Broncos v. Patriots: Reactions

[Hawgdriver]

You can hire Dale Earnhardt to drive your bus, but if it's a bus full of retards when you depart, it's gonna be a bus full of retards when you arrive.

Brutally sarcastic complaints about personnel aside, there were some good things. Offense looked good in the fourth quarter. Koppen stepped up like a stud. Receivers were on the same page more often than before. Von Miller dominated at times--enough to deserve the playmaker moniker. Guys like that make you think the FO has promise.

But the other retards on the bus make you wonder.

Overall reaction is that this game was lost because of poor execution. The poor execution on offense you can chalk up to lack of experience and not having gelled. And, well, lack of execution (yo, 23, come back strong next week and the next we need you).

But on defense, I'm not sure if the poor execution was retards giving their Sunday best, or a decent crew getting outmatched by a good offense. I wonder, did Del Rio and the boys go zombie under the egozealous chants of the Patriot's necropotent McShaman? (too many beers, I mean, was the poor execution attributable to unpredictable Patriots offense? Or attributable to general suck?) How I wanted the Broncos to win when the camera was on McDooshlz. Didn't happen. Non-Manning/Miller player execution. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU. this game angers me

So. Reaction?

[dogfish]

reaction?

same old enver efense. . .

:harf:

man, they just broke us down with that ruthless no-huddle. . . it was a shock and awe factor. . . we couldn't substitute, guys were winded, and we could barely get the play calls in from the sideline-- so they got us in some vanilla looks, and probably got some blown assignments as well. . . we were struggling to even get lined up. . .

and don't anybody kid yourself-- at that insane pace, i betcha anything brady was calling most of their plays at the line on thos first few drives. . .

that pace wears out your pass rushers-- and their quick-hitting passing game takes a lot of the value out of our edge rushers without immediate interior push. . .


also, joe mays is awful at pro football-- and if elway and fox aren't SERIOUSLY regretting their inability to land mccleen or tulloch, then they aren't as bright and qualified is i tend to think they are. . . we gotta get teo if it is in any way possible. . . i'd give a future first to get it done at this point, and call it the cost of doing business. . . either that, or find the money to pry somebody like tulloch away in FA, but clady's probably gonna be prohibitive to that. . . and we're going to need one of our middle picks to get another legit RB (even if hillman does come along, honestly)-- it won't wait any longer, no matter how badly ALL of our picks are needed on defense. . .

i am looking forward to getting kupes back next week, hopefully-- if we can put him next to koppen, it'll be the best OL personnel we've put in front of peyton. . .

and somebody should tell DT what san diego said about ryan matthews becoming "somebody else's fumbler" if he can't get his shit together. . . :tsk:



ultimately just one game. . . most frustrating one for me in forever, though. . . after elway said there's no plan B, that osweiler pick should've been a linebacker. . .

[CrazyHorse]

We need a MLB and S in the worst way. To think we could have had Burfict instead of Trevathan in the 6th.

[Northman]

Yea, Burfict did a lot to beat the phins yesterday. Oh wait.......

[catfish]

be happy Hernandez couldn't go and Gronk was dinged up

[sneakers]

lol retards on a bus

[BigDaddyBronco]

The lack of LB's and S's to make the Pats "pay" for going over the middle so much hurt. Mays was always in the wrong place and Moore and Adams are either in the wrong place or are making ankle tackles. We need a heavy hitter back there (fines and penalties be damned) to put some fear into the WR's.

I really don't know if stud DT's would have made a difference yesterday against the run. They would have been sucking wind as well, maybe they could be rotated if Welker was knocked out on the field though.

[TXBRONC]

I wouldn't say it was the same old enver efense. The Patriots offense kicked their asses up and down the field but are you guys forgetting that our offense turned the ball over three times? Lets also not forget that the defense stopped the Patriots on their opening drive of the 2nd half and then our offense went three and out. It was the defense getting critical stops in the 4th that even gave the offense a chance to come back and win the game.

[shank]

i'm not worried about the defense or the team. the pats have a good offense and that no huddle was rough. it was up to our offense to keep up, and they fell short.

the thing that does worry me is that our defense really needs to figure out how to get off the field on 3rd down, it's ridiculous how they have a knack for giving up n+1 yards on 3rd and n.

[MOtorboat]

Turnover margin.

I don't see that much different in talent between the two teams.

[Northman]

I wouldn't say it was the same old enver efense. The Patriots offense kicked their asses up and down the field but are you guys forgetting that our offense turned the ball over three times? Lets also not forget that the defense stopped the Patriots on their opening drive of the 2nd half and then our offense went three and out. It was the defense getting critical stops in the 4th that even gave the offense a chance to come back and win the game.

Yep.

Turnovers have plagued us a lot this year. We have to find a way to take care of the ball. We just have too.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

Honestly, even for all of Peyton's pretty stats, the offense just didn't perform. Once again, they were extremely slow to get going and didn't play with urgency until the game was out of reach. TOP: Denver 24:11, NE: 35:49. That's ridiculous. That means the offense isn't doing well sustaining drives and that the defense isn't getting off the field on 3rd down. The offense put the defense in a deep hole early. We know the Pats are going to score points, we have to be able to match. When we score points the other team's game plan must adapt. Yesterday, they didn't have to adapt to shit, they ran the same 3 or 4 plays all game and we couldn't stop them. We aren't executing, and after 5 weeks it's just not getting better.

As I stated in the game thread, this defense has holes, we all know who/what they are, but they are built to play fast with a lead. That's not an excuse, but that's who our defense is. The offense hasn't provided them that lead for much of the season, hence the 2-3 record. 3rd and 17 and they run for the first down? Everyone knew they were running on that play. The Pats were essentially giving up and had resigned to punt the ball back and the defense just fell asleep at the wheel. I almost put a beer bottle right through my 60" TV... My son saw me draw back and screamed "DAD!" to snap me back to reality.

Our RBs just aren't very good nor is our rush offense. For all the love he gets here, McGahee just doesn't run hard anymore and we have absolutely no real depth behind him. Watch him when he runs, he runs upright and never lowers his shoulder prior to contact. His first move after getting the ball is to hesitate. It drives me absolutely nuts. His 240 lbs allows him to spin and run through arm tackles, but he's darn near useless on 3rd and short (as are all our RBs because they refuse to run with power) and when he gets real contact (wrapped up) he stops churning his legs and goes down. Honestly, he runs like he's scared to get hurt. Ball is below average and Hillman has yet to show anything other than he's really not as fast as people think he is. Hillman isn't Sproles, or Charles, or Lesean McCoy, or CJ2K. He's faster than McGahee, but not by much. I find our inability to run the ball when we have to to be a problem. We can't line up and show run, and actually run. All our rushing stats come out of shotgun draws when we catch the defense defending the pass. Yesterday the Pats ran all over us, even when we knew it was coming. I miss our ability to do that.

[TXBRONC]

Yep.

Turnovers have plagued us a lot this year. We have to find a way to take care of the ball. We just have too.

That and generate more turnovers on the defensive side of the ball.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

Turnover margin.

I don't see that much different in talent between the two teams.

Their RBs are 100X better than ours. They are faster and run much harder. As a matter of fact, I can't think of many teams that I wouldn't trade our crop of guys for theirs. We have one of the worst units in the league, by far. The Pats O-line, which is supposed to be their achilles heel, outplayed ours, mostly because Brady got the ball out quickly (as he does).

I don't understand how Welker is always the forgotten man. Chris Harris played him extremely well and was still getting beaten time and time again. Why in the hell don't we just jam this dude off the LOS? Seriously, the blueprint to beat NE is and has been the same for years - jam the living shit out of their undersized WRs to throw off the timing. Welker was given a free release almost every snap. Harris was staying with him, but Brady's ability to just "know" where Welker will be and throw into tight windows is extremely hard to defend. I'd have liked to see Harris and Champ switch it up. Harris could've covered Lloyd and I would've liked to see Champ in bump and run with Welker, just beating the shit out of him, on every play.

[Nomad]

The lack of LB's and S's to make the Pats "pay" for going over the middle so much hurt. Mays was always in the wrong place and Moore and Adams are either in the wrong place or are making ankle tackles. We need a heavy hitter back there (fines and penalties be damned) to put some fear into the WR's.

I really don't know if stud DT's would have made a difference yesterday against the run. They would have been sucking wind as well, maybe they could be rotated if Welker was knocked out on the field though.

I was thinking the same thing and told my buddy, 'someone needs to take the bullet and knock the snot out of Welker as he comes across the middle to think twice'. Welker had his way yesterday.

[CoachChaz]

I'll say it again. We only have ONE player on our defense that has any potential 2-3 years from now.

[Northman]

I'll say it again. We only have ONE player on our defense that has any potential 2-3 years from now.

Raheem Moore right?










JK How bout them Yanks? *Snicker*

[artie_dale]

that NE no-huddle seem even more rushed than usual. We had players still scrambling just to get to their position by the time Brady got the ball snapped. It was definitely rushed. Even during a typical no huddle, defenses have at least a moment to gather themselves (obviously without subbing) before the snap. BB & Brady were brilliant in even denying our defense that. It was effective and it showed. I was still please with our overall defense up to the point that the Pats ran and gained firstdown on a 3rd & 17. That was the biggest dissappointment on the defensive side of the ball. Not a whole lot can be done for what Welker did.

But, I think the biggest factors were the two fumbles by D. Thomas and W. McGahee. We were on the verge of scoring during both turnovers. Peyton looked great.

So, the count can be easily narrowed down to 3 specific plays (2 fumbles and a converted long 3rd down).

[Traveler]

Our offense is a work in progress. It's the defense that is still holding us back. They have given up 25 or more point in 4 of our 5 games. 30 or more twice within the last 3 games. This team has definitely not closed the gap against NE. I'm guessing Champ should just be quiet from this point forward. Ya think?

In a thread started earlier this offseason, I mentioned the team would have growing pains just getting used to one another. And next year is when we'd mature into one of the elite teams in the NFL.

After yesterdays poor showing by the defense, I'm not sure we'll be ready for prime time within the next three years. This point driven home by the Woodhead conversion on 3rd and 17. That was frickin' ridiculous. Del Rio & company better figure out something to help get off the field on 3rd down or we might not have to worry about trading up for some the elite defensive talent in the draft next year.

Offensively, a blessing in disguise is McCoy probably won't be here next year and hopefully the team can bring in more road graders to kick start the run game. Our offense is too one dimensional and no one fears any of our RB's.

As was said earlier, still too many holes to fill....

[CoachChaz]

Acquiring the players needed to build a strong team takes time...I'm okay with that. But getting the leadership to hold those players accountable can happen a lot sooner. Fox and Del Rio can leave after the season for all I care.

[Hawgdriver]

Seriously, the blueprint to beat NE is and has been the same for years - jam the living shit out of their undersized WRs to throw off the timing.

Yeah. Welker said after the game that there were a few times when he wasn't open. He was upset.

I mean, the dude seriously thinks he can be open every play of the game. What a stud.

If you think you can just jam him to fix it, I don't know. That position plays back from the line. There are probably some plays where the WR1 or WR2 will chip any DB trying man coverage at the line, so that would expose that kind of tight coverage. I wonder if it's as easy as you say.

I think Welker is just a special player, I have tons of respect for him. You imagine Welker pulling that Decker slide? Brady gets him the ball. It's good football.

This game has me bothered. It didn't have that feel of 'just another game' like the Falcons and Texans. It's more than the Brady v. Manning thing, but that's part of it. It's the feeling that had we executed, had we run the 4th quarter offense all game, even with the bus full of retards (too harsh, imo) -- we win. You just can't keep excusing these winnable losses as part of the growing pains. You can't hit the midpoint of the season at 2-6 and expect to make the playoffs. This was a game that would have established the identity and swagger of the Broncos. Now, it's a lost opportunity.

If you want to look for the silver linings, go for it. Lots of them, I'm sure. For me, the damn black clouds are what I see. It's not panic or woe-is-me. It's just disappointment. It's just a normal reaction to unnecessary failure. They need to get their ish together, they have potential.

[echobravo]

Goes to show that even having Peyton Manning will not cover all the warts on this team. Seriously, our primo numero uno bona fida feature back is Willis McGahee. Once you stop shaking your head over that, then wrap your noggin around the fact that number two (mean it both ways) is Lance freaking Ball. When it comes to the run game we are completely hosed. No team fears our running back corpse. And what a corpse it is, smelling up the football field like a deer that was hit by a truck four days ago.

Then there is the linebackers, in their case the deer was humping a skunk when it died. Von Miller may be the reincarnation of Simon Fletcher, but the rest of these guys are woefully inadequate. Might be the weakest LB corps the Donkeys have had since year two of the Wade Phillis era.

[Day1BroncoFan]

My thoughts after this game and so far this season is there won't be a superbowl this year and maybe not even a playoff game. I hope I am wrong.

Unless this team gels and does something amazing soon we'll be looking at next year. At least San Diego lost too.

[NightTerror218]

If the defense could play an entire 60 minutes like they did in the 4th quarter. Defense came alive and held the Pats to nothing. Got several sacks and turnovers. our team seems to be better in the 2nd half of most games. Need to step it up in the first half.

Overall I do not feel bad losing to Houston, ATL, and NE. 3 of the best teams in the league and we hung in there.

[Nomad]

So to sum it up.....the Patriots were the better team.

[underrated29]

god that knowshon sucks. Look what he did for us again this game. Missed blocking assignments...Oh wait that was ball. Didnt catch the crucial wide open first down on 4th down...Oh wait, not him again. He fumbled in the Redzone of all places when we had the momentum and were going to score...Ooops, not him again. Ran up his blockers butts on 3rd and 4 to go for a no gain when there were holes...oops not him. Danced in the back field...oh that was hillman, hes a rookie, he gets a pass....

But we still lossed, couldnt get off the field on third down and DT once again fumbled inside the other teams 5 yard line. These are all attributed and directly responsible to knowshon. His 4.0 YPC is vastly less than the superior YPC of ball and hillman.


I blame knowshon for having us lose by 10 points to the pats. All of the above was his fault. Hes a bust. Way worse than all our other RBs in everway, cuz he is sauced!

[vandammage13]

If the defense could play an entire 60 minutes like they did in the 4th quarter. Defense came alive and held the Pats to nothing. Got several sacks and turnovers. our team seems to be better in the 2nd half of most games. Need to step it up in the first half.

Overall I do not feel bad losing to Houston, ATL, and NE. 3 of the best teams in the league and we hung in there.

Hung in there?

Never got within 10 points last night...let alone 1 score...that game was never in doubt after the middle of the 2nd quarter.

This team keeps getting blown out early and making the final score somewhat respectable...Orton style.

The de-evolution of the term "hanging in there"...where getting beat by 10 points instead of 24 points is deemed "hanging in there." :tsk:

[NightTerror218]

Hung in there?

Never got within 10 points last night...let alone 1 score...that game was never in doubt after the middle of the 2nd quarter.

This team keeps getting blown out early and making the final score somewhat respectable...Orton style.

The de-evolution of the term "hanging in there"...where getting beat by 10 points instead of 24 points is deemed "hanging in there." :tsk:

Um fumbled with the redzone. We easily could have only been down by 3 in the Pats game. Not to mention the drive before on 4th and 1 were on Pats side of the field. Miscues and mistakes let to our loss. 10 points is no much to a high power offense like that. We beat ourselves pretty well that way.

[MOtorboat]

Um fumbled with the redzone. We easily could have only been down by 3 in the Pats game. Not to mention the drive before on 4th and 1 were on Pats side of the field. Miscues and mistakes let to our loss. 10 points is no much to a high power offense like that. We beat ourselves pretty well that way.

Man. Still shaking my head. Lose by 10, and Thomas loses the ball when Denver could have been up 7-0, and McGahee loses the ball when they could have been down by three with five to play. RedZone mistakes suck.

That game was much CLOSER than the score indicated, rather than the other way around, as some want to make it out to be. Now, we know why they are doing that, but...

[vandammage13]

Um fumbled with the redzone. We easily could have only been down by 3 in the Pats game. Not to mention the drive before on 4th and 1 were on Pats side of the field. Miscues and mistakes let to our loss. 10 points is no much to a high power offense like that. We beat ourselves pretty well that way.

Pats made some key mistakes as well...Of course, through our orange-colored glasses we tend to view it as us "forcing" those mistakes, while our own mistakes were just self-inflicted.

The point is that we keep digging ourselves into holes early that we can't get out of...Good teams don't do that week after week.

[vandammage13]

Man. Still shaking my head. Lose by 10, and Thomas loses the ball when Denver could have been up 7-0, and McGahee loses the ball when they could have been down by three with five to play. RedZone mistakes suck.

That game was much CLOSER than the score indicated, rather than the other way around, as some want to make it out to be. Now, we know why they are doing that, but...

Problems go much deeper than the TO's, Mo....

Our D allowing the Pats to set a franchise record in 1st downs yesterday, after allowing 5 first half TD passes the last time we played them lead me to draw the conclusion that we can't hang with the big boys.

Take the TO's away and I still think we lose that game...We couldn't stop them with or without the TO's...and its starting to become a trend.

[NightTerror218]

Problems go much deeper than the TO's, Mo....

Our D allowing the Pats to set a franchise record in 1st downs yesterday, after allowing 5 first half TD passes the last time we played them lead me to draw the conclusion that we can't hang with the big boys.

Take the TO's away and I still think we lose that game...We couldn't stop them with or without the TO's...and its starting to become a trend.

We got to Brady in the 4th. If the defense can play like that the entire 60 minutes. But DT and Mcgahee TOs should have been TDs, which goes to show that we can put up the number to keep up with the Pats. How many teams slow down the Pats really? It normally comes down to a shoot out.

Take the TOs away and we have 14 points extra, they have 7. That is a much closer game then many lead to believe.

[underrated29]

Only real mistake the pats made was the von strip fumble.


DT- did make the mistake by not holding the ball tight. Twice in 2 weeks says that was DT and not the pats doing something amazing, like what von did. 9/10 times both plays would happen exactly opposite as they did. Von does not make the strip and DT protects the football.

Mcgahee drop pass was all on him. He was wide open, the pats did not make any play on that. It was all him.
Mcgahee fumble, I would say the pats made a play, which they did, but Mcgahee fumbles like this all the time. And he does it at the most inopportune times. Namely, when trying to win.


So even if we kicked Field Goals on all three possesions which were inside the RZ- we would have lost by 1 pt.

Had we scored a td on one of those, like the DT one, then we would have needed a FG to tie the game. That lance ball run on 3rd and 4, or the option to punt likely would have changed to going for it or a FG for the tie.


Either way. They didnt happen, but we were close. Once we get out of our own way we will be really hard to beat. I think there are only a few games that we will likey lose. Saints and Panthers. I think we sweep the division, and take out the browns, ravens and whoever else is on our list. Remember, we are undefeated when we score 26 or more points. Our offense is getting us there, but stupid turnovers are erasing points.

[Buff]

I was very discouraged by the game yesterday. Not only were we beaten soundly by a better team, but we also committed mental error after mental error in pivitol situations... Whether it was Joe Mays blowing coverage on 3rd and 17, or DT's fumble, or Willis dropping the ball on 4th down, or not being able to convert 3rd downs, or not getting lined up in time on defense. We just got beat in every measurable way and didn't look prepared to play. That sucked.

[Buff]

I also don't remember John Fox being so clearly out-coached in any of his games as Broncos HC prior to this one. We looked very inferior out there.

[MOtorboat]

I also don't remember John Fox being so clearly out-coached in any of his games as Broncos HC prior to this one. We looked very inferior out there.

I can think of a few.

[NightTerror218]

Only real mistake the pats made was the von strip fumble.


DT- did make the mistake by not holding the ball tight. Twice in 2 weeks says that was DT and not the pats doing something amazing, like what von did. 9/10 times both plays would happen exactly opposite as they did. Von does not make the strip and DT protects the football.

Mcgahee drop pass was all on him. He was wide open, the pats did not make any play on that. It was all him.
Mcgahee fumble, I would say the pats made a play, which they did, but Mcgahee fumbles like this all the time. And he does it at the most inopportune times. Namely, when trying to win.


So even if we kicked Field Goals on all three possesions which were inside the RZ- we would have lost by 1 pt.

Had we scored a td on one of those, like the DT one, then we would have needed a FG to tie the game. That lance ball run on 3rd and 4, or the option to punt likely would have changed to going for it or a FG for the tie.


Either way. They didnt happen, but we were close. Once we get out of our own way we will be really hard to beat. I think there are only a few games that we will likey lose. Saints and Panthers. I think we sweep the division, and take out the browns, ravens and whoever else is on our list. Remember, we are undefeated when we score 26 or more points. Our offense is getting us there, but stupid turnovers are erasing points.

If you look at the ATL game, all 3 unusual picks my Manning led to 10 points. Manning showed he can move the ball, he defense made a stop we could have won that game too. Houston we needed a stop there too.

I think if we can control TOs and fix our 3rd down defense we could be so much better.

[Buff]

I can think of a few.

Which games?

Last year I felt like we were winning games because of our coaching. We were out-scheming teams with our Tebow gimmickry. Yesterday we were completely unprepared defensively. We couldn't even get lined up half the time, much less slow them down.

[MOtorboat]

Which games?

Last year I felt like we were winning games because of our coaching. We were out-scheming teams with our Tebow gimmickry. Yesterday we were completely unprepared defensively. We couldn't even get lined up half the time, much less slow them down.

The Patriots games. Seems Belichek has Fox's number.

[NightTerror218]

Well maybe McCoy too. There were some dumb play calls....Ball? WTF? Ball seriously?

[vandammage13]

We got to Brady in the 4th. If the defense can play like that the entire 60 minutes. But DT and Mcgahee TOs should have been TDs, which goes to show that we can put up the number to keep up with the Pats. How many teams slow down the Pats really? It normally comes down to a shoot out.

Take the TOs away and we have 14 points extra, they have 7. That is a much closer game then many lead to believe.

What makes you think they would have been TD's?...They didn't fumble at the goaline...those drives very well could have just ended in FG's. You are assuming too much.

This "if you take away this" and "if you take away that" stuff can be applied to the outcome of 90% of NFL games....

Some of the things that went wrong for us in the 3 losses went right for us against the Steelers...we could just as easily be sitting at 1-4 right now as well as 4-1...Ultimately, you are what you're record says you are...And right now, that's a team that isn't very good.

[cmc0605]

Bill Parcells said it the best...you are what you are.

At this point, the Broncos are an above average team (maybe around the #10-12 area) but cannot beat the elite units out there. We can hang with them, which is nice, but these guys need to learn how to play 60 minutes. We have had a very tough schedule, harder than anyone else out there. That's not an excuse, but it has helped show who we are. We are a team that can beat teams we should beat, and we might still have a playoff shot, but things need to change for us to be legit contenders.

The thing is, I don't suspect we're too far away from going from a good team to a great team. We can all complain about a few personnel things (like LB, safety, etc) but the biggest thing is just following through in big moments...stopping a 3rd and 17 is a good start.

[NightTerror218]

What makes you think they would have been TD's?...They didn't fumble at the goaline...those drives very well could have just ended in FG's. You are assuming too much.

This "if you take away this" and "if you take away that" stuff can be applied to the outcome of 90% of NFL games....

Some of the things that went wrong for us in the 3 losses went right for us against the Steelers...we could just as easily be sitting at 1-4 right now as well as 4-1...Ultimately, you are what you're record says you are...And right now, that's a team that isn't very good.

How am I assuming too much. How many times has Manning failed in the red zone since being a bronco? My assumption was tossing out the TOs.

We are what our record says? Huh? So we lost to 3 of top 5 teams in the league. so i can say we are 6th best team in the league. We have had the hardest schedule this season so far.

[Buff]

Bill Parcells said it the best...you are what you are.

At this point, the Broncos are an above average team (maybe around the #10-12 area) but cannot beat the elite units out there. We can hang with them, which is nice, but these guys need to learn how to play 60 minutes. We have had a very tough schedule, harder than anyone else out there. That's not an excuse, but it has helped show who we are. We are a team that can beat teams we should beat, and we might still have a playoff shot, but things need to change for us to be legit contenders.

The thing is, I don't suspect we're too far away from going from a good team to a great team. We can all complain about a few personnel things (like LB, safety, etc) but the biggest thing is just following through in big moments...stopping a 3rd and 17 is a good start.

"You are what your record says you are," is the quote you're referring to.

I mostly agree - except I think the trend is starting to lean more towards us being a bad defense. At some point our lack of ability to get off the field on 3rd down becomes our identity, not an exception to the rule.

[BroncoWave]

I'll say it again. We only have ONE player on our defense that has any potential 2-3 years from now.

LOL overdramatize much? Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, and Chris Harris could very well still be starting in 3 years. Omar Bolden is also a wild card.

The Pats have a GREAT offense. I'm not going to panic about them hurting us. Our D has had two really good games, two pretty bad ones, and one mediocre one. Given the offenses we have played, I'm not particularly worried.

[ShooterJM]

I think we'll get better as the season goes on. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll repeat what I said after we got Peyton. Yes, he's a big upgrade at the QB spot, but I think we should have spent the money elsewhere and upgraded several other spots. We wouldn't get HOF players, but the team overall would be better.

[Ravage!!!]

I disagree, JM. Manning is absolutely the key to this team. There is not a position, or positions, that we could have gotten that would have upgraded the team as much as Manning has. What QB would we have used? We STILL have a ton under the cap. A team just can't rebuild over-night and expect to be the tops in the NFL. Adding Manning has been a COMPLETE night/day change to this team, and we are tremendously better with him behind center.

That being said, we've lost to Atlanta, Houston, and NE. Three of the top 4 teams in the NFL. Not exactly shocking that we aren't at that level yet.

[vandammage13]

How am I assuming too much. How many times has Manning failed in the red zone since being a bronco? My assumption was tossing out the TOs.

Your assumption was that if we didn't turn the ball over that we would have scored 14 points...While that may have been the case, that is still assuming too much...a lot of things can happen (dropped passes, bad calls, missed blocking assignments, another TO..)


We are what our record says? Huh? So we lost to 3 of top 5 teams in the league. so i can say we are 6th best team in the league. We have had the hardest schedule this season so far.

:tsk:

[EastCoastBronco]

Ted Bartlett over at "It's all over Fat Man" usually puts a pretty objective spin on things... Relax and enjoy, all...

http://www.itsalloverfatman.com/broncos/entry/you-got-served-taking-stock-of-the-broncos-after-five-games

[weazel]

Thought the game would be closer but didnt expect the Broncos to win at all. I would like to say that it should have been closer but the team just made mistakes but the fact is, this team is constantly making mistakes and the defense looks clueless out there at times.

[Jsteve01]

step away from the cliff. The defensive lapses are concerning, but look at the bright side of things: Even if this season doesn't end up the way we'd like it to Denver, in a very short time span is once a gain a desirable destination for coaches and players. See the Manning and Del Rio signings. This team lacks depth and most of that blame lies at the feet of Shanny and McD. You just don't fill all these holes in two offseasons. I really think we're seeing a defensive unit adjusting to a totally different scheme than we ran last year and an offense that has a qb who didn't play for a year.

[Army Bronco]

Im tired of losing and tired of losing to teams like this one that are all finesse . We need to get nastier and meaner.

[dogfish]

step away from the cliff. The defensive lapses are concerning, but look at the bright side of things: Even if this season doesn't end up the way we'd like it to Denver, in a very short time span is once a gain a desirable destination for coaches and players. See the Manning and Del Rio signings. This team lacks depth and most of that blame lies at the feet of Shanny and McD. You just don't fill all these holes in two offseasons. I really think we're seeing a defensive unit adjusting to a totally different scheme than we ran last year and an offense that has a qb who didn't play for a year.

the roster elway took over was just brutal-- he's turning it over as quickly as he can. . .

that said, i DO think he needs to get better at drafting in a hurry-- or preferably, bring in someone else who already is. . . jim goodman's still out there, as far as i know. . . as bad as our depth is in most spots, we need to start getting some impact (not just minutes) from our higher round picks besides von miller. . . if we expect to be good, anyway-- i know i'm impatient, but PFM doesn't have years for guys like rahim moore, nate irving and ronnie hillman to grow up. . . wolfe has shown some signs of being that type of guy, and i do expect him to continue coming on down the stretch-- we need more like him, though. . .

[MOtorboat]

the roster elway took over was just brutal-- he's turning it over as quickly as he can. . .

that said, i DO think he needs to get better at drafting in a hurry-- or preferably, bring in someone else who already is. . . jim goodman's still out there, as far as i know. . . as bad as our depth is in most spots, we need to start getting some impact (not just minutes) from our higher round picks besides von miller. . . if we expect to be good, anyway-- i know i'm impatient, but PFM doesn't have years for guys like rahim moore, nate irving and ronnie hillman to grow up. . . wolfe has shown some signs of being that type of guy, and i do expect him to continue coming on down the stretch-- we need more like him, though. . .

Oh **** no.

That dude was terrible. He had one decent draft, and its questionable whether any of those players are all that good or reliable.

No. No. No.

There is a very good reason he has NEVER been employed since getting fired three and a half years ago.

[dogfish]

Oh **** no.

That dude was terrible. He had one decent draft, and its questionable whether any of those players are all that good or reliable.

No. No. No.

There is a very good reason he has NEVER been employed since getting fired three and a half years ago.

oh, gimme a break, midget! hate cutler all you want, but it's just ignorant to suggest that brandon marshall and dumervil weren't INSANE values in the 4th round, given their NFL production. . . not to mention chris kuper in the 5th, who's been one of our best OLs ever since. . .

and that's as far as i'll pursue this, since it's utterly irrelevant to the current topic. . .

[MOtorboat]

oh, gimme a break, midget! hate cutler all you want, but it's just ignorant to suggest that brandon marshall and dumervil weren't INSANE values in the 4th round, given their NFL production. . . not to mention chris kuper in the 5th, who's been one of our best OLs ever since. . .

and that's as far as i'll pursue this, since it's utterly irrelevant to the current topic. . .

He was also responsible for Jarvis Moss.

Like I said. There's a reason no one will hire him.

[underrated29]

He was also responsible for Jarvis Moss.

Like I said. There's a reason no one will hire him.

I actually think that was all on our old DC, that bates guy.

[Buff]

He was also responsible for Jarvis Moss.

Like I said. There's a reason no one will hire him.

No one will hire him because he is from the south and therefore of lower intelligence. It's science. Ask beef.

[MOtorboat]

No one will hire him because he is from the south and therefore of lower intelligence. It's science. Ask beef.

That MUST be it.

[WARHORSE]

The Patriots mega hurry up offense kicked our tails. I think it would have done it to any team. I totally believe we have the ability to beat these teams we lost to, but fumbling and dropping passes isnt going to let us beat anyone.