12-02-2019, 09:33 PM
The bad news is that the Broncos can’t catch the Raiders for the bottom of the barrel and thus get a Top 5 draft pick. Thanks for nothing! I wish we got a little bit of a reward for all this suffering.The Broncos are a dumpster fire and an embarrassment right now. And anyone who claims otherwise is simply refusing to face the harsh truth of reality. Take your orange-colored glasses off for a second and take a good look at this team. If you were a fan of any other team in the NFL Phillip Lindsay Jersey , you’d be laughing at the ineptitude of the Broncos and the complete laughing stock this once proud franchise has become. The only reason you’ll disagree is because you’re a fan (as am I). But that’s all you’ve got, and that is NOT a valid argument against it. I know, “cut to the chase Pete”... well, hold on. I’m not there yet. For everyone who says we are three plays away from being a 9-win team, I retort with “we’re also a few plays away from being a one-win team.” Guess what? We ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH to make those three or four plays to win games. We aren’t. So no, we aren’t three plays away because we couldn’t make those three plays away. That’s like me saying “I’m only 6 inches away from being Dwayne Johnson!” guess what? I’m not him! I got over it, so should you! I’ll never grow taller, and we’ll never have those “coulda/ woulda/ shoulda” plays.To Elway: Don’t hire a crappy re-tread of a head coach unless his name is Mike Shanahan. If you hire an offensive-minded head coach from college, make sure to draft his quarterback and hire his staff so that he’s set up for success at the next level. And if that doesn’t work, then hire an offensive coordinator to be our coach. And no, I don’t want Eric Bieniemy. He’s not the architect behind the Chiefs offense. He needs to prove he can do more than stand next to the real mastermind of that offense before I trust him with a team. The same goes for Peter Carmichael in New Orleans. You’re a glorified water boy to make sure Sean Payton stays hydrated much like Bieniemy is a glorified sandwich boy to make sure Andy Reid’s blood sugar doesn’t get below 20,000. Get an offensive coordinator who is the actual architect of an offense.To those who want Herbert, Lock, or Haskins...NO! Stay away! Stay FAR AWAY! There is exactly one quarterback outside of the “Tom Brady was a 6th-round pick” complete lucky quarterback who’s worth drafting, and his name is Kyler Murray. But you’ll have to basically waste a draft pick for him as he’s going to play baseball. I THINK you get that draft pick back if he doesn’t go to the NFL, but it wouldn’t be until the next year. So SKIP the quarterback high in this draft. Draft yourself a Day 2 or Day 3 quarterback. The 2020 draft is the draft for a QB (like this draft was). And hey, if you’re stupid enough to want a first-round quarterback this year, then use your first round pick on Murray, because if you do get it back next year, then BAM, you have 2 first round draft picks. Lump them together and get Tua! Problem solved! But I swear, taking Haskins or Herbert this year or any Day 1 QB is as big of a mistake as taking Paxton Lynch. Only a true masochist would want that for our team. Don’t be that person!On to the picks.Last Week: 10-6Overall: 139-82-2Washington Redskins (7-7) at Tennessee Titans (8-6) 2:30 p.m. NFLN SATURDAYThis Saturday game is the NFL’s version of the Thursday Night game. You know, a stinker. I’m not even sure this looked good in the offseason when they decided who plays when. Anyways, both of these teams are basically “meh,” and it’ll be one of those games that are so compelling that you find yourself passed out on the couch with chip crumbs lying on your chest. Just make sure to wake up for the second game on Saturday. Prediction: Redskins 13, Titans 17Baltimore Ravens (8-6) at Los Angeles Chargers (11-3) 6:20 p.m. NFLN SATURDAYBoth of these teams have something to play for. The Chargers are playing for the potential #1 seed, and the Ravens are playing for the potential home game in the playoffs. Who do you trust more? Philip Rivers against the Raven’s defense? Or Lamar Jackson against the Chargers’ defense? Prediction: Ravens 23, Chargers 24New York Giants (5-9) at Indianapolis Colts (8-6) 11 a.m. CBSComing off a shutout should have the Giants seething and ready to play, which again, will help the Broncos out in draft position. But the Colts are also coming off of a shutout. But they were the one shutting the Cowboys out. If Andrew Luck doesn’t win Comeback Player of the Year, it’s a rigged system. Well, it already is, but it’ll make it even more apparent. Prediction: Giants 17, Colts 27Jacksonville Jaguars (4-10) at Miami Dolphins (7-7) 11 a.m. CBSIf the Giants win out and the Broncos lose out (Prediction: one of them will happen), then the Broncos move up the draft. So fingers crossed the Jags win. But they suck something fierce. Then again, the Dolphins aren’t exactly world beaters, but hey, I can’t talk much smack seeing my team (Broncos) are dead last in my Power Rankings. Prediction: Jaguars 13, Dolphins 16Atlanta Falcons (5-9) at Carolina Panthers (6-8) 11 a.m. FOXI’ve crunched the numbers on this game. The Falcons hate to actually win, and the Panthers are incapable of winning. They both lose a lot as well. When you carry the 7 and divide by the specific gravity or air between Ron Rivera’s ears when he tries to lead the team, and multiply by the “resting stupid face” that Matt Ryan has, you get the only logical outcome. Cam Newton is shutting it down. Kidding, the logical outcome is Prediction: Falcons 17, Panthers 10Cincinnati Bengals (6-8) at Cleveland Browns (6-7-1) 11 a.m. CBSThe Browns are soaring high post Hue Jackson firing, and they don’t look like they’re slowing down. However, this is a divisional game Joe Flacco Jersey , so anything can go down, like your... Bengals if you’re a Bengal fan. I swear that wasn’t censored. Prediction: Bengals 16, Browns 20Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-9) at Dallas Cowboys (8-6) 11 a.m. FOXWe need the Bucs to win. But the Cowboys are surely pissed and don’t want to let this rare playoff position slip through their delicate flower fingers. Prediction: Bucs 23, Cowboys 27Minnesota Vikings (7-6-1) at Detroit Lions (5-9) 11 a.m. FOXWell, the Vikings win this game. They play a team with a losing record, so this is virtually automatic. Prediction: Vikings 27, Lions 20Buffalo Bills (5-9) at New England Patriots (9-5) 11 a.m. CBSThe Patriots haven’t lost back to back December games since 2002. Will they make it three in a row? The Bills want to say yes, the Broncos fans want to say yes (helps with our draft positioning), but ultimately this is played in Foxboro, which is worth a 17th 10+ win season in the Brady/Belichick era. Prediction: Bills 15, Patriots 32Green Bay Packers (5-8-1) at New York Jets (4-10) 11 a.m.FOXThis game should be a laugher with Green Bay winning by like, 50, but the Packers kinda suck. Looks like firing McCarthy might not have been the answer. But it’s the Jets, and the Jets will do Jet things, like lose. Prediction: Packers 20, Jets 17Houston Texans (10-4) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-7) 11 a.m. CBSDecember in Philly. Hell, a few days before Christmas in Philly. Over/Under how many battery packed snowballs get thrown at the Texans? I’m setting it at 45, which is almost the combined score of this game. Prediction: Texans 23, Eagles 20Los Angeles Rams (11-3) at Arizona Cardinals (3-11) 2:05 p.m. FOXI know this is a divisional game, but if this isn’t a 30-point victory by the Rams, they’re in serious trouble come January. Prediction: Rams 42, Cardinals 10Chicago Bears (10-4) at San Francisco 49ers (4-10) 2:05 p.m. Maybe it’s because I’m slamming Captain Morgan right now (I’m not), but I’m about to sound like a freaking parrot (you know, pirates have parrots) because I’m about to repeat myself on the Rams game. But if the Bears don’t win by 20, they’re a joke and need to just stay home come playoff time. Prediction: Bears 33, Niners 9Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5-1) at New Orleans Saints (12-2) 2:25 p.m. Who They Say Gonna Beat Dem Saints? Not the Steelers. Not at home. Not in the dome. Prediction: Steelers 27, Saints 33Kansas City Chiefs (11-3) at Seattle Seahawks (8-6) 6:20 p.m. NBC SNFPatrick Mahomes is the NFL version of Serral, my favorite Starcraft player. Yes, I’m speaking English, I swear! Anyway, its time to cement his MVP legitimacy by marching into Seattle with a banged up supporting cast and shutting that annoying franchise and its head coach up. Or the Chiefs can lose yet again and prove that history does repeat itself as the playoffs (i.e. death row for Kansas City) loom near. Prediction: Chiefs 34, Seahawks 33Denver Broncos (6-8) at Oakland Raiders (3-11) 6:15 p.m. ESPN MNFOh yeah, there’s a game to be played in Oakland, right? Let’s get to that. This is likely the Raiders last home game in their stadium. That means something. The Broncos have given up on the season and their coach, and that means something too. If the Broncos only lose by 10 points, I’m going to be impressed. Yes Santa Clause, there is a Hell, and the Broncos are living in it. Prediction: Broncos 17, Raiders 24Broncos’ preseason loss to Vikings highlights A LOT to focus on (fix) moving forward Case Keenum said Saturday that the Broncos’ loss to his former team definitely left him “wanting” - and he wasn’t the only one.For Broncos fans experiencing not just a glimmer but rather an explosion of hope the past few weeks that perhaps we really had escaped the offensive abyss this team has wallowed in since 2016, Saturday’s 42-28 loss to the Vikings was downright unacceptable.Not because of the final score. It’s preseason. Who cares?It was that the 14-0 deficit halfway through the first quarter - which featured the Broncos’ No. 1 offense and defense - felt all too familiar. In one 15-minute quarter of football, all the excitement building over the past two weeks evaporated into the thin Rocky Mountain air.And then when the second-string quarterback came in to show how much he has improved after two years of watching, studying, playing NFL football, the story was once again a sequel, not a blockbuster.But as all good football fans - or at least true students of the game - should know, no championships are won in the preseason. Those games are for finding problems and fixing them.So that’s the long view that Keenum is taking.“Right now - training camp and preseason - it’s about building a foundation. It’s about finding what you’re good at and maybe finding what you’re not good at and working on that Von Miller Jersey ,” Keenum noted. “We obviously have some things to work on. I think it’s a good test for us, going against a really good team that we know is a really good team. We know we’ve got to work, we’ve got to get better hands down.”He’s right about that. Having completed a measly 1-of-4 passes for five yards, Keenum should be a lock for making some swift improvements next weekend.“It’s disappointing obviously. You want guys to go out there and at least have a decent drive, but we didn’t do that,” head coach Vance Joseph said after the loss. “Offensively, we had a nice first-down play and second play we jumped offsides—self-inflicted wounds. We didn’t start fast and they did.”It’s going to be popular to pile on Joseph for this aggravating loss - and for some great reasons. Reportedly, the coaching staff didn’t “game plan” for the Vikings but instead planned on practicing “concepts” for the offense. Whether that was a good idea is debatable, but it’s a good reminder not to be overly concerned about the offense’s performance Saturday - at least not yet (and as Scotty Payne pointed out, “six plays is not a big sample size.”)As for the lackluster performance of the defense, which gave up 41 rushing yards to Minnesota running back Latavius Murray on three plays in the Vikings’ first drive, Joseph noted that the defense was missing veteran starters Von Miller and Todd Davis. He added that the missed gap assignments by the linemen didn’t help. It was definitely a night of growing pains for rookie and first-round pick Bradley Chubb, but the entire line struggled.“The first run, it was basically a missed tackle in the hole, and the second run, we didn’t fit it up right,” Joseph said. “That was a strength of ours last year, so we can’t go backwards with that, and we won’t. Obviously, it happened tonight, but it’s preseason and we’ll fix it.”If the coach wants to make it to the beginning of the season, he better hope so.But the game wasn’t all bad, of course. And some of it was quite good - even fun - if you hung around until midway through the third quarter.Eventually the game became a game and the Mile High crowd was all for it. It was a game Kelly really wanted to win, but mostly the second-year quarterback was just happy to be playing in a football game again.“Like I said, there’s a lot of things that we can get better at, but there were also a lot of good things that came from this game, too,” said Kelly, who was drafted as “Mr. Irrelevant. It’s a learning experience, my first game in 646 days and I’m excited to have the opportunity to be on a great team.”Freeman, who definitely earned first-team reps this week, was thrilled to get a score in his first NFL game.“It was a blessing definitely stepping out there at Mile High just to see all the fans in support and just to be out there for the first game was a moment you have been thinking about for forever,” Freeman said, adding thathis touchdown was just a result of camp repetition. “I just went through my reads. The line did a great job of walling off and I got to the second level so I was just trying to make something happen....We’ve run that play numerous times in camp. I just try to go through my reads throughout the play and it was there for me.”Lindsay, an undrafted free agent from Colorado and a local favorite, said his touchdown was also due to just doing what he’s been doing the last two weeks in camp.“It’s something that we worked on during camp and we’re continuing to work on. That’s what I’m supposed to do,” Lindsay said. “My job is to get open. Chad was able to find me, and we were able to make a play. Chad had a lot of momentum and sparked us. I’m proud of him. He’s a good teammate and a good dude.”That spark from Kelly was no joke, and the guys on the sideline felt it.“The energy [in the second half] was a lot better than the energy in the first half. We got our offense going, we got a couple first downs,” Lindsay added. “Tim Patrick sparked us too when Chad was able to hit him a couple of times. Everything matters and that’s what I’m finding out right now.”For Broncos fans, hopefully Lindsay, Kelly, Patrick and Freeman can keep that spark going while the starters find a better rhythm next weekend.“It’s a good feeling and I just want to continue to make plays,” Lindsay said. “That’s what they brought me in to do - to be a big playmaker. I want to be able to be a spark plug.”