Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater will be named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for games played during the fifth week (Oct. 5-6) of the 2008 season, the National Football League informed the Broncos on Tuesday.

Prater's selection as AFC Special Teams Player of the Week marks the first such award of his two-year NFL career.

During the Broncos' 16-13 win against Tampa Bay on Sunday, Prater made all three field goal attempts (55, 40, 27 yds.) and his lone extra point try for 10 points while recording touchbacks on four-of-five kickoffs. His 55-yarder in the second quarter was the longest field goal in the NFL for Week 5 and tied for the fifth-longest field goal in Broncos history.

Prater's four touchbacks against the Buccaneers led the NFL for the week, and he averaged 69.4 yards on his five kickoffs. He also accounted for the highest percentage of his team's points (62.5 / 10-of-16) among special teamers in the AFC for the week.

A former standout at the University of Central Florida, Prater has made 12-of-13 (92.3%) field goal attempts and all 15 extra point tries for an NFL-best 51 points this season. His four 50+yard field goals (on four attempts) lead the NFL and are one shy of tying Denver's single-season franchise record.

He also is tied for the NFL lead with 11 touchbacks on kickoffs this season.

Prater is the first Bronco to be named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week since punt returner Glenn Martinez earned that award in Week 11 (vs. Tennessee) of the 2007 season. His selection marks the 18th time a Broncos player has received AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors since the award was initiated by the NFL in 1993.

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler will be named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September, the National Football League informed the Broncos on Wednesday.

Cutler's selection as AFC Offensive Player of the Month is the first such award of his three-year career. It marks the first time in seven seasons that a Bronco has received AFC Offensive Player of the Month with quarterback Brian Griese earning that honor for his performance in September of 2001.

Cutler helped the Broncos to a 3-1 record and a first-place standing in the AFC West in September, completing 102-of-157 (65.0%) passes for 1,275 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions for a 98.6 passer rating. He led the AFC and ranked second in the NFL in both passing yards (1,275) and completions (102) while placing third in the league in touchdown passes (9).

Selected by Denver in the first round (11th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft from Vanderbilt University, Cutler registered an AFC-best three 300-yard passing games in September that tied for the most in the NFL. He finished the month with two of the top three single-game yardage totals by an AFC passer.

In addition, his four touchdown passes in a win against San Diego (9/14) marked the second-highest single-game total in the NFL for September. His 36 completions against the Chargers tied a Broncos single-game franchise record and were an AFC high for the month.

Cutler's selection as AFC Offensive Player of the Month marks the 10th time a Bronco has earned that award since it was initiated by the NFL in 1986. He is the third Denver quarterback to receive the award, joining Griese (September 2001) and John Elway (November 1997 and October 1996)

We interrupt your preperation for the Kansas City Chiefs with an exciting annoucment about MHR.  The site is now optimized to be viewed from your mobile phone!  This is very exciting since browsing the web via a mobile device is becoming more and more prevalent. 

Here is the official annoucement posted on the SBNation Blog --

A couple days ago we quietly released an update that detects if you're visiting one of our blogs on a mobile device and redirects you to a mobile-friendly version of the site. A few folks  already found it and sent us some excited notes. We're excited too!

Now your favorite SB Nation blogs should be quick and easy to read while you're riding the metro, walking down the street, or sitting in traffic (we don't condone blogging & driving). Our goal is to provide y'all something that downloads fast and is efficient to scroll through. Presently front page blog posts, comments and FanPosts are all available in this new format. And if you prefer the hi-res experience, you'll find a link to the 'Full Site Version' for all the graphics and widgets.

This is a first step in making all of our blogs more fun to use on your mobile phones and PDAs. We hope you enjoy! There are other mobile features planned in the future. And if you have any trouble browsing our the mobile version of our blogs, please send an email to support@sbnation.com.

Feel free to leave you feedback and thanks for making MileHIghReport part of your day!!!

Warning!  This is going to be a long read!

A lot has changed between the end of the '08 season and today.  We knew we had 8 draft picks, and we knew our needs.  We also knew that Denver would avoid expensive FAs and go for a "youth core building" approach.

However, Denver has made quite a few FA moves, picking up several mid level talent players as stop gaps, and several of them are actualy improvements in the positions they are in.

We also let an offensive lineman go who provided depth at two OL positions in exchange for yet another pick.  If Denver trades down in the draft (as most MHR members seem to predict), we may end up with 10 or 11 picks.

Let's analyze the naked truth about where we stand as a team and figure out our future in '08.

I'm going to take a slightly different approach to the draft than the many draft experts at MHR.  I'm not a draft expert, but I know a little about football.  What I want to do with this article is to pretend I'm the head coach of Denver, while you the reader are the general manager.  I'm going to give you my assesment as a coach (being ignorant of what is available in the draft), and I want you to make the adjustments to get what you can based on my input.

Remember, this isn't the Mike Shanahan show.  You alone will make the final call on how we draft.  I'm just going to give you my input as a coach.  You are free to accept or reject my input in different areas because in our pretend world I only run the team, while you have complete control over the front office and personnel.

I'll give my current report on the state of the depth chart below the fold, and tell you what I advise.  Just click on the "read more" button below.  Ready?  Let's have some fun!

Continue reading this post »

Hi all!

I just wanted to take a chance to thank everyone for their patience during the recent troll attack.  I want apologize for the many comments made by a guest on the recent "MHR University" story about zone blocking which may have buried some questions and comments that deserved to get an audience.  Please know that the editors at MHR have discussed the matter, and we pledge to take a quicker and firmer response to posters who clog up the site with insults and personal remarks.  Guru has directed to the editors that this site is ok with debate and friendly trash talk, but not to the excess we saw over the past couple of days.  

I should have contacted Guru sooner, or temporarily banned the offender, or started deleting comments to keep the article's comment section on a more respectful level, but I failed to do so.  I felt that since the comments were mostly directed at me, I should have given the offending poster more slack since I had a conflict of interest.  By allowing things to go on as long as they did some of our members may have been offended by what they were reading on an otherwise family friendly site.  For that I apologize and pledge to do a better job of policing our site to ensure that a story or diary's comments thread doesn't get that offensive again.  

MHR is a safe place to come and to learn about the game of football and the Broncos, as well as sharing your thoughts and comments.  Being a Broncos fan isn't a requirment.  We welcome the fans of all teams, and even welcome disagreements.  Please know that each of us appreciates questions, and no question is too simple or "dumb".  We're here to help.  If someone attacks you (or, as in this case, one of the editors) on a personal level, it will not be tolerated.  All banning decisions made by an editor will be reviewed by Guru to make sure it was proper, and complaints or appeals can be directed to Guru.

Also, please don't take the recent attacks on myself or other MHR members personaly.  I know some folks wanted to go to the opposing site to speak up over there.  Guys, we want to have class and integrity in everything that we do.  If you visit another site do it in a friendly and respectful way, because it reflects on all of us.  The leader of the oakland site is a decent guy, and he was made aware of our recent situation with one of his members.  He and his site don't deserve the same treatment we got because of one mixed up individual.  The behavior of our recent problem poster should in no way reflect on Saint or his site.  Trash talk the raiders all you want, but please keep it in house.

And remember the language.  We are all a part of the MHR family, but some of our members are younger and we want to keep ourselves a "family friendly" site.  We take a lot of pride in our high school and younger members who come here and show a great amount of knowledge and team pride.

So for those of you who have any questions about the zone block scheme and the associative blocks used in the system, this post is the place to post your questions.  As always, any other football related questions are welcomed.  We are blessed to have experts on everything from legal issues to the salary cap, from Xs and Os to team history, from news research to players and the positions that they play.  If one of us doesn't know the answer, we will work to find it for you.

Thanks for coming to MHR.  We're glad you're here, and we'll do a better job of protecting our members from personal attacks in the future.  I also want to thank our members that were able to keep their class during the episode.  You guys rock!

Best,
Hoosierteacher

Marlon McCree has also been signed at SAF.  Hat Tip to nycbroncosfan for the scoop.  Link is below.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/mar/08/broncos-beef-defense-sign-mccree-and-marquand/

I don't have much to add.  McCree has some fans at MHR, and this should make some folks happy.  I like the idea that Denver is going for some depth at the SAF position, and perhaps abandoning the CB/SAF hybrid approach.  

It looks like SAF and LB positions are settled.  Now the draft can focus on WR, DT, and OL depth.  I'm feeling good about where we are as a team right now!

This was an interesting story....you can check it out below.....here

It happened a long, long time ago, but obviously it still bothers Ron Wolf.

Back in Super Bowl XXXII, played in January 1998, the Green Bay Packers were the defending champions and looking for two in a row. The NFC had won 13 straight Super Bowls, and the Packers were a double-digit favorite over the Denver Broncos to make it 14.

But the blitzing Broncos defense rattled Brett Favre. The aging, but not washed-up John Elway, finally getting some help in the backfield with MVP Terrell Davis, kept it close for Denver. And finally, the Broncos scored with a minute left the game to take the lead -- a touchdown that was "conceded" by Packers coach Mike Holmgren.

The Packers couldn't answer. Denver won, 31-24. The Broncos won the next Super Bowl, too. And the Packers haven't been back since.

The loss still stung Wolf, a longtime Packers GM who engineered the franchise's renaissance in the 1990s. And never one to mince words, he blamed the loss on Holmgren.

Among other things, he called Holmgren "pig-headed," in terms of the decisions made throughout the game. Principally, Holmgren never adjusted against Denver's blitzing schemes and allowed the Broncos to disrupt the Packers' high-powered offense.

"Certain calls were to be made that weren't made," Wolf told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "Mike Holmgren refused those calls. There would have been an adjustment on the blocking scheme and it would have been over."

But now Wolf regrets those words, which were said during a trip to Green Bay in August.

"You guys (in the media) know me well enough, when you ask me a question, I'm going to answer the question," Wolf told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "(But) I don't think anybody wants to look like a jerk, and I come out looking like a jerk here. We're talking about something that happened 11 years ago. I mean, who cares?"

Wolf said he spoke to Holmgren and apologized. Holmgren didn't seem to be all that bothered by it, but ...

"Because he hadn't seen the article," Wolf said." After he saw that article that could change, but I don't know that."

Wolf, now retired and residing in Florida, praised the work of current GM Ted Thompson, who has reconstituted the Packers to within an overtime loss of reaching the Super Bowl. And he cherishes his tenure in Green Bay with fondness.

"I consider myself green and gold," Wolf said. "It's a wonderful place. By far the best thing that ever happened to Ron Wolf is the opportunity to be affiliated and associated with the Green Bay Packers."

I kind of found it amusing reading this.  Even after 10 years this game still bothers the Packers.  I guess the world couldn't handle the Broncos winning the Super Bowl even once.

Our member from Denmark, Claaaas, has won the "Offseason Naming Contest"!

We are asking the MHR family to use the winning term, "Reloading Season" when writing about the season formerly know as "offseason".

Please join us in thanking our friend from across the ocean for his winning entry.  Don't feel down if you didn't win this time around.  I'll be offering some contests opportunities on the new Football University series that premiers tomorow....

day one....

of the reloading season.

Congratulations again to Claaaas!  Please move to the United States soon so we can save on prize shipping costs!  : )