Horse Tracks: Suspension looms over Talib, Broncos

Yes, Aqib Talib should be punished for playing Hokey Pokey with Dwayne Allen's eye. It's clear what he was trying to do and it's dirty. Someone on Twitter yesterday said that it was almost comical because of the stupidity and blatant intent. I  agree. However, this is football and dudes poke dudes in the eyes all the time, especially in the bottom of piles. We all remember that Bill Romanowski straight-up broke a guy's finger in the bottom of a pile. Such acts are dirty, but not unprecedented. Further, Talib is not a serial-poker. The league needs to hit him in his pocketbook for being so stupid, but they shouldn't punish the team as a whole. Here's hoping that suspension becomes a fine by the end of the day.

HORSE TRACKS

The big news of Monday was Talib's eye poke and Tuesday's appeal hearing.

Aqib Talib of Denver Broncos suspended 1 game for eye poke | ESPN

Talib to have 1-game suspension appeal heard Tuesday | #9NEWS #9SPORTS #TOOMANYHASHTAGS

What does former Bronco Dave Stoddard think about the eye-poke? Audio: Former Bronco Dave Studdard tells Gil what an eye poke would get you in his day... | Mile High Sports

Our sister-blog, Arrowhead Pride, is loving themselves some Broncos!  A large portion of their blog layout has been dedicated to Denver since Sunday. Granted, we do play them this weekend, but still, the loving intent is not lost on us. We think the Broncos are awesome too!  But... but you're kind of creeping us out. Stalker much? Denver Broncos fans seem very frustrated over a 7-1 team - Arrowhead Pride

So what happened Sunday? The Broncos that beat Green Bay were not the same Broncos we saw struggling in Indy. James Merilatt says the Broncos got caught up in their own hype... | Mile High Sports

Other news outlets are wondering the same thing. Will the Real Denver Broncos Please Stand Up? | Rolling Stone

Here are Andrew Mason's takeaways from the game, perhaps the solution to what doomed Denver on Sunday is in this article.  Gimme Five: Takeaways from the Broncos' 27-24 loss to the Colts | Denver Broncos

One of the major issues was how the Broncos did on third down... which was not good. Everyone on the field on third down earns a "duds" award this week... | Mile High Sports

Then there were the penalties. The real ones. Not the ones that the refs not-so-creatively made up. Gary Kubiak irked by Denver Broncos' "selfish penalties" - The Denver Post

So where do the Broncos go from here? Evan Mathis and Ryan Harris tell Sam Cowhick how they rebound from a loss like this... | Mile High Sports

For at least the next two Broncos games, the game plan will have to be executed without DeMarcus Ware. Ware expected to miss next 2 games with back injury | #9NEWS #9SPORTS #HASHTAGMY9WITHANOTHER#

A Broncos favorite got another shot in 2015! Let's just hope that ol' Wes Welker doesn't get any concussions with that shot. Rams Sign Former Broncos Receiver Wes Welker " CBS Denver

The Chargers are dropping like flies. The amount of injuries this team has sustained at this point in the season in nothing short of incredible. Another Chargers injury: Malcom Floyd goes down | ProFootballTalk

Yet another of my fantasy running backs is down for the season. Sigh... Dion Lewis of New England Patriots has torn ACL | ESPN

Bad news for the Raiders. It looks like Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will be out of the leagues concussion protocol in time to remind the Raiders that they are... the Raiders. Zimmer: Bridgewater 'should be good to go' for Sunday - NFL.com

In Blaine Gabbert news, he's starting this week after engineering a victory Sunday over the Falcons. Jim Tomsula: Blaine Gabbert to start again for 49ers - NFL.com

Matt Flynn is heading to New Orleans. Saints adding Matt Flynn | ProFootballTalk

Rounding out today's Horse Tracks, I'll leave you with this bizarre story out of Tampa. Florida man charged with trying to burn Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 80x50 foot flag | ESPN