Denver Broncos Week 3 Game Ball

by KaptainKirk on Sep 26, 2011 8:00 PM MDT in Strictly My Opinion

While there isn't a lot of positive things to say about a loss for our Denver Broncos, there were some highlights in Week 3. There is also a Game Ball to be given, so let's just see what we can shake out. Needless to say, there won't be any candidates from the Offense this week. The Defense and Special Teams had better games collectively, so they will get the attention today. If you are ready, then jump!

Let's start with the Special Teams first.

Kicker Matt Prater sent all three of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks and made both Extra Point attempts. Stellar? Perhaps not, but not giving a dangerous return man in Marc Mariani a chance to do anything to help the Titans field position isn't small potatoes either. Prater makes it look easy.

Punter Britton Colquitt hit 5 punts for a 45.0 average and four of those were placed Inside the 20 yard line including a 62-yarder down to the Tennessee 5-yard line. It doesn't get much better for a Punter and Denver has a very good one. Colquitt has shown improvement from last season.

The Punt Coverage Unit held the aforementioned Marc Mariani to a 5-yard return average on 4 returns and a long of 12 yards. Those are excellent results and also show improvement from the previous year. Coach Jeff Rodgers has earned a week's pay.

Returner Quan Cosby looks like a very good Free Agent pickup just by virtue of the 30-yard punt return he had in the 1st Quarter that set up the Broncos first touchdown. Cosby finished with 3 punt returns and a 15.0 yard average. He also returned a kickoff 19 yards, but that first return was something that put some excitement in the fanbase. Kudos to Quan and the scouting department.

Now for the Defense.

DE Derrick Harvey recovered the Fumble that Von Miller forced in the 3rd Quarter, but did not contribute any Tackles. More on that play in a minute.

DE Robert Ayers had 2 Tackles and recovered the Fumble that Rahim Moore caused by his hit on Kenny Britt. The Titans Wide Receiver ended up with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee and will be out for the season. I hope Britt returns to full health and Rahim doesn't get a Bill from the league office.

CB Jonathan Wilhite was one of the leading tacklers for the Broncos with 6 unassisted Tackles. He also had a Sack in the 1st Quarter that forced the Titans to punt, which led to Quan Cosby's 30-yard return and the Broncos first score. The 4th year man has been a pleasant surprise as another late addition to the team. Willhite shares the team lead in Sacks.

LB Wesley Woodyard was the other leading tackler in Week 3 with 6 Tackles and 3 Assists. WW is having a great season so far and it is nice to see him having success.

LB Joe Mays ended up with 5 Tackles and 2 Assists for a solid outing.

The Broncos biggest defensive play of the game belonged to rookie LB Von Miller. In the 3rd Quarter, he nabbed Tennessee quarterback Matt Hasselbeck for a Sack and forcing a fumble that Derrick Harvey pounced on. That gave Denver the ball at the Titans 13 yard line, all the momentum and set up what should have been the Broncos 3rd touchdown.

For the game, Von Miller finished with 3 Tackles, one Assist, one Sack and one Forced Fumble. This week, the Game Ball goes to Von Miller.

Go Broncos!

Poll

Who gets the Game Ball this week?

Von Miller

321 votes

Jonathan Wilhite

26 votes

Robert Ayers

11 votes

Quan Cosby

9 votes

Britton Colquitt

28 votes

Special Teams Coverage Unit

14 votes

Other

15 votes

424 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 33 comments | 1 recs |

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Comments

WW!! had his spot and crossed the field to help several times.

Jonathan Wilhite …I’d rather he had more passes defensed than tackles but I appreciate the help he’s given us.

Cosby just might be my #2. Nice pick up.

If Moore gets a fine for his hit (?) I’ll Shizzle.

He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which.
Douglas Adams

by Whidbey Bronco on Sep 26, 2011 8:09 PM MDT reply actions

I am shocked Woodyard got snubbed.

by Tim Lynch on Sep 26, 2011 8:26 PM MDT up reply actions

Lol

I didn’t have room to list everyone. The Poll has a limitation feature. I gave him props in the post though.
I agree though, he had a good game. Again.

Character may be manifested in the great moments but it is made in the small ones -- Philip Brooks
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by KaptainKirk on Sep 26, 2011 8:33 PM MDT up reply actions

Didn't see anyone at the Titans blog blaming Moore

I thought the knee twisted when Britt planted his foot after the hit trying to regain his balance.

Mike Evans on the Fan asked whether Miller was a disappointment and said Miller was invisible except for the forced fumble. Maybe the stupidest thing I’ve heard from the blah-blahers on the radio all season

Maya: "What are your first impressions of Denver?"
Mozgov: "I must break you..."

by margabelle on Sep 26, 2011 8:22 PM MDT reply actions

No and I didn't see anything in that link either

I don’t think he was intentionally trying to injure Britt and he wasn’t defenseless, but the guy got injured and Moore already has one fine. I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it, just speculating.

by KaptainKirk on Sep 26, 2011 8:32 PM MDT up reply actions

Miller

Miller certainly wasn’t invisible, but it did seem like he dropped into coverage a lot. I’d have loved to seen more pressure. Hasselback could only get lucky so often on those toss-up throws, rather than give him the time. (Obviously, he got lucky enough).

by MakeCents on Sep 26, 2011 10:15 PM MDT up reply actions

Wow no kidding thats got to be the dumbest thing an announcer has said this season

did he even watch the game or just read a summary on the DP?

"It's all over fat man!"
-Tom Jackson
"When John Elway is standing in lava with a football, he will stay there and sink until you're open"
-Seanbaby

by Calikula on Sep 26, 2011 11:21 PM MDT up reply actions

Von Miller is in a race with Ryan Kerrigan for DROY, from what I've seen

There might be other rookies making an impact on their respective teams, but those two are the best from what I’ve seen so far.

by BroncosBassist on Sep 27, 2011 5:48 AM MDT up reply actions

1 penalty? Awesome! whole team, GAME BALL

by Clompy on Sep 26, 2011 9:35 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

Game ball goes to Kyle Orton for his great play in the red zone

Also Mike McCoy for excellent play calling

by VR92 on Sep 26, 2011 9:47 PM MDT reply actions

I'd give the game ball to the "defensive front 7" as a unit.

For being our biggest weakness last year, they have played great football. For what it’s worth, looking back I think they played the raiders better than the jets did. As a whole, the defense has kept us in every game so far.

Now it’s time we address our 2nd biggest weakness from last year, OL. How’s Vick doing with that line? One would argue he has better weapons, but what’s their record? Same as the broncos, 1-2. That alone should end ANY qb “controversy”.

Jon Fox told me everything I needed to know about where we stand as a football team by going for it on 4th and 6 inches and not making it. I’m not arguing whether or not “Tebow could have punched it in”…great if he can. But we as a fan base should demand “the OL & RB should be able to do it ESPECIALLY when the other team knows we are going to do it”. Regardless of who is behind center.

The glass is usually twice as big as it needs to be.

by BaldMatt on Sep 26, 2011 9:54 PM MDT via mobile reply actions 2 recs

Matt

I think Kuper took the blame on that one himself, regarding not punching it in.

by KaptainKirk on Sep 26, 2011 11:28 PM MDT up reply actions

Didn't anyon else notice the Britt "fumble?"

He just tossed the ball down afte rhis knee went gack.

by pubkeeper on Sep 26, 2011 10:00 PM MDT reply actions

It was pretty lame

if Jerry Rice was injured, he wouldn’t have done that. Oh well, I hope he’ll heal swiftly, I never wish affliction or injury upon anyone

Brad James

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With Coach Zorro on our side, we will slice opponents to ribbons. Tim Tebow gives me hope and I already have faith and charity in my heart! I see a propitious future rife with Lombardis for our Broncos!

by the new Bradfather on Sep 26, 2011 10:09 PM MDT up reply actions

Eddy Mac would still have the ball on the stretcher

He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which.
Douglas Adams

by Whidbey Bronco on Sep 26, 2011 10:10 PM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

Easy for us to say...

Makes what Eddy Mac did all the more impressive, but still, I can’t even begin to imagine how painful blowing ACL and MCL ligaments in one awkward step must be.

Maya: "What are your first impressions of Denver?"
Mozgov: "I must break you..."

by margabelle on Sep 26, 2011 10:23 PM MDT up reply actions

Tangent: Did Theisman fumble on that infamous broken leg play?

Maya: "What are your first impressions of Denver?"
Mozgov: "I must break you..."

by margabelle on Sep 26, 2011 10:24 PM MDT up reply actions

nope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHCXNt4P8Xg

He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which.
Douglas Adams

by Whidbey Bronco on Sep 26, 2011 10:44 PM MDT up reply actions

Oh, god. Did you just post a link to video of it?

I almost threw up just thinking about it….

Yikes.

by BroncosBassist on Sep 27, 2011 5:50 AM MDT up reply actions

I still remember watching that

Go Broncos!

by Sean in Pa. on Sep 27, 2011 7:12 AM MDT up reply actions

I will never

watch that clip again if I can avoid it. When my family invites me to watch The Blindside with them, I always turn my head away at the beginning of the clip

Brad James

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by the new Bradfather on Sep 27, 2011 12:25 PM MDT up reply actions

How often does your family have The Blindside movie nights?

Von Miller and Dumervil are basically racing to see who's first to the QB...Love this feeling!!!

by DaLostBoy4 on Sep 27, 2011 12:57 PM MDT up reply actions

Oh

I think the last one was in May?

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by the new Bradfather on Sep 27, 2011 1:03 PM MDT up reply actions

Compare the defensive front seven to the one from 2009 that went 6-0

I’m trying to remember if there were signs that it was all smoke and mirrors that season. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and for someone to rip off 250 yards rushing against us on 6 attempts or for some QB to have 400 yards and 4 TDs in a blowout win. I know we haven’t played the most potent offenses yet, but this is the NFL and you don’t just shut down guys like Benson and Johnson for four quarters unless you’re doing a pretty damned good job up front. And this without two of our best defensive players on the field (I’m not bringing DJ into this discussion because I don’t think we lost anything by having to play Woodyard). Does anyone see signs of this being a dream? I see great gap discipline. I see DL at least pretending to care about controlling the line of scrimmage, and I see fairly clean LB coming in to clean up most runs. Hell, I’ve even seen some linebackers SHED BLOCKS and MAKE TACKLES. Is this some kind of bizzarro world Broncos team?

If we had a healthy Dumervil and a healthy Marcus Thomas and/or Ty Warren on the line, they might actually be scaring some folks. As it is, offensive coordinators must be taking them seriously. Wow. After the last few years I’m well conditioned to expect mediocrity and fear anything better, so I hope they can continue to chase away those expectations.

by BroncosBassist on Sep 27, 2011 5:57 AM MDT reply actions

Most importantly, ...

I think I’ve seen improvement from week to week.

by BroncosBassist on Sep 27, 2011 5:59 AM MDT up reply actions

+1

He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which.
Douglas Adams

by Whidbey Bronco on Sep 27, 2011 6:49 AM MDT up reply actions

UHH...

assuming you mean defensively. Thumbs up! Offensively, I think the quarterback is getting worse (if that’s possible).

by Mee on Sep 27, 2011 1:50 PM MDT up reply actions

Rahim Moore's hit was legal at the waist...Britt tried to spin out of the tackle and sprained his knee...So sad, so bad.

by bfree2bronc on Sep 27, 2011 6:11 AM MDT reply actions 1 recs

I have been guilty of faulty memory in the past.

That said, didn’t Britt injure his right knee? Moore’s hit was clean and legal, and on the left side.

by BroncosBassist on Sep 27, 2011 7:08 AM MDT up reply actions 1 recs

Good point

I will look at it again.

by KaptainKirk on Sep 27, 2011 8:29 AM MDT up reply actions

Moore did nothing wrong

they were both low on the ground so no tools can say Moore gave him a helmet shot. Of course , in the Saints-Texans game, which was awesome, Kareem Jackson gave Drew Brees a helmet-to-helmet shot when they were both in the ground, which is not awesome

Brad James

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by the new Bradfather on Sep 27, 2011 12:26 PM MDT up reply actions