a record between 8-8 and 11-5. The new kids need to learn and improve.

We have a lot of room to grow and a lot of Growth needed. I dunno about 13-3 or some crazy top heavy number like that. I look a little closer to the recent years. New Qb so to speak. maybe last year was our 199 (6-10) and now we get back into that 10-6 11-5 range but this time when we show up to the AFC Game in a few years we ROCK THE HEARTS AND SOULS OF THE COUNRTY!

Don’t worry guys, its just a phase I go through every year. Worse yet is that point in training camp when the roster is getting whittled down and I think to myself, “Is this…could it be… Are we actually going to go undefeated this year????” It will pass…

MHR radio tonight, so I’m pumped up.

Hey as long as we are tossing out predictions: Jags win AFC south with games to spare, but IND makes playoff as a wildcard and gets back to the AFC championship. The rest is a secret.

ive been agreeing with you on this since you stated it and im still agreeing with you….Maybe just maybe Ryan Torain was a diamond in the rough and along with then and selv young we can lead the league in rushing this year….maybe just maybe…

I like the optimism, but I have a few notes of my own to add. I don’t think the Pats aren’t going down because of any sort of humiliation, but rather because the AFC is absolutely stacked and they’re getting old. I look at the Jags and Chargers, a pair of also-rans in the playoffs for some time now, to finally take the next step and move beyond the Pats and Colts this season. The Steelers still look awfully tough, too, so I’d say we’re in the Wild Card mix along with the Browns and a couple of other teams that could get up there if things break their way. In fact, I see us as a 10-6 team, bowing out of the postseason rather quietly, but that would set us up nicely for 2009 and shut up the critics for a good, long while.

the (nearly) best team in the long history of the sport is now dead? 1 loss? easy, tiger. i would have to say they are the team to beat, no? in the league. the colts, too, didn’t they just win it all 2 years ago? still a force to be reckoned with, i would think. i am just as anxious to see these teams decline, and pave the way for…us! but it isn’t happening right away. the jags and chargers do look really good, and could each beat one of those teams in the playoffs, but both of them will make the playoffs. steelers, too. browns, no. i’m going to guess: pats, colts/ jags(w), steelers, chargers/ broncos(w). the jags could win the division with a little help, but they still can’t score enough. the colts and chargers remain the teams to beat in their respective divisions. i have a hard time thinking the pats and steelers don’t win their divisions, they’re both tough, loaded, and clearly the best team, in my opinion. i think our easy schedule gets us in, and our inexperience gets us out, quickly. 2009 looks like a more realistic year to take on the big dogs, and hopefully by then the younger broncos overtake the aging pats and colts. or, none of this may happen

There are lots of things to be optimistic about, from improved d-line (one year older, plus D-Rob) and linebacker play, to a nonexhausted Cutler starting his third year, to a second year under ST coach O’Brien with upgraded personnel, to improved depth and character and probably better team chemistry. My one real worry is Marshall. Despite all the assurances, I won’t feel confident that he’s overcome his injury till I see him playing at a high level. The o-line will be better but is a year or two away from clicking on all cylinders. If the d-line can force other teams to pass more, and put pressure on the QB when they do, Champ will bounce back big from his down year. Also, I think he and Bly will find Slowik’s defense more congenial than last year’s version. Safety will be adequate but is going to be a couple of years behind the other positions when Lynch retires. Hopefully Barrett will surprise but we’ll probably take a safety early next year and have to wait a year or two for him to develop. But overall it looks like the Broncos have bottomed out at 7-9 and are headed back up.

I too, am very optomistic for this year. I’d like to see 12-4 or 13-3, but I think a more realistic outlook is 10-6 or 11-5. However if the Broncos want to surprise me, I’d be more than happy to accept it. This year is going to be a fun one, it will be interesting to watch and see how many of the “ifs” pan out. But thats why they play the games isn’t it? To watch what happens? It wouldn’t be any fun if we already knew how it would shake out. GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have an even chance of making the playoffs. 10 wins probably gets us in, 9 does not. (This may change depending on what else happens before the start of the reg season.

I think ‘09 and beyond we should be looking good for several years to come (consistent playoff appearences, with 1 to 3 SBs during the Cutler era).

I tend to agree more with the 10-6 to 11-5 crowd than the 13-3 folks, but hey, nobody saw Plummer and the Broncos going 13-3 and to the AFC Championship game a few years ago either! I do like the correllations that are being drawn between this team and the ‘96 team if for no other reason than it did mark the beginning of the biggest run of Broncos success in the history of the franchise. One big glaring difference though…We are unsettled at the OT positions and that is definitely cause for concern. If we can plug Harris and Pears in there (or Clady and Harris if I have my way) and get it done, then I am all for it, but until ww see these kids in action, we definitely have a big question mark hanging over the team going into this season. If they can perform, and the defense can return to its pre-Bates era form, then this team can compete with anyone and probably beat most anyone, including the much-hated Chargers and Peyton’s Colts. Without some solidity on our O-line though, we are not going anywhere near the Superbowl. Let’s also not forget that this is probably going to be Nalen’s final year which will leave us having to try and replace his rather large shoes at center which will mean further hardships on the offensive line. I still think we are heading back to the playoffs this season, and we have a lot of young talent on this team that is just starting to come into their own, but we also have some significant issues that must be addressed before a deep playoff run or Superbowl run can occur.