FINAL GAME NOTES

WIN NO. 150 FOR SHANAHAN

* - With the win, Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan earned his 150^th overall career victory (150-96-0, .610) and became the 17th coach in NFL history to reach that win total. His overall record with the Broncos improves to 142-84-0 (.628).

SIXTH IN A ROW AT HOME

* - The Broncos extended their home winning streak to six games with their victory against Tampa Bay. It is their longest such streak since posting 13 consecutive home wins in the regular season from Dec. 12, 2004, through Oct. 15, 2006.

CUTLER MILESTONES

* - Broncos QB Jay Cutler completed 23-of-34 passes for 227 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a 96.1 passer rating.

* - His 10-yard touchdown pass to WR Brandon Stokley in the third quarter moved him ahead of QB Steve Tensi for sole possession of seventh in Broncos history in career touchdown passes (39). 

* - Cutler also became the eighth player in Broncos history to reach 6,000 career passing yards, finishing the game with an even 6,000 for his career.

* - The victory improved Cutler’s career record as a starting quarterback to 13-13.

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It's time to take an honest self evaluation.  There are a lot of good things to take comfort in if you are a Broncos fan.  There are also some things that need to be faced that should keep you awake at night.  I want to look at both.

Coming from a coach's perspective, folks shouldn't panic over one game.  On the other hand, folks shouldn't get too excited over the 3-0 mark we were at before the KC loss.  What we have on our hands is a very, very good team that has some terrible flaws.  Yes, we beat SD and NO, but the games were close enough to be decided by a two point conversion and missed FGs.  We beat Oakland, but that's not much to brag about.  We also lost to KC, and that's a concern.

We'll look at what can be adjusted for and what probably can't, and where this puts the team as it continues The Quest.

Read on...

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SERIES STUFF

**With the win, the Broncos improve to 7-2 (.778) all-time against the Saints, including 4-1 (.800) at home.

**The New Orleans Saints played their first regular-season game at INVESCO Filed at Mile High. The Saints played the Broncos in the very first game played at INVESCO Field at Mile High, a preseason game in 2001(31-24 Broncos win). The last time the Saints played a regular season game in Denver was on 12/24/94, a 30-28 New Orleans victory at Mile High Stadium.

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  For all your San Diego Chargers News, check out Bolts From The Blue 

2008 OFFENSE

2008 DEFENSE

Week 2, and Broncos fans are riding high after dominating the Raiders.  Can they do it again, and at the same time take a two-game divisional lead over the Poweder Blue???  Let's find out...

It's Broncos/Chargers. Who has "The Edge"?

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OPENING THOUGHTS

* - With the win, the Broncos improve to 31-17-1 in season openers for a .633 winning percentage, third-best in NFL history.

* - Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan improves to 12-4 in season openers in his career, second-best all-time among coaches who began their careers in the Super Bowl era (min. 14 games).

Highest Winning Percentage in Opening Day Games
Mike Ditka 11-3 (.786)
Mike Shanahan 12-4 (.750)
Bud Grant 12-6 (.667)

A ROYAL INTRODUCTION

* - Broncos rookie WR Eddie Royal finished with the most receiving yards (146) and the fourth-most receptions (9) of any NFL player in Week 1. Royal added two rushes for 9 yards, two punt returns for 19 yards and a kickoff return for 11 yards, bringing his all-purpose yards total to 185.

* - Royal’s 146 receiving yards marked the sixth most by a player in his NFL debut in league history with those records dating back to 1960. He posted the first 100-yard receiving game by a player in his debut since Anquan Boldin had an NFL-record 217 receiving yards in his first game with the Cardinals (9/7/03). His 146 receiving yards also were the second most by a Broncos rookie in his first game with that record held by WR Rick Upchurch (153 on three receptions with 1 TD) vs. K.C. (9/21/75).

* - Royal’s nine receptions were the most by a Broncos rookie in his NFL debut.

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For a look at the game from the Raiders view, check out SilverandBlackPride

Denver Broncos

Oakland Raiders

CHANGES IN BOLD

For a look at the game from the Raiders view, check out SilverandBlackPride

Denver Broncos

Oakland Raiders

DENVER BRONCOS COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

"Defensively, I believe we did a good job stopping the run. We improved from a year ago. We didn't tackle as well as I would have liked us to. We had some penalties, but I thought the effort was there. We have to tackle much better than we did. Special teams overall had a good game. Right now, I'm not really sure about the injuries. Manuel broke his thumb, I know that. Elvis Dumervil dislocated his finger. Right now with Patrick Ramsey I'm not really sure. I'm not really sure on how his shoulder or elbow is right now."

On S Marquand Manuel Possibly Playing With a Broken Thumb --
"We'll have to see if he needs to have surgery."

On Playing His First Unit in the Second Half --
"No, like I said during the press conference, we just want them to play a half. We had a lot of plays playing against Dallas. I felt pretty good about our football team. We're trying to prevent injuries, obviously. Marquand got hurt in the special teams which was a setback."

On Giving WR Brandon Marshall Playing Time, Despite His Regular Season Suspension --
"I'm just going to treat it like he sprained his ankle. Obviously when we have people go down, we need to have people step up and take the opportunity. WR Darrell Jackson did not play today because of a sprained ankle, hopefully he'll be in full speed and ready to go. We want to get some of those other players some playing time."

On the Possibility of WR Brandon Marshall Playing Against the Arizona Cardinals --
"I'm not going to go into playing time, but from looking at the past history, it's going to be pretty obvious what we're going to do."

On C Tom Nalen's Recent Knee Surgery --
"He had a pretty good surgery. They had to get some bodies out of there. They said that the results were very positive. We just have to see how long it takes."

On DT Ebenezer Ekuban's Status --
"I really don't know. I haven't talked to Greek (Head Athletic Trainer Steve Antonopulos) yet. I think I'll find out in the next half hour or so."

On the Play of TE Nate Jackson --
"I'm very pleased with Nate, and [TE] Tony [Scheffler] has stepped up. [TE] Daniel Graham is obviously out today with a hamstring; he'll be full speed and ready to go next week. Like I said we had little bumps and bruises, I'll find out the status of them in the next hour."

On RB Michael Pittman's Play Tonight --
"Michael played a lot in the second half and did a good job. He got tired and we had to put [RB] Andre [Hall] back in. Hopefully we'll stay healthy at that position. I thought [FB] Peyton Hillis did a good job making a big play to give us that first down, when we were backed up. He made a nice run and nice catch. [FB] Cecil Sapp and Peyton alternated during the first half. Overall I'm very pleased. I'm very pleased with the offense thus far."

On P Brett Kern's Taking Lead in Punting Position --
"Very close, very close."

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Brandon Marshall Reigns In a TD

PHOTO CREDIT

I am not a prisoner to the present.  I say it all the time.  For those of you that don't listen to MHR Radio, it simply means I like to let things sink in before I react.  There are some things, however, that I do think need discussed after tonight's loss.  In no particular order --

1.  Injury Situation Becoming A Concern -- The Broncos held several players out of teh game with injuries, and suffered more during the contest.  most notably, DE Elvis Dumervil left the game with a finger/hand injury.  He will be evaluated on Sunday, but he did return to the sidelines in street clothes with a large splint protecting the top of his hand, over the middle finger.  Let's hope it is nothing too serious and Dumervil can be ready in two weeks. 

The same goes for newly anointed starting Safety Marquand Manuel, who appeared to injure his thumb.  Mike Shanahan said after the game that his thumb was broken which would be a huge setback for the defense and Manuel.  Hamza Abdullah had already lost the starting job after re-injuring his groin, and now Manuel looks to be out.  That leaves Roderick Rogers.

Patrick Ramsey seemed to tweak his throwing arm on the big play of the game, an interception deep in Broncos' territory that led to the Packers go-ahead TD.  Ramsey had the arm wrapped on the sidelines, though he appeared to be OK.

DE Paul Carrington suffered a strained quad and DE Larry Birdine appeared to have his bell rung.  More on all the injuries later on Saturday.

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Notes and Highlights

From DenverBroncos.com

-Injuries-

It looks like hydration will continue to be an issue as players are battling tight muscles. Pittman was the latest addition to the inactives as he sat out with a hamstring injury with Hillis and Mustard.

-Nickel Packages-

The team is looking at different nickel packages, including a Moss/Mallard/Ekuban/DOOM line, DJ and Boss doing the 'backing, and Bly, Champ, Foxy, Hamza and McCree doing the covering. The front six in particular with this group looks fast. It has been mentioned in several places that guys are knocking down passes on the defensive line, something we haven't talked about much when we consider the virtues of guys like Moss, Mallard, and Ekuban. And for a "short" guy, DOOM has a knack for getting his hands up too, swatting 7 last year...

-Eddie Royal-

Speaking of Royal, Wednesday seemed to be his coming-out party. He has made great plays before, but this morning he made several grabs including one where he layed out to catch a laser from Cutler in between Jack Williams and Roderick Rogers. During 7 on 7 drills, he also got away from Bly and made a long over-the-shoulder catch for a nice gain, and later caught another bomb for a touchdown.

You really have to love a guy who is laying out in practice to get his chances. I haven't heard anything negative about Royal in a week's worth of practices, and better still, he seems to be catching everything that comes his way. Nothing gives a coach or a quarterback more confidence in what you might be able to do on gameday. Royal is getting it done.

-Josh Barrett-

Rookie Josh Barrett made a big play during 7-on-7 drills. Tony Scheffler made a great grab in traffic and starting running up the sidelines, but Barrett ran at him and stripped away the ball. Not only did he cause the fumble but he recovered it as well and ran to the opposite sideline before the entire offense chased him out of bounds.

A look at the safety position will go up later tonight, so any news on the position seems particularly relevant. This is one of the ultimate roles of a safety, to turn the tide of a game just when it seems the opponent has the upper hand. A knock against Barrett was always that he never put the whole package together like a Laron Landry type of player. Plays like this show us that he is on the right track.

-MLB Battle-

During 11-on-11 drills, Niko Koutouvides had a big stop lined up when a run came up the middle of the line. Then he realized it was Cutler on a keeper, and he quickly slowed up and let his quarterback go with a light tap.

Not a huge piece of news, but a heads up call by Niko not to lay into Cutler. A huge component of the MLB's game is keeping his head on straight amongst the fury, and we know from the past that Webster can't even keep his helmet on straight. This competition looks stiff, with Webster perhaps having an edge in regards to comfort level with the team, and Niko with more focus, and they both have showed up prepared. Stay tuned.

-Aggressiveness-

Speaking of tackles, Abdullah got a light rebuke from Head Coach Mike Shanahan when he wrapped up Selvin Young and actually tackled him on a run play. Abdullah fell back into good graces later in practice when he lept to snag the second interception of the day.

I like what I'm reading, when I'm reading that our defense is being aggressive. Admittedly what he did wasn't allowed, but I like to think that these guys are really starting to get into the heat of battle, and that they might be turning the intensity up a bit. That is just what this team needs, and small moments like this have the potential to build into the fiery competition it is going to take to forge a competitor out of these guys.

Speaking of Hamza, here is a nice interview and article that talks a little bit about how he is faring in the battle for the starting Strong Safety spot. It makes a great prep for tonight's edition of "Breaking down the Roster" where we will be talking about Safeties. I volunteered to give my thoughts on the position while Guru was en route to Mecca, so I hope everyone will check back in to see how I think these guys stack up.