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View Full Version : Plenty of blame forces Broncos to grim and bear it



Lonestar
11-27-2007, 04:51 PM
By Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News
Monday, November 26, 2007

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/nov/26/plenty-of-blame-forces-broncos-to-grim-and-bear/




"The weather sucked, the field sucked, all in all, not a pleasurable day all around," said Broncos punter Todd Sauerbrun, who found himself at ground zero of another one that got way. "I had 40 people come see me do all that. They saw the trifecta done to me. . . . Definitely not the kind of day you want to have all around."

The Bears' Devin Hester returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown.

Hester returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.

The Bears blocked a Sauerbrun punt in the fourth quarter, which led to an 18-yard touchdown drive.

The Broncos' Dre Bly was called for illegal contact, a penalty that negated a fourth-down incompletion on the Bears' scoring drive that ended up tying the score.

Broncos defensive tackle Alvin McKinley was called for holding on a running play - the third time this season he has been flagged for that - that gave the Bears a first down in overtime two plays before Chicago kicked for the win.

The Broncos fumbled in the muck three times, losing one. Quarterback Jay Cutler was intercepted once.

The Broncos defense let a Bears offense that had spent much of the day in neutral go 65 yards within the final minutes for the game-tying touchdown.

In short, in 3 hours and 34 minutes worth of game time, the Broncos took their progress of the last two weeks and buried it in the lakefront mud.

"We had the lead," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "We've got to hold on to it; that's been kind of our problem lately."

So while the decision to loft the ball to Hester on several occasions will be the target of much of the Monday morning angst in the Broncos falling to 5-6, one game behind the San Diego Chargers in the AFC West standings, there were plenty of culprits involved.

The Broncos still, despite Hester's otherworldly performance, had a 34-20 lead when they were set to punt away the ball with 7:37 remaining in the game.

They did punt, but Hester did not construct another NFL Films moment and the Broncos downed the ball at the 10. However, they were flagged for an illegal formation and had to punt again.

This time, the punt was blocked. "I didn't even see the guy coming," Sauerbrun said.

The Bears scored a touchdown four plays later to make it 34-27. The Broncos had only one first down on their next possession, and the Bears turned that change of possession into a 12-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to tie the score with 28 seconds to play.

After all of that, overtime, with the Bears winning the coin flip, was a formality, it seemed.

"We're not going to pin this on special teams; offensively, we missed a lot of opportunities, defensively, as well," Cutler said. "There's been times when special teams has bailed us out; we've got to return the favor."

Why, oh, why?

Hester repeatedly has made teams pay for their bravado. Yet the Broncos made no secret they planned to kick to the uber-returner and let their coverage teams do the work.

Their hope had been to try to pin him to the sideline, then make him come back into the field of play to find room to work where the coverage would be waiting.

Sauerbrun even went as far as the say it would be "chicken(expletive)" to kick the ball away from Hester. The Broncos made it through the first half unscathed, but Hester scored twice in the second half - his fourth and fifth return for scores this season - allowing the Bears to win a game when they had only 157 yards through three quarters.

"He's a special player and you've got to realize that," Bailey said.

"Special teamwise, we just got to get better," Bly said. "I feel like single-handedly Devin Hester won that game. We dominated on offense, we dominated on defense, they did a good job on one drive, tied it up at the end. Other than that, they didn't do anything. It was Devin Hester; he was everything."

Asked after the game if he believed Hester might be the one returner in the league no team should kick to, Sauerbrun said, "Yeah, I hate saying that, but I'm going to probably say 'yeah.' He's excellent, the guy is great. . . . Hey, Devin did an awesome job, he won the game for them. It was our fault we let him loose."

Added Broncos coach Mike Shanahan: "Obviously, you look back and say that wasn't a very good decision."

Difference of opinion

The Broncos had two costly penalties in the game's final minutes, neither of which they agreed with.

Bly was called for putting his hand on Bears receiver Muhsin Muhammad's shoulder outside the 5-yard chuck zone on a fourth-down play that resulted in an incompletion to Muhammad.

The play would have given the ball back to the Broncos at the Bears 35, but the illegal-contact penalty gave the Bears an automatic first down, and they scored the tying touchdown nine plays later.

"It's bogus," Bly said. "He said it was illegal contact. I felt like Muhsin ran into me, but them guys there were calls they missed all game. There was a play when (Tony) Scheffler had on (Bears safety Adam) Archuleta and he caught the pass and Archuleta had a handful of his jersey in the back. And I asked the referee why (he) didn't call it and he said he didn't grab it long enough. . . . It's a judgment call."

Defensive tackle Alvin McKinley was called for a holding penalty on a running play in overtime that moved the Bears 5 yards closer for what became the winning field goal.

McKinley said he was just trying to get his hands back inside of the blocker's and "I don't know how you can call that."

Players and coaches can be fined for criticizing the officiating, so it's clear the league will be taking at look at what was said this week.

Getting thin

Depending how things go in the training room today, the Broncos might be on the lookout for a running back this week.

Already thin because Travis Henry (left knee) hasn't practiced in more than two weeks and Selvin Young (right knee) was held out of Sunday's game, Andre Hall sprained an ankle on his first play from scrimmage - a run for no gain.

Hall then played most of the remainder of the game on the injury - he totaled 98 yards on 26 carries - but could not finish.

Cecil Sapp, who has played at fullback this season, finished at running back.

"(Hall) couldn't go any further . . . ," Shanahan said. "He could hardly walk on the sideline, so that gives you an idea of his toughness."

Fullback Kyle Johnson, who was just signed last week to add depth at the position, was also getting treatment after the game for what appeared to be a left calf injury.

Fullback Paul Smith was held out of the game because of a calf injury.

The Broncos last worked out running backs Nov. 12, when former Texans player Wali Lundy was among the four.

Lundy started eight games for the Texans last season and rushed for 476 yards.

The Broncos will evaluate their injuries further today and there is a chance they would send Hall for a magnetic resonance imaging exam if they are concerned about the injury.

But Sapp and Mike Bell, who fumbled on his only carry Sunday, are the only completely healthy running backs on the roster.

Number that counts

8 games missed because of a groin injury this season by Bears cornerback Nathan Vasher, one of their best players in coverage. In his absence, most teams have gone after Charles Tillman, which the Broncos did as well at times, but the Broncos still couldn't turn Jay Cutler's 302 passing yards into a victory.

Allowing big games

The Bears defense, ranked 22nd overall in yards allowed per game this season and 26th against the run, has had its wobbles on all fronts this season. In September, the Cowboys had a 100-yard rusher in Marion Barber and a 100-yard receiver in Terrell Owens in the same game.

Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns last month. And Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw for 337 yards and two touchdowns last weekend.

omac
11-27-2007, 05:57 PM
Nice article, Jrwiz! :salute:

Nice to see the Broncos not throwing their teammates under a bus. They really deflected the blame from the ST; Champ's statement was closest, but he instead gave credit to Hester instead of discrediting their own ST. Poor Todd; he had a bad day, but I really doubt it was his decision to kick straight to Hester.

TXBRONC
11-27-2007, 06:03 PM
Nice article, Jrwiz! :salute:

Nice to see the Broncos not throwing their teammates under a bus. They really deflected the blame from the ST; Champ's statement was closest, but he instead gave credit to Hester instead of discrediting their own ST. Poor Todd; he had a bad day, but I really doubt it was his decision to kick straight to Hester.

As much our Special teams had three let downs that lead to two direct scores and one indirectly Hester does deserve props for what he accomplished.

Lonestar
11-27-2007, 06:04 PM
Nice article, Jrwiz! :salute:

Nice to see the Broncos not throwing their teammates under a bus. They really deflected the blame from the ST; Champ's statement was closest, but he instead gave credit to Hester instead of discrediting their own ST. Poor Todd; he had a bad day, but I really doubt it was his decision to kick straight to Hester.


I really think that the game plan was to kick it near him forcing him to go after it. After the muff by him and a couple of moderate run backs. I think they lost there fear of him and someone said go for it.

I'm certain that Todd did not go for the gusto by himself. IF he did he will be gone after the season.

omac
11-27-2007, 06:08 PM
I really think that the game plan was to kick it near him forcing him to go after it. After the muff by him and a couple of moderate run backs. I think they lost there fear of him and someone said go for it.

I'm certain that Todd did not go for the gusto by himself. IF he did he will be gone after the season.

Yeah, by Shannahan's statement, it sounds like it was definitely a coaching decision ...


Added Broncos coach Mike Shanahan: "Obviously, you look back and say that wasn't a very good decision."

Lonestar
11-27-2007, 06:08 PM
Yeah, by Shannahan's statement, it sounds like it was definitely a coaching decision ...

where did you see this?

omac
11-27-2007, 06:10 PM
where did you see this?

From your article above, man. :cheers:

Lonestar
11-27-2007, 06:17 PM
From your article above, man. :cheers:

missed that thanks. the air is really bad out there today.. Been sneezing out of control. Today the pollution is cutable, lots of folks in Juarez burning tire this weekend.

We got 9 inches of snow over the weekend more than I have seen total in 19 years here.

eessydo
11-28-2007, 01:40 PM
missed that thanks. the air is really bad out there today.. Been sneezing out of control. Today the pollution is cutable, lots of folks in Juarez burning tire this weekend.

We got 9 inches of snow over the weekend more than I have seen total in 19 years here.

How's the skiing in CloudCroft. Considering you got 9 inches, it seems that they may open the season early this year.

Lonestar
11-28-2007, 01:58 PM
How's the skiing in CloudCroft. Considering you got 9 inches, it seems that they may open the season early this year.

Had friends up there at the time they only got 4". I suspect it will be spoty like always until late JAN.

They were supposed to get there snow making equipment fixed and ready to go late last year.

Most of the locals go to Ski Apache down the road from the Cloud Croft.