Good stuff HT…still, all I want for Christmas is a division title!

Great post HT. What all this really boils down to is this: What are the Broncos made of this year? They control their own destiny at this point. Are we the up-and-down team we’ve been so far this season? Are we a young team starting to hit our stride?

All we can do is take it one game at a time and put our best football on the field.

That being said, I for one am VERY encouraged with where we are at and how we are playing. You always want your team peaking late instead of early (the past few years we’ve kind of been backwards there).

We all know this offense is lights-out. If we can keep from turning the ball over (knock-on-wood), they will put at LEAST 21 on the board on any given Sunday.

I’m most encouraged by our defense…they are finally playing somewhat solid football. I’d love to see them be a powerhouse, but that isn’t going to happen this year. And with our offense, all we need is a solid defense. I love the improvements they are making in run defense. I also love how the secondary is playing given the absence of Champ.

Honestly though…we can handle the Titans … maybe a little ahead of myself, but they are a beatable team and I certainly don’t think their defense can slow us down. I’m not scared of their offense in the least.

I was just commenting about the upcoming schedule on a similar fan post.

I think Denver is starting to solidify. I am just as excited about this the young players stepping up as everyone else is, but I am most excited by the scheming as of late. I made a fan post several weeks ago about the offense getting away from the spread-pass offense and returning to the glory days of a west coast style we played with Plummer (yes, they were glory days. AFC championship game and an offense that was unstoppable when Plummer decided to show up) that relied heavily on a spread run game (different from the spread pass) and play action bootlegs. They started to do this in Atl and the falcon defense struggled.

And THANK GOD we have stopped the 3-4 failure of an experiment. THANK GOD we stopped the 3 man rush catastrophe.

I think one of the biggest contributions all the reserves playing has had is this; In order to cope with all thr young, inexperienced players that were starting for the Atl game due to injuries, Denver dialed down all the complexities and all the cutesy, tricky scheming. They started practicing full speed in pads. Simple football. Run the ball more, use a solid 4-3 defense. TACKLE. And what do you know? We looked great! The team knows who they are again!

Just like all of us were screaming for after the NE meltdown.

It’s a great year to be a Denver fan.

Since starting 4-0, the Bills have dropped their last 4 games and have lost 5 of their last 6. It could be that they are suffering through the same growing pains that the Broncos did during October but it could be a sign of something deeper (like their not who we thought they were). If they continue this trend, it could make the game easier for us.

Or, they could rebound like we have and make it a tougher game than it appears that it currently is but that looks hard for them given that 3 of their games between now and then are in the AFC East (the others are against the chefs and niners).

you can’t just look at the teams ahead of the Broncos and not at the other 6-4 teams. It’s a quite reasonable possibility that either the Pats or Dolphins win the AFC East, and both have a head-to-head tie-breaker against the Broncos. You can never, ever assume that the Jets will hold onto a division lead. Baltimore could beat out the Steelers, and they have a better AFC record than do the Broncos. Yes, Denver is in a very good position, but it’s not quite that simple.

I’d be happy with a division title, which means a home playoff game…and anything can happen with that, right?

There is one other thing that no one has mentioned. When we fell behind 20-17 I did not immediatly get down. I just seemed to have a quiet confidence in the ability of our offense to move the ball and score. This was very reminiscent of a by-gone era with another quarterback. I am in no way comparing the two in any way other than my confidence in the team to win. We have an excellent chance to win the division and host a playoff game. GO BRONCOS!

Why has the defense improved so much? Whose play on the field jumps out at you? How about the d-line? I haven’t heard them mentioned. Are they doing a better job of holding their positions and keeping blockers off the linebackers? How are Thomas and D-Rob doing? Is Moss beginning to make plays? Where in hell did Josh Bell come from? Did he start over Paymah? Over Williams? Why? Is Spencer Larsen, like John Lynch, another instance of a player whose instincts, reading quickly and accurately, more than compensate for a lack of blazing speed? Is Koutouvides now the 3rd string Mike? Is Woodyard as good as he seems to be? Okay, more than a couple of questions. I just want to pick your defensive brains. I’m really excited at how well all our young guys are playing. We seem to have struck gold in practically every round this year.

Anyone else notice Moss starting the game? He is getting more and more playing time. I think I will resend the bust label and hold off on using it until atleast next season.

You make a solid argument. The only thing I will disagree with is the most important game is not the NYJ, it’s next weeks. If the Raiders beat us at home that could really hurt confidence, if not in the players than in mine…

Great job as always!!

Loved the break down and the distict possibilities! LA LA LAND is closer than I thought. Perhaps the trend toward improvement will continue and we will “win out!”

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that our destiny is in our own hands. We’ll only have ourselves to blame. If we like our team (and we’re all beginning too be more confident) then that’s a great place to be!!!

Well done HT and recommended.
Maybe I have been hanging out with Mike Clark too much, but I cant see any reason we cant go 6-0.

The Raiders at home W. No way will this team lose, and Shanny wont let them. This could be a statement game before we play the Jets.
The Jets away. W. Yeah, they are playing well and evry consistent, but this team scare anyone. Is this a team we honsetly dont think our team can win based on the last game and a half. We can win this. And….THIS GAME IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SAN DIEGO GAME.
The Cheifs at Home W. paybacks a bitch and the Broncos will come out steamed.
The Panthers away . I will take W as this team is not playing great. There lasst 2 weeks were VERY ordinary. Denver stops the run, we will win this.
Buffalo at Home. W. They are playing AWFUL. Edwards is gun shy, and dont be surprised to see JP Losman playing.
San Diego away. If we have tied up division title we might lose, but if we are still tied up with the Jets it could be important. Another win.

The BIGGEST thing I am seeing from our opponents is that they are all trending downwards in performance, except for the Jets. THEY ARE CONSISTENT, but they are not a scary team like the Giants.

I dont know man, we could be 12-4.

We are getting warm and starting to heat up at the right time of the season.

Its just a feeling!

THIS POST IN HONOR OF MIKE CLARK!!!!

to our best 2 lb’s , best corner, and starting safety, is very simple in my mind. we stopped handing first downs to the opposing offense with the dreaded 3-man rush/soft zone debacle. this may return, i’m afraid, when/if we get a double-digit lead again, and shanny alluded to this recently when discussing why we aren’t using the 3-4 anymore(lb injuies). he sounded like he was still for it, so stay tuned. the other reason for improvement here, against the run, is also simple. the young lb’s don’t overpursue as much, and they can hit and tackle. again, we only have to be average here, and we are getting there, with help on the way. the nfl’s perversion with speed at every position, especially this team, has again been vastly overrated.

also of note is the return of some semblance of a running game, again despite numerous injuries. this i attribute to the line gelling together at this time of the season. there were some holes out there the last few games, first time in a long time. this bodes well for whoever is going to be toting the rock the rest of the way. expect to see slow improvement here on in regarding the running game(except, of course, for short-yardage, where we will give it to the smallest back, or run a trick play unsuccessfully).

 also, has anyone mentioned our much-improved st’s, now? royal is the man the rest of the way(cross your fingers), and i hope he can handle the double-duty and be healthy for the playoffs. but it doesn’t appear we have much of a choice at this point. if he goes down,. though, we are done at returner and the #2 wr position, as noone has stepped up in that department(d-jax, where are you?) coverage units have been excellent, and just in time, because champ can’t save any td’s on the sidelines. this team is jelling, with a favorable schedule down the stretch, and if we can keep the turnovers down, we should take the division. i don’t expect s.d. to go quietly, though, so i will get a little more excited if we win the jets game, and obviously, take care of business at home the rest of the way. very doable