What Say You?

[Ziggy]

Let's look at the facts of the game. Denver turned the ball over 2 times and the Chargers didn't turn it over at all. There were at least 6 dropped passes, one of which would have been a TD. We missed a field goal. Decker got tripped up on a would-be TD punt return by Manti Teo's girlfriend. Chris Harris went out with an injury. We gave up an onsides kick. We were playing the hottest team in the NFL, and this year's Cinderella. The weather was cold, and the wind was heavy and swirling. Von Miller, Ryan Clady, Kevin Vickerson, Rahim Moore, and Derek Wolfe were all out. We still won the game. If I told you all of this was going to happen before the game started, would you believe that we were moving on?

The Nancies will say that we had no business winning the game, and that these are the things that are keeping this team from being a championship caliber team. I say that this team is good enough to overcome any issues and win it all. What say you?

[Simple Jaded]

Had a KO return for TD negated by penalty too.

[dogfish]

i say the line about teo's girlfriend was a great job getting new life out of mostly-used-up material. . . :rofl:


and yes, i think we're as good as anyone, and have a good chance to bring it home. . .

[Timmy!]

We ****** ride. /thread

[atwater27]

Decker got tripped up on a would-be TD punt return by Manti Teo's girlfriend.

:lol::D:laugh::lol::rofl::pound:

[zbeg]

Denver didn't seem to catch a lot of breaks and still won the game. That's extremely encouraging.

[Foochacho]

We have played San Diego 3 times and scored lower than 30 points each game. Seems like they know how to make us work for points. I am less worried about New England. They have no Gronk this time San Diego was probably the tougher opponent as far as matchups go.

[Northman]

I say enjoy the win and see what happens Sunday. One game at a time.

[Tned]

I guess I look at that game a little different than other people. There was a lot of "if they play like this, there is no way they can beat NE" talk during the game on here and on Twitter. I see it differently, and say they played better than the other team in really rough conditions.

Quite often when there are bad weather conditions, whether real cold, windy, heavy rain, snow, etc. scoring will be more scarce. Obviously, I wish the Broncos hadn't made the mistakes that arguably took 14 points off the board, and at least 6 points, but the team did what they needed to do to win.

Will it be enough next week against NE? I don't know, but I don't think anyone should base the way that game looked as an indicator of whether they will win/lose vs. Pats. One could argue that the ball control approach was dictated by having the lead the whole time. There is no reason to believe that if they had to start flinging in (like they did at the end to close the game out for good) that they couldn't have done that from kickoff through the end of the game.

[MOtorboat]

I guess I look at that game a little different than other people. There was a lot of "if they play like this, there is no way they can beat NE" talk during the game on here and on Twitter. I see it differently, and say they played better than the other team in really rough conditions.

Quite often when there are bad weather conditions, whether real cold, windy, heavy rain, snow, etc. scoring will be more scarce. Obviously, I wish the Broncos hadn't made the mistakes that arguably took 14 points off the board, and at least 6 points, but the team did what they needed to do to win.

Will it be enough next week against NE? I don't know, but I don't think anyone should base the way that game looked as an indicator of whether they will win/lose vs. Pats. One could argue that the ball control approach was dictated by having the lead the whole time. There is no reason to believe that if they had to start flinging in (like they did at the end to close the game out for good) that they couldn't have done that from kickoff through the end of the game.

I've come to the conclusion that you can never do the "if they play like this" routine, because every game is so different. There is every bit of evidence that either team could win the game. Denver is fully capable of beating the Patriots, and IMO, should beat the Patriots. Now...if they will or not?

[VonDoom]

I guess I look at that game a little different than other people. There was a lot of "if they play like this, there is no way they can beat NE" talk during the game on here and on Twitter. I see it differently, and say they played better than the other team in really rough conditions.

Quite often when there are bad weather conditions, whether real cold, windy, heavy rain, snow, etc. scoring will be more scarce. Obviously, I wish the Broncos hadn't made the mistakes that arguably took 14 points off the board, and at least 6 points, but the team did what they needed to do to win.

Will it be enough next week against NE? I don't know, but I don't think anyone should base the way that game looked as an indicator of whether they will win/lose vs. Pats. One could argue that the ball control approach was dictated by having the lead the whole time. There is no reason to believe that if they had to start flinging in (like they did at the end to close the game out for good) that they couldn't have done that from kickoff through the end of the game.


I've come to the conclusion that you can never do the "if they play like this" routine, because every game is so different. There is every bit of evidence that either team could win the game. Denver is fully capable of beating the Patriots, and IMO, should beat the Patriots. Now...if they will or not?

This is my take on it as well. Every game has its own identity, so it's foolish to say that the type of game played in one week has any real bearing on a game the next week. We played a ball control, run heavy, clock eating offense yesterday, probably due in large part to the wind conditions. All we had to do was be more efficient than the Chargers and we did that. We were only "held" to 24 points because we used the entire play clock on every snap, not to mention the points we left on the field.

Obviously the Pats won't be easy, but I think we certainly know what we need to do to beat them. I'm guessing it won't look much like this game at all, to be honest. If Harris is out, that could be a big blow, but other than that, I don't see why we couldn't beat them.

[Traveler]

The revenge tour continues! One down, two to go. I keep saying to be the best, you've got to beat the best. NE is now the next obstacle. One other question. In what year did JF lead his team to the SB when he was coach at CAR? Hmmm.....

[chazoe60]

Imagine if we beat SF in the SB by a score of 56-9? Now that would be some sweet revenge.

[MileHighCrew]

The football God's were against the Broncos and they had to win the game. I was so happy Fox didn't play run run run punt at the end of the game. He said I have PFM never gave the ball back. IMO Denver needed to win a game like this

[BigDaddyBronco]

If we control the LOS on both the defense and offense against NE we win the game. I like our chances.

[GEM]

I say the score should have been about 35-7....but I'll take what we got and the win. One game elimination tournament still in play and we still ride.

*throwing up some kind of Broncos gang sign*

:laugh:

[Joel]

The problem is it wasn't "just one game," it was the same kind of elementary, unfocused, believing your own press screw ups we make nearly EVERY week. "We can beat anyone if we don't turn the ball over 4X like we did vs. Indy—oh, look, we turned the ball over 4X vs. NE and blew a 24-0 halftime lead." The 3-13 'Skins led us 21-7 on our own field; the 4-12 Jags would've tied us at the half if they hadn't missed a 2 PAT at the end. It's not just a game here or there, it's a consistent pattern, and it's very hard to believe we'll suddenly inexplicably break a season-long pattern in the next week or two.

Then again, even teams with a taskmaster like Belicheat can have an off game with mental errors, and our team's good enough to have at least a fighting chance against even the best teams. Opponents can shoot themselves in the foot as easily as we can (though few other playoff teams share our HABIT of doing it.) We're hosting the AFCCG against the only team missing more key starters than we; let's see what happens. Hopefully, a repeat of our last playoff meeting in Denver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G9139DXvNY

[Hawgdriver]

Manning made one of the best throws of the season, and certainly the most clutch, to kill the Bolt's dreams. That was the thing about the game that has stuck with me.

Ziggy, you were right about the running game being the X-factor.

No, the Broncos did not execute their best 60 minutes, but it was a very good 60 minutes considering the elements and the opponent.

They will need to execute at their best to guarantee a win next week. They cannot count on sloppy execution by their opponent.

[silkamilkamonico]

Let's look at the facts of the game. Denver turned the ball over 2 times and the Chargers didn't turn it over at all. There were at least 6 dropped passes, one of which would have been a TD. We missed a field goal. Decker got tripped up on a would-be TD punt return by Manti Teo's girlfriend. Chris Harris went out with an injury. We gave up an onsides kick. We were playing the hottest team in the NFL, and this year's Cinderella. The weather was cold, and the wind was heavy and swirling. Von Miller, Ryan Clady, Kevin Vickerson, Rahim Moore, and Derek Wolfe were all out. We still won the game. If I told you all of this was going to happen before the game started, would you believe that we were moving on?

The Nancies will say that we had no business winning the game, and that these are the things that are keeping this team from being a championship caliber team. I say that this team is good enough to overcome any issues and win it all. What say you?

Great post I agree - I also take this into account

Denver been hearing every day for 12 months how the regular season doesn't matter, how they can't win in the playoffs with Manning, how the monkey is stuck firmly on their back, Manning can't win in cold weather, blah blah blah. The playoff game comes, and they knew they had to win this game or there would be even more questions about their meaningless regular seasons records and playoff failures.. They had to win. That's some big time pressure. I thought the game would have been closer on the field then what it actually was. I could care less about the score because by the middle of this week nobody gives an f about the score.

It's supposed to be like 55 degrees on Sunday, probably with no wind. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Denver come out and put the Patriots away at halftime.

[GEM]

The problem is it wasn't "just one game," it was the same kind of elementary, unfocused, believing your own press screw ups we make nearly EVERY week. "We can beat anyone if we don't turn the ball over 4X like we did vs. Indy—oh, look, we turned the ball over 4X vs. NE and blew a 24-0 halftime lead." The 3-13 'Skins led us 21-7 on our own field; the 4-12 Jags would've tied us at the half if they hadn't missed a 2 PAT at the end. It's not just a game here or there, it's a consistent pattern, and it's very hard to believe we'll suddenly inexplicably break a season-long pattern in the next week or two.

Then again, even teams with a taskmaster like Belicheat can have an off game with mental errors, and our team's good enough to have at least a fighting chance against even the best teams. Opponents can shoot themselves in the foot as easily as we can (though few other playoff teams share our HABIT of doing it.) We're hosting the AFCCG against the only team missing more key starters than we; let's see what happens. Hopefully, a repeat of our last playoff meeting in Denver: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G9139DXvNY

*Dancing* You won't bring me down *Dancing* You keep bitching, we keep winning. Bitch on, Joel, bitch on!!

[Hawgdriver]

*Dancing* You won't bring me down *Dancing* You keep bitching, we keep winning. Bitch on, Joel, bitch on!!

VvXDk9uR5vg

[Hawgdriver]

Oh, and someone find and detain Ramsey.

[Buff]

I was about to go into full on meltdown mode...

It was one of those games where we were making every mistake that teams make when they want to lose a playoff game at home. Turnovers, injuries, missed FG, penalties. Just happy to hang on. Would love to see what this team is capable of when playing mistake free football.

[Northman]

I was about to go into full on meltdown mode...

It was one of those games where we were making every mistake that teams make when they want to lose a playoff game at home. Turnovers, injuries, missed FG, penalties. Just happy to hang on. Would love to see what this team is capable of when playing mistake free football.

Me too.

[GEM]

That onside kick sent me into fume mode. I walked out of my dad's room yelling...I can't take this freaking shit! :laugh:

[tripp]

Let's look at the facts of the game. Denver turned the ball over 2 times and the Chargers didn't turn it over at all. There were at least 6 dropped passes, one of which would have been a TD. We missed a field goal. Decker got tripped up on a would-be TD punt return by Manti Teo's girlfriend. Chris Harris went out with an injury. We gave up an onsides kick. We were playing the hottest team in the NFL, and this year's Cinderella. The weather was cold, and the wind was heavy and swirling. Von Miller, Ryan Clady, Kevin Vickerson, Rahim Moore, and Derek Wolfe were all out. We still won the game. If I told you all of this was going to happen before the game started, would you believe that we were moving on?

The Nancies will say that we had no business winning the game, and that these are the things that are keeping this team from being a championship caliber team. I say that this team is good enough to overcome any issues and win it all. What say you?



Hahahah classic.

But we had every business winning that game! We looked pretty good, all things considered.

Last night's game just made it very very easy to say good bye to Eric Decker at the end of this season.


EDIT: Reading the comments, makes me wonder why I didn't go in melt down mode, might be because I was drunk. Note to self: don't leave the 26er of rum and a bottle of coke next to your chair so you don't have to move at all for 4 hours.

[silkamilkamonico]

I didnt meltdown. We weren't losing that game, and i knew it at halftime. People were getting worried because we didnt score the third quarter, but we had the ball for something like 9+ min. We did everything we were supposed to that third quarter. Losing Harris changed everything for what our defense was doing.

[tripleoption]

Saw a stat on TV that since 2008 Manning is 6-0 in playoff rematches against teams he lost to during the regular season. I like our chances this week.

[Nomad]

Saw a stat on TV that since 2008 Manning is 6-0 in playoff rematches against teams he lost to during the regular season. I like our chances this week.

And he finally beat Rivers after 3 trys:lol:

[FanInAZ]

Had a KO return for TD negated by penalty too.

If it wasn't for the illegal block, Holliday would've been tackled at our own 20.

[Ziggy]

Will it be enough next week against NE? I don't know, but I don't think anyone should base the way that game looked as an indicator of whether they will win/lose vs. Pats. One could argue that the ball control approach was dictated by having the lead the whole time. There is no reason to believe that if they had to start flinging in (like they did at the end to close the game out for good) that they couldn't have done that from kickoff through the end of the game.

If teams want to go into a shootout with us, I say bring it! Do you really think their chances are better trying to outscore the highest scoring offense in the history of the NFL? I don't think we'll see anyone trying that route in the playoffs. There may be a shootout with NE in the end, but not because it was planned that way.

[Nomad]

If teams want to go into a shootout with us, I say bring it! Do you really think their chances are better trying to outscore the highest scoring offense in the history of the NFL? I don't think we'll see anyone trying that route in the playoffs. There may be a shootout with NE in the end, but not because it was planned that way.

With the way Blount is running, I see NE making Denver prove they can stop him before throwing it often.

[dogfish]

With the way Blount is running, I see NE making Denver prove they can stop him before throwing it often.

i truly hope they do. . . i like our chances of stacking the line against the run an awful lot more than our chances of slowing down brady with one good, healthy defensive back. . . IMO, they're playing right into our hands if they come in with a run-heavy gameplan. . .

[Nomad]

i truly hope they do. . . i like our chances of stacking the line against the run an awful lot more than our chances of slowing down brady with one good, healthy defensive back. . . IMO, they're playing right into our hands if they come in with a run-heavy gameplan. . .

I would think keeping Manning off the field would be their gameplan and that would mean a run-heavy offense. SD didn't have any RBs yesterday to execute that gameplan. I believe the BRONCOS D can handle the job, but it's the TOP/clock management that would be the concern depending on the score.

[VonDoom]

I would think keeping Manning off the field would be their gameplan and that would mean a run-heavy offense. SD didn't have any RBs yesterday to execute that gameplan. I believe the BRONCOS D can handle the job, but it's the TOP/clock management that would be the concern depending on the score.

I think Belichick is a master at game planning, so I'm truly not sure what to expect in this case. They do seem to have found a running game lately, so I imagine they'll try to wear us out with that, eat up the clock and take chances long when we start creeping up into the box. That's why stopping the run continues to be the big goal. On the other side, we should be able to run against them. Their run defense has looked terrible this year, though they did a good job against the Colts this weekend. Now that Ball is getting more reps, Moreno doesn't have to do it all like he did in November against them.

[Buff]

i truly hope they do. . . i like our chances of stacking the line against the run an awful lot more than our chances of slowing down brady with one good, healthy defensive back. . . IMO, they're playing right into our hands if they come in with a run-heavy gameplan. . .

We couldn't get that lucky. Brady is gonna go after our battered secondary. Hopefully Dobson is still hurt next week.

[BigDaddyBronco]

We couldn't get that lucky. Brady is gonna go after our battered secondary. Hopefully Dobson is still hurt next week.

Hey, if our OLine plays well, what do you think Peyton is going to do to their secondary. Think of it that way.

[aberdien]

My only real concern in the game is their fast whitey receivers vs our senior citizens at DB. Coverage-wise, i'm not worried, but Amendola and Edelman are faster than Jammer and Champ, so they can run past them fairly easily. The key is going to be the pass rush and not letting the receivers behind them.

Everything else is all mental. If we do our jobs on both sides of the ball (no fumbles, no drops, good blocking, good pass rushing, run defense) there's no reason why we shouldn't win, because we are the better team.

[Nomad]

We couldn't get that lucky. Brady is gonna go after our battered secondary. Hopefully Dobson is still hurt next week.

I didn't get to see the second half of that first game because I had to go to work, but didn't Brady shred the defense after the half. I don't believe Blount even played in that game. I'd be surprised if they don't come out run, run, pass until they figure out one is working better than the other. Gotta ride your momentum, and to me, that's Blount.

[Ziggy]

Hey, if our OLine plays well, what do you think Peyton is going to do to their secondary. Think of it that way.

Our offensive line has been as good as any in the NFL over the last 3 weeks. The playoffs are about having talent, a great QB, and winning in the trenches. The Broncos have all 3 right now. The Patriots had better come up with something new with their defense, or Manning is going to hang 50 on them.

[Ziggy]

Here's a blurb from PFF. They ranked the offensive lines from this season, and the Broncos finished-----------


1. Denver Broncos (4th)
PB: 2nd, RB: 7th, PEN: 7th

Stud: We didn’t expect Louis Vasquez (+33.6) to be quite this good but he was. Our All-Pro right guard, he even chipped in with good play at tackle to fully justify the outlay on him.

Dud: Left guard Zane Beadles (-5.7) is good out in space but his work in pass protection really leaves a lot to be desired.

Analysis: When Ryan Clady went down who saw this coming? Well Chris Clark filled in ably while the duo of Vasquez and Manny Ramirez delivered the goods in the run game. A real cohesive unit and while they benefit from the pocket presence of their quarterback, it’s a two-way street with both elements helping each other out.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/4/

The analysis is right on the money. Vasquez is a beast, and Beadles is the weak link. It's hard to imagine how good this line can be next season with a healthy Clady and an upgrade over Beadles. Ramirez was our most improved player over the season. The coaches knew what they were doing early on. I kept waiting for him to get replaced in preseason and then early in the season. He turned out to be a stud at center once he got comfortable there.

[7DnBrnc53]

Here's a blurb from PFF. They ranked the offensive lines from this season, and the Broncos finished-----------


https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/01/13/2013-offensive-line-rankings/4/

The analysis is right on the money. Vasquez is a beast, and Beadles is the weak link. It's hard to imagine how good this line can be next season with a healthy Clady and an upgrade over Beadles. Ramirez was our most improved player over the season. The coaches knew what they were doing early on. I kept waiting for him to get replaced in preseason and then early in the season. He turned out to be a stud at center once he got comfortable there.

Some Denver fans on another site are against this, but next season, I would like to see them move Clark to RT and Franklin to LG, where he played in college. I don't think that Chris deserves to ride the bench next year, and Orlando can be an even better G than OT.

[dogfish]

Some Denver fans on another site are against this, but next season, I would like to see them move Clark to RT and Franklin to LG, where he played in college. I don't think that Chris deserves to ride the bench next year, and Orlando can be an even better G than OT.

ya know, i was just thinking about this. . . clark really has proven worthy of starting, and more importantly, he's under contract for a reasonable number the next couple of years. . . beadles will be one of the first free agents out of town. . . i don't care if it's franklin to one of the OG spots with clark at ORT, or if they wanna try sliding clark inside to OLG to replace beadles, and leave the right side alone-- but either way, i definitely think he will be one of if not the first guy looked at to assume a permanent starting spot next year. . . and i absolutely think the FO is probably already looking at him as an awfully nice insurance policy if we can't afford franklin in next year's lodaed FA group. . . clark's emergence is a legit silver lining that can be taken from clady's injury. . .

[Broncolingus]

Stop the run, win the turnover battle, don't gaffe it up on Special Teams...

...and (above all) pressure Brody...

...win the game and go to the Super Bowl.

[Buff]

I wonder if Clark will have any trade value this off season. He has done a good job filling in at LT when it could have been a total disaster. Or maybe we kick him in to guard to replace Beadles?

[Ziggy]

I wonder if Clark will have any trade value this off season. He has done a good job filling in at LT when it could have been a total disaster. Or maybe we kick him in to guard to replace Beadles?

I think he definitely has trade value, but can we afford to trade him? Clady is coming off of a serious injury, and I doubt he'll be ready for OTA's and possibly not training camp. Franklin will be an UFA at the end of next season. I guess part of it will depend on how they feel about Vinson Painter. The way that Elway has been drafting, he might just be the next stud lineman on this team.

[Buff]

I think he definitely has trade value, but can we afford to trade him? Clady is coming off of a serious injury, and I doubt he'll be ready for OTA's and possibly not training camp. Franklin will be an UFA at the end of next season. I guess part of it will depend on how they feel about Vinson Painter. The way that Elway has been drafting, he might just be the next stud lineman on this team.

It's a fair point, we don't want to trade away our only depth at the position... But I'm pretty sure Clady is going to be 100% for OTAs since his injury happened in week 2.

In a perfect world we'd leverage Clark for a pick, spend that on defense, and then replenish the o-line depth later in the draft.

[Hawgdriver]

It's a fair point, we don't want to trade away our only depth at the position... But I'm pretty sure Clady is going to be 100% for OTAs since his injury happened in week 2.

In a perfect world we'd leverage Clark for a pick, spend that on defense, and then replenish the o-line depth later in the draft.

I agree. Sell high.