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View Full Version : Dr. Jekyll – Mr. Bronco



Broncos Mtnman
11-24-2008, 01:36 AM
In his novel, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Robert Louis Stevenson is known for his vivid portrayal of a split personality, split in the sense that within the same person there is both an apparently good and an evil personality each being quite distinct from each other. In mainstream culture the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" has come to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

If Mr. Stevenson were to write the modern-day sequel to his popular horror story, it could be titled “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Bronco,” and would portray the split personality of a football team that possesses a vastly different character from one situation to the next.

In the original work, we follow the story of a doctor who feels as if he is always fighting within himself between what is good and what is evil and is pushing people dear to him far away. He is transformed into the cruel, remorseless, evil Mr. Hyde after drinking a potion of his own creation. Mr. Hyde is the evil side (the hidden side: Hyde/hide) of Dr. Jekyll's nature brought to the fore. After drinking this potion he becomes a disliked young man called Hyde. Dr. Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality. However, in the nature of Hyde, he suddenly becomes mysterious and secretive.

In the sequel, we would follow the story of a team that feels as if they are always fighting within themselves between what is good and what is evil and is pushing people dear to them (the fans) far away. They are transformed into the cruel, remorseless, evil Mr. Bronco after drinking the potion of their own creation (poor play calling, turnovers, no defense and lousy special teams). Mr. Bronco becomes the evil side of Dr. Jekyll’s nature brought to the fore. After drinking this potion, they become a disliked team called Mr. Bronco. Dr. Jekyll has many friends and has a friendly personality. However, in the nature of Mr. Bronco, they become mysterious and secretive.

The parallels of this Broncos team with the novel written by Mr. Stevenson are uncanny. On any given Sunday, these guys will score at will or struggle to convert a first down – they will play without committing a turnover or they will fumble their way right out of the game – they will play shutdown defense or they will allow one big play after another – they will play perfect special teams or they will miss field goals and surrender punt returns for a touchdown.

Sadly, today was a day for Mr. Bronco.

This week’s highs and lows:


HIGHS :2thumbs:

1 – Peyton Hillis. 17 carries, 74 yards and a touchdown. He also had 2 catches for 22 yards. After inheriting the starting job thanks to the numerous injuries the Broncos have suffered at the position, Mr. Hillis has continued to give very strong performances. What I find most impressive with Peyton is how he rarely goes down with the first tackle. This running back, who shared the Arkansas backfield with Oakland’s Darren McFadden, carried for more yards than the Raiders first round pick (74 vs 38) and more yards per carry (4.9 vs 3.8). While his teammates from Arkansas get all the press (Felix Jones of the Cowboys was also in the Razorback’s backfield), Peyton just does his job like a good soldier.

2 – Brandon Stokley. He only had 5 catches for 44 yards, but all but one of them was for a first down. When the team needed to move the ball, “slot machine” was good for it.

3 – Brandon Marshall. This was a 50-50 call this week. While Brandon had decent stats (4 catches for 84 yards), he appeared to give up on some of the passes thrown his way that were slightly off target. I don’t know if it showed on TV, but speaking as someone who was at the game, he looked to quit on some plays late in the game.

4 – First half defense. With the meltdown of the Broncos offense and special teams, the defense held the Raiders to a total of 3 points in the first half. They were effective in stopping the run and forced the Raiders to punt 3 times in four drives. The fourth drive was a field goal.


LOWS :2thumbsdown:

1 – Jay Cutler. A fumble on the first drive, along with an interception later, would be the only turnovers committed by the Broncos. He was off-target the whole game and seemed flat in most of the second half. I don’t know if it had any bearing, but Jay never really seemed to bounce back after the cheap-shot to the head on the first drive by the Raiders. Jay was visibly shaken on that play, and never really seemed himself the rest of the game.

2 – Special Teams. OK, it’s official. I’m very concerned about Prater and his inconsistency. For the fourth game in a row, he would miss his first field goal attempt (the first of two he would miss in today’s game). Over those four games, Matt is a dismal 50% (making only 5 of 10 attempts). Sorry, but that doesn’t get it done in the NFL.

Another failure on special teams was the second quarter punt return for a touchdown. While Kern kicked the ball a very impressive 60+ yards, he outkicked his coverage. Johnnie Lee Higgins had a good 20 yard head start on the kick and successfully returned the ball 89 yards for the score. I don’t think he had to break a single tackle on the play.

3 – Play calling. From the poor decision to play for a field goal just before half time, to the decision to throw the deep ball play after play, the offensive playcalling was questionable at best. The defensive playcalling would be even worse.

4 – Second half defense. I mentioned the great play of the defense in the first half of the game, but as good as they were in the first half, they were equally AS BAD in the second half. A true Dr. Jekyll – Mr. Bronco performance. The Raiders had four possessions in the second half and would score touchdowns on the first three of them. The only drive that didn’t result in a touchdown was the last drive when the Raiders were killing the clock to end the game. They would also convert 7 of 7 third downs in the second half thanks to the defense’s inability to provide ANY pressure on the Raiders in passing situations. The Raiders would score an offensive touchdown for the first time in over three games. They would follow that up with a second, then a third.

The pass defense wouldn’t be asked to do a lot, which is a good thing because they wouldn’t give a lot. The second year quarterback of the Raiders would only throw the ball 11 times in the game, but he would complete all but one of those attempts. One of those passes leads me to the next “low” of the game.

Finally, with a lead in hand and the Raiders committed to running the ball to end the game, the defense couldn’t tackle to save their lives. Huggie Bear’s baby boy (Justin Fargas) successfully kept the ball moving on every drive in the second half. Then, when he needed a break, the defense would allow his backup (McFadden) to score two rushing touchdowns. When everybody from here to China knew the Raiders were going to run, the defense would repeatedly be out of position and exhibit some of the worst tackling I’ve ever witnessed. You can blame being out of position on the youth and inexperience of the numerous rookies the Broncos are using this season, but there’s no excuse for sloppy tackling.

5 – Dre Bly. He was the cornerback covering the Raiders #1 receiver for this game (a guy named Ashley Lelie – hmmmmm, that sounds familiar for some reason). Bly was the cover guy on Lelie when he would catch a huge 51 yard pass play. Lelie would finish the game with 92 yards and a touchdown. I think the fact that the WR we are discussing is Ashley Lelie tells you all you need to know about Bly’s play against him today.

In the Jekyll and Hyde novel, Mr. Hyde would show up when you least expected it and the result would usually be something really bad. In the end, Mr. Hyde would spell the end for Dr. Jekyll.

In the sequel, Mr. Bronco does the same thing. As the season nears it’s end, all we can do is hope that Dr. Jekyll can keep him under wraps long enough for the Broncos to win the division and make the playoffs. If not, we could see Mr. Bronco destroy all the promise this team held when the season started.

And THAT would be a true horror story.

BMM

Lonestar
11-24-2008, 01:42 AM
outstanding article, must have been a long drive home tonite..

I'm guessing you had a long time to compose this one..

BRAVO..:salute:

sneakers
11-24-2008, 03:11 AM
Kinda like good Jake-bad Jake :shocked: :eek:

CrazyHorse
11-24-2008, 09:51 AM
Kinda like good Jake-bad Jake :shocked: :eek:

Now it's become "Good Jay - Bad Jay"
Not much difference.

shank
11-24-2008, 10:44 AM
i continue to support bly and prater.

prater was doing very well this season.. in my mind, the law of averages assured that prater would hit a cold streak at some point. he's still young, the misses are proabably in his head. if he can shake them out and just kick the ball, he'll return to early season form.

and to be fair to bly, the deep ball has always been lelie's bread and butter. he has done the same thing to a LOT of CBs in this league, despite our feelings towards him. bly has not been playing great, but he's not as bad as a lot of people are saying either. is he earning his big paycheck? that's debatable.

Lonestar
11-24-2008, 12:03 PM
i continue to support bly and prater.

prater was doing very well this season.. in my mind, the law of averages assured that prater would hit a cold streak at some point. he's still young, the misses are proabably in his head. if he can shake them out and just kick the ball, he'll return to early season form.

and to be fair to bly, the deep ball has always been lelie's bread and butter. he has done the same thing to a LOT of CBs in this league, despite our feelings towards him. bly has not been playing great, but he's not as bad as a lot of people are saying either. is he earning his big paycheck? that's debatable.

to be fair to prater he is a rookie for all intents and purposes, and had we gotten in a bit closer perhaps the outcome would have been a TAD better..

Last year we could not close the scoring out in the red zone and we called on Elam to deliver.. this year we are not having the huge issue in the red zone, it is getting near the red zone..

Give him the same circumstances of getting gimmies inside 35 yards and I suspect he will not being seen as "THE BAD GUY" ..

Folks if we are CONSISTENTLY relying on the FG guy to win games then something is seriously wrong IMO....

Which I think everyone is now getting..

Dean
11-30-2008, 07:48 PM
Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are back. :beer:

I would hate to be working in a Vegas casino in charge of laying odds on the Bronco games.:confused:

Lonestar
11-30-2008, 11:04 PM
just posted this in another thread when going through my old posts thought I should add it here.


I obviously screwed that same pooch but I'll admit it..

IIRC Mountain Man labeled this team Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde..

I think the better name should be the Denver Yo Yo's.

Up and down and who knows which team high or low your going to get each week.

It is obvious to all the season ticket owners that the team stinks in Invesco but plays lights out in other cities..

Guess this week we were the Denver Jets, a couple of weeks ago the Denver falcons and the first week of the season the Denver raiders.. because the only Denver fans that got to see great play this year were those that live in those cities..

Maybe we have to move to see them play well..