Mile High Report Mailbag: Breaking Bad Edition

How do you think the Clady injury will affect the Broncos offense?

Bronco Mike

I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear --"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.' --Shelley

Ian Henson

The Broncos lost Von Miller for six games and the sky was falling, then it was Champ Bailey too, sky still there. Now it is Ryan Clady; it has truly been next man up and Denver is now down three of their four best players. Losing Clady stings, but it is not a deathblow by any means to the offensive line any more than it was to find out Manny Ramirez would start at center. Keep in mind that it is not a sure bet that Chris Clark will be Clady's replacement, when/if Chris Kuper is healthy, the Broncos have other options.

Topher Doll

I think it will have an impact but not greatly as many think. If the Broncos had any other QB besides Peyton (and maybe Marino) I'd be worried but Peyton is the hardest QB to sack in NFL history, period. He's also made the playoffs every year with worse left tackles. Peyton will be fine, they may not throw it deep as often but that's not a big deal, the Broncos offense isn't built around the deep ball. It also isn't a big deal for the run game since they run to the right far more often than the left.

Big Pete

Besides Peyton Manning, Ryan Clady is the player we can afford to lose the least. I had him ranked as my #2 most important Bronco because of his job in protecting Manning's blindside. Without Clady, we will have to use more 2 TE formations (meaning Welker comes off the field) and we'll have to completely abandon any runs to the left, and probably run the ball less because our RBs will have to be in for protection instead of running. Because he's gone for a minimum of 6 weeks, you'll see our play action be less effective and our potent offense be reined in a bit more. But the biggest impact felt will be Manning impacting the turf. Chris Clark is HORRIBLE! Yes, I said it, HORRIBLE! If Manning can remain injury free until Clady comes back, I will seriously be pleasantly surprised. The only way he doesn't get hurt is if we totally sell out our passing game and have Manning do the quickest snap to pass timing the NFL has ever seen. Mark my words, the Broncos do not make it to the Super Bowl without Clady, so lets all hope that Clady's injury is the non-surgical lisfranc injury. Like Manning, without Clady, our Super Bowl aspirations are over!

2) Do you think Chris Clark is a capable starter?

Bronco Mike

Chris Clark is the Gale Boetticher of the Broncos. Good natured, well meaning, harmless--in the wrong place at the wrong time. But a knock is coming, and when it does....boom.

Big "Tweak" Pete

No, absolutely not! Chris Clark isn't a capable starter for CU let alone the Denver Broncos! With Clark in there, our offensive line collapsed on the left side during the pre season, and that was against 2nd and 3rd team players without gameplans! Now that he'll be against starters who can actually scheme and gameplan, he's gonna get eaten alive! It's going to be absolutely embarrassing!

Topher Doll

Capable? Sure, just like ManRam is a capable starter at center. Neither is ideal but both will get the job done. That's mostly due to Peyton being QB than the players actual skill.

Ian Henson

There were those of us that thought that Nate Irving would not be a capable starter, Manny Ramirez, Tony Carter, Rahim Moore, the list goes on. The only thing that remains is that no one has noticed a gigantic talent gap when the 'backups' fill in. There is no reason to think that Clark will be any different, you may point to the preseason, but that is dangerous. The preseason is not a great gauge on how a player will play.

The fact is it doesn't matter what I think, John Fox and John Elway think so and that is why Clark just got a two year contract extension.

3) Do the drops the last couple of weeks by Eric Decker and Wes Welker concern you?

Bronco Mike

Dropped passes are like hot dogs--nothin' but pig lips and assholes, but I say hey, have at it bitches because I love hot dogs.

Ian Henson

Decker has suffered from drops since I can remember, Welker's were concerning, but then you look back at every game that he has played against the New York Giants. There were some wise words spoken by Gisele Bundchen in regards to Welker's drops, Drops don't concern me, yet. Later on in the season, if the Broncos receivers start looking like the New England Patriots receivers, then we will have some issues.

Topher Doll

No, drops were an issue last year and didn't have an impact last year. Also it's impacted DT and Julius, which may say something as well.

Big Pete

Anybody who says no is a.... Well, lets just say that I think they are a big deal. Anyone who thinks they'll be fine hasn't watched Welker and Decker the last few years. They can both catch, it's the mental aspect that has me worried. Can Welker come up with those catches in the playoffs? I don't know! How about Decker? I doubt it! While it's the regular season, so it doesn't matter much, lets face it, this team's goal has nothing to do with the regular season, it's Super Bowl or bust, and the last time I checked, Welker had a case of the drops in the Super Bowl. It looks like things haven't changed much, so yes, I am concerned. Worried? No, but concerned? Yes!

4) Who has been your standout Bronco this far in the regular season?

Bronco Mike

Peyton Manning. Who else is it you think you see? You see quarterbacks getting hit and sacked, picked off and harassed on a weekly basis and you think that of him? NO, you clearly don't know who you're talking about so let me clue you in: He is not in danger Broncos Country, he IS "The Danger". Clady goes down and you think that of him? He IS the one who knocks!!!

Big Pete

Without question, it's Duke Ihenacho. This kid is playing out of his mind. I really hope he is going to be fine and that his injury isn't anything serious. Without Duke, our defense changes and our secondary becomes much, much weaker. Both of our safeties are playing lights out, and our cornerbacks are making it easy on the coaching staff to tell Champ to sit the game out and heal, but even with all that being said, Duke is the standout. Honorable mention goes to DRC, Harris, and Rahim Moore.

Topher Doll

That's tough since really only Peyton has had two great games. Some players like Woodyard, DT, and DRC had amazing game 1's and good game 2's. Hard not to go with Peyton.

Mr. White = Peyton Manning

Car = Broncos offense

Drug Dealers= NFL Defenses

Remember, Peyton hates snitches

Ian Henson

Duke Ihenacho, I know that you kind of knew about Ihenacho last season, but he didn't know a specific position. The team didn't quite know what to do with him, but now he is tied for sixth in the NFL in tackles and he seems to be in on every play. He's a throwback drawing comparisons to insert your name here (former Broncos safety great).

5) Do you think Peyton Manning should be throwing the ball 40 times per game?

Ian Henson

I have covered this before, but the Broncos have semi- replaced their running game with the short passing game. It's a great substitute and if that is the case, I am fine with Manning throwing it forty, fifty times. Until someone wants to step up and get the ground game functioning on all levels, it doesn't look like his attempts are going to go down anyway.

Topher Doll

I'd like to see it 30-35, especially if they can run the ball, but with an OL struggling to get much push the first two weeks, it may not be ideal until the OL gets going or the scheme gets fixed. Moreno proved he can run it but Fox and Gase aren't committing to him more than 12-15 times a game.

Big Pete

Yes, why not? We don't have a very effective rushing attack, so we have to lean on the short pass to supplement the running game. I hope that we become more balanced as the season progresses because lets face it, there will be games when it's wet and slippery. When those games happen, it would behoove the Broncos to be able to run it and not have slippery footballs fly awkwardly, or have Manning's hand go numb. So while I'm find with him throwing 40+ times in September, I'd really like to see that number go down (or rushing attempts go up) come December. Lets not forget that Manning love play action. Without a viable threat of running the ball, the play action becomes far less effective and you'll see our offense start sputtering.

Bronco Mike

Even the great Heisenberg had a sidekick in Jesse Pinkman.

Who is Peyton's sidekick? Is it Knowshon Moreno? Pinkman and Moreno are a lot alike. One has a car that says "Sauced" the other is a recovering meth addict. One is constantly getting the shit kicked out of him, the other is constantly getting hurt. One likes to call people "bitch", the other likes to showboat and trash talk on the field. Pinkman was a perfect foil to Walt's twisted sense of morality. Knowshon Moreno needs to be the partner that shoulders some of the load away from Peyton. I don't want Peyton throwing 40 times a game. But don't tell anyone I said that because I hate snitches too.

6) With all the players we are currently missing, does any team in the AFC scare you right now?

Bronco Mike

I have a feeling our division rivals and others in the AFC smell blood. They see us without Von Miller, Champ Bailey, Ryan Clady, a backup guard at center and they think we're like Hector Salamanca. A once strong and ruthless bandito who is now a derelict. That's what Gus thought of Hector as well.....ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding

Big Pete

No. We are just too talented up and down the roster for any AFC team to hang with us even on our worst playing day!

Topher Doll

Not really, at least not right now. The Broncos are the most talented team in the NFL, but that's pretty meaningless. Remember last year how the Broncos were the "better" team than the Ravens? Yea, doesn't matter how good you are in week 2, what matters is how good you are in the playoffs.

Ian Henson

Weird teams are starting to get me to notice them, like the Chiefs and Dolphins. We don't know what we're facing yet in the Texans or the Patriots either. The Colts are one that have severely fallen off my radar for now though.

(Strong Language)

Enjoy your weekend, Bitches