It was a very dark day in Oakland last Sunday. The upstart Denver Broncos, a team picked by most “experts” (I use that term lightly) to finish last in their division, but even more frightening, near dead last in the league, came into the Oakland Coliseum, riding a quick 2-0 start in the season, to hand the Oakland Raiders, not only another loss, but an embarrassing slap in the face and not so much as even a kiss and a thank you.

Denver (3-0) thrashed the Raiders (1-2) by a score of 23-3. Denver’s defense has only allowed 1 touchdown in 3 games and the Raiders were to be denied a chance to ruin things for Denver when everything is going so well.

If you were to ask anybody in the everyday walk of life (the NFL fans) if they were surprised by what Denver is doing so far, they would be nodding their heads “yes,” like those bobble-head figures on the dash of a car. 

if you ask a sportswriter from the networks (you guys know who you are), they would still find reasons after bashing Denver’s chances of being competitive, earlier before the season started, to say they will falter and that they had it easy so far.

Excuse me? Easy? If they mean because Denver played the Browns, Bengals and Raiders, that these are nobody teams, then they need to look closer at that  analogy. 

The Browns are having their problems, true enough, but every team in the NFL will play a team that isn’t playing up to par.  As for the Bengals, well, they are now 1-2, almost beating the Broncos  if not for some Mile High Magic that Denver sprinkled onto the Bengals field and they also almost beat the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals could just as easily have been 3-0 themselves.

Oakland, well, they will always be Oakland. I recall we beat them last year pretty badly and then they came to Invesco and smacked the Broncos around. Will they do it again to the Broncos this year?

Unlikely.

 Denver is not the same Shanahan driven team. It is Josh McDaniels team now, with a new defensive coach in place (Mike Nolan) and a totally new scheme on both sides of the ball. Teams will have a difficult time trying to get a pulse of this new team. Something to give them an idea as to what they are dealing with.

I can tell you what McDaniels feels about the 3-0 start. He was interviewed and asked just that very question. He responded by saying this:

 ”I don’t think you ever anticipate only giving up one touchdown in 180 minutes of football, but we knew we thought we had a decent chance to be a good defense-physical up front and a good secondary. We tackled fairly well here in the first three weeks of the season. As a coach, you do not put expectations or projections or predictions on your team like that. You just try to improve every week and go out and play. What we knew what our team would do was prepare well-we have a lot of great leadership on both sides of the ball-have good weeks of practice and go out there and play hard. That is what we have done. If you execute a good plan with good players, usually you have a good chance to win.”

The words of a humble man. He’s not going to brag or “rub it in.” He is going to do what he has been doing from the start, his job. He will gladly stay low key and “slide in under the radar.”

We, as fans, like that idea very much, thank you.

The Broncos were picked by the sports writers of various large networks, to win maybe 4 to 5 games max. Well, if that’s true, then Denver would have to have a complete meltdown.

Now, that’s not unheard of in the NFL. The Broncos did it last year to lose those last games and give San Diego the division title. Sad.

The difference of last year to this year is simple. The Denver Broncos believe in the McDaniels kool-aid. They have all drunken from the goblet and it was good. They believe in what he is selling and they believe in themselves.

McDaniels was wise when he brought aboard players and leaders like Brian Dawkins, Andre’ Goodman, Correll Buckhalter (or “Bucky”, as I like to call him), Jabar Gaffney and resigning Casey Wiegmann for another 2 years. Keep the leadership on the front offensive line.

Correll brings leadership to a young backfield of runningbacks. Most important is he’s leading by way of example. “Do as I say AND as I do.”

Jabar brings experience at his position and knowledge of the McDaniels offense.

Goodman and Champ Bailey solidify the cornerback positions and help to tutor the new kids on the block. Players like Alphonso “Phonz” Smith and Jack Williams.

With Renaldo Hill at one safety position and Brian “Wolverine” Dawkins at the other, to help tutor the likes of Darcel McBath, David Bruton and Josh Barrett, the secondary is secure.

If you look at the combined years these players have put in to the NFL and their craft, we’re talking 73 years. This is a seasoned group of players who are bringing up the “next generation” to step in when their days of playing in sun, snow, rain and mud, are over.

They bought into McDaniels system and embedded that belief into the younger players. It shows on the field.

Let us not forget another player, still not sold on by many Bronco fans, yet.

Kyle Orton.

Many fans are still crying over the Cutler fiasco and act like we lost the 2nd coming of Christ. It’s still, “Man, I hate McDaniels, dah, dah, dah.”

He’s gone. Get over it. Get a helmet.

Kyle has done what he has been asked to do, manage the game. He has yet to throw an interception and people don’t give him credit for what he does when he audibles. McDaniels himself, said that when Kyle steps up to the line, he may change a call and choose  a different running play that nets Denver 20 yards.

He has a good feel for the game. Nothing fancy, just methodical in his way of keeping the chains moving. I’m happy with what he has done. Others can still be sceptical but I’m of the notion that “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Denver plays the Dallas Cowboys at Invesco  this coming Sunday for an afternoon game. Should Denver be worried? No. Just believe in what they can do as an individual and as a team and the rest will take care of itself.

Dallas is not looking too good. I watched the Monday night game and they played the Panthers. Both teams played sloppy. If they play Denver like they did Carolina, they will be in for a long day. 

Normally, I would do a Monday afternoon recap of the last Broncos game. However, because of unforeseen tech trouble, we couldn’t get the site open for the start of the season. So I am just taking the time to give you a brief opinion of mine towards what I think the Broncos have, so far and where I think they’re heading.

I think Denver is staying focused. I feel that if they play as a team and continue to improve each game, as they have been, than they will win the division. Let them just ride the season.

They have so much talent on this team that I feel they can compete with anybody. The big test is ahead.

Each Friday, I will give a match-up of the Broncos -vs- their next opponent. Look for it then.

Sunday morning, I will put out an article so that you fellow bloggers will have something to blog on. I do have another “writing partner in crime” by the name of Chris Smith. He will do a lot of in-depth reports as to stats, breakdowns of key positions, etc.. Don’t be afraid to stop in and show your Bronco love to his posts. 

So there you have it. Denver will go 11-5, maybe 12-4. I originally said 10-6, but the offense is gelling quicker than I thought they would and the defense is playing like men possessed. I credit that to the veteran players and their knowledge of the game. It helped the younger players to adjust easier.

Well, I hope that many of you are reading this, this Friday. I shall drop in to see how things are going and until then, always remember that God is a Broncos fan. That’s why the skies are blue and the sunsets orange.

Dynamicdave                                                                                                                                                   

dthew@fanhuddle.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 4:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.