Final Game Stats

HOME WINNING STREAK SNAPPED

* - The Broncos, who entered Sunday’s games vs. Jacksonville with an NFL-best six-game home winning streak, lost at in Denver for the first time since a 19-13 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers on 10/29/07. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 3-4 (.429) all-time against the Jaguars in the regular season, including a 2-2 (.500) mark at home.

RB MICHAEL PITTMAN

* - Broncos RB Michael Pittman, who made his first start as a Bronco and the 80^th of his career against Jacksonville, finished with 20 rushes for 109 yards (5.5 avg.), becoming the first Bronco to rush for 100 yards in a game since RB Selvin Young had 156 yards vs. Kansas City (12/9/08). His 109 yards marked his highest rushing total since he had 127 rushing yards as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2005 (15-127, vs. Mia., 10/16/05).

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For Everything Jags Related, Check Out BigCatCountry

2008 OFFENSE

2008 DEFENSE

After a 1 week hiatus, THE EDGE returns with a battle between the Broncos(4-1) and the Jacksonville Jaguars(2-3).  These teams met in Denver in Week 3 of last season, with the Jags "man-handling" the Broncos, winning 23-14.   This year's Jags team isn't nearly as physical and is missing some key components, especially on the offensive line.  Can the Broncos take advantage and keep up with their winning ways?

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

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IN DENVER BRONCO PRE-GAME ANALYSIS

MILEHIGHREPORT.COM

For Everything Jags Related, Check Out BigCatCountry

What a difference a few weeks makes!  Teams that looked tough going into the season have suffered injuries (Brady in NE) or declined (SD and INDY) while other teams have shot ahead (TENN and DEN).  If you had asked me before the season what my thoughts were on JAX, I would have told you that the only thing holding them back was INDY.  But their offensive line was decimated by injuries, and the team has never bounced back.

As for Denver, I expected them to sweep KC this year, but to win two of four games against SD and OAK.  I also thought that either TB or NO could sneek up on DEN.  But KC managed to beat Denver, while Denver beat the other four teams.  Denver's offense is playing at a SuperBowl level, and while the defense has looked weak, it showed a lot of talent in week five.

Let's take a look at the Denver / Jacksonville match-up this week, and discuss some if the issues surrounding the game.

Read on...

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IN DENVER BRONCO PRE-GAME ANALYSIS

MILEHIGHREPORT.COM

This is going to be one heck of a ride.  We've gotten past some good teams (SD and NO), beaten down the Raiders, and got shocked by the Chiefs.  Going into this TB game, I have some things I'm confident about, and frankly, some things I'm concerned about.  TB is a 3-1 team just like we are, but with a glaring difference.  They have some balance.

TB is perhaps a top ten team right now in my opinion, and this game could be a solid measuring stick for just how good we are.  We only lead SD by one game in our playoff race, so it's a very significant game.

Can our young guys bounce back from a loss like pros?  Can our secondary attack an INT prone Griese?  What can we exploit, and what should we avoid?

You've come to the right place.  MHR has you covered.

Read on...

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It seems like every week the same people say the same thing about the Broncos defense.  We hear how horrible they are, how they can't stop the run, how they can't defend the pass, how they can't put pressure on the quarterback.  Some of that is true, we all know that, but something has become a disturbing trend, something that continues to be overlooked.  Much of the problems with the defense start with the offense and special teams.  No, really, it does. 

Specifically against Kansas City, I'd go so far as to say the defense, for over 3 quarters, played as well as it did against the Raiders Week 1.  Unfortunately, the offense didn't give them much of a chance. What is certain is the Broncos defense is by no means a dominant defense in any facet, run defense, pass defense, pressuring the quarterback, none of it.  The defense as a group is average at best, but with the offense the Broncos put on the field this team should be able to win, unless the offense, the strength of the team, let's it down.  On Sunday, that is exactly what happened.

Take a look at the drive chart for the Chiefs on Sunday --

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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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The Broncos fell flat, there is no other way to describe it.  Before closing the book on Week 4 and looking forward, with nervous anticipation, to a visit by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, let's take one last look at the (lack of)performance by the Broncos in yesterday's loss to the Chiefs, in something I like to call, "Making The Grade"  As always, the most important "grade" is the one on the scoreboard, and for that, the Broncos earned a big, fat F.  What about the players performance?  Let's take a look....

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FINAL

REMEMBER -- MHR Radio coming up at 8:00 PM est / 6:00 PM mst

Hard to decide on a place to start, so I'll go the classy route.  A big tip of the MHR cap to the Chiefs, who campe out and played 4 quarters of inspired football.  Congratulations to their fans over at Arrowhead Pride who joined us for a great week of cross-blogging.

Now, for the game.  First, I picked the Broncos to win, and picked them to win big, but I can't honestly say I am "surprised" by the outcome.  The Broncos have had one of the winningest frnchises in football the past 40 years, and still we are only 13-35 all time in K.C.  Mike Shanahan has won alot more football games than he has lost as a Head Coach, but overall he is only 3-11 in K.C.  It just hasn't been a good place for the Broncos to play.  Worse, they rarely play well in Kansas City, whihc is why today's performance was so disappointing, if not surprising.

I have called 2008 "Year 3 of a 5 year rebuild".  There are several reasons for that, most notably the holes that exist in 2 of the 3 phases on the team - defense and special teams.  When there are holes on 2/3 of the team, the other 1/3, in this case the offense, better play lights out when the other two struggle.  That didn't happen today, with the offense turning the ball over 4 times.  This defense cannot make up for that.  For three quarters, the defense kept the team in the game(16-13 Chiefs), despite being on the field 8 minutes longer than the Chiefs defense(26:15 - 18:35).  I'll take that, but we can't expect the defense to hold out forever.

When the offense wasn't putting the defense in tough spots, it was the coverage teams, who seemed to allow big returns every time the Broncos scored in the 2nd half.  The Chiefs offense has trouble moving the ball, but when you give them a short field, when only a couple first downs are needed to get into FG range, that puts the defense in a tough situation.

Lastly, I won't mention any names, but I was bashed for saying the Chiefs had the advantage at Running Back in my "EDGE" post, and for saying the Broncos running game hadn't been as dominant as they needed to be as we moved through the season.  Well, today, you saw exactly what I was talking about.  This was a game where Jay Cutler was struggling and the Chiefs pass defense, ranked 4th in the League coming in, was doing a great job forcing the Broncos to make alot of plays to move down field.  The Broncos needed to be able to run the ball, first to give the defense a rest, second to control tempo and set up the passing game.  They couldn't do it.

The play calling left something to be desired as well.  I know Brandon Marshall can't fumble the ball in that situation, but we should expect a wide receiver to run like a running back.  Marshall is used to being tackled by DB's, not linebackers or defensive linemen.  He's used to being the strongest guy in any confrontation on the field, against linebackers and defensive lineman, he isn't.  Should Marshall have held on to the ball, yes.  Should the play ever been called in the first place?  Absolutely Not!!

There are many reasons the Broncos lost, and blame can go alot of different directions.  Keep this in mind, however, Broncos fans - the Broncos are 3-1 and no matter what happens the rest of the day the Broncos will be alone in 1st place.  If I had said before the season that the Broncos would be 3-1, in first place, after the first 4 weeks you would have been ecstatic.  Well, that is exactly where we find ourselves.  As bad as the Broncos played, this is only 1 loss.  We need to focus on what's next, including two home games.  Everyone must take a look in the mirror, players and fans alike, and evaluate who and what the Broncos are, but in the end, the Broncos are 3-1, in 1st place in the AFC West.  Not a bad place to be at all.

 
  For all your Kansas City Chiefs News, check out Arrowhead Pride

2008 OFFENSE

2008 DEFENSE

The numbers seem to indicate the Broncos have the advantage when they travel to Arrowhead to face the Chiefs. Broncos fans know better, however, since we have seen many strange things over time in our travels to the Show Me state.  The Broncos are looking to 4-0 and win consecutive regular season games in Kansas City for the first time in nearly 30 years.  Can they get it done?  Let's find out.

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

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IN DENVER BRONCO PRE-GAME ANALYSIS

MILEHIGHREPORT.COM

  For all your Kansas City Chiefs News, check out Arrowhead Pride

Yesterday we took a look at both sides of the ball for both teams, and looked at some adjustment issues.  We also tried to come up with a game plan for KC.  Today, let's look at Denver's possibilites, as well as what we can do with system match-ups.

Read on...

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