
My question is this, If the kid looks good against Arizona (and possibly cincy if he starts) would it be too farfetched to consider starting the kid over Orton? Sure McD would be underfire cuz he fueded with cutler and ended up trading him in essentiality for orton who in my proposed senario would not be startomg.
I think the offense has played well between the 20s, but those crucial mistakes in the red zone are troubling. The defense has also played well at times, but as you said, are giving up a lot of yards and points. I think special teams has been a huge improvement. Except for the Hester snafu, for the most part they’ve been covering pretty well.
I hate the wait and see game, but unfortunately that’s what we’re left with. I think the relatively soft early schedule (Cincy, Cleveland, Oakland) can be a blessing in disguise. If the Broncos start off well, the momentum and confidence they’ll gain might be able to carry them through the hardest part of the schedule. Either way, it’s still wait and see.
Good post!
Coaching through adversity is a huge part of winning in the NFL. Fortunately i believe McDaniels has that knack. Coming from a coach who always has multiple back up plans (B.B.) i can see that Mcdaniels may be worried, but is not losing focus. This team has some building to do, but has a good foundation to do it upon. If we can stay healthy and build, we can put up some wins this year (I personally feel a wild card could be in the mix). The more adversity we come across will only make this coaching staff and team stronger in the future…This will be a big test for our new coaching staff, and Im sure they are prepared to take it head on. Keep your head’s up Broncos Nation…I am.
How about our defense? I thought they looked great out of the gate vs. Chicago. Things began to settle down that second quarter, but pinning them back behind the 10 a couple times and seeing Dumervil rush the passer like it was 2007 was nice to see. The offense will come around, especially with ALL the pieces in place. I liked what I saw from our defensive starters though, they showed improvement. Oh, and I nabbed Eddie Royal in the 5th round of my 12 team fantasy draft. Talk about a steal!
I was originally very optimistic about the season. I think I predicted 10-6 earlier.
Wacthing the preason games of not just the Broncos; but our comptetion has changed my views some. If we can get an 8-8 record chiseled out of this year. I think that will be a big accomplishment. Can we do better? I think yes but we need some key pieces to fall into place; Brandon getting back the desire to show up and play like he did last year, Knowshon getting healthy for the rest of the year, The D-line getting thier assignments down “Pat” and stable play at QB.
I haven’t lost the faith and there are alot of positives to look at. But, I am preparing myself for a longer wait to the playoffs than this season.
Orange Crush Revived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DR. DOOM is amazing. Our D has yet to force a turn over, but what they have done has more than accounted for that.
7 sacks in two games all in the first half.
Cutler really only had one scoring drive and our D was on the field most of the game do to lack of offense.
How many 3 and outs did they have before they finally got a scoring drive.
On that scoring drive Goodman and Dawkins both dropped interceptions, bad on Goodmans part but you can’t really expect Brian to catch anything with that big ball on his hand.
The reality is that D Hester’s punt return and Our lack of …I want to say Offense, But what I really mean is QB….is what hurt us.
Go Simms!!! Get better soon!!!
when will we know whi is being cut today?
Thanks Mike.
I want turonvers on D and that will have us on track there. In offense, less penalties to keep series going and no turnovers. Special teams seem better each week.
And overall, watch for the injuries! With all new stuff involved with the team this season (system, coaches, defense scheme, players) we need continuity to grow in comfort and chemistry.
Go Broncooos!
I too am not sure what the Broncos are going to do. Some days I look and say we have a very talented offense, especially if Marshall comes back with his head on right and Moreno is healthy. They should be able to move the ball and score points. They have already shown they are capable of moving the ball down the field.
Other days I look at the brutal schedule this year and think it is going to be tough. The D is improving but it is still not there. I will be very happy if we get to 8-8, it is a new system on both offense and defense and it may take some time for the team to gel and learn the system.
Orton has an open dislocation of his right index finger. He is doubtful for week 1.
this season is just a strange one so far, it is still pre-season though. i think by week three or four the broncos will be in pretty good shape, both on offense and defense watch and see.
roya1fantasy…it’s not DR. Doom.
It’s “KING DOOM”, get it? Elvis “THE KING” Doomerville “DOOM”. I could aslo say that he rules the Kingdoom with an iron fist. lol
Broncos Defense is going to be good this year! Soo many guys are hurt on Offense it is hard to say how good they will be? I bet the O gets better as the season progresses and the injured guys start to contribute more.
I concur with theRoyalBeast, I’m really not sweating the D, but had the same thoughts as far as Brandstater is concerned. Start him, lets roll with that and see where we go. I don’t like waiting like the next person, but we do have a new system brought to us by a new coach. We need to be more patient than what we are. It is hard because we have won it all in the past and we love the feeling of being #1, but we need to be patient. My thoughts about McD is this, out of all of the men coming out of NE, we have the man that can get us there. The guy is as smart as they come, thought has gone into his plans for his team, its not something that was just thrown together. Just look at the coaches he’s picked. He is inteligent. In the mean time everyone let us be more patient, GET WELL EVERYONE AND GO BRANDSTATER GO!!!! Nice post Mike as always!!
This Broncos team makes me feel giiddy.
Yeah, Start Tom! What do we have to lose? We could go 2-14 and the stinkin’ seahawks can pick Bradford.
The off/pre-season has been crazy enough. This is most logical thing to do.
DO OR DIE BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!
My expectations are not great for the season. Seeing Cutler play well for Chicago was tough (I still think he’s a baby – just a good baby), and I’m not in agreement with Chris Collinsworth at the level of “bad” it may have been. We don’t know what the future holds…
There are some other teams with key injuries right now, and although our schedule appears tough, I have a hard time thinking we’ll be picking in the top 5 of next years draft… Especially in the same division with KC and The Raiders. If we are not 3-1 or 4-0 after those games, we deserve to pick top 5…
I think your right Orange_Crusher, the most important key is staying healthy. This will hopefully cure any inconsistancies with the offense. The more the group plays together they will start to gel. Our defense, if healthy, will be GREAT by mid-season. As I watch other teams this pre-season, most show the same inconsistacy with the passing game. As with any season, you just never know what the other teams are going to look like. I do think we are on the right track and hopefully we will be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season, and from there who knows what can happen. My hopes are high, as always.
GO BRONCOS!
Doesn’t matter rev79. We traded our first round pick to the seahawks. The only way we pick top five is if the Bears play poorly.
Great article Mike. Well said.
We do have alot of “just waiting” but people need to stop stressing. I believe we’ll be just fine. Injuries are starting to leave a wound in our team (reason being why I hate pre season) but we’ll get through it. Just hope and pray our injuries don’t mount to what we had to deal with last year. That was brutal. The offense needs to gel itself together. They’ll get there. Like I’ve said before, I’d rather have Orton (when he gets back) get used to the offensive scheme of things before he starts concentrating on throwing the deep passes. How he runs the offense is way more important than putting all his focus on the deep throws. Just be patient and give him time. That’s the problem with this “wait and see” situation, nobody around here has the patience for it. We have no choice really, we can’t rush time so just deal with it!
The defense has already shown ALOT of improvement but they still need to work on things as well. As many turnovers we’ve given away… we need to double that on defense. They need to stay on top of their game for the entire game and don’t give up. They need to pressure the QB so much that he’s the one that will get so tired, he practically hands the ball off to our D and we score. We need to stop the QB from having all day to throw the ball. Don’t let up on the pressure!!
Nothing is set in stone but we have a real shot at doing better than 8-8 again. Its very possible we could end up 10-6 or even 11-5. The trick to getting either one of those winning records is working hard and workign as a TEAM to get it done. Its up to the team whether or not they want to win and stop this 8-8 streak.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS in ’09!!!!
Hey Elway.
Are you guys sure that we traded OUR #1 pick? I heard the reports as much as everyone else, but I just don’t understand how we could make such a move. Offering the worst of our 2 first rounders for Seattles 2nd this past year seems the smartest move, and I could see how Seattle would accept cause they move up regardless. I would just like to hear it from someone within the organization or right there with it. Mike?
I think starting Brandstater would be a mistake. I think he needs to sit for at least a year to learn the speed of the game and what it takes to be a pro. He looked okay in the last game but remember – it is preseason and Chicago was not playing all the starters. If we did start a rookie, the broncos are looking at a very long season with 2-4 wins max.
There have been rookies that have had sucess in the last few years but they were on predominatly running teams with very good defenses that can compensate for rookies mistakes. Broncos do not have a defense that can do that.
If the Broncos are not doing well midway through the season I could see letting him get his feet wet but not to start the season (unless there are injurys, then he may have to start)
Yes, we traded our first round pick to Seattle. We still have Chicago’s first round pick for next year.
It’s official like a referee with a whistle… Tommy Brandstater is starting game one!! Do I hear best rookie QB in the NFL this year
What? It is a fact we traded a first round our pick to the seahawks, eeerockski.
Here I found it.
#37 Seattle → Denver
Seattle traded its 2009 second-round selection (37th overall) to Denver for a 2010 first-round selection.
Which became Alphonso Smith.
Broncos cut TE Jeb Putzier.
Putzier is a name from back in an earlier stint with the Broncos in 2005. He’s unlikely to garner much interest around the league. The Broncos also cut seventh-round rookie C Blake Schlueter, WR C.J. Jones and P Dustin Colquitt.
Found at rotoworld.com
What do you proprose beef? Play Ingle Martin? LOL
I think the game was a lot closer than we all realize, we would have had the game in the bag if Hester didn’t run that punt back to the 4 or 5 yrd line. I mean how many times are teams gonna allow Hester to burn them? I mean the guy beat us last time by himself pretty much, and still what do we do punt the ball to the guy, on kickoffs you have put it on play but on a punt if he’s back there kick it away from him, out of bounds…something! Theres nothing wrong with planning around a guy, offenses do it all the time defenses do it all the time…punt it out of bounds!
Dustin Colquitt is on the chiefs.
No offense Florios mom, but read what you wrote: Seattle traded its 2009 second-round selection (37th overall) to Denver for a 2010 first-round selection.
…for “A” 2010 first round selection. With how secretive JMcD is proving to be, I want the proof before I’m buying it.
You must mean B. Colquitt. Why would they do that? He was a beast Sunday!!!
BMarsh, source for Tom starting?
I copied and pasted. Check the site. They do make mistakes though.
Check out this article at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/246283-broncos-rookie-qb-tom-brandstater-to-be-thrown-to-the-wolves…
florio – My guess is because Kern was a beast last season for us. Not taking anything away from Colquitt, I was impressed by him. Kern’s done it though.
Seattle traded its second-round pick — No. 37 overall — to Denver in exchange for the Broncos’ first-round pick in 2010.
^^^^^
- The Seattle Times
here’s the link without the added periods… http://bleacherreport.com/articles/246283-broncos-rookie-qb-tom-brandstater-to-be-thrown-to-the-wolves
Brandstater is terrible, are you people serious? He may end up a decent backup in a couple of years but definitely not week 1. We need Orton or Simms, and if that is not possible we should go after T. Jackson. He is rumored to get cut on Sat. He would not be a long term option, but nice for a couple of weeks. O’Connel from NE would be ok.
————BREAKING NEWS——————
Maybe it’s Crabtree-style delusion. Or maybe the Broncos are trying to swing a trade for a quarterback without appearing completely desperate.
Regardless, we’re told that the Broncos believe that both Kyle Orton and Chris Simms will be ready for Week One, at Cincinnati.
Orton suffered on Sunday night an “open dislocation” of his finger, which is delicate medical talk for a bone twisting so severely that it ripped through the flesh and the skin surrounding it.
Simms has an ankle sprain. The low end of the recovery time of 2-4 weeks, as reported six days ago by ESPN’s Bill Williamson, would put Simms back and ready for September 13.
Mike Florio, PFT. (Not me)
b-marsh=whatever – You say Brandstater is horrible and you want us to trade for T. Jackson? Your opinion is now invalid. Have a good day.
I’m kind of excited to see how this guy develops, he has all the tools to flourish in this league. He needs confidence more than anything.
you are crazy. He is not ready to play in a real game. This is not a year to just give up on the season. we have a ton of talent and if we have an ok qb that is not going to turn the ball over, I think Royal, Hillis, Knowshon, and Marshall can take care of the rest. The Broncos can still be the sleeper team of the year. Brandstater is not ready!!!
I don’t wanna be pessimistic or anything but from what I’ve seen out of Orton he will be gone within 5 games of the regular season. He is simply unable to stand in the pocket (or get out it) and deliver a pass downfield. He can throw screens, period. I too was confident we could win 10 games this season but as of now I think we will be lucky to win 6 or 7. McD made the biggest mistake of his career with the whole Cutler fiasco and he will be judged harshly if he can’t turn this team around within next season. AFRAID THIS YEAR IS GONNA BE SPENT BEING PISSED OFF AND DISSAPOINTED ON SUNDAYS.
LOL, im sorry. Tavaris Jackson????????? Why??? Why in the world, why???
How can anyone say Brandstater is horrible? I hope he doesn’t have to start but….not enough tape on this guy to call him anything yet.
I would take T. Jackson over Orton. At least he can run and avoid sacks. Orton just tools around in the pocket and then throws a limp pass.
What about Derek Anderson? I wouldn’t mind. He’s got a good arm but what’s the price?
IMO. I’d rather see Tom start the Kyle. This is a rebuilding year correct? Why not put him out there? It’s not like Orton has been spectacular lately. He started to look really comfortable in the pocket by the 4Q. He also seems to have a pretty strong arm compared to Orton. (That throw to Lloyd was crazy!)