Broncos 2006 season

[Steve_Atwater]

Always a good place to begin a new forum. Start with the basics. A thread about the season. Action (pre-season that is) gets underway on friday.


2006 PRESEASON SCHEDULE (home games in caps)


1 Fri. Aug.11 at Detroit Ford Field 07:30 PM EDT

2 Sat. Aug.19 vs. Tennessee INVESCO Field at Mile High 07:00 PM MDT

3 Sun. Aug.27 vs. Houston INVESCO Field at Mile High 06:00 PM MDT

4 Thu. Aug.31 at Arizona Cardinals Stadium 07:00 PM MST

2006 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE (home games in caps)

1 Sun Sep.10 at St. Louis Edward Jones Dome 12:00 PM CDT CBS

2 Sun Sep.17 vs. Kansas City INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MDT CBS

3 Sun Sep.24 at New England Gillette Stadium 8:15 PM EDT NBC

5 Mon Oct. 9 vs. Baltimore INVESCO Field at Mile High 6:30 PM MDT ESPN

6 Sun Oct.15 vs. Oakland INVESCO Field at Mile High 6:15 PM MDT NBC

7 Sun Oct.22 at Cleveland Cleveland Browns Stadium 4:05 PM EDT CBS

8 Sun Oct.29 vs. Indianapolis INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MST CBS

9 Sun Nov. 5 at Pittsburgh Heinz Field 4:15 PM EST CBS

10 Sun Nov.12 at Oakland McAfee Coliseum 1:05 PM PST CBS

11 Sun Nov.19 vs. San Diego INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MST CBS

12 Thu Nov.23 at Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium 7:00 PM CST NFL Network

13 Sun Dec. 3 vs. Seattle INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MST FOX

14 Sun Dec.10 at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium 1:15 PM PST CBS

15 Sun Dec.17 at Arizona Cardinals Stadium 2:05 PM MST CBS

16 Sun Dec.24 vs. Cincinnati INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MST CBS

17 Sun Dec.31 vs. San Francisco INVESCO Field at Mile High 2:15 PM MST
FOX

[Steve_Atwater]

Looking at the schedule, a couple of things jump at me: New England, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Seattle... this is not an easy schedule. First place schedule mind you, but still... Especially that stretch between october 29th and december 3rd. Indy, At Pittsburgh, at Oakland, SD, at KC, Seattle... you could even add the game at Qualcomm on the 10th... No gimmies there.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos lost their pre-season opener to the Lions in Detroit friday night, 20-13.

Jay Cutler looked pretty good in his first action as a pro (16-22, 192, 1 TD, no Int). David Kircus (6-76 yards) caught the TD pass. Domonique Foxworth had an interception. But besides that, little to report. I havent seen the game, so I have to rely on the Boxscores, and no one really sticks out.

The Broncos had a rather significant advantage as far as total yardage and first downs are concerned. The team had the ball at the Detroit 9 in the dying seconds of the game, went for it on 4th down but were unsucssessful.

Game 2 of the pre-season goes Saturday against, among others, Vince Young and the Tenessee Titans.

[redbuck]

I didn't see the game but 16-22 is pretty darn good. If they were ahead in yardage and/or turnovers they should be in good shape. I don't think Denver tampered with its team too much so shouldn't be too many problems this year.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos are a different team at home, even in the pre-season.

They took game 2 of their pre-season schedule 35-10 from the Tennesee Titans.

Clear domination for the Broncos in total yardage (434 to 252). 238 yards on the ground, Mike Bell (10-73 2 TD's) Damien Nash (14-72, TD) and Cedric Cobbs (10-65) led the way. Our QB's both had similar lines (Plummer 6-8, 97, TD, Cutler 6-12, 99, TD).

Demetrin Veal got 2 sacks. Nick Ferguson picked off Billy Volek. The defense allowed a rushing TD to Vince Young. But besides that one carry for 13 yards, he got just 6 yards on 3 rushes. he also fumbled the ball twice.

Advantage Cutler in that one. :D

Next game: sunday against Houston.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos are definetely having a good time facing the cream of the 2006 draft crop. After dispatching Vince Young last week, they defeated Mario Williams and the Texans 17-14 this weekend.

Bet you Shanahan was happy to win that one altough it was just a pre-season game. You never want to loose to your former understudy.

From where I sit, seemed like a rather uneventful game. Javon Walker did have 3 catches for 41 yards, including a pretty spectacular catch according the denverbroncos.com. Cedric Cobbs had 54 yards on 7 carries including a 26 yarder for a TD.

Ordinary night at the office for Plummer who went 10-22 for 96 yards.

D.J. Williams had a pick, Ekuban and Kennard Lang had a sack each...

Thankfully sept. 10th is drawing near. It'll make things a bit more interesting.

[Steve_Atwater]

Well, pre-season is over. Defeated the Cardinals 29-23. Matt Leinart was knocked out of the game.

That's it. The season is just about to start. Next sunday, Spetember 10th in St-Louis against the Rams. Can't wait.

[Steve_Atwater]

Start spreading the news. There's a quarterback controversy in Denver.

Plummer's lackluster performance in sunday's loss was sure to bring a lot of people to ask for his replacement in the lineup by rookie Jay Cutler. He hasn't proven anything yet, but hey, we're on a streak of one straight loss.

Didn't catch the game. The interception in the last minutes of the game, when the Broncos were driving, down by eight was ugly for sure. But it's a raod loss, outside the conference, on a weekend where 3 of the 4 teams in the division lost, and some (don't want to name names, let's call them the Oakland Paiders to protect their anonimity) looked a lot worse than we did.

Against KC, with a new starting QB on sunday at Mile High. That one we can't really afford to loose.

[Steve_Atwater]

Playing at home and facing Damon Huard (I had no clue that guy was still playing football, but had I taken a guess, I'd have gone with Arena league 2 or something) the Broncos really made a statement yesterday, soundly beating KC 9-6. That wins spells it in capital letters: anyone who wants to win the AFC will have to contend with us.

Kudos to the Chiefs for hangin in there. They could have easily thrown in the towel at half time, call for the mercy rule or something. But they kept trying altough it was clear the Broncos were a far better team. :rolleyes:

Let's try to stay positive. The defense as yet to allow a TD this season, wich is good. But the offense, O my... Could Kubiak's departure have such an influence on the team's performance?

Next 2 games, on the road in Foxboro and against Baltimore. If the keep playing the way they have, how many points will the offense score in those two games. 13? I'd say about 13.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos are enjoying a bye week after their first convincing win of the season. Of course, we can hardly talk about a real strong performance from the offense. Aside from the two passes to Walker, it left a bit to be desired. But still, against NE on the road, wasn't so bad. And the defense played well again, becoming the first team since the 1940's to start the season with 11 quarters without giving up a TD.

We'll need more offense when we face the Ravens on monday. I don't believe that their offense is that good, but scoring might be a problem.

[Steve_Atwater]

Boy, that was a defensive struggle if I ever saw one.

Cold, rain, dominating defenses... The only thing that kept that game from being a true homage to football's part was that there was not enough mud. But aside from that, that was ol' time football.

The offense didn't create much, but the defense made the most of some key mistakes by Steve Mcnair and the Ravens' punter.

Best players: Bailey and Williams were both excellent, and had timely picks. On offense, Tatum Bell and Javon Walker were the only bright spots. But the real star of the game was Al Wilson. He was everywhere. He outplayed Ray Lewis on monday night.

[Steve_Atwater]

13-3 against the winless, if not hopeless Raiders. The defense played well, but the offense was as unspectacular as can be, recording just 235 yards and failing to score in the second half.

Was 13-0 at recess. You know if we could have just scored early on, the Raiders were ready to pack it in. But we let them hang around, and made the final result tighter than it should have been.

Is this a very average team on offense? Is there improvement potential? Will the club go just as far as the defense will take it?

If the team in unsable to put up 20 points agaisnt Cleveland on sunday, wich would be a first this season, we'll have to believe that this team just can't score.

[Steve_Atwater]

There's definately a trend here. When it's not 13-3, it's 17-7. This team just loves the 10 point differential...

That was a game we couldn't drop. The defense came thru, again. But we'll need more of an offensive output sunday against Indianapolis. And I'm kind of pissed caus' here in the east, we're probably gonna get the Browns vs the Jets at 4:15 instead of Colts-Broncos. I got to get me Sunday Ticket...

[Steve_Atwater]

Boy, was that ever a good game on sunday. Came out on the losing end, but still.

In the end, the inabillity of our defensive front to put pressure on Manning and Darrent Williams' inabillity to cover Reggie Wayne were the difference in the game. Then again, Wayne is an excellent wide receiver and Manning was on sunday. We've seen him when he's off (against the Patriots, mostly), but when he's on, he is close to unstoppable.

Worth mentionning tough that Marvin Harrison's name was barely mentionned in that game. Our shut down corner did some pretty good work, even before Manning began to go to Wayne on seemingly every play.

Mike Bell just exploded in the second half. Tatum couldn't go anywhere, Mike was outstanding. Plummer played well. But you knew that field goal just arrived too soon. Most people watching were pretty sure the Colts would march down the field and score.

Barely heard Dwight Freeney's name as well. Combine that with all the running, I guess you could say the O-line played pretty well.

Now, the team has to regroup and try to win in Pittsburgh. Let's hope the players remember last year's playoff debacle.

Also worth noting, Shawn Merriman's suspension will keep him from playing against the Broncos at Invesco 3 weeks from now. And that's a good thing.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos have treated us to some dull, boring games this season. But no one can complain about the last two. Great entertainement.

Trades arent a big part of NFL football. But the two big trades made by Mike Shanahan have certainly paid off. Walker is the playmaker the Broncos needed so badly the last few years, and last night, his knee looked just fine. And Bailey is just sensationnal. How could the Redskins let a guy like that go, I'm not sure I understand. It is so much tougher to find an elite cornerback than an elite running back. Those were two great trades for us.

And just how good is Al Wilson? He had some huge hits last night, and he's so fast. He had the kind of game, with almost all the NFL nation watching, that sends a LB to Hawaii yesterday.

Opposing teams seems to have figured out a way to pass against Denver. Over 400 yards for Roethlisberger. But you have to factor in the numerous injuries on defense. Gold left the game, Ferguson left the game, Williams got hurt, Lynch left the game after forcing the Hines Ward fumble... Late in the game, you could barely reconginze the defense. I'm surprised they didn't have to use a WR as a nickel back.

At Oakland on sunday, then against the Chargers on the 19th, the game will be on NBC.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos are back to their old tricks. 17-13 on the road against the Raiders, thanks to a touchdown on a fourth and goal from the one late in the game. But that's life in the AFC West. You can never expect to have an easy game against division rivals, no matter what their records are. I wish we could have a doormat in the division. Could we like, trade the Chiefs for the Texans, or the Cards, or something like that?

Speaking of division teams, this will be quite a clash when the Chargers come to town on sunday night. I havent checked the forecast, but you often see some snow in Denver for night games on the weekend before Thanksgiving. And the Broncos usually loose those games.

[Steve_Atwater]

Tough loss yeasterday, at home, after taking a 17 point lead.

This team is a good team, but not a great one.

Defense is tough, but they can't seem to be able to come trough when it's really needed against good teams.

The offense seriously lacks firepower. Walker is dangerous, the runnning game is solid, yet unspectacular. Besides that, very little going on.

This is a team that seems destined to lose every close game it'll play against good opposition. They have not gotten burried in their three losses. Those were games they could have won, but they seemed outmatched come crunch time by both Indy and San Diego (I missed the St-Louis game) who, coincidentely, are serious contenders in the AFC.

We now stand a loss in Arrowhead away from sitting 3rd in the AFC west.

A very tough loss.

[football junkie]

Your defense has given up the fourth least points in the NFL. It's fairly amazing when you consider only Chicago, New England and Jacksonville have given up less points.

The offensive lines' zone blocking seems to produce steady yards no matter which Bell starts.

The team is 7-3 and should garner at minimum a wildcard. You will have some tough competition down the stretch. A win this Thursday would make the playoff hunt a lot easier. Then you've got a possibly resurgent Seattle, followed by the game in San Diego that likely determines the division.

Cincinnati and San Francisco in the last two weeks give the team little respite. But that's good because this team is going to have to bite and scratch and claw its way into the playoffs. Which means they'll go in hungry and ready to play. As long as the injury bug doesn't bite too hard, they just might knock off some team that gets complacent and decides to rest its starters down the stretch.

[Steve_Atwater]

There's an out of whack stat if I ever saw one: The Broncos' record on the road is better than their record at home. I repeat. The Denver Broncos, the almost unbeatable at home but so esay to push around in opposing stadiums Denver Broncos are playing ,500 ball at Invesco Field (3-3) , and ,666 on the road (4-2). :eek:

You don't see that everyday.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Cutler era has begun with a loss. As expected.

The kid didn't play too poorly. Showed few flashes of brilliance, but it was his first NFL action.

His interception while he was in the grasp of an opposing player that was brought back for a TD was extremely hurtful. The Seahawks offence hadn't done squat to that point in the game. That's really what got them going.

Normally, I'd call that inexperience. I'd say the kid is learning, and stuff. But were in a playoff hunt. That was really a costly mistake.

[Steve_Atwater]

First win of Jay Cutler's career. 37-20 against Arizona, on the road. We couldn't afford to loose that one.

Did anyone see the TD pass to Jeavon Walker? That pass got out of his hand like it was shot out of a cannon. And it was just in the right spot. Very impressive.

Now, perhaps the biggest game of the season on Christmas eve; at home vs the 8-6 Bengals. The must win to end all must wins.

[Steve_Atwater]

The Broncos finally won a game in the snow. 24-23 against Cincinnati. Couldn't really watch as I was all busy with preparing the Christmas party.

Winning on a botch snap on the extra point. That's something you don't see everyday. We won't complain. It was a game we really needed to win.

Now, if we defeat the 49ers at home next week (and boy do I always enjoy kicking the niners' rear ends...) we'll play in January. As it stands right now, I believe that a 5th place finish would get us a trip to Foxboro. But the Broncos have been such great road warriors this year, everything is possible.