Jim Irsay's comments on Manning were not unreasonable

If someone would have told me the Colts would have convincingly beat the Broncos after their miserable performance against the Chargers last week I’d of said they were crazy. But this is the NFL and week to week you never know what’s going to happen on any given Sunday. As it turns out the Colts wanted the game way worse than the Broncos. 4 turnovers, penalties, a flawed offensive game plan and the worst Defense unit by the numbers in the passing game in the NFL finally brought the high flying Broncos back to planet earth.

You combine this with Peyton Manning having his worse game of the 2013 season and even a worse game still by Knowshon Moreno and it was too much to overcome.

A lot credit has to go the defense unit of the Colts they shut down Moreno and got after Manning when he tried to throw downfield. The Manning fumble that went into the end zone was a big play but I don’t see that moment as the turning point. The real one came when Offensive Coordinator Adam Gase or maybe it was Manning called 2 running plays up the middle on 3rd and short to Moreno and he couldn’t convert either one. The Broncos had way too many quick 3 and outs and it never gave the Broncos weak Corners and Safety’s a chance to catch their breaths against Andrew Luck who played a great game.  

Up until this game Moreno had played well beyond anything he has in his career thus far but in this one he played like the old RB that was on the horrible Josh McDaniels teams when the best he could do was pick up one or two yards per carry, showed zero quickness, no cut back ability, no power and would go to the ground after the first hit. Why Manning kept calling his number is a mystery. Not only was he totally ineffective on the ground, he was even worse when Manning used him as a check off Receiver in the flat and he still couldn’t make a play.

I don’t know how many times Manning chucked the ball to Moreno but the play wasn’t working. I have a hard time believing that the coverage was so good downfield that he couldn’t find either D. Thomas, Welker, Decker or J. Thomas open.

Manning was clearly feeling the pressure of the game early and once the Broncos got behind in the first half the crowd noise and his emotions hurt his ability to run the hurry up or get into any kind of a groove. In this kind of environment I almost wonder if it wouldn’t be better to slow the game down a little and huddle up to make sure the Receivers know exactly which routes to run. When Manning was trying to change the play at the line of scrimmage it had to be next to impossible for them to hear what play was being called.

Make no mistake after Manning coughed up the football and was sacked 4 times his confidence was rattled. He was throwing the ball into tight coverage and many of his balls had too much air on them without much zip. The absence of LT Ryan Clady became crystal clear because his replacement Chris Carter had no answers for the hard charging Robert Mathis, he sacked Manning twice.

"We've changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these," Irsay says, flicking up his right hand to show his Super Bowl XLI championship ring. (Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these," Irsay adds. "Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated. You make the playoffs 11 times, and you're out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You love to have the Star Wars numbers from, Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love this."

As many of you know that regularly read my blog I’ve been very cynical and skeptical about Manning’s ability to get the Broncos to a Super Bowl and win it. The comments Jim Irsay made about Manning this week have been the same ones I’ve been making since they signed him.

This loss had to really have an effect on Manning's headgame; it gives fuel to the doubters and naysayers that claim Manning buckles in big pressure games and the playoffs. Can he recover; can he still lead the team to Super Bowl win? Maybe, but now he and Broncos Fans can see he isn’t infallible or unbreakable.

The 2 immediate solutions seem easy. I believe they have to get Montee Ball on the field as their primary RB even if he isn’t as good a Receiver as Moreno he’s a better power runner than he is and they need the threat of a running game to execute the offense. More important still is John Fox and Jack Del Rio must find a way to get better play out of the Defensive Secondary because without it the Broncos cannot and will not go deep in the playoffs.  

On the Disabled List for the Jaguars Game

I didn’t get to see the Broncos game because it wasn’t nationally televised this weekend. I had planned to go to a Sports Bar in Astoria Sunday and watch it but I got my butt kicked so bad by a cold over the weekend and put myself on the disabled list. I couldn’t drag myself out of the house. Now, I really regret having such a knee jerk reaction to the Tim Tebow trade 2 years ago and cancelling my NFL Sunday Ticket. I’d had it since 1998. Next summer my contract with Dish runs out and I’ll drop it and go back to DirecTV. I’m still not over my mad the way the Tebow situation was handled but missing any game just is totally unacceptable.

It doesn’t sound like I missed much of a game though. The Broncos predictable won but from what I saw from the highlights the Jags gave them some trouble in the 1^st half. I knew the crazy point spread was going to motivate them. Even though the Jags have been down this season you had to believe their pride if nothing else was on the line and that they would give the Broncos a challenge.

I’m sure Peyton Manning and the whole team couldn’t help thinking about the matchup against the Colts this weekend in Indianapolis, I know I was. But after watching the Colts horrible performance against a lousy Chargers team last night now I wonder if the Jags probably gave the Broncos a better game than the Colts will.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Von Miller plays. Since now he knows he’ll be suspended for a year if he screws up again, I think he’ll be more than highly motivated to redeem himself to the team this week.

I’d say the same for Manning, if you take away the Cowboys once in a franchise offensive performance against him he’s breezed through these first 6 games. I still believe it’ll be a win but it will be a stressful game for him. Andrew Luck will be feeling it too but since the expectation is the Broncos will run them off the field he may rise up and surprise them. I doubt it though; the Colts D has some injuries to key players so it’ll be a football miracle if they hang with Manning and company.

I have to give some kudos to Knowshon Moreno again this week. If he continues to play as well as he has for the remainder of the season, he has to be considered for the NFL Comeback Player of Year award. Whoever that player was that couldn’t break a single tackle or get the tough yards up the middle is dead and in his place a warrior has emerged. We all know he can catch a pass but this power running surge he’s been on this season is unbelievable. My hat is off to you Knowshon.

The Cowboys have had the Bronze Boot in Laramie the last 4 years.

It’ll be an exciting weekend of football; the Wyoming Cowboys will be playing Colorado State in the Border War for the Bronze Boot in Laramie Saturday. Currently the Cowboys are place in 1^st place in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference and 1 game up on Boise State. The Rams are the only rival left in the conference. They’ve been playing against each other since 1899 with CSU holding the series lead with 55 wins to the Cowboys 44 with 5 ties.  

Starting with CSU each game from here to the end of the season will be a considerable test to see if they’re worthy of getting a respectable postseason bowl seeding. CSU, then San Jose State, then they play Fresno State Nov. 9th.  If they pull out wins against CSU then SJSU then the match up against Fresno becomes a very significant game. FSU is currently leading the West Division in the Mountain West Conference with a 5-0 record. If they can get a win against them then the biggest game of the season becomes the Boise State game the following week.

The Cowboys have one of best running and passing QB’s in the nation in Brett Smith and he should be a leading All-America candidate in 2013. Smith is a Junior this year and through 6 games he has a total of 2,247 yards of total offense and 18 TD’s. Since starting as a true freshman at UW he has a career total of 8,691 yards of total offense, with a total of 81 TD’s, 62 through the air and 19 on the ground. He’s an amazing athlete and one of the best QB’s I’ve ever seen play at UW. He also runs the hurry up offense as well as any QB in college football today.

Unfortunately for Smith he doesn’t play on the Cowboys Defense. They’ve given up a lot of points and yards this season, especially late in the 4^th quarter of games. My hope is they can play the bend not break type opportunist Defense they’ll need to for the them to achieve a successful record the rest of the way.

It’s so difficult for me take the Cowboys games one at a time like I do with the Broncos. Their program has been in a painfully long slum and they are so due for some success and meanful bowl game.

GO BRONCOS! GO COWBOYS!!

Manning 172.10 minus Spiller 25.45 = Epic Fail!

A big goose egg for wins and 4 losses in the Fantasy Money League I play in every year. The $700 payday for 1st place is slipping away from me fast. To think I had the opportunity and passed up Peyton Manning for CJ Spiller with the 5th pick in the 1st round of the draft is really haunting me. 

Going into the fantasy season Aaron Rodgers was the QB that was projected to be the first QB drafted and not until late in the 2nd round. Manning was going in the 3rd round on most draft boards I researched. If you’re keeping score at home Manning has 172.10 fantasy points and Spiller has a whooping 25.45 in the scoring format we use in our money league. Ugh! I have to get my mind around the idea that the NFL is a QB driven league and is in fantasy football too. The old school formula was always to draft RB's early and often, not anymore, at least not early this fantasy season.  

Another big mistake that I made and should have known better not to do was draft Rookies at the RB position. I took Eddie Lacy and Montee Ball, both have 11.65 points respectively in our scoring system. I really believed both would be starters on opening day and both would score big as the season progressed. Ball has been the odd man out in the 3 RB rotation that the Broncos employ and then Lacy fumbled his way out as a starter, and then gets a concussion.

I took CJ Spiller with my 1st pick, Eddie Lacy was my #2 pick and I took Russell Wilson as my QB in the 3rd round. The way he scored at the end of last season I thought Wilson was a great sleeper pick and could explode, instead he's imploded, through 4 games he has only 64.58 points. My backup QB is Andrew Luck. I sat Wilson in week in week 4 and Luck did get a few more points (Season total of 82.32 points) but not near enough to compensate for my under performing RB's

Maybe Lacy and Ball will emerge by mid-season but the lesson to be learned here is don’t draft Rookies high, they may not contribute anything until you're buried at the bottom of the standings.  

I’ll keep battling and hope I put enough wins together to make a run for the 4th and final playoff spot but right now I just hoping I can win at least one freaking game. Hey CJ, thanks Buddy you’re my Fantasy Hero.

Focus Today On Winning, Not Surrendering to get a High Draft Pick

Prepare yourselves for an angry rant Broncos Fans. I read a post on the Broncos Message Board The Orange Mane that lit me up tonight.

First off I’m happy to not be a part of the herd of some Broncos Fans who pretend and believe they know more about football, QB's, Coaches, the NFL Draft or who will and who won't be the next big college studs in next year’s draft. I don’t claim to be some genius guru either but I like to deal in the now and what’s possible today. I don’t write off a season with 9 games to go and only being 2 games out of the AFC West lead as some fans have lowered themselves too.

The most brainless discussions  I’ve seen so far this season are the ones that are related to the idea that the Broncos should lose games and roll over which really took fire after game 6 of this season thus to be in a better position to draft or make a big trade for Luck.

It was and still is insanity that these Luck scenarios always revolve around losing or rolling over when there’s still a lot of football to be played.

The Luck hype is so overblown, personally the day that Luck puts on an NFL uniform since it’s very unlikely the Broncos have a shot at him, I’ll be one of the people who’ll root to see him fail. There is no way possible this kid will live up to the unbelievable hype that’s been laid upon him. He’s a good QB but he’s no better than say somebody like Romo, Ryan, Sanchez, Flacco or even Kolb. One Broncos Fan post I read on a message board wondered if Luck was worth 3 #1 picks. Are you kidding me?

Putting Tebow aside for a moment, as dire as the situation appears at present the Broncos are only 2 games out of first place in the AFC West. God forbid the Broncos might actually beat the Raiders this Sunday, use it as a spring board then pull together as a team, then put more wins together and make a run. Is it likely? Maybe not but as a Broncos Fan I focus on the possibility that it could happen,

No... instead let’s focus on what we don’t have and keep rolling out the Luck scenarios, or next year’s other draft prospects because it’s far more interesting than the 9 games still left to play this season.

Oh…excuse I need to be thinking about losses and losing percentages for next year to see what draft position we get in next year’s draft then I’d be a forward thinking smart Broncos Fan right?

I doubt very seriously EFX are thinking about losing games or losing percentages right now. I’d have to believe they’re doing everything possible to focus on the Raiders game. After the Broncos are eliminated from the playoffs then it makes sense to think about next year but not right now.

The Broncos need to win this game, after that they focus on the next one but not before. I say I’m all in with the Broncos for this game and this game only and I hope the team believes the same. The whole Broncos organization must focus today on winning, not surrendering to an unknown tomorrow.