Noticeable Things About the Game

FINALLY!  The Denver Broncos have won a game in November.  This team needed to beat the Giants, and they did...convincingly.  They are now back in the play-off race (not that we were out) and they have gained confidence.  The veteran leadership has grasped this team and changed them into a REAL CONTENDER!  Brian Dawkins never seems to disappoint.  His leadership and play on the field changes the game and his intensity scares even the toughest of the tough.  We have Kansas City next week, and we have nine days to prepare for them.  Denver should come prepared and ready to attack.  Something tells me that they won't let anything slip.  The intensity and passion that this team has is unbelievable.

I'm not going to give my predictions for the Broncos' last five games.  I am going to take each week at a time, and totally focus on that opponent.  There should be NO looking ahead; a NFL team should never, ever, be over-looked.  Just look at what happened to us in the Washington Redskins' game.  That's why this team will not fall into any traps.  They have learned to not over-look teams, and as a result, should take care of Kansas City.  

As for San Diego, they have some real tough games approaching.  They have: @ DAL; CIN; @ TEN (who have been playing A LOT better as of late).  Dallas has been playing extremely well, and playing at their place, should have a rough time.  One thing about all those teams, is that they all have fairly good defenses.  San Diego is at a disadvantage there.  A football team cannot outscore their opponents every single game.  Their defense has to step up if they are going to make the play-offs.  This week they have the Chiefs at Qualcomm Stadium.  They are coming off of a big win against the Super Bowl Champion Steelers.  Maybe the momentum will allow the Chiefs to overcome San Diego...we can only hope.

As for the game last night, here's what I saw.

1)  The biggest thing that jumped out at me, in the stats at least, was the domination of the Giants' running game.  To make this clear, Denver had given up 203 yards on the ground last week to the Chargers.  With the Giants' big, bad rushing attack coming into town, everyone thought that our goose (or turkey...you know for Thanksgiving), was cooked.  Instead, our defense, once again, shocked the sports world.  We dominated the trenches ALL NIGHT LONG.  Our "meager" run defense gave up only 57 yards of rushing!  So much for the weak run defense.  Since Denver stopped the Giants' running game, they were forced to pass, which is the strength of this defense (we're ranked 3rd in the NFL in pass defense). 

2)  During the horrendous four game losing streak (which is now a distant memory), this team gave the ball away, AND couldn't take it back.  The Broncos lost the turnover battles many times throught the drought of wins.  They couldn't force turnovers, and the offense was being sloppy with the ball.  On Thursday, it was a totally different story.  Denver won the turnover battle, by +2.  Our defense forced three fumbles, and recovered two; as for interceptions, they had one.

Kyle Ortons' interception wasn't necessarily a bad decision, it was the placement of the ball.  I believe that Stokley ran an out-route, and the defender was in man coverage.  Stokley got a little separation, but the pass was thrown low, instead of away from the defender, towards the sideline.  The ball also should have been thrown a little higher.  I was a littler nervous after that play because I thought it might give the Giants some momentum so that they could get back into the game.  Fortunately, our defense held strong, holding New York to a field goal.

3)  I didn't see the Chargers' game last week, but I heard that Denver stopped blitzing, and that allowed San Diego to dominate all game long.  Last night, was different as well.  The blitz was ever-present and the pass rush was getting to Eli Manning.  Three sacks is very good, two of them coming from, who else but Elvis Dumervil.  What a player he has been.  Fourteen sacks this year and counting.  He had one of the strip-sacks and has been getting pressure on QBs all year long.  Doom is definitely an "example leader".  The delayed blitz also seemed to work last night, as they flushed Eli out of the pocket, forcing him to throw on the run. 

4)  If there were any doubts about our secondary, I think they were absolved with their performance last night.  An interception, and a lot of passes defensed.  Denver was in a lot of man coverage during the game.  I actually thought that our DBs were glued to their WRs.  One thing that I did notice is that this team has problems with the Nickel formation.  Alphonso Smith is not performing very well, as I saw him get beat a couple of times.  There was a long play that the Giants had right after the interception from Kyle Orton that involved him.  It looked like a smash route that allowed the Giants' receiver to get open along the sideline.  I don't know whether to blame the play-call or Smith.  Hopefully it was just the play-call.

5)  I think we finally know why our red zone offense is having problems.  Three false start penalties in the red zone is UNACCEPTABLE!  McDaniels was right in yelling at his players...what a funny incident with McDaniel's profanity!  But anyway, the penalties last night, cost us 61 yards!  That is a fairly poor performance, and something needs to be done about it.  I cannot count all the times our drives have stalled because of a stupid penalty.  I believe the Josh will handle this problem, and their elimination will help our offense.

So that is what I noticed during last night's game.  I could've mentioned how great our running game was last night, or how well our ST performed, but I wanted to mix up the views a little bit.  I'm just glad that we won.  The Broncos needed this game badly, and they came through.  I am excited about next week's game, but we have to go nine days without a Broncos game!  At least we can watch the Chargers lose (hopefully).  If they win, well, maybe the Bears will lose.