Manning pays back the Ravens with 7 TD's

Revenge was sweet for Manning in season opener.

The Broncos Fans waited 33 minutes for the game to start due to some severe weather. Then they waited another 30 minutes for Manning and company to get into a groove in the 1^st half.

But come the 3^rd Quarter Manning finally unloaded a spectacular barrage of payback on the Ravens scoring 3 TD’s. 7 TD’s total (Tied an NFL Record) against the Super Bowl Champs is no small accomplishment. No, the Ravens are not the same team defensively they were a year ago still… Offensively the Ravens have Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Dallas Clark and the $120 million dollar QB Joe Flacco as weapons.

The first 3 Broncos offensive series of the game produced nothing and if not for that slow start in the first half Manning could have thrown 10 TD’s. In the second half he was like Darth Vader ripping and shredding the Ravens secondary apart like a man possessed wanting some payback for last year's playoff loss.

His accuracy, his arm strength, his perfect timing, his spot on throws and his wizard like mastery of the hurry up offense was an absolute marvel to behold. It was one of those backside spankings that went well beyond a run of the mill rout. He completely embarrassed them. It was the kind of game that Manning surely said to himself afterwards, “How can I possibly play any better than I did today?” 

Broncos Fans expect great players like Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker to be on the receiving end of Manning TD’s (2 each) but it’s doubtful they could have imagined the explosive debut of TE Julius Thomas. He caught 2 as well and helped keep the Broncos close in the first half. After watching him in the preseason he impressed me more than any player and if he can clear himself of the legal trouble he’s in and mentally mature he has the potential to be as great a young TE playing for any team in the NFL.

The Broncos running game never really got on track but it didn’t matter because what they lacked in running prowess they made up for in an unstoppable aerial shootout that Manning made look like child’s play. 65 yards rushing isn’t going to be good enough on any other Sunday however and obviously must improve.

The Broncos D shut down Ray Rice and forced Flacco to throw. Most of the time the Broncos went with 4 man lines to pass rush.  They blitzed more in the second half and pressured Flacco. Shaun Phillips had 2 ½ sacks and new Safety Duke Ihenacho led the team with 11 tackles. That’s never a good stat. If your Safety is leading the team in tackles it’s generally because the front 7 were letting running and passing plays break through the first level. Granted some of Ihenacho’s tackles come up at the line of scrimmage but that won’t do against better offensive teams. Ihenacho was all over the field and when he hit someone he’d bring the wood with him.

It was good to see Chris Harris (He had 1 INT) fill in nicely for the injured Champ Bailey. Even better still the Broncos winning a game without the services of Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil is a real confidence builder. The Broncos secondary still needs improvement and is still a big question mark because they played in a rout but in game 1 they did a serviceable job.

The Broncos didn’t play a perfect game. The Welker drop that was clearly a fumble wasn’t called and the Danny Trevathan fumble at the goal line in any other game might of made a big difference but not in this one.  

Manning was not going to be stopped in this game. The mistakes didn’t matter because I’m convinced it was just one of those days where he was in control of the game and would have run up more scores to cover them.

I give Manning all the credit he deserves for having such a great start. I just hope that he can produce games like this in the playoffs and in a Super Bowl for the Broncos because his record isn’t as good in those games. Manning the regular season QB and Manning the playoff QB are 2 different guys.

The running game and the Broncos D must keep improving week to week because they’ll need them come playoff time and I don’t see them going far if they depend on a passing game offense only to win. Great win Manning, no one will deny that your game is there, it’s all there you were incredible.  

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.