The Chiefs Wrecker was Decker

Eric Decker had a career day in Kansas City.

The Chiefs game was a very important one for the Broncos for 3 reasons. The first was that if they could beat the Chiefs for the second time they would have the inside track to the AFC West Title and take a 2 game lead over them with 4 games remaining. The second was that if they won they’d maintain a 1 game lead over the Patriots for the all important position of home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

But the most important reason for winning had to be rehabilitating Peyton Manning and his confidence. After coming off a lack luster performance the week before against the Patriots Manning needed to regain his composure and win a big game on the road against a divisional opponent.

The game didn’t start out well for him; the 2 interceptions in the 1^st half gave the Chiefs an early 21 to 7 lead. The devastating 108 yard kickoff return by the Chiefs Knile Davis, then the follow up drive by Alex Smith for another TD after the second Manning  INT had the Chiefs Fans at Arrowhead Stadium in full roar. It could have been the turning point of the entire season for him and the Broncos and gave momentum to the Chiefs if the lead held up in the second half.

But Manning was not going to give up that easy. He came back with an impressive drive late in the 2 Quarter when he threw what turned out to be the 1^st TD pass to Eric Decker who would later catch 3 more in the 2^nd half. The Broncos were able to go into half time only down by 7.

As Manning and the Broncos Offense have proven all season they own the 3^rd Quarter. Manning threw 2 TD’s to Decker in the 3^rd and only took 44 seconds off the clock in the 4^th to give Decker his career high 4^th TD catch. The 21 consecutive points were enough for the Broncos to hold onto the victory despite a valiant effort by the Chiefs.

It was Decker’s day to be sure but Knowshon Moreno made some key plays and Montee Ball rebounded from the big fumble last week to run for 117 yards. Demaryius Thomas didn’t record a TD but racked a 106 yards.

Thankfully the biggest news was Manning had his redemption and the Broncos jumped back into the top spot as the best team in the AFC but it wasn’t easy especially on Defense.

The Broncos secondary didn’t play well even with the return of Champ Bailey at Left Corner. He was actually benched on the final drive of the game. RCB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was out with a shoulder injury. Corners Chris Carter Jr., Quentin Jammer and backup Kayvon Webster who had a bum ankle didn’t cover well, and neither did Free Safety Mike Adams. You have to wonder how the game may have turned out had the Chiefs Receivers not dropped so many passes. The 2 big drops by Donnie Avery were killers but Dwayne Bowe and TE Anthony Fasano both dropped catchable balls too. Going forward you have to wonder if the Broncos can improve on this part of their Defense because at the moment it’s their Achilles Heel.

The Defense Line was without Derek Wolfe and when the Broncos went after Alex Smith with a 4 man front they didn’t touch him. Even when they blitzed they still didn’t get Smith for a single sack and Smith’s scrambles kept drives alive. The D did keep Jamaal Charles to 91 yards but those yards were ones that continued drives and moved the chains.      

The Defense, mainly the Secondary, must improve in the next several weeks as playoff time approaches. If they play well and Manning plays his A Game late in the December and January cold in Denver they’ll be unstoppable.

The Nightmare in New England

I like many Broncos Fans this morning woke up with a horrible hangover trying to forget what happened last night. Forgetting and moving on in the end is all you can do in this situation because it’s only 1 game and the Broncos season is far from over.

Looking at the remaining schedule they should be more than capable of winning 3 of their last 5 games. The Titans, Texans and Raiders are all winnable games. But the games against the Chiefs at Arrowhead and a hot Chargers team at home are not going to be as easily won.

Despite that, I honestly don’t see any scenario where the Broncos DO NOT make playoffs.

You’d think that’d be enough, just to get to the 2^nd level with the possibility of getting to the 3^rd which would be a Super Bowl but in my opinion as a long time diehard fan it isn’t. Winning the whole thing is the only thing. Another playoff appearance, another playoff win, another AFC Championship title just isn’t good enough. Having another early playoff exit and calling it a “good season”, if that’s what happens this year for many fans would be satisfying enough. Having a “great season” and winning the whole thing is the only outcome that will be satisfying for me.

So as I try to clear my head today and attempt to be optimistic about the possible future outcome for the Broncos this season it’s impossible to not look back at this game last night and relive the devastation.

The Montee Ball fumble swung the momentum to NE in the 2nd half.

Football is and will always be a team game and the Broncos in the second half made numerous mistakes as a team to blow a 24-0 half time lead. The big fumble by Montee Ball, the poor pass rush, the awful pass coverage by a banged up secondary and the horrific game by Wes Welker contributed (Dropped passes and Punt Flub) to the epic meltdown.

Despite all the miscues and with the help of an amazing performance by Knowshon Moreno (A career high 224 rushing yards and 1 TD) they did have a chance to win it in the 4^th quarter.

But…the one key element to finishing the game and winning it in the 2^nd half was Peyton Manning and he shrunk with the responsibility while Tom Brady rose to it.

Manning vs. Brady

I pointed out in a pregame blog yesterday that Manning Must Master Brady and the COLD. In it I said despite having a bum ankle, a 2-9 career record against Brady in Foxboro and a 2-8 record in games that were below freezing, NOW was the time for Manning to put up or shut up. Unfortunately Brady put up and once again can say he shut up Manning in a side by side QB comparison.

If you watched the game in full you couldn’t help but notice that the cold was clearly bothering Manning. When the cameras took close ups of his red face you could see it contort not just from the cold but from his lack of confidence. On the sidelines he looked like the coldest player on the field.

The cold windy conditions affected his ability to make pass plays both short and more noticeably long. His balls were off target and had no zip when he delivered it. He threw too many balls into double coverage and missed throwing to open Receivers.

Manning has never been a scrambler or nifty on his feet and the bum right ankle adds to that deficiency but it can’t excuse his poor play and decision making. The truth is Manning looked like a really old man and a sometimes dead armed QB in this game.

Brady on the other hand didn't have any trouble with the chilly windy weather, looked 10 years younger, moved well on his feet in the pocket, had zip on his throws and exhibited the confidence in his abilities that he’s had from day one of his career.

Brady won this go around and maybe Manning will get another shot at him, hopefully at home in the playoffs but now he and the Broncos will have to regroup, leave this one behind and win this week in KC. Their playoff destiny still lies in their own hands, if they can have a short memory. It’ll be hard to forget this one but they will have to and so will the fans. So will I.

Broncos Defense spoils Shanahan's Homecoming

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie pick 6 late in the 2nd half sealed the deal for the Broncos.

Mike Shanahan is the greatest Coach in the History of the Denver Broncos franchise and ranks as one the best in NFL History and one day he will be in the Hall of Fame. This week he came back to Denver hoping to remind Broncos Fans that he’s still one of the best in the NFL and capable of leading a team like the Redskins to a win over his old team.

During the first half and into the start of the second half the Redskins Defense seemed to have handcuffed Peyton Manning. If you combine this with some outstanding play in the Washington secondary and an aggressive pass rush through 2 ½ quarters it looked the Redskins might hang in there and make a game of it. After DeAngelo Hall intercepted a Manning pass and ran it in for a 26 yard pick 6 and a 21-7 Skins lead early in 3^rd Q Shanahan started to get away from a the game plan that could of helped him pull off a big upset.

Instead of pounding the ball down the Broncos throats with Alfred Morris and Roy Helu, to slow the game down, run time off the clock and keep the ball out of the hands of Manning he repeated his past history. He decided his large clever offense play book could fool the Broncos D by having a mix of run and Robert Griffin III passes to keep the chains moving, drives alive and thus scoring more points.  

It failed, just as is it failed late in his career in Denver when his offense unit’s biggest strength was playing smash mouth football and ball control offense. The last 2 or 3 years in Denver Shanahan seemed to think John Elway was still his starting QB and that Rod Smith, Eddie McCaffery and Shannon Sharpe was on the line of scrimmage. Shanny believed that running the ball well even when it was very successful and effective was boring. Balance was very important to him. He strongly believed that in his system Jay Cutler could execute the deep passing game but Cutler could never play consistently enough and the only real deep threat he had in those years at WR was Brandon Marshall.

Despite having one of the strongest running teams in the NFL those last few years in Denver Shanahan refused to alter his game plan. Had he just made the decision to run the ball in many of the close games the Broncos played in back then I’m convinced his Coaching stats in Denver would have included more regular season wins and playoff W’s. Shanahan’s ego and belief in his own system was blinding his ability to play to the strengths of the team he had before him. He needed to make adjustments to his offense that fit the talent of the team but he refused and it cost him his job.    

Yesterday was a repeat performance of his failed philosophy. RGIII still wasn’t a 100% with his injured knee and doesn’t have a stable of quality WR’s to throw to. TE Jordan Reed was taken 23^rd in the 3 round of this year’s draft and he was been RGIII’s only Receiver consistently catching any balls for him in the Redskins last 2 games. So it seemed fairly stupid to have RGIII drop back and attempt to throw the ball despite Denver’s secondary being dead last in pass defense coming in. The pass rush of the Broncos made up for it though and got after RGIII even so much as to injure his other healthy knee.

The Broncos Defense played as well in the second half of this game as they have all season and deserves much of the credit for this win getting 3 sacks and 1 pick 6 by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Last week the Broncos turned the ball over 4 times and lost. This week Manning didn't play his best game and turned it over 4 times and they won thanks to the D. He rebounded by passing well in the 2nd half and with the help of Knowshon Moreno adding 133 yards of total offense. Moreno had a few hiccups against the Colts last week but played hard again this week and made some key plays that helped the Broncos score 38 unanswered points in the 2^nd half. I was happy to see Montee Ball get more playing time and score his 1^st NFL TD. One day Ball is going to be a big stud for the Broncos.

The injuries to Julius Thomas, Duke Ihenacho and Chris Harris could be big for the Broncos in the second half of the season if serious. Hopefully Manning's ankles will get enough rest so that he’ll be stronger in 2 weeks. I know they were some other players dinged up for the Broncos but at this writing no injury report has been published.

All in all the Broncos had a great first half of the season. I just pray now that after they come back from the bye they finish just as well, especially in the playoffs and let’s hope the Super Bowl.  GO BRONCOS!!

Next weekend will be all about my wife Jenny Jacques since the Broncos don’t play. What’s on the calendar Babe? I’m all yours.

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!!

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!!