Trevathan interception rescues the Broncos

Danny Trevathan makes the game saving interception against Tony Romo.

If your team scored 48 points in the 4^th quarter in any NFL game you’d fully expect to be winning that game, probably even embarrassing the other team. Yesterday in Dallas that score could only secure a tie. And if Danny Trevathan doesn’t make a sensational play with a diving interception with less than 7 minutes to go in the 4^th Quarter 48 points wouldn’t have been enough in this wild Arena Football like game.  

Thankfully for us Cowboys haters Tony Romo is still their QB and will be for the foreseeable future after signing a 6 year, $108 million contract extension with $55 million in guarantees and a $25 million signing bonus this off season. That deal makes Romo the highest paid player in Cowboys history and tops the $52 million in guarantees that Joe Flacco (the next big QB flop) received from the Ravens as part of his 6 year, $120.6 million contract. Hey Jerry Jones, thank you for cementing all your hopes on Romo it’s really working out well for you so far isn’t it?

The X factor in the game as it has been in so many games for the Cowboys is the checkered play of Romo. Despite having a career day throwing for 506 yards and 5 TD’s it took only one bad throw to erase the glory of all his gaudy stats. Romo is one of the most notoriously consistent chokers in the big games. This one has to hurt as bad as any he’s ever had in his career. It didn’t happen in the post season and the 2013 season hasn’t even reached the half way point yet but the devastation is no less humiliating and demoralizing.

Personally every time Romo’s name comes up in a conversation I think of this epic moment in 2006 when the Cowboys were playing the Seahawks in the playoffs.

  

Romo will never live this one down until he leads a Cowboys team to a Super Bowl win and frankly I believe that he’ll never come close to even making it to a Super Bowl game or even a playoff win which is fine with me. Next to the Raiders the Cowboys are 2^nd on the list of most hated teams so that's fine by me.

All of that said as Broncos Fans we come away from this win having serious concerns about the Defense. The Broncos gave up 522 yards of total offense. The Broncos had 4 sacks in the game (2 by Shaun Phillips) but take away those 4 plays and the Broncos were not getting enough pressure on Romo. The Broncos had 4 DL at the line of scrimmage most of the time and even when they blitzed they never really got to Romo or slowed down. The secondary was and still is the achilles heel of the D and they could not cover Jason Witten or Dez Bryant. Tony Carter and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were beaten up like baby seals.  

It didn’t help that Wesley Woodyard, Chris Harris and Robert Ayers were hurt in the game but we have to expect better overall play by the team regardless.

The Broncos Defense has allowed 27.8 points per game. Once the playoffs start this isn’t going to be good enough and it certainly won’t be if they make it to the Super Bowl. Thankfully the Broncos play the down trodden Jaguars next week so they’ll get a breather. The word is Champ Bailey will be back next week which is good because they need his wisdom and experience but from a speed prospective I still think Harris is just as good a start as Bailey.

Thankfully Von Miller will return from his suspension just in time for the Colts game in Indianapolis. Let’s all hope he’s finally learned his lesson and he understands that the game could be taken away from him for good if he doesn’t fly right. His pass rushing skills and tackling have been sorely missed. The Colts are a good team and his services will be needed.

Knowshon Moreno continues to amaze me. He had a sensational game yesterday, breaking tackles, running with authority and he made key catches to keep drives alive. His performance was overshadowed by Romo and Peyton Manning but he was a big contributor in the win yesterday.

As for Manning he finally threw his first interception of the season but when you consider that he’s thrown 20 TD’s for an amazing 1884 yards you can cut him some slack. He's playing at level right now that is beyond what any QB has done before or since, let’s just hope he can carry it over to the playoffs and a Super Bowl.

If the Defense can regroup and start playing better in the secondary it doesn’t look like anything can stop the overwhelming and unstoppable juggernaut that is Peyton Manning.        

Manning Humiliates Kelly at His Own Game

Chip Kelly's worse nightmare is a QB that is his intellectual equal at the no huddle offense.

Chip Kelly like many successful college Coaches that have been offense innovators quickly learn that what works well at the college level doesn’t always translate well at the NFL level. Kelly’s hurry up/no huddle offenses at Oregon were no match for most Pac 12 teams because he recruited the best athletes in the nation that also possessed blazing speed. Then once his players learned his system and could execute it most of the PAC 12’s weak defenses, especially the Corners and Safety’s, would break usually by the first half and certainly by the end of the 3^rd or 4^th quarter.

In Denver yesterday Kelly had to be on the other end of an epic beat down. He was forced to witness what a highly skilled veteran QB could do with the exact same offense he wishes to employ in Philadelphia trample his team underfoot in the same mechanically ruthless way in which his teams did in Eugene. His ego had to shaken and humbled by the experience.

In Kelly’s defensive he doesn’t have one of the greatest QB’s in NFL history (Peyton Manning) to execute his offense nor does he have the kind of talented receiving corps that is at Manning's beck and call. He doesn’t have the depth the Broncos have at the skilled positions on offense either.

Despite all that was going against him going into Denver this week his team hung with the Broncos in the first half. The Broncos D struggled to contain Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy early and by the end of the first half were clearly gassed from the constant pursue. Kelly had to be pleased that his team was only down 21-13 at half time.

After the 1^st half was over I felt the best the way the Broncos could get a jump on the Eagles was to slow the game down a little and get a stop on the Eagles first possession of the 2^nd half. Manning and company have been able to score at will and as in the case yesterday, so quick the D hardly had a chance to catch their collective breathes in the 1^st half.

Manning being the smartest QB in the game right now, knew this too of course and right on queue that’s exactly how the 3^rd quarter unfolded. He marched the Broncos down the field on 80 yard drive with a mix of pass and run for a TD that took just over 5 minutes off the clock at the beginning of 3^rd. 5 minutes wouldn’t be what you’d call a very time consuming drive by most NFL standards but in Manning’s version of the no huddle it was an eternity for the helpless Eagles.

Once the Eagles took position of the ball for the first time in the 2^nd half the rested Broncos D rose up and forced a 3 and out. After that any chance of the Eagles remaining competitive in the game was over. Just like Kelly had done so many times in his college coaching career lying waste to teams in the 2^nd half of games, Manning turned the tables on him and became his executioner.

For all of Manning’s incredible statistics thus far his best one has been the merciless stampede he’s waylaid on teams in the 3^rd quarter this season. In all the years I’ve followed NFL football I’ve never seen a team and QB pounce on an opponent so decisively and ruthlessly.      

After Manning put up his 3^rd TD of the quarter to Wes Welker with 5:05 left in the 3^rd the Portland TV station here switched to the Cowboys/Chargers game. It’s been years and years since I’ve seen that happen with a Broncos team. You’d probably have to go back to the John Elway era to find a network giving up on a game before the end of the 3^rd Q. It ticked me off pretty bad but since the game was never in doubt I accepted it much better.

Worthy of mention:

Wes Welker and especially Demaryius Thomas deserve some kudos. Thomas made a sensational grab for TD in the second half and really is maturing as a one of the best WR’s in the NFL. Knowshon Moreno rushed for 76 yards and continues to amaze me with his comeback from a guy who looked like he was on his way out of NFL not so long ago. The OL continues to dominate and Chris Clark did another good job of protecting Manning’s blind side although he did give up one sack and a couple of knock downs. The D did their job too shutting down the Eagles after Manning spotted them a 28-13 lead at the beginning of the 3^rd Q.

I can’t wait for the game next week. Next to the Oakland Raiders I loathe the Dallas Cowboys with just as much passion and nothing will be as a sweet as the recent Raiders wax job except a total annihilation of the Cowboys in Dallas. I can hardly wait to see that disgusted look on Jerry Jones face as the cameras focus on him in his sky box as his Cowboys get dismantled piece meal by Manning and Company. GO BRONCOS!!