Let me tell you about La La Land

by Ted Bartlett on Aug 28, 2008 6:13 PM MDT Comment 18 comments

Keith Kidd Scouts Inc article on ESPN.com

Expectations in professional sports are a funny thing. People get hired by companies to know something about sports, and they form opinions, which they then share with the world. The point is, to get you or I to look at their website or watch their show on TV, so we'll be subsequently advertised to, and run and buy our women rings at Kay jewelers, and pick up a 12 pack of Budweiser on the way home.

With so many "pundits" (and as always, I mean that in a derogatory way,) consensus tends to form, and you get what we call an echo chamber. Then Las Vegas sets our over-under at 7.5 wins, which you'd better believe is driven by what the pundtry (or more appropriately, the idiotry) say. An over-under is an oddsmaker's best guess at the point on a line of outcomes which will induce half of all bettors to choose each outcome, thus guaranteeing income being earned by the bookmaker. (Note: for the 2008 Broncos, take the over, and don't think twice about it.)

So, the situation is this. Negative opinion about the Broncos pervades the idiotry. We're smarter than them here at MHR. I'm here to tell you that the 2008 Denver Broncos will seriously contend for a Super Bowl championship, and will win the AFC West in a non-suspenseful way. I've never been to La La Land before, and I'm telling you the truth. The reason why is Jay Cutler. Just read the article I linked to, even if it is merely a validation of what we all already know.

Repeat after me. Great quarterbacks win championships. Jay is the most talented all-around QB in the NFL, and it's clear to everybody but Peter King that he's coming into his own right now. (How was Jerry Jones' popcorn, assclown?)

When you have a great player at QB, other weaknesses don't matter as much. We're going to score 450 points this year, and we're going to win 12-13 regular season games. The only AFC team who will have a better record than us is New England, and we match up tremendously well with them. We have more than a fighting chance against them in October, and then again in the playoffs.

This is not fandom, and this is NOT La La Land. In fact, let's all pledge to discard that term from our language, vis-a-vis the Broncos anyway. This is a call to raise expectations. This is a call to embrace what will be the most likeable Broncos team in 10 years. And this is a call to appreciate what we have in Jay Cutler, who is about to become the face of the NFL, much to the NFL's dismay. We're probably not all the way ready for prime time, but you never know who is or isn't. Who thought the Giants were last year? They subtracted Tiki Barber, and won a Super Bowl. You could have told 100 pundits that the Giants would represent the NFC in the Super Bowl before the season, and 0 would have picked them to beat New England.

Repeat after me. The Denver Broncos will seriously contend for a Super Bowl championship, and will win the AFC West in a non-suspenseful way.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR

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I never used that term

I’m with you 100% Ted. By week3, the MSM will know we mean business.

Michael Fabiano really knows nothing about football outside of regression analysis and stat extrapolation. If it doesn’t have to do with fantasy football, his opinion is worthless.

by kwool79 on Aug 28, 2008 6:18 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I am with ya

Now that Marshall is only gonna be gone for 1 game, watch out SD. The 2nd game you are gonna see who the beat of the West really is

by broncfanstuckinsd on Aug 28, 2008 6:26 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I have huge expectations. I've already stated numerous times:

If the Broncos do not win the AFC West Divisional Crown this year, 2008 will have been a massive dissapointment to me.

So I am with you 100%

If God is not a Bronco fan, then WHY are sunsets Blue and Orange? - Jon Tollerud 5/22/08

I got a high ankle sprain in college and it still hurts! ~ TSG 8/13/08

by Tim Lynch on Aug 28, 2008 6:43 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

The Denver Broncos will seriously contend for a Super Bowl championship, and will win the AFC West in a non-suspenseful way.

Lets get this thing done!

Mountains, forest, sea: these render man fierce, but yet do not destroy the man.

by Jeremy Bolander on Aug 28, 2008 7:41 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Hmm

While I want to move to La-La Land, having lived in cold, hard reality last year was a bit of a stumbling block. While I agree that Cutler is a superstar-caliber talent, there really are too many other questions… did we switch out our pass/run defenses, can we maximize the talent we do have, how will the running game hold up, when will the damn injuries stop, where is our depth on D, how will the O-line hold up, etc etc. Football games are won on both sides of the ball, and our D will have to hold up to Cutler’s example if we’re going to be a high-scoring winning machine, or a high-scoring high-score-allowing team…. there is just a bit of a difference there. So, while I am optimistic that this season will be much better than last year (it would be hard for it to be a whole lot worse, unless we were the Dolphins) I’m gonna have to wait to see how things shake out. If we do play at the level we have the talent for for all 16 games, then yes, we win the West in a walk. But as it stands, we’re too damned inconsistent — we can play like the 1972 Dolphins for one offensive drive, and the next one, we look like the 2007 Dolphins. I will wait to see what the results on the field show us… Which of course is not to say that I don’t want them to. I hope and expect the Broncos to be a playoff contender this year, but don’t process my visa for La-La Land just yet….

/cold dose of pessimism

Purple Row's resident entertaining pessimistic asshole.

by Silverblood on Aug 28, 2008 7:45 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Your concerns are warranted

I for one look at the combination of inexperience and lack of defensive depth in the front 7, and think to myself that this team is going to have a hard time holding onto leads.

I can see it now. We get up by 17-21 points halfway through the 2nd quarter, then the defense starts to get ground down by some patient, long drives. The offense gets out of rhythm going into the second half and by the end of the game the other team is passing up and down the field, taking a lead in the fourth quarter.

Cutler will have to be a hero in so many ways for this team to be successful. He’ll have to play consistent and great, and then be a miracleworker on top of that….

That was a daydream I wish I hadn’t had… :(

Mountains, forest, sea: these render man fierce, but yet do not destroy the man.

by Jeremy Bolander on Aug 28, 2008 10:02 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

9-7.

Yeah, I’m a “pessamist”. I love how this roster is coming along, but we’re an offseason or two away from dominance. Yes, they Giants won the Super Bowl last year; New York was a pretty mediocre regular season team that clawed it’s way through a tough postseason in order to win that crown. Like I’ve said before, this defense could be on par with last year’s Browns, but we have a defense that will take us as far as their’s did. 9-7 and a shot at a Wild Card is a solid season, especially for a young team that lacks depth. Maybe we go 10-6 and win a playoff game, but maybe we go 8-8 and miss the postseason. I’m just not ready to drive the bandwagon at an unsafe speed. Let the real games begin! Go Broncos!!!

Here we go again: http://thefulldeck.blogspot.com/

by ejruiz on Aug 28, 2008 10:16 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

The difference between 9-7 and 13-3 is mere inches....here's to making it past those inches this year!

If God is not a Bronco fan, then WHY are sunsets Blue and Orange? - Jon Tollerud 5/22/08

I got a high ankle sprain in college and it still hurts! ~ TSG 8/13/08

by Tim Lynch on Aug 29, 2008 8:25 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Our defense

shows clear signs of being league-average this season. The offense is going to be one of the very best in the league, and our QB is going to win games for us. A football team, or any sports team, is not a sum of its parts, let’s not forget this. Games are not won on paper, they’re won on the field, and that’s where this is going to happen.

"I wouldn't ever set out to hurt anyone deliberately unless it was, you know, important --like a league game or something." DICK BUTKUS

by Ted Bartlett on Aug 29, 2008 5:55 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

La La will be reality

Just think back to the early Peyton Manning years. His first year was rough. Lots of INTs. But you could see the potential. He was going to work his butt off and get better and better. The Colts drafted more offensive weapons and they built around their QB. That also meant the defense would suffer for a while. For a long while. The Colts ultimately stunk on defense for years. But at the same time, they were winning a lot of games. I think the Colts have been to the playoffs 9 years in a row. 9YEARS. That is flat out awesome. They have really only had a good defense for 2-3 of those 9 years. My point is that great Quarterback play makes up for LOTS of defensive deficiencies. That is what we are going to have for the next 10 years or so. Great QB play. We are going to have to be patient for our D to come around. Don’t be surprised if our first pick in the draft next year is NOT d-line or linebacker. We may just go after a Reggie Wayne to team up with our Brandon Marshall (Marvin Harrison). We could have had that this year if JWalk wasn’t such an idiot.

La La Land being reality is close to being a reality. Like the guy said in the article, Jay Cutler will be the face of the NFL. The Denver Broncos are going to the playoffs this year and at least for the next 9 consecutive years.

I don't believe we can win every game, just the next one. - Lou Holtz
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.-Bill Gates

by orangeblood on Aug 29, 2008 8:21 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

10-6

I hope the Reno oddsmakers have us at 7.5 wins and don’t change it before I get there during week 2!

That’s an easy bet!

"It's all over Fat Man" - Tom Jackson to John Madden 1977 AFC Championship Game

"I wouldn't say he's nowhere near T.O." - Pacman Jones on Brandon Marshall

"I love your analysis of our team. Its kinda like watching a spider monkey trying to figure out a jar of peanuts.. you know whats going on.. you know whats in there, but to actually figure it out, is just a bit beyond your mental skills..."
- Bronco Dano from DP Comments

by DesertBroncoFan on Aug 29, 2008 9:56 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

not as easy a bet when you have to lay nearly $2 to win $1

At even money, I love that bet (but either way I have to wait until I get paid for my John Mccain winning the Republican nomination bet)

A couple other random Broncos bets you can make:

Jay Cutler vs Philip Rivers – Who has more TD passes for the season (with the tie going to Cutler)

Jay Cutler – 25 to 1 odds to have the most passing yards in the league over the entire season

Jay Cutler – 40 to 1 odds for NFL MVP

Brandon Marshall – 30 to 1 odds to have the most receiving yards in a single game

by MattR on Aug 29, 2008 1:09 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its official

One person in the MSM likes Cutler to have a big season. Michael Silver in his gameface article in his take it to the ATM portion has Cutler in the Pro Bowl

by broncfanstuckinsd on Aug 29, 2008 1:14 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny if you look at the article he wrote on August 31, 2007...

It was called Magic vs. Bird part II, and was all about how Vince Young and Matt Leinart were going to have that kind of rivalry. Now one of them is no longer a starter and the other has a negative turnover to touchdown ratio. Lol.

To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals - this alone is worth the struggle. - William Penn

Tom Arnold, of Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period, said this about Warren Sapp: "Hey, Warren, the Raiders signed you to a seven-year deal. I guess Bill Callahan was right --- they are the dumbest team in America."

by Philistine21 on Aug 29, 2008 7:00 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs