5 Questions with BroncoTalk.net
By Staff
As promised, I asked the owner of BroncosTalk.net – a great site for everything Broncos – a few questions about his favorite team and about their season. This is what he had to say:
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1. Tragedy has gripped the Denver Broncos this year with the loss of Darrent Williams and Damien Nash. How have the Broncos and Broncos fans dealt with such a loss and how have they replaced them on the field?
Tough question… this is still really hard to talk about, but I’ll do my best.
Strictly on the field, of course all of Denver is excited about the Bly-Bailey combination. Who wouldn’t be? Damien had less of a role on game day, but he added quality depth, which the Broncos had to rely on rookie free agents to fill. They’re doing a fine job.
Off the field, the Broncos and fans will never be the same. It’s a tough topic and I’ll just move on.
2. Through Weeks 1 and 2, the Broncos barely squeaked by both the Bills and the Raidahs with leads of 3 points or less, and they lost a tough one to Colts rival Jacksonville last week. How do you rate the Broncos progress so far? Is Jason Elam going to be the Broncos’ savior the entire season?
Disappointing so far. Most fans, including myself, considered ourselves an upper echelon team, right alongside the Colts, Patriots, and Chargers. Statistically we’ve been great, but we just haven’t been able to get the ball in the end zone. We’re amongst the top of the league in both defense and offense (yards), but we’re just not getting the ball in the endzone.
So far our savior has been Mike Shanahan… whether it’s calling the crazy “toro” play on Special Teams to kick the field goal in the final seconds vs. Buffalo, or icing the kicker against Oakland, he’s made shrewd moves that have saved us from bitter losses.
3. Denver is a city that’s kind of critical about its QBs, so tell us at Naptown’s Finest what it is about Jay Cutler that gives solace to Bronco fans. Should Cutler get injured, how would Bronco fans rally behind backup, Patrick Ramsey?
The Broncos have had good QBs since Elway. I have no problem classifying both Griese and Plummer as good, sometimes great, NFL quarterbacks. Griese didn’t have the leadership that Elway did. Plummer was a great leader for the team, but he was a bit less talented and reportedly less self-motivated than some (hence retiring after the Broncos traded him – you just got the feeling he had forgotten how to love football).
Cutler has the fire, the leadership, a truckload of talent and all the intangibles you’d want in a quarterback.
4. You have an impressive comparison between Cutler and Manning on your site. Who do you think is going to have a better week this week, Jay or Peyton? Why?
Yeah, that was a great post, it was actually the work of Jonathan Douglas, my co-blog-author-buddy-dude. For lack of a better term.
It’s always hard to say that any quarterback will have a better week than Peyton. But Denver’s pass rush is miles ahead of last year, and we do have those two corners… if Bly can keep up with Wayne and not bite on the pump fakes, Manning may get flustered for the first time in his career against Denver.
I’d say it’s likely Manning will out-gun Cutler, but it’s definitely not a guarantee. The Broncos receivers have officially exploded on the scene.
5. Let’s face it, the Colts are a tough team to beat this year, but it’s still early. You’re calling a Bronco upset this week on your site. Are you saying that because you’re rallying around your team, or do you honestly think the Broncos can pull it off? If so, what are the Broncos going to have to do to get the upset? Gameplan? Weaknesses in the Colts defense and offense…or special teams? And after this game, how do you see the Broncos end their season?
I honestly think the Broncos can win this game. All they have to do is look at the Jacksonville game tape and switch roles – the Jags completely dominated time of possession to the tune of around 39 minutes to 21 minutes. We have the offensive firepower to do just that, and keep Peyton and company off the field.
If we don’t take control of the game clock it’s a lot harder to conjure up scenarios where we stop the Colts offense enough to win.
As for the Broncos season, if our team is ever talented enough to sniff at the playoffs I pick them to win it all. Can’t help myself really. But this preseason was the most excited I’ve been for our team in quite some time. Travis Henry is a beast, the receivers are outstanding (keep an eye on Brandon Marshall), and despite his dropped ball on 4th down last week Daniel Graham has been extremely impressive at tight end.
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There it is…That’s what an honest representative-Bronco fan has to say about this week’s matchup and his team. Where I missed mentioning Denver’s embarrassing run defense in my approximation of the Bronco squad (here’s the link to my 5 Questions with them), it seems that some in Mile High have overlooked the Colts embarrassing special teams…so as a Bronco fan left in a comment on BroncoTalk.net: I hope the Denver coaching staff missed our special teams.
I’m calling a very close game between the two teams, as I predict a score of 24-20, Colts. The Colts have what it takes and the Broncos are quickly getting what it takes (finding the endzone seems to be the last big hurdle for them), so is this going to be a battle of QBs managing the clock, a battle between defenses, a battle between special teams play, a battle between run games? It can go either way when the Broncos and the Colts meet this Sunday in Indy. But the fact remains that the folks over at BroncosTalk.net know their team and know it well…I just hope the lack of oxygen has them seeing more in their team than what there really is.
So, Kyle…to return the sentiments you gave me and my team: Here, too, is a backhanded “good luck” this weekend. Naptown’s fans! Get over to BroncoTalk.net and see what they have to say…You won’t be disappointed.