Just wanted to check in with one last blog this year just to say thank you.
I really appreciate all the fan support and dedication. Whether it was reading the blog or cheering on this team, it’s you all that makes it fun. You guys are what make game day experiences so great. Through the thick and thin, you’re always with us, and it’s a blessing to have such great people support you.
So thank you. And we’ll be back.
There’s playoff football on television, and I’ll be like most of you these next couple days — I’m going to watch it all. It’s gonna be nice to enjoy the weekend and just be at home, watching football. It’s kind of like you wait for the playoffs and it’s a fun time of the year. It’s the tournament. It’s one-and-done. I’ll be at home enjoying the games, being on my iPad studying, figuring out who we’re going to play and getting ready.
As far as us not playing this week, I’m very glad we earned the bye week. The hard work we put in all year, it paid off. We haven’t lost focus at all. We put in some good work this week and we’re excited about the break, just to get mentally and physically rested to get ready for next week.
Enjoy the games. I’ll catch up with you next week when we’ll know who we’re playing.
I just want to start out by thanking the fans for helping to vote me into the Pro Bowl this season.
It’s a great honor. To be voted by my peers and the fans, that means a lot to me. We have bigger goals than Pro Bowls though, so I’m hoping that we’re busy in New Orleans during that game.
Getting the sack record was great too, but we’re not caught up in personal accolades and accomplishments. We’re just taking it one day at a time and focusing on our goals as a team.
Our season boils down to this one on Sunday against the Chiefs. We definitely want to take it one play at a time like we’ve been doing.
It’ll be great to play at home in front of our fans in the postseason. The combination of the altitude and our great fans makes Sports Authority Field a tough place for opponents to play.
-Gig ‘em!
It’s Week 17, and I think there are a lot of things to stay focused on this week. There’s just the fact that we control our own destiny. It’s a division game. The last one at home. We’ve got to take care of business in order to set ourselves up where we want to be in the playoffs.
We’ve got the Chiefs Sunday, and they have a really tough defense. We know that. We were in a lot of third-and-longs last time against them, and I think that’s our focus, to make sure that we’re successful on first and second downs. Because when you play a good team or good defense, you’re going to hurt yourself by playing behind the chains. That’s the thing, make sure we execute, get better at what we do and score touchdowns. Again, that’s something we’ve been focusing on for a while. When we get to the red area, instead of kicking field goals, score touchdowns.
We know where we are record-wise and understand our opportunity at hand. I think naturally as a human you’re curious, so if they show scores of other games I might look, but I’m not going to go out of my way. But again, that will take care of itself if we take care of what we need to on Sunday. That’s all that needs to be said. Go to work and make sure we play well.
We cast our Pro Bowl ballots this week, which is something that I enjoy doing. It’s pretty cool to be able to vote for some of the guys who have performed well this season. We aren’t allowed to vote for our teammates, but we’ve played against a lot of top players at their position this year, so it wasn’t too hard.
It was great to get that honor last year as a rookie, but now we’re looking at stuff that’s bigger than the Pro Bowl – team victories and things like that. Pro Bowls are good, but we have our sights a little higher this year as a team.
Our next step is this Sunday against the Browns. They have a very talented running back in Trent Richardson. Stopping the run is always a goal of ours and it will be another difficult one this week. He’s a very good running back. It’s his first year in the league and he’s already in the upper class of running backs.
I played against Brandon Weeden in college and I remember him making all the throws and being a leader. That’s what it looks like he’s doing for the Browns this year.
We get to play our last two regular-season games at home and I’m pretty excited to come back in front of our fans. There’s no place like Sports Authority Field. It’ll be great to finish it out here.
Gig em!
Well, we’ve won nine straight now, and I think every week offensively as a whole we’ve gotten a lot better. Peyton does a great job of finding the open guy, and every week it becomes someone different. Our mentality as a receiver room as a skill set is just to work hard every day, stay focused and know that when the opportunity comes, to take full advantage of it. That’s kind of how we all prepare every week.
Throughout this streak, it’s really about us together showing what kind of football team we are. Setting an identity of tough-minded, hard-working guys that are very unselfish. The way we’ve been getting better every week just shows the character of every guy, how much they want it, how hard they work. It’s never good enough. You can always get better. You can always make progress. That’s a tribute to a championship-type team.
It’s still one game at a time, and it’s really one day at a time for us right now. Our focus is on getting better, period. Whether it’s little details in a pass play, in a run play, if it’s finishing every play in practice and carrying that over to a game, that’s our focus right now. Really when it comes to Sunday, that stuff will take care of itself.
We’ve had a great streak so far, and we’re hoping to extend it another game this weekend in Baltimore.
We just have to go out there and keep doing what we’ve been doing.
I’ve heard how tough of a place Baltimore is to play for the Broncos — and all teams — historically. We have a different team this year and if we just keep taking it one play at a time, I know what we can do.
We’ve all heard about how Ray Lewis might be back this weekend. He’s a player that I’ve looked up to and I think it’d be great just to see him and watch him compete. I just hope our defense can play a little bit better than theirs and we can edge them out.
Ray Rice is a tough test for us out of the backfield. He’s compact and has great vision. He is quick, fast and strong. He has all the qualities of a great running back.
We have to take it one play at a time and play the type of football that we know how to play and we can get it done.
-Gig em!
When you’re winning, everything is great. We definitely want to keep on winning and keep on playing the type of football we have been playing. I guess we’ll see at the end of everything how far we can go.
This win streak has been great. Nobody wants to lose. We definitely want to keep the streak going and I know if we keep playing the type of football I know we can play, we’ll be alright.
I want to congratulate Aldon Smith on winning the NFC Defensive Player of the Month Award for November. We were both drafted last year and we’re good friends, so it’s great to get that type of award at the same time as him. I’m sure he’ll text me. If he doesn’t text me, I’ll text him. That’s one of my good friends.
Now our focus is on Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are a very good team. Not just running the ball, not just passing the ball, not just run defense, not just pass defense – they are good all around. They’re probably the best team we’ve played in a while – since the Patriots. We are definitely going to have to be on point and keep taking it one day at a time if we want to keep our streak going.
We know where we are in the standings, but you won’t hear us talking about it in the locker room. Our ultimate goal is to win one week at a time. Tampa Bay is a very tough team. They’ve got a good back in Doug Martin and an explosive offense. We’ve got to be able to play with them and make sure we don’t turn the ball over, because their defense is very good at creating turnovers. Right now our goal is to win this one, move forward and win the next, and hopefully position ourselves in a good spot where we want to be come playoff time.
In the Bucs secondary, Ronde Barber covers their youth. He’s a very smart player. He’s around the ball a lot and making plays. That’s something that’s going to be a challenge for us as receivers. We’ve got to make sure that we’re sound with our technique and we’re getting to the right spots for Peyton.
Like I said, turnovers determine games. We always talk about giving it away versus taking turnovers — if you’re always in the positive, you’ll have success. You’ll see more wins. That’s why our goal is to eliminate them on offense and make sure we get a few defensively.
One thing is it’s always nice to be home. I know we’ve got a stretch here, I think three of the last five are at home. So it’s nice to have that home field advantage, especially at this time of year when it’s so crucial to set yourself up for a playoff run.
Talk to you next week.
I just want to start out by thanking some of my teammates who helped me get the Defensive Player of the Week award last week.
It starts in the meeting rooms. We have Keith Brooking, a veteran guy — he doesn’t let me gloat or think about the achievements I’ve got. I really appreciate having Keith in the locker room. He is a guy that really keeps me humble. He told us earlier, he’s been playing 15 years. If you add up the years of the rest of the group, we haven’t really had close to the type of experience he’s had. So, I think it all starts with Keith and he’s been playing great for us.
Then on the back end, there is Chris Harris, Champ Bailey, Rahim Moore, Tony Carter and Mike Adams — without their lockdown coverage, I don’t think I’d be able to be the type of pass rusher I am.
Aldon Smith texted me right after the 49ers game about taking away my sack lead. He and J.J. Watt have a little lead on me now, but all three of us were drafted in the first round last year and we have a pretty cool relationship. I think our success will be determined based on whoever is in New Orleans at the end of the year though. That’s what we’re trying to do. Our focus is on a tough Kansas City team this week and that’s all I’ve been thinking about. I congratulated Aldon after his game, and hopefully he’ll be congratulating me after this game.
I remember playing at Arrowhead Stadium last year and at the end of the National Anthem the fans yell, “And the home of the Chiefs.” That really stood out to me. Derrick Thomas played there and I really love Derrick Thomas. To go back to a place where he dominated for so many years is really special to me. It’s humbling to be mentioned with Derrick Thomas. I loved watching him play.
We’re just taking it one day at a time though to reach our goals as a team.
Gig em!