Manning Cruises Over the 49ers

With great protection Manning didn't break a sweat against the 49ers.

This was Peyton Manning’s best preseason showing to date with the Broncos. Manning scored against the first team D for the 49ers and made it look easy. Eric Decker had a nice game and should have had 3 TD’s catches instead of 2. I hope Decker can minimize the drops when they count. All of the first string WR’s, TE’s and backups had drops yesterday, too many drops. Last year, the drops by Decker and Thomas were so numerous and costly. Decker must catch the ones like he dropped for that sure TD.

During the Manning series’ the Broncos OL did an excellent job in pass protection. Manning only got hit big once. They did a good job for Willis McGahee too. At 30 years old he can still run down hill with as much power as any RB in the league if he gets an opening. If McGahee can stay on the field all season the combination of his running and Manning’s passing should produce big yards and scores.

The Broncos first team D played well against the 49ers first team offense. I was very impressed how they shut down their running game. The pass rush was not as good, especially with the backups in. As a whole they didn’t get the kind of consistent pass pressure they’re going to need against better passing teams. Too many missed tackles by all 3 lines of Defense in this one too and the backup Safeties and Corners for the Broncos need a lot of work. I have real concerns about the Broncos D going into the regular season, the DB’s must improve their cover and tackling skills. The DL must improve their pass pressure in the 3-4, the 4-3 and even in the 5-2 which they lined up in several times in the game but didn’t achieve much.

It’ll be interesting to see which DB’s and DLinemen the Broncos stay with come the final cut down day. The only true standouts on D whose starting jobs are secure IMO are Miller, Dumervil and Champ at this point.

Personally I felt like the 9ers D and the team as a whole was overrated last year especially on D. They played in the weakest conference in the NFC last year and had an easy schedule. Since they had a 13-3 record last year their schedule will be much more difficult out of their division just like the Broncos this season. On offense last season 49ers kicked more FG’s for scores for points than TD’s last year so offensively they were ranked near the bottom.

You have to really take these preseason games with a grain of salt. I’m hopeful about the Broncos O being better under Manning but the Broncos D still needs a lot of work.

Seahawks Expose Weaknesses

Manning can still run a good hurry up.

I just watched the DVR version of the Seahawks/Broncos game. The most impressive part of it was the hurry up offense Peyton Manning got going at the end of the first half. Manning can still move the ball quickly when he has too. Too bad that drive had to end with a dropped TD pass in the end zone, my Mom could of caught that one.

Willis McGahee looked good in limited action but this was no thing of beauty for the offense as a whole. Manning had the 2 picks and was under pressure to many times. I was glad to see him get up after the one good hit that he took. His game while good is still not up to the level it needs to be yet and neither is the OL and the Receivers.

As good as the Broncos D tackled in the first game against the Bears they were horrible in this one. The pass rush was ineffective and when the Seahawks QB and RB's broke through the first level the Broncos missed far too many tackles on the second.

In summary I'd say Manning is on the comeback trail but he's not 100% in sync and the Broncos D still has a lot of work to do to get better. Thankfully these games don't count but when they do we have expect much better.

Good Preseason Tackling Beats the Bears

Jack Del Rio should help improve the Broncos D.

I just zipped through the Broncos game tonight on the DVR. The thing that most sticks out about the game was the tackling by the Broncos D. They didn't miss any that I remember seeing and that's amazing considering it was the 1st preseason game with backups and Rookies getting most of the playing time. Even on special teams they didn't miss any tackles. The Bears didn't have any big plays in the game at all.

Granted Matt Forte and Jay Cutler didn't play but the Broncos were very aggressive throughout. Most of the game they played a 4-3 D, many times they lined up 5 on the defense line.

They totally shut down the run game and were constantly putting pressure on all the Bears QB's in passing situations.

With Fox and new DC Jack Del Rio one would expect more aggressive defensive schemes but to be a successful D you have to be able to tackle consistently. So I'm certain Fox and Del Rio have to be pleased with this effort.

On offense the running game looked good. Willis McGahee, Jeremiah Johnson, Lance Ball and even Knowshon Moreno had some nice carries.

As for the Receivers Eric Decker and Matt Willis had some nice catches.

Manning's one series wasn't enough to see if his game is dead on yet. He threw some balls into good coverage that maybe he shouldn't have. The Brandon Stokley defection that got intercepted wasn't a great pass. But Manning looked comfortable in the pocket and the Broncos OL did protect very well for him and the backups.

Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher didn't play so it's hard to tell this early if they'll be able to pass protect against stud D's.

I was impressed with Brock Osweiler's limited playing time. He does have a strong arm, mobility and threw a nice throw for TD pass. He's got the physical tools and if he gets the head for the game he could be a good QB in the NFL.

My main concern going in was how well would all of the new players on the DL and in the backfield would play. Since the Bears didn't produce anything on the ground and the pass pressure was so good by the DL and LB's the Corners and Safety's didn't really get challenged.

It was a good start for the Broncos. Now it's on the Seahawks next week, hopefully the confidence will roll over and they can improve game by game until they count.

Smog, Climate Change and Energy are 3 Seperate Issues

I got into a debate with a Global Warming Alarmist from LA today on a message board and thought I’d share this rant. No sense wasting it on one person. If you have a few minutes, watch all or part of this video for some background.

The Global Warming Swindle

LA does have some smog and it does need to be dealt with but one EPA sized rule does not fit all. Remember living in the bubble of LA is different than living in the fly over states. Air quality needs to be addressed in big cities but even with the smog it's NOT causing global warming. Smog and global warming are not connected and never have been. The facts don't fit the argument and today the smog is not as big a problem as it was because cars are burning cleaner fuel and are not admitting as bad of emissions as 20 years ago.

Even if the air quality in LA still needs improvement we shouldn’t destroy the entire nation’s economy by spending billions on energy systems than have a huge deficit on cost and delivery. Especially if it can only be counted on to meet less than 10% of our energy needs right now. It’s a real fairy tale to believe that solar, wind and bio-fuels are going to heat and cool every house in the US or power every car, ship, truck or train that moves food and every other essential consumer products we need.

I’ll give one truly ironic and moronic thing I love about California greenies that drives me crazy in this fantasy that is global warming. Some think electric cars are the answer. Really? First where does the electric power come from? Power plants. What do they use as an energy source to fuel power plants? Coal and natural gas. When I lived in Sacramento 10 years ago (another city with smog problems) the people of California didn’t want any more power plants built because they burned coal or natural gas.

Well Gee… how the hell are you going to power electric cars if the power grid in cities like LA and Sacramento are maxed out already? Electric energy is not an invisible source of energy. I’m amazed how stupid people are in just this one case alone. Then the other issue is the manufacture and the disposal of the car batteries if millions are put into production and used. The chemical waste created by batteries would be far more harmful to the environment that any diesel or gas burning vehicle.

Just like power plants some don’t want solar farms either in California. It’s the same moronic thinking that is getting us all nowhere. Why are we letting California control the narrative on the whole climate change and energy debate? They don’t have a clue. They want Solar Energy but not at the sake of Turtles. Click on the link below to read to see firsthand the madness of  it all.

Mojave Solar Project Killing Threatened Desert Tortoises

Bio-fuels have proven to be a disaster. First you must use energy to plant the corn, then energy to harvest the corn, and then use energy to transport the corn to a processing facility, and then use energy to process the corn into fuel, and then use energy to transport the fuel to dispensing facilities. Wow, very efficient system there isn’t it? More energy is wasted in making the energy than any benefit of using it thus it’s a negative outcome not just from an energy standpoint but from an economic outcome. Not only that but the corn used to make the fuel is causing worldwide food shortages and driving up the price of foods that use corn additives.

The farmers planting the corn for bio-fuels love it because they’re receiving massive government subsidies to grow and plant corn for bio-fuel. We shouldn’t have to subsidize another grand and stupendous failure like this one period when oil, natural gas and coal are in abundance.

Wind and solar are a joke too, because they cannot and will not work in certain areas of the US because of weather conditions. I live in NW Oregon wind and solar is impossible here just as it is many parts of the country. It’s total nonsense that the people of LA or any of the other big cities can dictate what energy policy and air quality policy is going to be when nothing compares to their problems.

Nuclear power plants is one of solutions I support, but it’s the same thing, waste is created in the process so Greenies don’t want them. In France they’ve been safely using them for years.

One thing is certain we can’t let people who believe in global warming destroy our free society by letting a few cites with some smog problems dictate energy and economic policy to the rest of us. Oil, natural gas and coal in combination with the other useful alternative energy sources can and should be used but this straw man called global warming needs to be burned at the stake because man isn’t causing climate change.