Drew Brees and The Saints come marching into Denver

The Denver Broncos are now coming off their bye week having two weeks to prepare for the New Orleans Saints.  The Broncos now hit a stretch in their schedule where they face only one team that has a winning record as of this weekend, that would be the Baltimore Ravens. 

At the beginning of the season, one might have looked at the schedule and automatically assumed that this would have been a loss, but with recent injuries to CB Ladarius Webb, LB Ray Lewis and NT Haloti Ngata, the defense is struggling to give support to the Raven offense.  The Broncos now have the best opportunity to win the AFC West, and with the way the AFC is shaping up right now, a shot at a first round bye if they play well enough for the remainder of the season.

The Saints welcome back interim Head Coach Joe Vitt.  Vitt had been serving a six game suspension for his part in "Bounty Gate".  He was able to coach the team through training camp and preseason until the suspension started when the regular season had begun.  Joe Vitt has been welcomed back to the sidelines, and to the players, at the right time.

The offense hasn't been missing a beat with QB Drew Brees at the helm, but the the defense has had their struggles.  The Saints are letting others "go marching on them" with the ground game.  Saints are second to last in the league in terms of yards allowed, giving up 161 yards per contest and 4.9 yards per carry.  Vitt, technically holding the position of linebacker coordinator, will look to get the rush defense fix with his linebacker corps.

Manning will face the Saints for the first time since his loss in Super Bowl 44.  Two prolific passing offenses will be in full display Sunday evening.  The Broncos, led by QB Peyton Manning are fourth in the league at 291 yards through the air while the Saints counter with Brees with the most potent passing attack, first in the league 335.  Both quarterbacks had their struggles early in the season but have started to find their game and have their offense clicking on all cylinders.  Both teams are averaging better than 28 points per game.  This game has more meaning for Manning as well as he comes to his hometown of New Orleans where his father Archie used to play as well.  Manning will look to get two wins in the Superdome this season, this weekend against the Saints, and in February in Super Bowl 47.

With two passing attacks flying high, both secondaries will be put to the test.  One player who is making a "return" is CB Tracy Porter.  Porter was the corner responsible for the "pick six" on Manning in S.B. 44.  This time he comes back as a Bronco.  Porter did miss the last game for the Broncos in the Monday night game against the San Diego Chargers.  Is reasoning was mysterious, but was listed as due to a illness.  In recent days, it has been reported that he had been treated for "seizure like symptoms".  Although he feels good, doctors have not cleared him yet for a return to the field. 

The Broncos secondary will definitely get a test for a second week in a row.  Last week, DB Mike Adams was yanked in favor of Jim Leohnard after a few on field actions that resulted in penalties for the Broncos.  In return, Leohnard did come up with a interception near the end of the second half.  Porter being out, Chris Harris started and Tony Carter was inserted into the  nickel-back position.  The three DB's combined for four INT's, including a Harris pick-six.  The Broncos depth will be challenged if the Saints go four or five receivers.

This game has a serious potential to be a complete shootout, currently, the over/under for this game is 54 points.  This game has all the makings to be a great game for Sunday night football.

Broncos catch lightning in a bottle against Chargers

Photo courtesy of and by Jeff Gross/Getty Images

A game of two tales down in San Diego on Monday Night Football as the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers duked it out for AFC West Supremacy. If you weren't able to watch the entire game, you probably ran into some people, might have started to talk about the game and think you were talking about two entirely separate games.  The first half went to San Diego, and the second half was all Denver.

The first half, the Broncos continued to be plagued by turnovers as the specials team looked anything but "special" as recently signed WR/KR Trindon Holliday was signed off waivers to help boost the kick return game.  On his second punt return of the game, he muffed the punt, allowing the Chargers to recover the ball at Denver's 17.  The Chargers were able to get a field goal out of the turnover.  Following the score by the Chargers, on a attempted kickoff return by rookie CB Omar Bolden, he miss judged the kick and bounce, catching him off guard and not able to get full possession of the ball, eventually leading to a fumble and Chargers recovery at the 19, resulting in a touchdown pass to TE Antonio Gates from QB Phillip Rivers on a 15 yard strike.

The the first half bleeding for the Broncos didn't end there.  Two plays after a 55 yard catch and run by WR Eric Decker, miscommunication was the result of another turnover for Denver.  On San Diego's 26, QB Peyton Manning called a hot route to WR Matthew Willis.  Manning was looking for Willis to go short, and instead, Willis ran up the sideline.  Charger CB Quentin Jammer saw the miscommunication, "jumped" the route and ran the ball back 80 yards for a pick six.

Not long after that, The Chargers were able to move the ball down the field and score another touchdown pass, Gate again on the receiving end of a Rivers pass.  Denver found themselves on the trailing end of a 24-0 score at halftime from Qualcomm Stadium.  Rookie DE/DT Derek Wolfe told the Denver Post that in the locker room, you wouldn't have figured Denver was figuratively down and out.

"The feeling in this locker room at halftime, you would've thought we were up," defensive end Derek Wolfe said. "It didn't really matter what the score is. We knew we could play better, and we did."

The second half was underway, and so to was the surprise full-on assault the Broncos were about to put on the Chargers.  Without wasting anytime, Manning marches the team down the field coming out of halftime and caps the drive off with a 29 yard strike to WR Demaryius Thomas.  The Chargers would counter with a field goal of their own.  The defense it self got in on the act and did work on the Philip Rivers, something the Broncos haven't had success in the past doing.  Every Charger drive in the fourth quarter resulted in a turnover.  It was kicked off with three straight Charger drives resulting with Bronco CB's Tony Carter and Chris Harris combing for three picks, including the latter of the two getting to pay dirt on his second INT of the night.  To help set up the "icing on the cake" for the superior play of the second half by the defense, as San Diego was marching down the field, with less than a minute left and approaching midfield, DE Elvis Dumervil "left the building" with a sack fumble and a recovery by safety Mike Adams to give the ball back to Denver.

A game can't be complete unless there is a complete team effort.  The offense put together a "complete" game in the second half and the effort couldn't have been more impressive than what was witnessed.  Manning completed 13-of-14 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns as part of his day where he completed 80% of his passes for 309 yards.  The Broncos found themselves down 24-0 before the comeback had begun.  Behind the MVP like performance by Manning, Denver overcame the fourth largest deficit and third largest on road in NFL history.  Denver's offense and defense for the second half was able to catch "lightning in a bottle" as they go on to win 35-24.

Many want to judge this as a great comeback by the Broncos, but we can't forget the other side as the Chargers completely meltdown in the second half.  This game was a tail of two stories.  Going into their bye, Denver feels great about themselves as they have control of the AFC West and the second half of the season will be a different story as well.  Denver's remaining schedule consists of its final 10 opponents have a combined 19 wins, including a battered up Baltimore team that is the only plus .500 team on the record.  With a easy schedule coming up, expectations will be high for Bronco fans to make a push for a playoff spot, and more.  As the season goes on, this team will improve and may be a "night and day" difference in terms of play on the field and we will see a "finished product" for the season when the playoffs begin.

The second half of the season is kicked off on a Sunday night as the New Orleans Saints come matching into Sports Authority Field from Mile High with their #1 ranked passing offense lead by Drew Brees.  The defense will have time to rest and prepare for two weeks for a passing attack against a potent receiving corps that consists of Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, Devery Henderson and Lance Moore.  The secondary has had their ups and downs so far this season, but this will be the ultimate test for the pass defense as they will find out if all the money and roster changes made in the offseason was worth it.

Monday Night Bout for the "AFC Weak"

Week six will end with a match-up between two long time adversaries in the AFC West, the Denver Broncos traveling to Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers.  Winner of the game will have a early grasp on the division and go a long way into deciding the division winner.   After the Monday night match-up, there will be a combined eight wins in the division, showing the lack of talent and competition in the division, there will be no wildcard team coming from the AFC West, so it's win the division or go home.

Denver looks to come off a loss against the New England Patriots in which nothing worked in their favor except the incredible display of play put on by QB Peyton Manning.  Manning was 31-fo-44 for 377 yards and three touchdowns.  The question about Manning and his arm strength continues to be brought up as Manning is seen as "not being able to throw the long ball" following his four neck surgeries.  Interesting stats provided by ESPN.  Manning in week five through nine passes for fifteen yards or longer in the game against the Patriots, all which went to WR Demaryius Thomas.  He connected on five of the passes he threw, all of which to Thomas for 154 yards, a career high in yards for the third year pro.  There should be no question about strength, but how familiar he is becoming with his receivers as he works to get the timing down still with the receiver corps.  The Chargers pass defense is giving up 260 yards per game, look for Manning to throw it, and throw it often to work that secondary.

This San Diego defense is not the same defense that has been coached by the likes of Wade Phillips and Ron Rivera.  This defense lacks the ability to get pressure on the quarterback, something that they haven't had problems with in the past.  But through five games, the Chargers have accumulated ten sacks on the season.  Lets put it perspective, DE Elvis Dumervil and OLB Von Miller have eight between the two.  

The Broncos defense will look to use the two man wrecking crew in Dumvervil and Miller to try and get off the field on third down.  This continues to plague the Broncos.  Last week against the Patriots, they gave up 11 of 16 third down conversions, they got to do a better job of stopping opponents and getting off the field so that their offense isn't constantly playing catch-up like they have in most games.  Denver is currently ranked 30th in the NFL, allowing 46.7 of thirds down to be converted.

Slowing down the Chargers has been a problem as well, Manning hasn't had a good track record against the Bolts and Broncos for that matter.  Manning himself is 1-5 against San Diego with a TD/INT ratio of 11/15.  Denver themselves haven't had luck against Chargers QB Phillip Rivers, he is 9-3 against the Broncos completing 64.4 of his passes and 20 touchdowns.  Denver's pass rush will have to "camp" in the Bolts backfield if they want to slow down the Chargers offense.

One key will be the Chargers offensive line, the last couple seasons if has been patch work, dealing with injuries and journeymen to fill in on the line.  Last season, Rivers struggled against the Broncos rush, completing 46.9 of his passes against the rush.  Denver is 13th in the league in pass completion, allowing 61.4 completion percentage.  But the defense will really help out the offense if they can generate some interceptions.  On the season, they only have two interceptions, and four takeaways total.

The Bolts offense is not the same as it has been in the past.  With WR Vincent Jackson, the squad was essentially reliving the "Air Coryell" offense, slinging the ball all over the place, including deep to Jackson.  Jackson wasn't resigned in the offseason and has moved on to Tampa Bay.  They don't have that "go-to" guy on the offense now, the leading receiver is Malcolm Floyd with 20 receptions for 358 yards and one touchdown.  Next up is RB Ronnie Brown with 17 catches.  This passing game is being put together by a"committee".  No one guy will scare a secondary right now on this offense.

Twitter: @Josh_reising

The Patriots give the Broncos a mile high salute

Photo courtesy of Jim Rogash/Getty Images

One of the more anticipated games of the season has come and gone with the Denver Broncos finding themselves looking for more answers as questions continue to pop up with this team.  Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning didn't get much help.  He was magical in this match-up against his counterpart in Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.  But this game soon enough turned out to be less about what New England did do and what Denver did and didn't do.

What Denver did get was great quarterback play.  Manning was 31-of-44 for 345 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.  Since the first quarter of the Monday night game against the Atlanta Falcons, he has been hot, throwing nine touchdowns and no interceptions.  But that's where the good play ends.

The guys on the receiving end of Manning's passes have to become more reliable, including wide receiver Demariyus Thomas.  Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas combined thus far on the season have eight dropped passes on the season, or four a piece.  But the problems go deeper than that.  Thomas in the last three games has had three fumbles, and on plays in which Thomas covers up the ball can result in a touchdown and swing momentum their way.  In this last game, Thomas had nine receptions for 188 yards.  Good numbers, but to be great instead of good, mistakes like that can't hamper your game.

Fumbling has been some what of a problem for the running game as well.  Running back Willis McGahee continues to defy his age and his play hasn't let down at all.  With a patchwork offensive line in that hasn't seen all five starters on the field at one point of the season, he has been productive.  But fumbles and mental mistakes have become a problem for McGahee this season.  Bronco fans will have a tough time letting go of the fact that McGahee dropped a clean pass on fourth and one deep in Patriots territory, as well as a fumble on the following series.  Broncos fans are screaming "WHATCHU DOING WILLIS!".

On defense, they couldn't contain the slot WR in Wes Welker, who had 13 receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.  Nickelback Chris Harris had his work cut out for him as Brady made work of the youngster.  Brady didn't hit Welker with anything more than a ten yard pass as he let the receiver do all of the work after the catch.  New England's shaky offensive line was able to hold up against the Denver pass rush.  The Broncos had thought they had the Patriots offense figured out as cornerback Champ Bailey told Comcast Sports New England 

"You gotta translate things from the meeting room and practice field to the game. Coaches can’t go out there and play for us. We gotta make sure we put ourselves in position to make plays and get off the field on third down. We worked on everything they did to us. There wasn’t no surprises. They just hit us in the mouth and we didn’t hit back hard enough."

What hit the defense the hardest was third downs.  The defense has had a problem against the better offense with getting off the field.  This week, the Patriots were able to convert 11-of-17 and were also able to pick up 36 first downs. 

Lastly, the Broncos got a good look at the revitalized Patriot running attack, lead by second year pro RB Steve Ridley. As the Patriots spread their offense out, they also spread out the Broncos defense, putting the Broncos in a lot of one-on-one match-ups and Denver lost just about everyone of them.  As New England was able to handle our front seven, Ridley went on to find hole after hole as he hightailed his was to 151 yards on on 28 carries and a touchdown.

The offense shows glimpses of "what it could be" and the defense continues to dominate the weaker but kneel down to the stronger competition.  Much work is still to be done with this team, but if changes aren't made or improvement isn't seen, playoffs wouldn't be a option if they weren't fortunate to be in the AFC West.

-Josh Reising
Twitter: @Josh_reising

This isn't JUST another game...Broncos verse The Patriots

Kickoff set for 4:25 Eastern Standard Time....Foxboro...Massachusetts...Denver Broncos...New England Patriots...Peyton Manning...Tom Brady.  Sounds like just another Sunday right, well, you guessed wrong.  Last season, the rivlary between these two quarterbacks took a season off as Manning was dealing with a neck injury as the Indianapolis Colts went up to New England to visit the Patriots.  The Patriots got the best of the Colts, leading them 31-3 late in the third before Indy would score three TD's in the fourth as the Pat's would go on to win 31-24.  Obviously the rivarly between the two teams lost its luster without one of the stars of the NFL in play.

Manning and Brady face off for the first time since 2010 where Brady and the Patriots got the best of Manning 31-28 and stopped a late comeback by the Colts.  Within inside of two minutes, James Sanders intercepts Mannings pass to help preserve the win. The two have had their memorable moments against each other, meeting twelve times in the regular season with Brady winning the first six matchups and Manning catching up winning four of the last six.  They also have met three times in the postseason, 2-1 in Bradys favor, but are split in the AFC Championship game as the two have seen each other twice.

This year, it's a different story as Bronco fans like to say, Manning is now a Bronco and "all colts grow up to become broncos".  But, as all Bronco fans want to forget, there was a Bill Belichick deciple here in Denver for a year and a half.  Dare I say his name?  It was Josh McDaniels.

Many Bronco fans believe it was a consipracy by the Patriots and McD to have him come to Denver.  He comes to Denver, trades QB Jay Cutler and WR Brandon Marshall.  Terrible and questionable draft picks including DE Robert Ayers, RB Knowshon Moreno and QB Tim Tebow.  Halfway through the 2010 season, McD was fired and eventually was hired back on to the Patriots staff as a offensive consultant, and is now their offensive coordinator.  The thought process was that he comes to Denver, ruins the team and goes back to New England.  But it is what it is, a conspiracy theory.

But McDaniels knows the Broncos, particularly Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.  McCoy was hired by McDaniels in 2009 and worked in conjunction to impliement the offense with the Broncos.  With McDaniels leaving and John Fox coming in, the offense was left up to McCoy to run.  McDaniels knows what this offense is about and could work in his favor in preparation for this weeks game against the Broncos.

The New England Patriots running game is coming back to life, and in a big way.  Running backs Brandon Bolden and Steven Ridley both rushed for over 100 yards and three TD's in their win against Buffalo last week.  The rushing attack has been on life support since the retirement of RB Corey Dillon.  Denver's rush defense seems to be back, on paper.  They are 10th in the NFL giving up an average of 87.5 yards per game, well see just how good this running game is or if this N.E. running game is back and just how stout the Broncos rush defense really is.

The Broncos defense looked revitalized as well lead by defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.  But one problem they have had has been dealing with tight ends early this season.  Fifteen receptions for 168 yards and three TD's.  As of late, they have been getting better, but look for the Patriots to try and work the linebackers down the middle and with the seam routes with TE Rob Gronkowski and game-time decision TE Aaron Hernandez.

Interesting stat, courtesy of ESPN. It will be what the Broncos do best on defense against what the Patriots do best on offense.  Denver's pass rush has come alive when the blitz is present, allowing only a 47.5 completion percentage, best in the NFL.  But when Brady has pressure in his face, he does his best work, completing 66.7% of his passes against the blitz, including four touchdowns to zero interceptions.  The offensive line for New England is key for Denver as they are dealing with transition from experience to youth, but the numbers don't lie.  Denver will have to find creative and exotic ways to get into the face of Brady if they want to slow down this offense.

-Josh Reising
Twitter: @Josh_reising

Broncos pull plank out from underneath Raiders defense

The Denver Broncos wild ride through the tough part of their schedule brought out the divisional and hated rival Oakland Raiders.  The Broncos came into this game desperately needing a win to keep chase with the San Diego Chargers.  Denver also needed this win because looming a week from now is the New England Patriots.  Following the disastrous loss to arguably the best team in the AFC and maybe the NFL in the Houston Texans, the Broncos needed to get their offensive and defensive problems figured out quick, fast and in a hurry.

One problem the Broncos struggled with was getting off to a fast start, and against the Oakland Raiders, for at least the day, they figured that problem out.  For the first time this season, Broncos offensively scored first, setting the tempo of the game with their opponent.  Denver capped a 11 play, 80 yard drive that took nearly four and a half minutes off top off with a 22 yard strike to TE Joel Dresseen.  The Denver defense had their ears pinned back and were ready to get after quarterback Carson Palmer. 

Early on, it looked as though the defense was close, but wasn't quite going to get to the QB, but as the game went on, they were able to make Palmer comfortable with the turf.  The defense got after the Oakland offense, sacking Palmer three times and letting knocking him down to the ground right times.  They also slowed down the very dangerous running back in Darren McFadden.  After his breakout performance for the season against the Miami Dolphins last week, they held the RB to 38 total yards on the afternoon.  The defense had no problems of congesting the gaps, forcing the RB to bounce to the outside where he would be met with a slew of Bronco linebackers and defensive backs. 

One problem the Broncos seemed to have also figured out for the week as getting off on third downs.  After being able to get a reversed call on where the ball should have been spot after a catch and run to fullback Marcel Reese early in the second quarter, they were able to really diminish any opportunity for the Raiders to continue any drive on third down.  On the afternoon, and astounding 1 for 12 on third down conversions and allowing 237 total yards on the day.

After their first scoring drive, we saw the Bronco offense open up, especially in the second half.  It was apparent that Manning and the rest of the Bronco offense was going to take some time to gel and become a potent and dangerous team.  The second half, Denver was able to score on each of their five drives, including three straight TD's.  They tallied 245 of their 503 yards during this time.

QB Peyton Manning looked like the maestro as he orchestrated the Bronco offense.  Manning himself had great protection all day, allowing him to 30 of 38 for 338 yards and three TD's while not even being touched, good for a 130 QBR.  The offense kept the Raider defense guessing where the ball was going to be going.  Why?  Distribution.  Manning looked more comfortable this week, we saw him lead his receivers more, putting the ball in places where only his receivers could make the catch.  Questions will still persist about him not being able to make the deep pass, but when you can outsmart a defense, having to go deep may not be necessary.  John Fox spoke to the Denver Post, talking about the progression of the passing game

"Let's not forget he didn't play all last season," Broncos coach John Fox said. "This is a new team. A new coaching staff. A new city. A new field. A new everything for him. The type of guy he is, he's just going to get better and better. He's a championship guy. He's getting used to his teammates. He just was better at it today than earlier."

Manning hit seven different players at least one time with a catch, lead by WR Demaryius Thomas who had five catches for 103 yards.  The only problem he encountered was "fumblitis" as he fumbled the ball as he was running towards a TD to put the Broncos way ahead of the Raiders.  He fumbled as he was exchanging the ball from his right hand to his left.

The ground attack did their work as well, RB Willis McGehee broke the century mark again on 19 carries for 112 yards on the day.  Knowshon Moreno was inactive this week, giving rookie RB Ronnie Hillman more looks this week, 10 carries for 31 yards.  The ground game help dominate the time of possession as the Broncos almost doubled up the Raiders 2-to-1.

The only players missing from this weeks action was S Quinton Carter (IR), LB Nate Irving (Concussion) and G Chris Kuper (Forearm).  They did happen to lose C J.D. Walton for the season due to a broken ankle, they did sign Dan Koppen three weeks ago to be his backup.  This may be a blessing in disguise, giving Manning a center that is more experienced to work with him now.  This is a good time for the offense to be clicking, because come Sunday, as the Denver Post was told by Manning, the Broncos will need to bring their "A" game.

"You know when you play New England that Tom is going to have his guys ready, so you know you have to be prepared to be at your best." 

The two have squared up for some of the more memorable games in recent NFL history, in the all-time matchup between the two, Brady has got the best of Manning, 7-4.