Thread: It's Become Pretty Obvious

That Denver was fully prepared to lose this game in order to make sure they have a better shot at Thursday's game. I think they went in with the attitude that if they could steal a win then, great, but it is much more important to beat the Chargers and they protected Siemian knowing it could cost them.

Let's hope that is what it was.

I agree that the doltz game is much more important.
However passing to RBs against our LBs needs some work.
I'm sure Wade will come up with something to counter our D getting exposed there.
As far as the O line, it never was great to begin with but having someone who can make decisions faster will help offset thier ineptitude until they can improve.
All in all, the Broncos' staff made the right decision in not risking Trevor and throwing Paxton into the fire.

We need Stephenson and Green back in a bad way. The OLine was horrible against Atlanta, and not much better against Tampa Bay. If our running game could be more like Week 1, it would help out tremendously with the passing game. I think both Stephenson and Green are big components of that run blocking.

Let's see if any of these guys actually play Thursday. If they do, I agree with your point - clearly everyone has been "close" to ready, and all signs pointed to them playing on the short week, which is probably the opposite of how most people would do it (either try to rush them back or hold them out for both games). This game is bigger in the scheme of things, and I'd love to pull out a win to get rid of the taste of that Falcons game.

Originally Posted by spikerman

That Denver was fully prepared to lose this game in order to make sure they have a better shot at Thursday's game. I think they went in with the attitude that if they could steal a win then, great, but it is much more important to beat the Chargers and they protected Siemian knowing it could cost them.

I'll agree with this. Give Siemian, Green, Donaldson an extra few days to heal...and then 10 days to continue healing after the Thursday game. No team wins every game anymore and losing by 7 to a good offense considering the situation, I think we fared "decent".

Originally Posted by Az Snake

I agree that the doltz game is much more important.
However passing to RBs against our LBs needs some work.
I'm sure Wade will come up with something to counter our D getting exposed there.
As far as the O line, it never was great to begin with but having someone who can make decisions faster will help offset thier ineptitude until they can improve.
All in all, the Broncos' staff made the right decision in not risking Trevor and throwing Paxton into the fire.

I think if Wade was going to fix this, he'd have done it by now. We regularly get beat up by teams that have athletic TE's and good receiving RB's. Look at any Patriots game for immediate proof.

I tend to agree. It seems like Siemian, Green, and Stephenson all COULD have gone if it was like a playoff game or something, but with a quick turn around this week, it made more sense to have them ready for a road divisional game. We can stomach a non-conference loss much more than a divisional one.

We should have been able to run over the Falcons defense. A combination of bad o-line and QB play made us ineffective against a subpar squad - I think it's wishful thinking to assume all of those injuries are going to be materially better in 4 days. We don't have the depth on offense to afford to lose 3 key starters and keep firing on all cylinders. I'd feel a lot better about things if we could squeak out a W against SD and then have a week and a half to get healthy.

I doubt they were thinking like that. I do believe they were confident that they would win it. I really think they were pleasantly surprised by what they saw on the road out of Lynch last week. If he did not have good production, they probably would have played Siemian this week.

I think they believed the Broncos defense would be effective behind the home crowd, and for the most part they were. It is just that the Falcons found a real good matchup. They knew they had two good VERSATILE RBs that could run 8 or 9 routes. Which against a LB is really a mismatch. They exploited it pretty well.

What Kubiak did not count on was the Broncos OL being so dominated by a DL that has been awful all year. Vic Beasley had 5 sacks in his CAREER and had 3.5 yesterday. Their defense had 4 sacks the whole season and had 6 yesterday. The Broncos rushing attack was being stuffed.

Believe it or not, Lynch is a good enough QB when the play action is working. I think they were confident they could get CJ going and the play action would be there against what was suppose to be a pretty bad defense.

Home games, in this league are pretty much as important as any. The idea is to hold serve at home and at the very least split on the road. That is a 12-4 season. Not bad.

No, I do not think they were "prepared" to lose this one. The offensive line production is a point of great concern right now. Most people are going to put this on Lynch. I think he is effective with play action. He had a very good game last week.

Originally Posted by Broncoknight30

I doubt they were thinking like that. I do believe they were confident that they would win it. I really think they were pleasantly surprised by what they saw on the road out of Lynch last week. If he did not have good production, they probably would have played Siemian this week.

I agree with this part. They probably felt they didn't need to rush these guys back because they were encouraged by what they saw from Lynch last week. Like most things in the NFL, it's a gamble or a gut feeling (which Kubiak was great at last year, when it came to our QB's) but this time it just didn't work out.

Originally Posted by Buff

I think it's wishful thinking to assume all of those injuries are going to be materially better in 4 days.

I think it has more to do with not getting beat up than getting healthy in 4 days. I can say I agree with that. Had my first two hockey games since August yesterday and the day before. Woke up today and my arm was sore. Thought my muscles were just rusty from not being used. Nope, big ass bruise! Huge one right on my bicep. No clue how that one got there. I took a slapper to the foot that some how deflected up and hit me in the pills. That one I knew about immediately, and still feel it since saturday. Point is, with something as bad as what he had, re-aggravating it and taking other shots and hits, would likely just set him back and reduce his overall performance for Thurs (if he plays- heard rumors he will be out again).

Not for nothing but Shannon Sharpe seems to think Siemian will be out Thursday. That is what he said on Undisputed.

I'm always prepared to lose. I take great pains to ensure that.

Originally Posted by Broncoknight30

Not for nothing but Shannon Sharpe seems to think Siemian will be out Thursday. That is what he said on Undisputed.

It was pretty much confirmed an hour or so ago that Siemien would suit up for Thursday.

I think we just sucked balls

Lynch was terrible, but even behind a great line I still think he would have been terrible

I thought the play calling sucked, but I think that was due to personnel rather than bad game planning.

The only thing I might have done differently is run an option offense in the second half-life that may have allowed lynch more opportunities to use these prototypical tools, athleticism and atm talent he possesses

I don't think we lost it or were prepared to lose one for the greater good. I just think we sucked so bad offensively, like we have for two whole years, but came up against an offense that could beat our defense. More times than most.

The fact the went out ten early made it tough to claw back with Tebow I mean lynch stinking it up

That was a borderline great offense, but all teams could do that to us, that is exactly how to best us, fortunately outside of the falcons and the pats I doubt few other teams could execute such and efficient and disciplined game plan

We need to dip back into free agency and do something about the right side of our line, where the money for that comes from....i don't know