about Cutler. That situation is long done. If you think Cutler would have been amazing in this scheme then that’s your opinion. McD aimed Cassel because Cassel had proven himself in that system while Cutler had not. It didn’t work out, but McD tried to reach out to him afterwards. Cutler got all upset when McD wouldn’t guarentee him his spot. It was a brand new system and it was impossible to tell if Cutler would have been successful. Hillis fumbled on special teams too if I remember correctly. I don’t understand how stubornness made our short yardage situations bad. Logically, I would think it was the offensive lines fault along with the running back to some degree.

that Shanny actually encouraged Cutler to try to throw into tight spots….whether it carried much merit as an article was unclear. I’m sure many of the members from last year will remember seeing it, but doubt I can find it. Anyway, the rest of your comment has been looked at repeatedly, and the bottom line is that 1) none of us were there to see what actually happened, 2) much of what the MSM reported as occurring has been shown to be blatantly incorrect, 3) and only one side (Cutler) felt the need to talk in public. Translation: believe what you wish about how it went down, but recognize it as opinion, not proven fact…that’s what I have to do with my opposing opinion of who was at fault.

Every coach is going to make mistakes especially rookie coaches, yet how does his mistakes much up against Shanny’s. I know now your going to want to compare Shanny’s successes against mcD’s mistakes. But compare mistakes with mistakes and they will probably come out close to even.

And you have the disadvantage of not having been here under your present screen name during all the time this was hashed out the first time. MHR members from last year have been through this before; you will find the lines have been solidified more than the Western Front in WW 1. If you hope to change them, move away from just stating the opinion as fact, and document all the assumptions that lie within the opinion….that’s what happened last year.

I thought Denver did well even in most losses. Baltimore and Pittsburgh they were in it for 3 quarters. Washington they would have won if they had a buckup QB. Played well against AFC champions Indy. Played well against Philly.

What concerns me is the three games against Division foes. Each game it was the second game against the team and they got blown out in two of them. I take from that McD needs to do a much better job in gameplanning the second time around.

I wonder if there was a tell that wasn’t quite evident on film but could be assertained when playing?

To say we that the running game never really got going is false, it stuggled without Buck, but we were middle of the pack in running and passing, to blame the melt down on the offense is unfair, while it is part their fault, the tiring of the defense played a big part as well. And after doing quite a bit of research, I find Orton to be pretty average with his pocket presence, doing very well in some games. While I agree we struggled near the end, tough games against Philly and Indy proved we can play very well near the end.

3ns made a good comment too.

but people seem to think that denver just flipped a switch post-bye and all of a sudden collapsed. the record shows that, but if any of you watched the games, you know different. lets break this down.

WEEK1, CINCY- we played with them(and contained benson) all the way till the end and gave up a last minute TD. Then we got a break and scored a last second TD. Lucky? Yes. But it wasnt like we were gettin pounded then all of a sudden got super lucky and pulled and unfair win out our asses. The team deserves credit for keeping it close, though it was a sloppy win.

WEEK2, CLE- ok that was a solid game vs a weak opponent. nuf said.

WEEK3, OAK- same here. at that time Oak sucked, we were still playing solid.

WEEK4, DAL- our first big test. O struggled some, against a good Dallas D. but our defense held. then at the end, a playmaker made a big play(thanks bmarsh). set up the win. proved we can compete….and look good in orange :)

WEEK5, NE- a highlight game of the year IMO. tough game. play for play with a good team, and pulled it out in OT. we got the win. W is a W.

WEEK6, SD- this game had me worried. the second most knuckle-biting game in 2009. Our offense had a decent game. But our special teams stepped up. was 2 runbacks lucky? to some degree yes. but so was darren sproles return if you want to go there. so its moot. point it, a good team makes plays wether on offense, defense, or spTeam. we made the plays. we won the game, again, vs a good opponent(nvmd there record at the time)

WEEK8, BALT- the opening sack was a tone setter. although we kept up for most of the game, baltimore just had too much momentum. we couldnt counter. we lost a hard game in a bad way.

WEEK9, PIT- we were all looking for redemption after the baltimore game, and again, we kept it even at first, but the stealers excellent front d-line forced 3 ints. its difficult for ANY team to overcome that(more on that later). we had our plays, but we just couldnt match their momentum. tough loss for all of us.

WEEK10, WAS- ok we new we could beat them. we expected to beat them. after the 1st quarter, we knew we were going to beat them. then…………KO gets KO’d. but wait, we have chris simms right? all hope is not lost. er, or at least that was the plan. with simms so easily contained and confused, we became one dementional on the ground. redskins stacked the box. our offense inept, our d became worn out. they couldnt keep up.(plus that stupid fake field goal. that was just bad coaching, bad reactions, unlucky break for us, and a massive momentum shift). BUT we did prove to all those stupid analysts, and denver(KO) can throw it deep, successfully(regardless of whether or not bmarsh had to turn around to catch those TDs) pitiful loss. a game lost on one play. on one ankle.

WEEK11, SD- at this point. we all accepted defeat before the game even started. even with orton returning, there wasnt much we could do. we had no rythym, not play-making, no timing, no coordination. no heart. i consider that the most embarrasing, annoying, and ungly loss of the year.

WEEK12, NYG- “still 6-4. in control of our destiny. on top of the division. we can do this.” thats what we were all thinking. come thursday night, we dismantled(for the most part) the Giants. all in all, we won the mother-f*cking game.

WEEK13, KC- despite a few scares at the beginning of the game, we routed KC like we were supposed to. running game(particularliy buck) was unstoppable. KCs d-line was bad enough that our now tired/banged up o-line could function properly. great win.

WEEK14, IND- i dont give a damn what anyone says. that was a close game. the score doesnt reflect it. offense played strong(bmarsh!), and the defense played its heart out. we got 3 ints(tipped or not, a pick is a pick). it looked like we could hold them off and get a 3rd win. but payton manning is….incredible. sorry, but he really is. even with wayne and clark shut down for the most part. manning had too many weapons. as good as we played, they were just too much. even after 6-0 start, this was one game i had already written off. not suprised by the loss. but proud of the fight the broncos put up.

WEEK15, OAK- i didnt get to watch this game personally, though i kept up online. i cant say much other than we gave up some big plays at the end, which doomed us. at least we lost to ‘good oakland’.(they were playing good, and beating, some good teams and the end of the year.)

WEEK16, PHILY- my vote for most tense game of the year. this game was impressive for a few reasons. 1. we kept up despite basicly handing phily the game with copious amounts of penalties. 2. we lost our 2nd and 3rd return men. 3. stokely got ejected(that was so bada55) unfortunately. all this crept up on us. we lost some momentum at the very end. and of course there was mcnabbs incredible 3rd and 25 first RUN. game killer. you cant do that. they tied it up. put it in OT. and won the game. hard fought battle. we played pretty well, but not good enough.

WEEK17, KC- ok, by now, most had accepted we werent making the playoffs. but it would at least be nice to break .500. no marshal? thats ok, gafney stepped it up and played big time. brandon loyd even played well. but 2 PICK-SIXES???? THAT my friends is lucky. that is also a back breaker. and lets not forget that our worn out defense(thanks to our offense pretty much keeping off the field), was absolutely THRASHED by jamal charles. but who HADNT been torn up by him?

If you look at it. we only lost 4 games by an unwinnalbe margin. sure we could have been better, but take it for what it is

He inherited a mediocre team and did a mediocre coaching job (by rookie standards).

We didn’t improve as the season wore on and we finished the year playing like complete crap.

I’m probably too hard on him, but should I be doing backflips? No.

Look at some of the other rookie coached teams this year:
Bills: 6-10
Browns: 5-11
Seattle: 5-11
Bucks: 3-13
Even if we don’t judge him as a rookie, he still did a good job compared to other coaches who he started with.

We need goal keepers at both ends of the ice. Not just the side where Negative Nelly is playing.

That is a nice compliment.

Thanks