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This afteroon, I had the great fortune of speaking with The Beast - Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Brandon was in Boston participating in a photo shoot for Reebok and the Broncos' 50th AFL Anniversary Throwback jerseys. Turns out BMarsh is already familiar with MHR, and he was quite generous in offering his time to speak via telephone. We covered his hip injury and recovery, the new quarterbacks, and the draft, among other things. Most interestingly, I found out that Brandon gets along just fine with Philip Rivers - that may help answer some questions about who was responsible for the reported bad blood between Denver and San Diego in recent seasons. Many thanks to Brandon for taking the time to speak with me, and I hope you enjoy reading what he had to say.

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It's that time again, time for our weekly chat with RMN Broncos beat-write Lee Rasizer about what he is seeing, hearing and thinking when it comes to the Denver Broncos --

MHR -- OK, be honest. How far into a "Broncos win AFC West" story were you when the Chargers decided to spoil the fun?

LR -- I hadn't written anything. But as I watched the KC-San Diego game in the press box in Carolina early in the fourth quarter, I did plan on maybe doing my story on that topic, discussing all the travails Denver had been through to get to that point. At Bank of America Stadium's press box, there's a bank of TVs behind the rows of seats where the writers work, showing about eight games simultaneously. As the Chargers started their drive inside five minutes, me and about a couple other Denver-area people stood there and watched the TD, onside kick, TD, missed field goal drama, even while the Panthers-Broncos game had begun. The stadium staff had already switched the screens near where we work to the Broncos game and I expected to just see the onside kick recovered by the Chiefs and then go sit down. Oops. Bye, Carl Peterson ... and Herm will be joining you soon."

MHR -- Mike Shanahan admitted that he did a poor job getting the team ready last week, and that allowing them to know what was happening in KC was a mistake. Do you think he is still trying to gauge the best way to motivate his team?

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Nothing says the Holidays more than welcoming old friends.  For Broncos fans, nothing says old friends more than Andrew Mason.  Mase spent 6 years with the Broncos organization, keeping fans close to the action at DenverBroncos.com as well as at his blog, Mason's Morsels.  Upon his "departure", Mason landed on his feet with the Carolina Panthers.

Mase agreed to do a Q&A for us leading up to today's game.  My thanks to Andrew for taking the time, and for the incredible work he did while at the Broncos -- TSG.

MHR -- That was quite a performance on Monday Night. A big game coming up next week as well. Could this be the dreaded ‘Trap Game'?

AM -- Theoretically, it could, but from talking to guys in the locker room, it seems that isn't the case. First, there's the Broncos' spotless record against the NFC South; given how powerful the division has been this year, that quickly got everyone's attention. Then there's the Broncos' performance in some tough road games -- in particular the 17-point dismantling of the Jets.

There's also the collective understanding that the Panthers' postseason place is still precarious. Carolina has the one-game lead over Tampa Bay, but a Bucs win Sunday would give them a tiebreak advantage on division record (Bucs 4-2, Panthers 3-2 in that scenario) and a Panthers loss Sunday would give the Bucs a potential tiebreak advantage on common opponents (the Bucs would be 8-2; the Panthers would be 8-3). The Bucs close at home with San Diego and Oakland, who are a combined 8-18; the Panthers close at New York and New Orleans, who are a combined 18-9.

The players I've talked with this week are confident, but there remains a palpable edge and urgency to the tone in the locker room -- which is what you want to see.

TSG -- Now that we are several months down the road, what effect did the Steve Smith situation have on the football team and how have they used a negative event and turned it into a positive?

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Another installment in our weekly series with Lee Rasizer, Broncos beat-writer for the Rocky Mountain News --

MHR -- Another week, another running back goes on I/R. What does the loss of Hillis do to the offense?

LR -- They'll try to plug and play with the likes of Cory Boyd and Tatum Bell, and maybe soon, Selvin Young. But Hillis' absence goes beyond just carries. He was a bruising short-yardage option and goal-line runner. He was good in blitz pickup. He also was dangerous as a receiver out of the backfield. I'm not really sure who inherits the short-yardage job, and that would be my primary concern. There's been some talk that Boyd has run physically at padded practices. That hasn't been Bell's game, or Young's, either, for that matter. So they'll need him to emerge as that guy to keep this offense humming. Spencer Larsen missed practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, so I think he might be out as a potential option. But Andrew Pinnock is ready to go and the ex-Chargers fullback has the size. So maybe he's a dark-horse choice. The team's keeping it pretty close to the vest. We'll all see Sunday.

MHR -- From the outside it would appear Tatum Bell would get a majority of the work, but I'm not so sure.  What are you hearing about the preparation of Cory Boyd?

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Our thanks once again to Lee for taking time out of his busy scedule to answer some Broncos questions for us!! -- TSG

MHR -- Do you think the youth of the Broncos finally get what it takes to bring it week after week? It seems the team is at its best when its backs are against the wall. Can they play with that sense of urgency every week?

LR - Ask me Sunday night. Because if the Broncos lose to the Chiefs, everyone will be lobbing the same criticisms about inconsistency they have all season. At the same time, there does seem to be a growing confidence that if the team can avoid turnovers they can hang with even the better teams. I still think they have too many defensive deficiencies to be a legitimate threat to win more than one playoff game, if that. That will depend on matchup. But getting back to the question, there has been talk this week that they've learned their lesson not to play down to the level of opponent. We'll all see vs. Kansas City, which actually isn't playing horribly despite a 2-10 record.

MHR -- What impressed you most about the win over the Jets?

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Our thanks to Lee for taking the time to answer our questions.  Remember to check Lee out everyday over at RockyMountainNews.com

MHR -- The Broncos seem to have righted the ship a bit. What has been the biggest reason? What is the feeling you have gotten being around the team?

LR - The biggest reason is the Broncos have stopped turning the ball over in bunches. It's been as straightforward statistically that when Denver has more than two giveaways, it loses; two or fewer, it wins. The other change has been defensively with the simplification of the scheme. Mike Shanahan keeps saying that the 3-4 and 4-3 fronts the Broncos were using the same "principles" but it's obvious when the three-man front was employed there were significant gap control issues that have gone away since New England. I also think going on the road may have actually been good for the Broncos, giving them an ‘us-vs.-the-world9 mentality. Having a division as putrid as the AFC West also has been beneficial because Denver knows it's going to be in the race regardless, unless it really falls on its face.

MHR -- I have contended that while the defense isn't talented with all the injuries they may be more fundamentally sound and that can go a long way. What is your take on the play of Sepncer Larsen, Wesley Woodyard and Josh Bell?

LR - I'm not sure switching to the younger players made the defense more fundamentally sound. Full-pad practices with some contact three days a week had more to do with it. As for the three rookie defenders, full disclosure, I attended the University of Arizona and thus watched a lot of Larsen's games in college. He isn't flashy but he's always around the ball and will drag the ball-carrier down without fanning much. I look at Woodyard the same way. He's really aggressive, which can sometimes be used against him when he pursues too hard and misdirection gets him, but he's consistently in position to make=2 0plays. I'm interested to see how it all plays out when Denver's at full strength, since D.J. Williams isn't going anywhere on the weak-side with his new contract and Woodyard really isn't physically suited to playing the other spots (or safety, for those wondering). Do the Broncos ask D.J. to move yet again next year to make room for Woodyard? As for Josh Bell, I probably know the least about him. But he does play with a swagger and has a ball-hawking mentality. Along with Jack Williams, they now have two young prospects to groom, making it possible to potentially let Karl Paymah go in free agency next season since Champ Bailey and Dre' Bly, because of his prohibitive contract, aren't going anywhere.

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This is in today's edition of Sporting News Today, an on-line daily.  I highly recommend it to any sports fan.  Solid content delivered to your inbox every morning. 

Enjoy!

Rookie Eddie Royal, a second-round pick out of Virginia Tech, is impressing teammates, coaches, opponents and Sporting News Today's team of NFL scouts, who recently ranked him as the NFL's 19th-best wide receiver. Sporting News Radio's Tim Montemayor caught up with Royal after his six-catch, 164-yard, one-touchdown game against the Browns in Week 10.

SN: Is the team comfortable on offense?

ER: We're a confident group. We have confidence in each other. And it's kind of one of those things where we had to get back to doing the little things the right way. We started to establish the run (Thursday) until our running backs went out. And then when our running backs went out, we actually had a fullback (Peyton Hillis) step up and playing running back for us.

SN: How long before we see you lining up in the I-formation to run the ball?

ER: I did it my freshman year of high school, so maybe ...maybe next game. Atlanta, watch out.

SN: How happy were you with your performance last week against the Browns in which the Broncos snapped a three-game losing streak?

ER: It was a great game. I was happy I could come out and give a little spark to help our team out with some momentum and be a playmaker for us. But I'm sure there are some things I could've done better, a few opportunities where I could've made some more plays. You've just got to build on it. We've got to use this momentum and build on it and keep it going to Atlanta.

SN: How good is your quarterback, Jay Cutler?

ER: He's remarkable. He's got to be one of the best in the league. He's one of the young up-and-coming quarterbacks, and he's a great leader for us. He's everything we need in a quarterback: He can make every throw, and he's calm in the huddle. No matter what's going on, no matter if it's a highest point or lowest point, Jay's going to stay the same. And that's what you want. He's perfect for our team.

SN: Did Brandon Stokley do the right thing by persuading Brandon Marshall not to pull out the glove to honor president-elect Barack Obama following Marshall's touchdown last week?

ER: I heard Brandon talk about it in the locker room, and I think Stokley did the right thing. Stokley's been around the game. He's been in different situations to know when is a good time to do something like that. And I think Stokley was right. It was at a key point in the game; you never know what's going to happen with the refs and what type of situation can happen because of that.

SN - How did Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer impact your career?

ER - With Coach Beamer, it was all more than football to me. I knew he was a great football coach. I knew I would win football games. But when I met with him and he met with my family, you could tell it was more than football; he actually cared about me as a person. When I got to Tech, he wanted to make sure I graduated. He actually cared about me as a person, and that means a lot to a kid. When you've got a coach like that who cares about more than just football, you play harder for that guy. You want to win for a guy like him. And I've got all the respect in the world for Coach Beamer.

Great to see the kid getting some recognition for just how good of a season he is having as a rookie wide receiver.

Time for our weekly installement with Lee Rasizer, Broncos Beat Writer with the Rocky Mountain News.  AS always, we thank Lee for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us.  Without further ado....

MHR -- The Broncos have lost 4 of 5 and have been completely decimated by injury. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

LR -- No, that's the train-a-coming. While the games over the next several weeks are completely winnable, Denver's track record (no pun intended) on the road doesn't instill confidence. The team played decent at Oakland in the opener but was pitiful in trips to woeful Kansas City and New England, which is merely average this season minus Brady. The Broncos have four straight treks to the Eastern time zone coming up in Cleveland, Atlanta, New York and Carolina. It's normally difficult to adjust to those early games after a cross-country trip. That said, I give Denver a decent shot this week. It's a night game. I don't think the Browns are very good and they're starting a rookie quarterback in Brady Quinn. The offense is going to have to avert turnovers, though, which it hasn't shown it's able to do in recent games.

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