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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Here's a Monday game day edition of Horse Tracks.  Enjoy!

 Tonight we will get to see how to rookies do when the games count.  This could be a special group.  See here

 Sam Adams explains why the Broncos will defeat the conquered fader nation.  See here

 Dave Kreiger's article seems to give a more negative outlook of the Broncos.  See here

 Run defense is first priority.  See here

 Woody Paige gives us a history of the rivalry.  See here

 The Rocky Mountain News gave their "skinny" on tonight's game.  See here

 We may get to see a great CB battle tonight as well.  See here

 Denver has a shot to take the lead in the AFC West.  See here

 There are signs that Elvis Dumervil will have a big year.  See here

 Ryan Clady will have a huge job tonight.  See here

 Kenny Peterson is very happy with playing in Denver.  See here

 Former Bronco and current conquered fader Javon Walker says his "demise is greatly exaggerated".  See here

AFC West

Phyllis and his merry men aren't too merry today after what the Panthers did to them yesterday.  Sunday's game in Denver is CRITICAL for both teams.  Let's hope Denver can get them to 0-2.  See here

The Missouri Indians lost yesterday, but they took out Tom Brady for the season.  Peter King is still weeping as we speak.  This season just got even more interesting.  See here and here

That is all I have for today.  The quest is on and the season is ripe for the picking if they want it enough.  GO BRONCOS!!!

  The Broncos may shift gears when it comes to the offensive play-calling in 2008

  Rod Smith is enjoying retirement, and helping Brandon Marshall stay on the straight and narrow.

  Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler have a relationship that goes deeper than two opposing quarterbacks Friday Night

  Despite returning to practice, chances are Tom Nalen will be on the sidelines against the Packers.

  Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder are making progress heading into Year 2.

  Sam Adams wonders if Shaun Alexander would be a good fit as a Bronco

  A former-Packer, current Bronco, knows all too well what Aaron Rodgers is going through.

  There's no link since a subscription is needed, but BuckeyeSports has ranked former Bronco LB Randy Gradishar #11 on the list of Greatest Buckeyes Ever.

Many around here think I am the eternal optimist, but that really isn't the case.  If you go back, way back, to last season you'll find my posts were not all cheery and rosy.  However, during the off season I must, as a fan, take on a different persona.  I must cheer on and rah rah my favorite team in the anticipation of the upcoming season.  The off season in my mind ends in two days with our first preseason game, therefore, it is time to get serious.

I have some major concerns about this team that I have really only hinted at over the past few months.  You could call some of them "IFs" or just simple deficiencies.  Whatever you might call them, these are the things that I beleive will be the difference between another 8-8 season and a 13-3 season. 

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Shanny readies for practice

My first practice and my goal was to take in as much as possible.  It was great to see the Orange and Blue close up and get a real feel for just how fast, how big, and how powerful alot of these men are.  I have read through the comments and will try and touch on as much as possible.  I focused on the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, wanting to see how the team looked when simulating game action.  As the week/weekend moves on I will focus on different parts.

There is hope, with the off-day following on Sunday, that the team may go full-pads on Saturday morning.  I certainly hope that is the case.

Here are some of my musings, in no real order....

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HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

On the tempo of the morning practice --
"We had some good enthusiasm. For the third day in a row, we've gone with pads in the morning and have gotten a lot of work in. This afternoon, we have about an hour and 15 minutes of ‘jog throughs' offensively and defensively with 10 minutes of special teams. I've been pleased with the effort; It's been good."

On DT Kenny Peterson --
"I don't know [if he has been] up and down. At the end of the OTA days, Kenny earned a chance to be our starter. We have a lot of competition. We will evaluate this day-by-day, and he is doing a good job."

On Defensive Coordinator Bob Slowik --
"He has been a [defensive] coordinator. He was a defensive coordinator last year; Jim Bates called the defenses. We have gone back to some of the things we have done in the past. I've known Bob for well over 20 years. He's a heck of a coach-one of the most knowledgeable people that I've been around. He has done a heck of a job. His players are well-prepared, they know what they are doing and hopefully they keep on getting better."

On DE Ebenezer Ekuban's health --
"At the end of OTAs he looked a little sluggish. You could tell that there was soreness in the leg area. Since he's been back, he has looked much better. His legs are back and he is improving every day, so that is a good sign."

On whether RB Selvin Young is ready to be a starting running back --
"Selvin was our starting ruining back for the majority of last season. After [RB] Travis [Henry] got hurt after the fourth game, Selvin was our main guy. He averaged over five yards a carry. He's about 215 pounds [and in] great shape. There is a big learning curve from your rookie season to your second season, and hopefully he can take advantage of it. Obviously he has a lot more confidence going into his second year, he's had a good offseason and hopefully it pays dividends for him."

On WR Brandon Marshall --

"He just has to get back into football shape. Anytime you miss all of those OTA days and the majority of the offseason program, it takes some time to get back in football shape. He hasn't skipped a beat, he's making plays left and right and he is just going to keep getting better and better as his body gets back into football shape."

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Dumervil will continue to crush opposing QB's in '08

A few days ago we took a look at the interior of the defensive line. We all know the problem the Broncos had stopping the run, and there has been plenty of talk about why. The Broncos have gone to great lengths to improve the interior, both on the line and at linebacker. Equally important to me is the ability to create a pass rush from the front four. As the New York Giants reminded us in Super Bowl XLII, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is, or how talented the offense is, if you can create constant pressure with your front 4 you are going to have a chance to win the game.

Let's look at the stats, shall we? Again, sack totals are not tied directly to the defensive end position, but I do believe an effective pass rush, generated by the front four, is directly related to a team's success. The D-End is a big part of that. When the Broncos were winning more games in a 3-year period than anyone ever('96-'98), they were consistently in the top-10 in sacks -

1996 - 40 sacks - #8
1997 - 44 sacks - #10
1998 - 47 sacks - #6

Fast forward to the past 5 years, and the Broncos haven't had the same success. Ironically, when the Broncos advanced to the AFC Championship in 2005 they had their worst season in terms of sacks -

2003 - 36 sacks - #13
2004 - 38 sacks - #14
2005 - 28 sacks - #28
2006 - 35 sacks - #15
2007 - 33 sacks - #16

Does that mean that getting to the quarterback isn't that important?  Of course not. In 2005, the Broncos knew they didn't have a great pass rush up front so they sent the house, alot.  Think back to the playoff game against the Patriots, the Broncos blitzed 8 or 9 guys almost every play.  Finally we came up against a team, the Steelers, that handled that pressure.  The result was....well...we don't need to talk about it.

The rebuilding of the d-line began, and it went into overdrive in the 2007 draft.  The Broncos focused heavily on the defensive ends in last year's draft, taking Jarvis Moss in Round 1 and Tim Crowder in Round 2. The goal was to let the rookies come along slowly with veterans John Engelberger and Ebenezer Ekuban getting a majority of the reps, along with Elvis Dumervil. Those plans ended when Ekuban blew out his Achilles in the pre-season.  The result was a struggling defense. 

Heading into 2008, the Broncos look to be healthy and hungry up front and are primed to break out.  If we are talking about a successful season in 6 months, the following group would have had a huge hand in it.  Let's meet them.

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