if we beat new england.....

[orange 4 life]

will this year be different?

first of all, let me apologize for my prolonged absence.
between work being hectic (we acquired a chevrolet franchise so my workload has increased and is just now mellowing back out) and moving to our new house (thanks to meck77 for all his hard work!!!) life has been good but crazy.

anyway, a win tomorrow will put us at 5-1 and in control of our own destiny once again.
will this season be different, and why or why not?

personally, i have a feeling that things ARE different this year.
IF we can stay healthy (knock knock), i just dont see the collapse happening again.
we have more depth and speed in the secondary, we have TWO runners playing good football, we have a DRASTICALLY improved defensive line, and we have a qb and receiver (lelie of course) who havent yet played anywhere close to their best football.
plummer has shown once again what ive claimed all along, which is that when given favorable circumstances he does NOT make an excessive number of mistakes.
five games, one tipped ball int., and two others that came in the 4th quarter of a game we were trailing by more than two scores.
EXACTLY what he did in '03, and EXACTLY what he did last year in these types of games.

that said, he also hasnt yet hooked up on a deep ball with smith or lelie yet, and he hasnt had a dominant passing game, and we're STILL winning with ball control offense and solid defense.

with new englands battered defense (only houston, san fran, and st louis have given up more points), this game sets up nicely for plummer to not only lead the team but to also have the breakout game we all know he (and lelie) are due for.

so, if we can get it done, will it propel us to the division title and home playoff games, or will we once again play mediocre ball the final 10 games and end up with a wildcard?

again, i think this team is different.
theyre making adjustments (thank you shanny!!), theyre playing as a TEAM, and they havent even showed their best (or anywhere close to it) on offense yet.
if we stay healthy, this team has a chance to be special.

what say you maners?

jake

[SoCalBronco]

Glad to see you back, Jake and congrats on your new home!

As for the team, I dont think we will know until that crucial stretch starting Thanksgiving at Dallas and continuing at Buffalo, at Kansas City, Baltimore (yes, they suck but its still Baltimore) and at SD in late November till the end of the season. Thats when it will be decided.

[Al Wilson]

It depends.

If there won't be any major injuries to key players, and if the team plays up to its expectations, then I don't see why we can't win a playoff game.

[Northman]

alright, again not many choices to choose from but ill be Optimistic. yes, we will win the division if we beat the Pats.

[watermock]

alright, again not many choices to choose from but ill be Optimistic. yes, we will win the division if we beat the Pats.

I totally agree. This isn't a huge game, it's not kill or be killed, but it's pretty important...it's at home and builds momentum to go on the road with....

We shall see....we shall see...

[DBroncos4life]

I totally agree. This isn't a huge game, it's not kill or be killed, but it's pretty important...it's at home and builds momentum to go on the road with....

We shall see....we shall see...



This game is bigger then you think. It doesn't appear that the Colts will lose many games this year. We will need every win against common teams we can get.

[Northman]

This game is bigger then you think. It doesn't appear that the Colts will lose many games this year. We will need every win against common teams we can get.


Thats not really what he is getting at. the point is they are still the Reigning Champions and even if we lose this game we could still run the table. but we could also win this game and lose the rest. this is just a statement game in terms of how ' good ' we really are.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Hard to say. If Bell starts getting the majority of the carries and fulfills his Portis-like destiny, you have a damn good chance.

It will be interesting to see what Plummer does when your team needs him to step up.

Does anyone know about Bailey's status?

[NFLBRONCO]

I picked yes because it feels different this year so far. I think the next 3 games will answer alot of questions. No excuses not winning Division this year.

I think Bailey is sitting again this week.

[orange 4 life]

im of the belief that its NEXT sundays game and not this one that is the big one.
granted, we have to get the win tomorrow, but if we do (and at home in good weather with their battered defense we sure should) the following week we're at the giants.
its a late game which is a big help for us, but i think THATS the huge game, as THATS the games in years past we have dropped.

we've been 5-1 before.
6-1 is something we havent seen since the last superbowl season.

i agree with socal that we wont KNOW where we're at until this stretch is done, but my point in starting the thread is really to see what the speculation is.
what do you THINK will happen during this stretch.
after tomorrow, we have 4 of 6 on the road starting with the giants.
a stretch that in years past wouldve been the beginning of the end.
a stretch that THIS year may be the start of something special.
this is a team thats overcome a 14-3 halftime defecit against san diego, won on the road against jville (in a big way i might add), dominated kc, grinded out a win in bad weather against a team that outplayed us on both sides of the ball, and this is a team that STILL hasnt even close to played to its potential on offense.

i think if champ can get back to 100% (or close to it) and we can win the next two, we'll cruise to the division title.
we'll lose a few along the way and end up at the 12-4 i originally predicted (11-5 up to 13-3 as a longshot), and then the only key will be what record indy ends up with, since i maintain the thought that thats the ONE team i dont want to play on the road in the playoffs.

jake

[orange 4 life]

I think Bailey is sitting again this week.

God i hope not.

the last couple weeks we WANTED him out there.
despite new englands poor defense, tomorrow we may NEED him out there.

here's to hoping he can grind it out. :thumbsup:

[ScottXray]

I don't think this game is a lock, even with New Englands banged up team.
Brady is just TOO damn dangerous. What I feel is that the Broncos will play well and things should go our way if we don't turn the ball over. Get careless and the Patriots could get a rout going. We should be able to penetrate with the d=line and contain the receivers. Hopefully we don't play too conservative on offense and let NE stay close.
I think we should win this 31 to 21 if we can keep the mistakes to a minimum. I hope Champ plays. A defensive score may be needed to seal this thing. :thumbs:

[Bob's your Information Minister]

I think NY will be a good test for you on the road. You win that, and I'll have to start facing the facts around here.

[NFLBRONCO]

Glad to see you back, Jake and congrats on your new home!

As for the team, I dont think we will know until that crucial stretch starting Thanksgiving at Dallas and continuing at Buffalo, at Kansas City, Baltimore (yes, they suck but its still Baltimore) and at SD in late November till the end of the season. Thats when it will be decided.

I think all the games after bye are huge. If we sputter before turkey day all of us we'll wonder here we go again.

[NFLBRONCO]

I think NY will be a good test for you on the road. You win that, and I'll have to start facing the facts around here.

This was my trap game before season started between NE and Philly.

[SoCalBronco]

I think NY will be a good test for you on the road. You win that, and I'll have to start facing the facts around here.

We have to win 2 of the next 3.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

We have to win 2 of the next 3.

I wouldn't say that. 5-3 at the break is sitting pretty. It's what you do down the stretch that counts in this league.

[NFLBRONCO]

God i hope not.

the last couple weeks we WANTED him out there.
despite new englands poor defense, tomorrow we may NEED him out there.

here's to hoping he can grind it out. :thumbsup:


No kidding we need Bailey BTW welcome back :).

[SoCalBronco]

I wouldn't say that. 5-3 at the break is sitting pretty. It's what you do down the stretch that counts in this league.

Thats the problem though. The second half of the season has roughly 4 losses in store for us. Thats why we need to be 6-2 at the break. At 10-6, we will either be division champion or one of the wildcards.

[orange 4 life]

Glad to see you back, Jake and congrats on your new home!


thanks alot socal, and let me again thank meck77 for helping us every step of the way.
yes, he was my friend before he helped us get the house, but let me tell you all how amazing this guy really is.
he referred us to an n.m. realtor who sold our house there within two weeks.
he showed up on a wednesday and showed us EIGHT listings in one day.
he was available all the time to assist us with any questions we had.
he referred us to the mortgage broker who did our financing and blew the doors off of what countrywide (who did our n.m. house) was going to do, and when the time came to put an offer in on the house we finally bought he helped us every step of the way.

if anyone is considering buying a home out here in the metro area, you would be crazy not to get ahold of meck.
thanks brother meck. we couldnt have pulled it off without you!!

jake

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Thats the problem though. The second half of the season has roughly 4 losses in store for us. Thats why we need to be 6-2 at the break. At 10-6, we will either be division champion or one of the wildcards.

If you think Denver is going 4-4 in the second half, perhaps they haven't improved then.

[Taco John]

If you think Denver is going 4-4 in the second half, perhaps they haven't improved then.

I could live with 11-5, and count it as a one game improvement.

[SoCalBronco]

If you think Denver is going 4-4 in the second half, perhaps they haven't improved then.

We've improved, but the schedule is just too much. Its worse than even our usual tough November-December slate.

[DB-Freak]

Winning at Arrowhead would be huge.

And not like a one man performance from Portis.

If they can win a team performance at Arrows, I think we are winning at least one playoff game.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

We've improved, but the schedule is just too much. Its worse than even our usual tough November-December slate.

Now you're sounding like Dick 4 Meal.

[orange 4 life]

Thats the problem though. The second half of the season has roughly 4 losses in store for us. Thats why we need to be 6-2 at the break. At 10-6, we will either be division champion or one of the wildcards.

that would qualify to me as the "collapse" that i mentioned.
a 4-4 second half just isnt enough this time around.
not considering how improved the defense is (and they were good already) and how much untapped potential we have on offense and the fact that we're winning WITHOUT the dominant game from plummer or lelie.

considering the schedule i'd be okay with 5-3 in the second half as long as we can get to 6-2 in the first half.
thats the question im posing.

can we get over that hump and get to 11 or 12 wins?

i think we can. winning last week in a game where we were outplayed went a long way towards giving me that confidence.
seeing that plummer and lelie have yet to have any dominant performances just reinforces that theory.

jake

[orange 4 life]

......and let me add how refreshing it is to see the confidence of our board.

what a difference from the offseason!!

23 hours and 35 mins. till kickoff!!

GO BRONCOS!!!

[SoCalBronco]

I dont think 4-4 in the second half is a collapse, Jake.

The schedule is pretty hard. We could be playing at the same level that we are now and still end up 4-4. Its hard to win at SD, its hard to win in Buffalo in December no matter how good/bad they are, the games at Oakland outside of last year are always very tough, its very hard to win at KC in December, its going to be very hard to win in Dallas on Thanksgiving, we have always had problems with Baltimore no matter how crappy they have been (even the last two games we played them they were well under .500 at that point and still smoked us). And all of this doesnt even count our upcoming three game stretch which will be critical. We gotta get 2 wins out that to get up to 6-2 so that we can get to 10-6. 4-4 isnt a collapse. We could be playing a good level of football and still go 4-4. If we go 10-6 this year, it would be like going 12-4 last year.

[ScottXray]

Thats the problem though. The second half of the season has roughly 4 losses in store for us. Thats why we need to be 6-2 at the break. At 10-6, we will either be division champion or one of the wildcards.

OK.
NE @ DEN W
Den @ Giants L trap game. East coast, early, carpet.
Phi @ Den L
Bye 5-3
Den @ Oak L ( team has not been consistent after bye weeks)
Jets @ Den W
DEN @ Dallas L (thanksgiving game)
DEN @ KC W
BAL @ DEN W
DEN @ Buff W
OAK @ DEN W
DEN @ SD W

11-5 Last game will be for the division championship. I could be wrong about ALL of these, but I think we win all division games except after the bye. We usually don't do well after bye weeks lately. Dallas is a Holiday game and the rythym will be mixed up by playing a Thursday game..It all depends on how this team reacts to the two losses before the bye.. This team is not falling to the traps so far. If they start dropping them or lose another one not expected they could finish at 9-7. Jury is still out. :charge:

[orange 4 life]

i definately see your point socal, but at the end of the day i still think we need to get 5 wins in the second half for momentums sake if nothing else.

regardless of competition another 4-4 finish could put a sizeable crack in the armour of this team.

in theory 10-6 with a division title would certainly be an improvement over the last two seasons (considering schedule and finally having a home playoff game at mile high stadium), but that would also make me wonder if the end result ended up simply going two and out instead of one.

if we can get the home playoff game (regardless of who its against) i think we'll win it (barring injuries. knock knock knock knock knock knock. enough knocks?), but if its on the heels of a 10-6 record and a 4-4 finish i wouldnt have a ton of confidence about the second playoff game.

im of the belief that we need to find a way to grind out at least ONE more win and get to 11-5.
i think just that ONE game would give the team a HUGE confidence boost over the last two seasons.
we can either get it in the second half and finish 5-3, or we can run the table in the first half and start 7-1, which actually is quite possible (if champ can get back on the field) since two of the three are at home and the one road game is a 2:15 start.

[ludo21]

......and let me add how refreshing it is to see the confidence of our board.

what a difference from the offseason!!

23 hours and 35 mins. till kickoff!!

GO BRONCOS!!!


WOOOOOOO!!!!! !Booya!

I agree, if we go 10-6, i consider that a collapse at seasons end. Why not dream big and go for home field?? Just winning the divison shouldnt be considered enough, lets go for the goal and be the best team in the league at reg seasons end!!! :pimp:


WOW!!!! Awesome return btw by ND.

[orange 4 life]

OK.
NE @ DEN W
Den @ Giants L trap game. East coast, early, carpet.
Phi @ Den L
Bye 5-3
Den @ Oak L ( team has not been consistent after bye weeks)
Jets @ Den W
DEN @ Dallas L (thanksgiving game)
DEN @ KC W
BAL @ DEN W
DEN @ Buff W
OAK @ DEN W
DEN @ SD W

11-5 Last game will be for the division championship. I could be wrong about ALL of these, but I think we win all division games except after the bye. We usually don't do well after bye weeks lately. Dallas is a Holiday game and the rythym will be mixed up by playing a Thursday game..It all depends on how this team reacts to the two losses before the bye.. This team is not falling to the traps so far. If they start dropping them or lose another one not expected they could finish at 9-7. Jury is still out. :charge:

just a reminder scott.

that giants game is NOT an early start.

its a 2:15 game, which is a HUGE advantage for us.

[ludo21]

just a reminder scott.

that giants game is NOT an early start.

its a 2:15 game, which is a HUGE advantage for us.


why is starting later an advantage for us???

[ScottXray]

why is starting later an advantage for us???

We don't play well in morning (Denver time ) games. I still think its a trap game, especially if we win this week. :crazy:

[watermock]

Denver is horrible playing early. They are not even close to .500.

WTF do you mean?

[watermock]

I'm simply going to call the Nordic Gods since they have abandoned my Hornheads...

OF1 will cruise in and rest comfortably then become very disruptive to even New Yorkers...They will throw stick and stones but none will hit their mark...

Denver 24, Giants 17.

[ludo21]

Denver is horrible playing early. They are not even close to .500.

WTF do you mean?


just asked why. I got i know tho and hopefully us playing better in the afternoon proves true again

[orange 4 life]

why is starting later an advantage for us???

its the same time we start at home.
we're traditionally pretty bad in 11:00 games, so having a late
start is a big benefit.

[No1BroncoFan]

thanks alot socal, and let me again thank meck77 for helping us every step of the way.
yes, he was my friend before he helped us get the house, but let me tell you all how amazing this guy really is.
he referred us to an n.m. realtor who sold our house there within two weeks.
he showed up on a wednesday and showed us EIGHT listings in one day.
he was available all the time to assist us with any questions we had.
he referred us to the mortgage broker who did our financing and blew the doors off of what countrywide (who did our n.m. house) was going to do, and when the time came to put an offer in on the house we finally bought he helped us every step of the way.

if anyone is considering buying a home out here in the metro area, you would be crazy not to get ahold of meck.
thanks brother meck. we couldnt have pulled it off without you!!

jake
Everything that Jake just said minus selling a house where we were coming from, and Meck didn't know me from Adam (except for posting on the Mane). If you read these boards and buy a house anywhere in the Denver metro area from anyone other than Meck there's just something wrong with ya!

Ben

[orangecrush7]

:charge: :charge: today's game & the next 2 will show what the Orange & Blue are all about. :USA:

[ludo21]

:charge: :charge: today's game & the next 2 will show what the Orange & Blue are all about. :USA:

welcome to the board! :thumbs:

[Atlas]

Denver will have to strap it on if they want to go to New York next week and win. That will be a very tough game especially if the Giants lose to the Cowgirls.