Denver Native (Carol)
01-04-2010, 12:05 PM
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=9738
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As tough as the task might be in the aftermath of the team's season finale, a number of Broncos plan on watching the game film of Week 17's 44-24 loss to AFC West rival Kansas City.
While the game might sting for quite some time -- and one option would be to put the game in the rearview mirror -- veteran Vonnie Holliday said the team can learn plenty about itself from the disheartening loss.
"As embarrassing as this was, you have to go back and watch this," Holliday said. "Because you want to know which guys stepped up and gave it their all, and find out what happened."
Giving up 259 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Jamaal Charles certainly wasn't the way the Broncos wanted to conclude their 8-8 season. Brian Dawkins said the team was mentally prepared for Kansas City's offensive arsenal, but "what showed up on the field was not what we practiced."
So, once he gets the sour taste out of his mouth, Dawkins will look at the game film and zero in on where the breakdowns occurred.
"My level of disappointment is obviously pretty high," Dawkins said." But as far as getting it out of my system, I'll look at what I need to look at and then I'll be ready to roll and get my body and get my mind back in shape for next season. I'll need to digest to see what I could change in my play before I move on."
Before moving on to the offseason, the team's offensive output against Kansas City will also be examined. The Broncos showed offensive flashes on many occasions, and pulled to within 27-24 following a 3-yard touchdown reception by Brandon Stokley with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But the same offense that converted both of its red zone opportunities in the third quarter was shutout over the final 15 minutes of play, and the Chiefs scored 17 unanswered points to secure the victory.
To Jabar Gaffney, that uneven production brings one word to mind: consistency.
"This team has so much talent and so much potential, we just didn't show that consistently enough," Gaffney said. "In this game, you've got to be consistent or else you won't be playing come January ...It's terrible now that we let this opportunity go for this season, but we'll think about it, we know how this feels, and we'll know how to correct it come next season."
Although the score was far from favorable, Head Coach Josh McDaniels said the outcome certainly wasn't because of a lack of effort on his team's behalf.
"I think our approach and our attitude (on Sunday) with our team was fine," he said. "They were excited and ready to play and we just didn’t play as well as we wanted to.”
WATCHING THEIR PEERS
While the Broncos had hoped they would be playing themselves in one of next weekend's Wild-Card matchups, many will still likely follow along with how their peers perform when the postseason kicksoff -- even if it is a bit painful.
Regardless of the circumstances, Holliday said that the playoffs are an exciting time of year and something that, just like NFL fans, many players look forward to watching unfold.
"You kind of have to, though," Holliday said. "Everybody gets geared up to see what happens in the playoffs. This year's going to be tough, because we had four opportunities to get into the playoffs, and we blew all of them. It's just tough. It's a tough close to a year."
MOVING FORWARD TO 2010
As the Broncos' 2009 season comes to a close, Denver's 16 regular-season opponents for the 2010 season have been unveiled by the league. The Broncos' home schedule at INVESCO Field at Mile High includes meetings with Houston, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, the New York Jets and AFC West rivals Kansas City, Oakland and San Diego.
The team's road slate includes their customary divisional road battles with the Chiefs, the Raiders and Chargers, as well as trips to Jacksonville, Tennessee, Arizona, San Francisco and Baltimore.
The order teams will make their picks for the 2010 NFL Draft is starting to come into focus, too. Following a coin toss with the Jaguars, the Broncos will pick either 10th or 11th (from Chicago) in the first round of April's draft.
Starting this morning, players will start to clean out their lockers at Dove Valley as they prepare for the offseason. After they arrive to team headquarters, a number of players will conduct season-ending interviews with the media. Coach McDaniels will hold his season-ending press conference on Monday afternoon. Be sure to check back to DenverBroncos.com regularly for updates from Dove Valley.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- As tough as the task might be in the aftermath of the team's season finale, a number of Broncos plan on watching the game film of Week 17's 44-24 loss to AFC West rival Kansas City.
While the game might sting for quite some time -- and one option would be to put the game in the rearview mirror -- veteran Vonnie Holliday said the team can learn plenty about itself from the disheartening loss.
"As embarrassing as this was, you have to go back and watch this," Holliday said. "Because you want to know which guys stepped up and gave it their all, and find out what happened."
Giving up 259 rushing yards and two touchdowns to Jamaal Charles certainly wasn't the way the Broncos wanted to conclude their 8-8 season. Brian Dawkins said the team was mentally prepared for Kansas City's offensive arsenal, but "what showed up on the field was not what we practiced."
So, once he gets the sour taste out of his mouth, Dawkins will look at the game film and zero in on where the breakdowns occurred.
"My level of disappointment is obviously pretty high," Dawkins said." But as far as getting it out of my system, I'll look at what I need to look at and then I'll be ready to roll and get my body and get my mind back in shape for next season. I'll need to digest to see what I could change in my play before I move on."
Before moving on to the offseason, the team's offensive output against Kansas City will also be examined. The Broncos showed offensive flashes on many occasions, and pulled to within 27-24 following a 3-yard touchdown reception by Brandon Stokley with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But the same offense that converted both of its red zone opportunities in the third quarter was shutout over the final 15 minutes of play, and the Chiefs scored 17 unanswered points to secure the victory.
To Jabar Gaffney, that uneven production brings one word to mind: consistency.
"This team has so much talent and so much potential, we just didn't show that consistently enough," Gaffney said. "In this game, you've got to be consistent or else you won't be playing come January ...It's terrible now that we let this opportunity go for this season, but we'll think about it, we know how this feels, and we'll know how to correct it come next season."
Although the score was far from favorable, Head Coach Josh McDaniels said the outcome certainly wasn't because of a lack of effort on his team's behalf.
"I think our approach and our attitude (on Sunday) with our team was fine," he said. "They were excited and ready to play and we just didn’t play as well as we wanted to.”
WATCHING THEIR PEERS
While the Broncos had hoped they would be playing themselves in one of next weekend's Wild-Card matchups, many will still likely follow along with how their peers perform when the postseason kicksoff -- even if it is a bit painful.
Regardless of the circumstances, Holliday said that the playoffs are an exciting time of year and something that, just like NFL fans, many players look forward to watching unfold.
"You kind of have to, though," Holliday said. "Everybody gets geared up to see what happens in the playoffs. This year's going to be tough, because we had four opportunities to get into the playoffs, and we blew all of them. It's just tough. It's a tough close to a year."
MOVING FORWARD TO 2010
As the Broncos' 2009 season comes to a close, Denver's 16 regular-season opponents for the 2010 season have been unveiled by the league. The Broncos' home schedule at INVESCO Field at Mile High includes meetings with Houston, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Seattle, the New York Jets and AFC West rivals Kansas City, Oakland and San Diego.
The team's road slate includes their customary divisional road battles with the Chiefs, the Raiders and Chargers, as well as trips to Jacksonville, Tennessee, Arizona, San Francisco and Baltimore.
The order teams will make their picks for the 2010 NFL Draft is starting to come into focus, too. Following a coin toss with the Jaguars, the Broncos will pick either 10th or 11th (from Chicago) in the first round of April's draft.
Starting this morning, players will start to clean out their lockers at Dove Valley as they prepare for the offseason. After they arrive to team headquarters, a number of players will conduct season-ending interviews with the media. Coach McDaniels will hold his season-ending press conference on Monday afternoon. Be sure to check back to DenverBroncos.com regularly for updates from Dove Valley.