Win it NOW!!!

NOW is time to add a 3rd to this trophy case!

The last time the Denver Broncos won a Super Bowl was in Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami against the Atlanta Falcons. In the years since the Broncos have had some good teams and they’ve made the playoffs several times but only have 3 playoffs wins to show for it. One was against the Patriots in 2006, the Steelers in 2012 and the win last week against the Chargers.

The reality is since 1999 the Broncos have had only 3 excellent opportunities to win a Championship.

The first opportunity came in 2006 when Broncos run came to an end by losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. The Broncos lost because they turned the ball over 4 times. All the Broncos lacked were a good QB. Jake Plummer folded up his tent in that game and after it his career was essentially over. By mid season of the 2007 season he lost his job to Jay Cutler.

The next best chance was last year when the Broncos had home field advantage throughout just as they did in the 2006 season. They lost to an inferior team in the Baltimore Ravens in part because of poor pass defense but also because Peyton Manning had 2 critical INT’s. The Broncos O turned the ball over 4 times. Many Broncos Fans seem to forget that part of the game and focus on Rahim Moore’s bad play that gave the Ravens a late TD. You can’t turn the ball over 4 times no matter how good or bad you’re D is and expect to win many games. You can’t expect to win games when the #1 QB in the game can’t make a play at the end of the game and expect to win either.

Without a heroic performance by Trindon Holliday and his 2 kick returns for TD’s the Broncos would have been completely blown out by the Ravens. Manning totally shrank in the cold weather of Denver, it clearly affected his game.

This year is the third great opportunity the Broncos have had to win a SB and just as in the other 2 they have home field throughout. This year the Broncos are a better team offensively than last year but on the Defensive side of the ball the team may be worse.

You can come up with every football clique to describe how the Broncos break through this year. In my opinion if the Broncos are going to beat the New England Patriots this Sunday it has to start with Manning because he’s the leader of the team and was hands down the best player in the NFL during the regular season. He must play well for 60 minutes. No matter how bad the D plays he must be able to overcome it and play his A game. The Broncos also need to slow the game down and run the ball just as much as they pass it and grind down the clock.

If the D can stop the run and force Tom Brady to throw the ball, the Broncos chances of winning increase. If the D doesn’t give up to many big passing plays that would contribute to a win as well. It’s the bend not break style of D that’ll help the Broncos advance. You’d expect Brady to make some plays but if they can limit the big ones the Broncos have a good chance.

Frankly I don’t care how they win the game as long as they win. The last few years have been football hell; the Broncos have blown too many opportunities to win another ring. They can’t blow this one. Manning maybe as one good year left and after that it could be a lifetime my friends before the Broncos have another chance as good as this one to win a Championship.

Broncos Defense Not Ready for Primetime

With all anger still simmering at the surface after the Chargers loss last Thursday night I decided to postpone writing about it. I’m sure many Broncos Fans felt the same as I did about the game going in, that another win was imminent.

As we learn every Sunday there are no locks, no gimme’s and that on any given Sunday anything can happen. You never assume anything and you must take them one at a time. You must be able to win the games you’re supposed to win at home late in the season to solidify your position in the playoffs.

Peyton Manning and company were coming off a short week and an impressive win over the Titans last Sunday on a cold day in Denver. He was a completely different QB than the one in the Patriots game a few weeks ago when it was apparent his game and his psyche were on ice.

But from the opening snap of the Chargers game it was obvious they wanted the game far worse than the Broncos did. The Broncos defense and special teams were horrendous. They let Ryan Matthews one of the must inconsistent RB’s in the NFL run wild for 127 yards. The Safety’s and Corners particularly Rookie Kayvon Webster gave up big pass plays to help keep drives alive. The Front 7 of the Broncos did get 2 sacks on Philip Rivers but for most of the game they couldn’t get to him. The tackling by the LB’s at the second level was as bad as you’ll see. Danny Trevathan seemed to be the only player that was willing and able to make some stops.

The first half turned into a field position game and the Broncos started drives inside their own 20 to many times and had too many 3 and outs. Manning was being contested on every passing play and the Broncos running game could never get any traction. Despite the bad start the Broncos made a run in the 4^th Q but came up short.

The worse part of the loss came when Rivers was on the NFL Network after the game talking smack and hamming it up with the panel. You’d think his team had just won the Super Bowl the way he was acting but it was nothing more than an opportunity for him to enjoy the spotlight for 20 minutes because he knows that his team won’t make it to the playoffs. He likely won’t get another nationally televised interview because all he and his team can do now is be a spoiler. I can’t stand Rivers and his appearance after the game on the NFL Network flipped the switch that ignited my mushroom cloud.

Thankfully this Sunday the Broncos got a reprieve as the Dolphins did them a big favor and beat the Patriots. They still hold the #1 seed going into the last 2 games and must hold onto it. After seeing just how bad the D can play against one of the bottom feeder teams of the NFL if the Broncos have to go on the road to face New England my money would be on Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Let’s hope the Broncos can close the deal by beating the Texans and Raiders and securing home field. Wouldn’t it be a disaster if the Broncos tanked and fell into the Wildcard Spot if they lost them both? The Chiefs are not going away and are playing good football right now.

The other hope is that Fox and Del Rio can come up with a better defensive scheme so when the playoffs start Manning won’t have to score 50 points to win a game.   

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.

Manning Must Master Brady and the COLD

This is a biggest test of the year for Manning and the Denver Broncos.

Brady has 9 wins over Manning in their 13 career meetings, including the playoffs, which are the most wins for any one QB over another since 1993. Worse yet, Manning is 2-9 in games in Foxboro during his career and 2-6 against Brady at Gillette Stadium. Manning has also thrown an even 21 TD's and 21 INT’s in 11 career games in Foxboro.

Then there's this excerpt from a Denver Post article: “He’s (Manning) 2-8 in which the game temperature is below freezing (32 or below), 0-2 in any game below 20 and 2-5 in games between 20-29.”  “ He’s 8-13 in games where the game time temperature is below 40.”

For most of his career Manning had the luxury of playing 8 regular season games under a dome and he could win most of those games. Clearly, looking at his stats Manning doesn’t play well in cold weather. The current temp in Foxsboro is 28 degrees with winds up to 23 mph. It’ll probably be much colder come kick off.

Manning after the Ravens loss.

Who can forget his bad game in a frosty Denver last year against the Ravens in the 1^st round of the playoffs?

Granted the Patriots are not as good a team offensively as in years past but from a statistical point of view the odds of Manning playing well enough for the Broncos to win are stacked against him.

This is the second game of a 3 game stretch were Manning has to put up or shut up. He got the win in Denver over the Chiefs in game 1 and now must beat the Patriots in game 2. If they can win today and win next week in game 3 of the Chiefs rematch the table is set for home field throughout the playoffs and shot at a Super Bowl appearance.

Despite the odds against him in cold weather games, despite the bad ankle and despite a horrible record against Brady, today has to be the day Manning breaks out and plays a good game. It’s the reason he was brought to Denver, the opportunity is clearly his to prove his critics wrong that he’s not a choker in big games late in the season or in the playoffs.  

It’ll take a total team effort to win today but if Manning hangs out an “Epic Fail” sign in this important game the dream of a Super Bowl win becomes much more difficult. GO BRONCOS!!!

The Dreessen and Tamme Reality

Gronkowski won't reproduce monster numbers again this season.

Fans must first understand that Joel Dreessen and Jacob Tamme were back up TE’s and neither IMO can be considered to be in the elite just yet. Dreessen has just 13 career TD’s in his 7 year career for 1352 yards. Tamme has a measly 5 career TD’s and for 885 yards and was signed for the league minimum. Tamme is a small TE at 236 pounds so he won’t start many games because he doesn’t have enough bulk to be an effective blocker. Blocking isn’t as sexy as yards or TD's but if a TE can’t block his role will be limited.

Yes, hopefully since Peyton Manning throws to TE’s in his offense they’ll see more balls but calling them a great one two punch without any games yet being played would be laughable to any objective 3rd party but a Broncos Fan homer.      

The inconsistent amount of times even a good TE contributes from game to game from season to season is even rarer still. The Patriots TE’s Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are talented Receivers and both had a great season last year in part because Brady’s only other weapon at WR was Wes Welker. So many times since they couldn’t run the ball effectively Brady was forced to check down to the TE. Gronkowski had monster stats last year but if I’m a betting man he won’t reproduce those numbers this year and the Defensive Coordinators he'll face will be targeting him in their game plans.

Many times a team that relies heavily on a TE is weak at WR and at RB like the Patriots. Brady won games with these guys but didn’t have a run game nor any consistent WR’s other than Welker. Since the Patriots were a weak team defensively with no run game they couldn’t win the final game.

For years Tony Gonzales and Shannon Sharpe put up great stats because their team was not deep with good WR’s. Comparing Dreessen and Tamme to Sharpe is a bad one to make; he was the best who ever played the game. Not only was he a clutch receiving TE he was a good blocker. Gonzales was even better at being a blocking TE.

The good TE’s in the league must be able to block, putting up stats is important and helps the team win games but it’s just as important that they can block in the running game and pass protect. Tamme and Dreessen as of yet have not proved to be consistent in all 3 phases of the game or they wouldn’t have been on the bench.

The Broncos should be better at TE than what we had last season but predicting this early that they’ll be big contributions is premature even in Manning’s offense. Taking the optimistic view is great but throughout the NFL there historically have been only a hand full that end up being major contributors to winning games or championships.

The "Stiff Arm" that could...

Greatest stiff arm in Broncos History.

What do I say 2 days later to describe the amazing game the Broncos played against the Steelers on Sunday?

First it would be… The Thomas “Stiff Arm” will go down in Broncos lore as one of the greatest plays ever.

Second would be the obvious…UNBELIEVABLE!!

Then it might be…ABSOLUTELY, UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Then it might be… YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN’ ME? AMAZING!!!

Then… YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! (while jumping up high in the living room air fist pumping the whole time.)

I can honestly say I haven’t screamed and yelled this much since the Broncos beat the Patriots in Denver 27-13 in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game in 2006. Guess what guys? That happens to be our one and only playoff win since the last Super Bowl winning season in 1999.

Still…the intensity of yelling for the game on Sunday was probably at an all-time high considering the circumstances and how everyone had written off the Broncos to lose it. As it turns out this game and the play that won it have to be considered as one of the best ever and certainly the best game ever in the new stadium.

I loved watching Elway get excited on the sidelines after the win and the whole stadium going wild.

So what’s next?

I don’t think it’s impossible for the Broncos to beat the Patriots this week. Here’s what I consider the keys to winning.

ON DEFENSE

First they must completely shut down the Pats running game which they should be able to do. If they can I think it makes it simpler for them to put a better pass rush on Brady.

Then it’s up to the Broncos front 7 seven to get some big time pressure on Brady. I hope they get away from the 3-4 and go with 5 and 6 man fronts sending 6 or 7 guys on every obvious passing play. That means they have to go to tight man to man coverage in the secondary. Hopefully they can cover one on one. I just don’t see the point in playing a deep zone against Brady and only sending 3 guys in to rush him. He’ll just pick us apart. They have to gamble and get pressure on Brady.

ON OFFENSE

Avoid turnovers; the Broncos had 4 in the last meeting. The Broncos must be able to run the ball and control the clock. The Broncos can’t win a shoot out with Brady. That doesn’t mean that McCoy shouldn’t let Tebow have some opportunities on first down to throw down field, they should. But they must control the ball and the clock and give Brady as little time as possible on the field.

If the Broncos get into a 3 and out offense early I think the momentum of the game shifts to the Patriots and as great as the Broncos played Sunday they can’t compete with Brady because he can ring up points quickly. They can’t get down by 2 or 3 TD’s by halftime or it'll be over and besides Brady won’t let up in the second half either.

The game will be won with an aggressive pass rush by the front 7 on Brady and a smart well conceived ball control offense that grinds away time on the clock.

If it’s tough assignment but this team welcomes it and I’m not going to be the guy that says they can’t win this one. Give us another miracle guys. GO BRONCOS!!!

Kyle Orton lacks, "Controlled Desperation or Sense of Urgency"

Orton may be smiling but he's about to lose his job.

First and foremost I understand football is a team game, I get it. I understand it’ll take time for Fox’s Offensive and Defensive philosophy to gel. Got it, thank you.

 I see and understand how the Broncos D has already improved (Von Miller is awesome) and will continue to improve, how the Broncos Corners must improve, how the young OL still is not playing well in the running game or pass blocking, how the Broncos don’t have a young speedy or even a powerful RB on the roster, how they don’t really have a solid (Sorry, Lloyd isn’t it) go to WR and how they don’t have much depth at many positions. Understood, got it. Lastly, no matter how many fans want to avoid it or deny it, our starting QB is one of the worst in league and isn’t going to improve. So...DEAL WITH IT!!

That is where I choose to focus my attention because it’s the most important leadership position on the field. A good QB can make an enormous difference for a struggling team despite these problems and help the team win tough games. Orton is never going to be the guy, it’s pure stupidly to believe he’s going to shed his skin and turn into Brady.

Speaking of Brady, just remove him from the Patriots, or Manning from the Colts as we’re already seen and what do you have left? About the same sort of talent the Broncos have on both sides of the ball right now. So this ridiculous notion that a staring QB doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things is a big load of bunk and the lamest excuse ever to defend Orton.  

One of the things I’ve noticed is that the fans who support the idea of starting Tebow have less hate and discontent directed at them than by Orton supporters (Of the few who still do) than during our last big QB controversy. Tell me if I’m wrong here? We’re only at week 4 of the NFL season and the rats are jumping the Orton ship much quicker than the same fans that defended Plummer over Cutler in 2007.  

During the Plummer/Cutler nuclear war in Broncos Country back then at the very least you could say that if you loved Plummer or hated him he did play well enough to get the Broncos to within one game of a Super Bowl.

As much as I hated the overrated Plummer and was overjoyed that he finally lost his job at least he had a few more tools to win a game or make a comeback in the 4 Q at times. Though he lacked talent in consistently delivering a long ball, many times the short pass, threw to many INT’s, lost to many fumbles, telegraphed his throws and missed wide open WR’s (Sounds a lot like Orton) Plummer at least had a second chance to make a play with his feet. The other worthy intangible you could hang on Plummer was the guy was a warrior with some heart and passion and played the game that way even in failure. His feet and his passion made his game.

Orton has all the flaws that Plummer had and absolutely zero chance of making a play with his feet. On the field Orton never seems to have that “controlled desperation or sense of urgency” to be a leader when the chips are down and the game is on the line. Orton looks like a zombie who took 3 bottles of Xanax before game time. Being calm, cool and collected is alright if you had a team like Montana had in front of him but when you don’t being a benign disinterested stiff on a team struggling to win at crunch time doesn’t get it either. I’ll take some fire over ice; Orton isn’t ice he’s just frozen solid.

Given all of the flaws in Orton’s game, I just don’t see how the argument can be made that he gives the Broncos a better chance to win than Tebow. Tebow has 2 great intangibles that Orton doesn’t. He’s a big strong young man and is capable of either running or throwing for a TD in the red zone.

The only intangible that Orton can claim is NFL experience. If it were good experienced none of this would even be debated, his job would be secure. But as Woody Paige noted this week, “His overall record as the Broncos' starter is 12-19. The team has won four of Orton's last 20 — a winning percent of 20. He is 0.00 percent when the team trails by three or more at halftime.”

I’m a Diehard Broncos Fan but I’m not a homer, I’m a realist, the Broncos will get slaughtered by the Packers this week. It’s just a question of how wide of a margin it is. So after he leads the team to yet another uninspiring performance I have to believe that Elway and Fox would say uncle.

Like Tebow or not he absolutely cannot play any worse than Orton has over the last 2 seasons. He must be the starter for the Chargers game so we can see if he’s capable of salvaging what’s left of this season. If he stinks, fine, at least we’ll know and then the Broncos can figure out what to do with him next year. He’ll win some and lose some with Orton we could lose all. If nothing else with Tebow in there watching the Broncos won’t be like putting needles in our eyes, throwing rocks at the TV or falling asleep from 3 ½ hours of mind numbing boredom.