6-1. Not bad by any margin, but it'd be easy to leap off the bandwagon because, OMG, the Broncos somehow lost! To a desperate Baltimore team! In Baltimore!

Seriously, though, where you play and whom shouldn't be an excuse, because at the end of the day, you just have to do your job (to steal from the new Broncos mantra) and execute. The Broncos did, in spurts, but not enough to beat their opposition.

BAD THOUGHTS (IT TOOK US TWO DAYS AND WE HAD TO GO TO FIVE OR SIX DIFFERENT PLACES, AND WE STILL FAILED TO GET ISIS TICKETS):

The First: The failures of the O-line.

It's disconcerting to have to discuss this sort of topic, considering how everyone felt about the line before, but they were playing well below their usual standard. Although he was only sacked twice, Orton was constantly being hurried. People were already dogging him, saying he clearly couldn't make the deep throw (short memories, eh?), but I can't believe people actually think he's supposed to stand there in the pocket and patiently wait for Marshall to go deep while a man is rushing full speed at him unabated. Especially after we've seen what's happened to a very good Green Bay team this year.

Anyway, unfortunately, the problem for many seems to have been Hamilton. He was the weak link last year (as we all know), but this was because of the standard maintained by the rest of the offensive line; he isn't getting any more love this year than he did last season, though. Someone even asked how long it will be before Olsen or Hochstein starts in his place. A portion of the pressure on Orton came through Ben, and the Broncos' short-yardage problems are being blamed on him, so all this is rather bitter to swallow, because I really like the guy (because of his NFL Europe connections), but his future on the team remains to be seen.
I commented on Mocking the Draft recently, as it so happens, that the team's biggest need right now is interior OL, and recommended drafting a guard early. Guess this shows just how much I know, because in the vacuum of a draft site, I had thought about future players and ignored the ones already on the team, namely, Russ and Seth. Perhaps the Broncos have already addressed this need with them? They have played well from what I've seen (which, admittedly, isn't much), but have they performed well enough?

It must be said, though, that the Ravens' D-line isn't one to be sniffed at, but, again, this isn't an excuse for playing poorly. Not from this O-line, anyway. They're supposed to be dominating the D-line, not the other way around.

The Second: Special teams - tackling

How's this for a hypothetical situation:

Denver scored on their opening possession of the second half. What would it have taken for Knowshon's 1 yard run for a score to give Denver their first lead of the game? Simple. A single tackle. 6-0 up, Lardarius Webb took the Ravens' opening kickoff of the half to the Broncos' endzone for a TD, giving them, a 13-0 lead. All they had to do was make a tackle. Sure, the guy is surprisingly fast, but Larsen's (welcome back!) thundering hit on his next return shows that he wasn't too fast.

Okay, hypothetical thinking is how a loser rationalises his loss by proving to himself how close he actually is to winning (if the ball was batted down, Stokely wouldn't have caught it and taken it to the Bengals' endzone...), so we'll move past it and simply state that kickoff returns for touchdowns are unacceptable. Special teams touchdowns are unacceptable. I thought we were good on ST's now?
I want to say they were just lucky, but that touchdown probably was the difference. The Broncos were playing tight football until then, always within a single score (this is how you win these sorts of games; play it safe, always hanging close, until you turn on the burners right in the end and grab the W.), but taking such a huge lead changed the game. I wonder if the Broncos game-planned for another tight half, and suddenly finding themselves down 13 caught them off-guard.

The Third: Second half team didn't play to reputation.

I wonder if that'll be in a headline tomorrow. It'd certainly be true, although the final score may suggest more of a meltdown than a lack of execution. I'd suggest it was the latter, though... the offense wasn't on the field long enough to give the defense a rest, and Baltimore's offense was happy to capitalise, putting the offense in even more pressure. Their last touchdown, really, could be chalked up to this; the defense, by this point, had been worn down and struggled to put up much of a fight. It would be easy to see the scoreboard and assume the defense simply gave up. It didn't (which I'll get to later). The offense, besides the one long drive, didn't come into its own as it usually does in the second half, and didn't give the defense a chance to rest.

The Fourth: Injuries

Ryan Harris went out with a toe injury. Renaldo went down in the 4th, but later returned. McBean, too, got injured, but I can't verify his status; he walked off under his own power, so he possibly just got winded.

GOOD THOUGHTS (WE GAVE UP IN THE END... WHEN OUT OF NOWHERE, SALVATION CAME IN THE FORM OF ONLINE PURCHASE. D'OH!):

The First: Special teams - punting

All right, some or most people may disagree with me here, but I think the punting wasn't that bad. Folks were complaining that Berger has no leg, as he kept kicking 30 yarders, but I love the alternative: no returns. Unlike previous games, by the time a Baltimore returner got the ball, someone was already waiting for him. Yes, there were times where the returner overestimated Berger's kicking power and had to dash some ways forward to catch the thing, but he didn't threaten to take it all the way. There weren't moments where we all had to breathe a sigh of relief because we were just saved from more special teams embarrassment by a trip.

Besides, hate the punter? That's what stats are for. (Using numbers to distort peoples' perceptions and make them see things your way. ;) )

As everyone already expected before the game, Berger can't kick as far as Kern (although how much of his performance can be attributed to a lack of in-game kicking?), but not by a whole lot. It's a lot closer to 40 yards than 30 yards as many people quipped during the game. (Side-note question: Denver's gross average last year was 46.7. Does anyone know if Kern out-kicking the coverage was responsible for the punting woes last year? I have a short memory, eh.)

Net yards, a more valuable stat, is improved. Not by a whole lot, but enough to warrant Berger's acquisition. At this rate, the Broncos will rise out of the pits of the net yards stat (currently ranked last) some half-a-dozen places.

I agree that even this performance wasn't satisfactory (I want them ranked in the mid-teens, at least), but a lot of people were complaining (every chance they got, yo), and I think it was unjustified. We were calling for Kern to come back, and even Colquitt. Forgetting why they were released in the first place. Such rash decisions and reactions aren't supposed to be rearing their heads in a place like MHR.

The Second: The D.

My biggest worry going in wasn't Baltimore's defense, but their offense. As misguided as this may (or may not) have been, I felt like the biggest things preventing a Broncos victory were the likes of Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. I don't know why, but I just like this would be the most threatening offense we'd face yet. The Patriots may have them beat (wait, we beat the Patriots, and the Patriots beat the Ravens... so... does that mean we're actually better than the Ravens? :p ), but that means I was just as worried about facing Flacco as I was Brady. He's a "playmaker", as you - I mean us - humans like to say, and he certainly showed that ability in this game. But when the defense was given the chance to properly show its stuff, it didn't flinch.

Broncos turn the ball over in their own territory? Sure. The D hands them a 3 and out and a field goal attempt. Thank you, come again!

I'm really proud of this D, because, yeah, in the end they were tired, and they were spent. But when it was a full-strength offense going against a full-strength defense, they did their job. I don't blame them for giving up points in the end, and I hope you don't, too, because when they had given their all to keep it close, the special teams kicked them in the teeth, and the offense showed them a glimmer of light before leaving them in the darkness.

And, no, they didn't give up. They didn't just roll over and die. You can see this in the dying minutes of the game if you want proof. They were giving up yards, yes, but not without a fight. Running backs with fresh legs pounded the ball past their clasping hands as they gasped for air, but they still got up. And they would still fight on the next play, pushing over the O-line and taking down the backs in their own backfield. No, they were tired, but they sure as great Hades didn't give up.

AND SO, I RANDOMLY MUSED, THERE ON THE STEPS AT THREE-TWENTY IN THE MORNING, THAT I STILL HATE CREDIT CARDS, BUT THESE RANDOM OBSERVATIONS MAKE UP FOR IT IN AWESOMENESS (OR: ISIS WAS BRILLIANT. REALLY):

1) Onto special teams again... Berger's second punt was nearly blocked, and it's crazy how close it came. At first, it looked like Ed Reed either got there late or just missed it, but it actually went between his outstretched arms. Between his arms! Seriously, an inch in any direction and it would have been blocked.

2) Phonz got away with a really doozie. He clearly held Mason's shirt on a play, and not only didn't the officials call DPI, but Mason let his emotions and get the better of him and got flagged. He was furious, and after complaining to them unsuccessfully, he threw his helmet on the sideline, drawing the flag.
It was a bad call by the refs, honestly, but Mason should have kept himself in check. They were balancing their calls anyway by letting the Ravens hold Doom and get away with it all day long (I kid... mostly).

3) I hate the word "paydirt".

4) The Broncos one turnover was a Moreno fumble on a screen. I really don't know if it could have resulted in anything else. Knowshon didn't see Reed's hard hit coming as he turned and didn't even have the ball probably set yet. Coach McD challenged if it was a complete pass, but the ruling on the field was upheld. Ed timed it well.

5) Orton, with all his immobility, managed to scramble for a cool 11 yards. He felt the pressure coming (obviously), and scrambled out of trouble before outrunning all the defenders for a 1st down.

6) The song played after the 1st quarter was Underoath's Coming Down is Calming Down. I'm not a fan, personally (though I do know them), and I never really pay attention to the songs they play (except for a Chicago song they played on Monday Night Football, I think, that sounded really cool. Sadly, I never got the title of this song to listen to it properly) when they go to the break because I've muted by then (or before), but I had no idea Underoath were that popular. They certainly aren't here, far as I know (and I don't know much, because I'd never have figured something like deathcore to be as popular as it appears to be), which is probably like Gallows, who're a punk band from the England I suspect to be not quite as popular outside the country as inside.

7) This number is older than Elway. And so should be retired. For Elway.

8) BDawk could have had a sack, but Flacco got lucky with a bail-out throw to his running back that went for a respectable gain. He tried it again later, but ended up doing some ballet move and getting whacked by Le Kevin Smith.

9) The defense really beat the Ravens' offensive line on a good number of plays. Although their numbers aren't too shabby (most of them came in the end during clock-control time), Baltimore's running backs were getting slammed in the backfield more than they would have liked. "Garbage" players like Kenny Peterson blowing past his man for a tackle for a loss is always great to see. These... uh... Garbage Men are doing a good job of cleaning up the field of ruddy quarterbacks and running backs.

10) Evidently, at his ripe, old age, Ray Ray still hits like a train.

11) So, let me get this straight, the NFL needs official air-fresheners?

12) Although we'd hoped he learnt to start just running downfield in previous games, Marshall still danced a couple times today. He needs to have a couple lessons with Bobby Turner...

13) Hillis had 2 catches for 10 yards. Well, it's something, right? Same amount of catches (and yards) as Eddie, and one more than Scheff. Hopefully, now that Spencer's back, this'll trend up.

14) Speaking of Larsen, how's it hangin', man?! Spencer had a couple hard tackles on special teams (he had a big one to stop the Ravens' second kickoff return cold) and already made his presence known out there in his first game back.

15) One of the plays in which Orton had enough time to throw it deep ended with a DPI call on our old buddy Foxworth. I can't say whether it was the right call or not (my feed had started lagging), but at least he got the win in the end (which must be some sort of weird consolation for me, I guess...). I've always liked the guy, so I hate to see him getting hosed by the officials (or not, depending on your perspective).

16) After a running play, Knowshon got up and went to the huddle with Ray Lewis hounding him. You could clearly see the intensity in Ray's eyes, and Moreno just laughed it off (or tried) on his way back.

17) Something happened to my, um, friend, during the game. He saw something on his girlfriend's shirt and, thinking it's cough syrup (she has a cold, he... uh... tells me) wiped it off with his finger and licked it off. Turns out, although it did taste like cough syrup, that it was actually, eh, lube on her shirt. So I, uh, I mean, my friend, went and tested them both for taste similarities, and yup... if you ever wanted to know, certain brands of personal lubricant do actually kinda taste like cough medicine, for some reason. Who'd have known! Well, my friend does now...

WOWZERS, NOW THAT'S LATE!

Well, it's about time I head off.

If someone tells you the sky is falling, they're probably right, unless they're referring to the Broncos. This was a hard loss, but it will show what sort of team this is. Bad teams crumble, good teams learn how to become better. If they're as good as we think they are, they'll have learnt something about themselves, and they'll know it's time to get back to work. Because they have a job to do.