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Denver Native (Carol)
09-28-2009, 01:22 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13435192

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Broncos must be the worst 3-0 team in the NFL.

Before they went out and took a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll in the Black Hole, making a 23-3 victory against the Oakland Raiders look like a chore no more difficult than hauling garbage to the curb, linebacker Andra Davis let me in on a little secret about how he views all the doubters of this Denver team.

"I'm just hoping we can be the worst Super Bowl team they ever saw," Davis said.

Super Bowl? Whoa. Playoffs?

Now those are the last words anybody expected to be uttering in the same breath as these Broncos.

But it's time to start believing in the impossible.

Or are you still too busy crying over that Jay Cutler jersey crumpled in the back of your closet?

"When you're sitting here at 3-0, that gives a swagger about you," defensive lineman Vonnie Holliday said. "Everybody on the outside of this locker room doubted us. They're in shock. We're the shocker team. You hear it every time you turn on the TV and somebody's talking about Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos. They want to know, 'What's going on out there?' "

OK, get ready to be shocked and awed by the facts.

NFL teams that start the season 3-0 have made the playoffs 75 percent of the time since the league expanded its postseason tournament to 12 berths in 1990, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

And get a load of this: During the past two decades, 47 of the 56 NFL teams that opened with four consecutive victories advanced to the playoffs.

"We've been able to put away victories. That's what good teams do. You hold on to the lead, put teams away and don't give them any hope. If you give teams hope, then the next thing you know you're in a dogfight, you lose games you should've won and you're kicking yourself all week," Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley said.

Mike Shanahan, the mastermind behind both NFL championships in franchise history, was renowned for doing his homework.

Perhaps the highest compliment that can be paid to McDaniels was when Denver tight end Daniel Graham suggested the victory against Oakland was won on Wednesday.

"I've played a lot of football in this league with a lot of teams and a lot of coaches, and we go into games prepared for just about everything. It's very impressive to me that Josh McDaniels, at only 33 years old, has this intelligence, a depth of knowledge of the game and an ability to prepare his team for all situations," Holliday said.

For example?

"Going into this game against Oakland," Holliday replied, "we watched how teams let the Raiders back in during the second half."

So when the Broncos took an early 10-point lead, rather than celebrate, they got down to work.

A funny thing happened on the way to Denver becoming an NFL punch line.

The joke's on us.

It's only three games, but not too early to shred the dire predictions. John Clayton, ESPN's esteemed football professor, declared the Broncos would go 3-13 and be the worst team in the AFC. Nice call.

Believing that Mike Nolan could teach the Broncos a little about defense and projecting Knowshon Moreno as the first Broncos running back since Clinton Portis with legit Pro Bowl potential, I cautiously projected McDaniels to go 7-9 in his rookie season, yet was called irrational by gloom-and-doomers.

"We're competitors, tremendous competitors, all of us. So it does nothing more for me and my peers to go out and prove everybody wrong," Holliday said.

OK, so the schedule gets a whole lot tougher . . . for every team in the league that made the mistake of looking at Denver before this season and counting a certain victory.

"I don't even know who we play next week," Stokley insisted.

Know what felt best about the vibe in the visiting locker room? There's no real giddiness among the Broncos. Gloating is for players who sense the good times cannot last.

Denver understands it must stop stalling in the red zone and realizes every quarterback won't be as easy to crush as Oakland's JaMarcus Russell.

"There's no vindication," said McDaniels, working for more than a pat on the back.

Playoffs? The Broncos? This year?

Are you kidding me?

No.

This team is for real.

Shazam!
09-28-2009, 01:27 PM
Dallas is not invincible, and Josh's knowledge of Brady and what NE will do, besides them historically having a tough time vs. Denver can be enough to bring this team to 4-1. If they get to 5-0? Watch out.

Thanks for all the cool articles Carol.

claymore
09-28-2009, 01:30 PM
Or are you still too busy crying over that Jay Cutler jersey crumpled in the back of your closet?
That hurt.



NFL teams that start the season 3-0 have made the playoffs 75 percent of the time since the league expanded its postseason tournament to 12 berths in 1990, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Whats the odds we blow this 2 years straight? 2 3-0 starts to miss the playoffs?

underrated29
09-28-2009, 01:30 PM
Playoffs?.....

Playoffs?

Slick
09-28-2009, 01:32 PM
Whats the odds we blow this 2 years straight? 2 3-0 starts to miss the playoffs?

:yarddog:

claymore
09-28-2009, 01:36 PM
:yarddog:

Seriously, statistically we are hell bent on reaching the playoffs.

TXBRONC
09-28-2009, 01:41 PM
Dallas is not invincible, and Josh's knowledge of Brady and what NE will do, besides them historically having a tough time vs. Denver can be enough to bring this team to 4-1. If they get to 5-0? Watch out.

Thanks for all the cool articles Carol.

The next few teams Denver is going to face all look beatable right now but the offense still has to be better in the red zone.

honz
09-28-2009, 01:57 PM
I'm sorry, but it's a requirement...
Qwq7BYOnDrM

Traveler
09-28-2009, 02:06 PM
Curb the enthusiasm...please! We still have quite a ways to go. I'll just go along for the ride. The team hasn't been through much adversity thus far. That'll change by the end of November.

Till then, I'll enjoy what the've accomplished to this point.

broncofaninfla
09-28-2009, 02:41 PM
Curb the enthusiasm...please! We still have quite a ways to go. I'll just go along for the ride. The team hasn't been through much adversity thus far. That'll change by the end of November.

Till then, I'll enjoy what the've accomplished to this point.

Perfectly said! :beer:

WARHORSE
09-28-2009, 03:01 PM
The bunch formations that we ran and threw out of during the game were awesome. The so called strength of their d......their line.......was manhandled everywhere except the goaline. Never heard a peep about any of the defensive linemen making a play.

Great scheming and gameplan. Smashed the mouth of the defense, and kept smashing.


In looking at DALLAS this week, Im wondering since this is the first team that is a supposed contender, will we see some of the stuff that McDaniels said we would use in which no one had seen before in the NFL.


I saw a screen play in the preseason where there were screens set to both sides of the center...............Ive never seen that before.


Im looking forward to see what each week is going to bring.:coffee:


Great job BRONCOS. :salute:

honz
09-28-2009, 03:13 PM
Speaking of screen plays, that TE screen that we ran twice on Sunday was a thing of beauty. It looked like we sent the back out on a fly route to clear out that side of the field a bit and have Graham act as though he is going to pass block. Then the OLine let's everyone go and we toss it out to Graham who has 10 yards of open field and three beasts out in front to block for him. The first time we ran it the OLine just didn't give Orton enough time to let the play develop, but it would have been a big gain. The second time we ran it Graham gained an easy 15 yards or so. I expect to see that play plenty throughout the season.

NightTrainLayne
09-28-2009, 03:31 PM
Speaking of screen plays, that TE screen that we ran twice on Sunday was a thing of beauty. It looked like we sent the back out on a fly route to clear out that side of the field a bit and have Graham act as though he is going to pass block. Then the OLine let's everyone go and we toss it out to Graham who has 10 yards of open field and three beasts out in front to block for him. The first time we ran it the OLine just didn't give Orton enough time to let the play develop, but it would have been a big gain. The second time we ran it Graham gained an easy 15 yards or so. I expect to see that play plenty throughout the season.

That play was indeed a thing of beauty. Can you imagine being a DB sitting out there and watching Clady bearing down on you?

Bronco Warrior
09-28-2009, 04:11 PM
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It's only three games, but not too early to shred the dire predictions. John Clayton, ESPN's esteemed football professor, declared the Broncos would go 3-13 and be the worst team in the AFC. Nice call.

.

Getting your Bronco info or any info from Mr Clayton or ESPN in general is like getting your Nutritional intake from Chuck E Cheese!


The next few teams Denver is going to face all look beatable right now but the offense still has to be better in the red zone.
Amen. At the risk of pissing of the Orton ManCrushers..the guy needs to Nut up and make the tough throws like the ones he made to Marshall against Oakland! Needs to find an arm and rip it in there and trust the best receivers in the league!

BroncoBJ
09-28-2009, 04:29 PM
Good stuff. :salute: .. Before the season started, I was in a football chat room and was saying that I can see Denver starting off 4-1 and maybe even 5-0. And all anyone said was that we suck and we lost Jay and our defense is still the same. I told them our defense would be much improved. I didn't expect it to be like it is now though. :lol:
But I knew it'd be better.

These next 2 home games are huge for us. :rockon:
I hope we give Dallas a beatdown.

And also, I find it hard to believe that players dont' know who we play next. Maybe since i'm not a player. But it just seems funny. I don't know if they just say that or if its really true. If its true then thats cool to know that they don't overlook anyone. :salute:

powderaddict
09-28-2009, 04:45 PM
Whats the odds we blow this 2 years straight? 2 3-0 starts to miss the playoffs?

Well, according to that article, 25%

BroncoWave
09-28-2009, 06:15 PM
Well, according to that article, 25%

The odds of it happening once is 25%. The odds of it happening 2 years in a row would be 6.25%.