The Denver Broncos on Thursday waived tight end Brett Pierce and released fullback Cecil Sapp after reaching injury settlements with the players, Head Coach Mike Shanahan announced.

Pierce, a third-year player, was designated waived/injured (left ankle) by Denver on Saturday. He joined the Broncos as a future-contract signee on Dec. 31.

Sapp, a sixth-year player, was placed on injured reserve (left hip flexor) by the Broncos on Saturday. In 49 career games (9 starts) with the Broncos, he posted 49 rushes for 223 yards (4.6 avg.) with two touchdowns, 24 receptions for 102 yards (4.3 avg.) with one score and nine kickoff returns for 187 yards (20.8 avg.).

Sapp joined the Broncos as a college free agent from Colorado State University on May 8, 2003.

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  Dallas Cowboys 13      @          Denver Broncos 23

August 16th, 2008 - 7:00pm MST
Invesco Field @ Mile High
Denver, CO
ATTENDANCE: 74,484

* - QB Jay Cutler completed his first 12 passes for 142 yards while leading Denver on two touchdown drives to begin the first half. His string was broken by an incomplete pass intended for Broncos RB Andre Hall in the second quarter (7:20 remaining). Cutler's longest streak of consecutive completions in an NFL game is 11, which he did twice last year (vs. Minnesota 12/30/07 and vs. Jacksonville 9/23/07). That was the longest consecutive completion streak by a Broncos QB in any game since Jake Plummer completed 16 consecutive passes vs. Detroit on 9/28/03.

* - Cutler played the entire first half (5 series, 36 plays). He completed 16-of-20 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 120.4. Cutler spread the ball around to seven different Broncos receivers.

* - Cutler led the Broncos on a 9-play, 65-yard touchdown drive on the game's opening possession that lasted 5:17 and culminated with Hall's 1-yard touchdown run. Cutler was 5-of-5 on the drive for 61 yards for a 117.5 passer rating, completing passes to four different Broncos (WR Brandon Marshall 2-16, WR Eddie Royal 1-35, WR Brandon Stokley 1-8, FB Cecil Sapp 1-2).

* - The Broncos' Hall converted a fourth-and-1 on the Dallas 7-yard line on Denver's opening touchdown drive. The conversion was Denver's first fourth-down attempt and conversion of the 2008 preseason.

* - Denver's starting wide receivers, Marshall and Royal, combined for six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown during the Broncos' first two drives. Royal had two long receptions of 32 and 35 yards and Marshall scored on a 3-yard touchdown reception in the second drive. Marshall finished the first half with six receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. Royal had two receptions for 67 yards.

* - Seven different Broncos receivers finished with at least two receptions (Marshall, 6-51 TD; WR Brandon Stokley, 3-34; WR Clifford Russell, 3-28; Royal, 2-67; WR Keary Colbert, 2-30; RB Cecil Sapp, 2-12; TE Nate Jackson, 2-11).

* - Broncos QB Patrick Ramsey completed 8-of-13 passes for 67 yards in four series of work in the second half.

* - Dallas DE Marcus Smith's fourth quarter sack of Broncos QB Darrell Hackney snapped Denver's seven-quarter streak of not allowing a sack to open the preseason. The Broncos have given up one sack though their first two preseason games.

* - The Broncos dominated in time of possession in the first half owning an 18:50-11:10 advantage. They finished the game with a 33:07-26:53 advantage.

* - Denver's defense held the Cowboys to 128 net yards in the first half on 25 plays from scrimmage (5.1 yards per play). The defense also held Dallas to 0-of-5 on third down conversions in the second half and 4-of-12 (33.3 percent) for the game.

* - Denver was 2-of-2 in the red zone (1 rushing TD, 1 receiving TD) in the first half.

* - Denver capitalized on a sloppy game by Dallas penalty-wise. The Cowboys had nine penalties for 78 yards, including two personal fouls. Four of Dallas' penalties led to Denver first downs.

* - Broncos K Matt Prater kicked off six times, with four of his kickoffs resulting in touchbacks. For the second consecutive game Prater connected on 3-of-4 field goal attempts. He is 6-of-8 so far this preseason.

* - Broncos CB Domonique Foxworth recorded six total tackles, all solo, to lead the Broncos.

* - Punting Battle: Broncos P Brett Kern had two punts for a 57.5 average (long of 63), one of which resulted in a touchback. P Sam Paulescu had two punts for a 50.0 average (long of 57) with one punt inside the 20. Kern had a 36-yard gain (miscellaneous yardage) on an aborted punt in the second half after scooping up his punt which was blocked by Dallas RB Tashard Choice. The resulting first down led to a 29-yard field goal by Prater.

* - Turnover Ratio: The Broncos finished the game with a +1 turnover ratio, posting one takeaway (INT) and no giveaways. Rookie CB Jack Williams' fourth quarter interception led to a Prater field foal.

* - Broncos Starting Lineup Changes: LB Jamie Winborn started in place of LB Boss Bailey (injury) at the strongside linebacker position. Foxworth started in place of CB Champ Bailey (injury). C Casey Wiegmann started in place of C Tom Nalen (injury). Royal started in place of WR Darrell Jackson (injury).

* - Broncos injury report: TE Daniel Graham (hamstring, first half, did not return).

The Broncos released their initial Depth Chart of 2008, in preparations of their game against the Houston Texans on Saturday Night.  See Below -

There were a couple surprise in my opinion. 

It does make me wonder just how effective a defensive line can be with John Engleberger as a starter at end, and what the hell has happened to Tim Crowder to be listed as the 3rd string LDE.

Another slight surprise is Michael Pittman who comes in listed as the 3rd string FB, while not being listed at all as a HB.

Not a surprise to me was the meteoric rise of Eddie Royal who sits behind Brandon Marshall at WR.  If the reports we hear are true and Marshall is suspended, that would put Royal in line to start Week 1 in Oakland.

Also of little surprise is Nate Webster starting at MLB.  It was obvious to me that Webster was the better player and deserved to get the nod over Niko Koutouvides.

Things are likely to change over the next month, but it sure is fun to talk about stuff on the field, isn't it?!?

Can Young be "The Man"?

In an earlier breakdown focused on the Offensive Line I talked about the Broncos needing to get back to what they do best, to what they are -- a running football team.  While the line is obviously an important part of that, you had better have someone carrying the rock that can get the job done, consistently, game after game.  The Broncos had that when they were winning Super Bowls, and while you simply can't plug someone in to replace a player like Davis(if you could he would in no way be a Hall of Famer), the Broncos have swung and missed and at times relied too much on what I call T.D. Syndrome, thinking you can grab another diamond in the rough at running back simply becuase you did it  with Davis.

What do I mean?  Let's take a look at the past 9 seasons since the Broncos won their two Super Bowl titles and who led the team in rushing each year, as well as the team's record  --

1999 - Olandis Gary             -  1159 yds -  7 tds     -  6-10
2000 - Mike Anderson          -  1487 yds - 15 tds  - 11-5
2001 - Terrell Davis              -    701 yds  -   0 tds  -    8-8
2002 - Clinton Portis            -  1508 yds -  15 tds  -    9-7
2003 - Clinton Portis            -  1591 yds -  14 tds  - 10-6
2004 - Reuben Droughns  -   1240 yds -    6 tds   - 10-6
2005 - Mike Anderson         -   1014 yds -  12 tds - 13-3
2006 - Tatum Bell                -    1025 yds -   2 tds  -    9-7
2007 - Selvin Young            -      729 yds -   1 tds  -    7-9

A couple of things pop out immediately to me.  First, over the past 9 seasons, 7 different running backs have led the team in rushing.  In 5 of those years, the elading rusher had fewer than 10 TDs, and only once, when Clinton Portis was toting the rock, did the same player lead the team in rushing back to back.  It also struck me that, other than Portis and Mike Anderson, the running back getting the majority of the carries could not consistently get into the end zone.  That affects the offense, folks, and if your premier back can't punch it into the end zone you are probably going to struggle in the red zone.

Heading into 2008, the Broncos look to be committing to Selvin Young.  I am a big fan of Young, always have been.  That said, he still needs to prove he can be an every down back.  He still needs to prove that he can have a big run, a big quarter, a big half, a big game and come back and do it the next play, quarter, half, game and week.  Game after game, month after month.  The proof is in the pudding.   If the Broncos are going to snif the playoffs, Young, or whoever is the feature back, needs to be the guy to carry the load.  I think Young has the ability, he needs to prove it.  There are other candidates as well.  Let's look at them.

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This post is an historic one for me as it is my 100th since joining Mile High Report almost a year ago.  I am currently working on several different upcoming posts and I was wondering if I should make a certain one my historic post, but then I thought I should just stick to what my original schedule was.  This was planned to be my next post, therefore, it will have to be my 100th post. 

I recently posted my positional comparison for the defense along with grading the performance of the 2007 group and also applying a preliminary grade for what I see as potential upgrades or downgrades for each position.  I felt incomplete not having done the offense as well, so here it is.

The 2007 offensive group had a solid core surround by a couple of glaring deficiencies.  The story of our season was told best by a series of posts called “NPTB” or No Points Left Behind that can be found all over the MHR Community during last season.  Our offense racked up the yardage without scoring very many points. 

The Quest for the offense this season is about one thing, getting into the end zone!

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