Moreno stepped his game up

[DENVERDUI55]

Originally Posted by swaiy

Chicago and 9ers hqve #1 and #2 overall. If youre just talking Run D, Tampa is pretty stout but their secondary sucks.

Yeah I said nothing about pass beantown said Tampa has number 1 run D and its actually number 32.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by orinjkrush

I'd grade Knowsho a B+ for the game (compared to his usual C-). Am really glad for him and for us 'cause we NEED him to play at this level through the playoffs. Go Knowsho!

I think the Oline was a B- today, Peyton was feeling lotsa pressure.
I'd give Peyton an A for his dealing with the pressure, but a brain fart or two.
I think the WRs were B today, coupla drops but made some big catches (awesome TD).

I think the DL was a C today, not the pressure I expected.
I think the LBs were a C+...lotsa runs past Doom and Von.
And the DBs were a solid A, great coverage and good run support.
ST was a C+, with Prater's misses but good PR performance (thank goodness on Leonard)

The Leonhard play looked an awful lot like fair catch interference to me. The Chief's gunner's foot was like six inches from Leonhard before he even bobbled the ball.

[broncosteven]

He did seem to do less dancing in the backfield today and he made the extra effort to cover the ball.

I would like to think he got the message from Fox that this was his last shot, lets see how he does the next couple weeks.

He will trip up and lose out on a couple big gainers each week. I just hope the cut back is there when he runs up Franklin's back next week.

I want him to do well, his best games are against kFc, lets see what he does vs real competition, we need him to contribute.

[Vine]

Originally Posted by Mightysmurf

The Leonhard play looked an awful lot like fair catch interference to me. The Chief's gunner's foot was like six inches from Leonhard before he even bobbled the ball.

I thought the Chief gunner slapped Leohnard's arm away preventing him from making a clean catch.

[Jetmeck]

O-line opening no holes....considering that he did excellent today///////////

This isn't the truck size holes TD used to ramble through or cut back on.

I am happy for 27 who outperformed JC when it counted today.

Any back behind our line has his work cut out for him.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by broncosteven

He did seem to do less dancing in the backfield today and he made the extra effort to cover the ball.

I would like to think he got the message from Fox that this was his last shot, lets see how he does the next couple weeks.

He will trip up and lose out on a couple big gainers each week. I just hope the cut back is there when he runs up Franklin's back next week.

I want him to do well, his best games are against kFc, lets see what he does vs real competition, we need him to contribute.

I thought it was hilarious that Fox basically said that was Knowshon's last shot. Coaches usually play it a lot closer to the vest.

[CEH]

Originally Posted by Jetmeck

O-line opening no holes....considering that he did excellent today///////////

This isn't the truck size holes TD used to ramble through or cut back on.

I am happy for 27 who outperformed JC when it counted today.

Any back behind our line has his work cut out for him.

Charles was and is better running back today or any day. I would gladly trade JC for KM today and not looked back

[pricejj]

Originally Posted by spdirty

I HOPE he stays healthy and plays well. It would be nice if he could show enough to be the guy next year as I don't trust McGahee and Knowshon only makes 1.3 million.

Pretty sure Knowshon makes $3.5M in 2013.

[errand]

Originally Posted by 2KBack

Moreno had 1 fumble last year

OOOPs!

[Hamrob]

Chris Kuper had no business being on the field today. I think that really messed our Oline play up.

[errand]

Originally Posted by Vine

Sometimes perception is bigger than reality.

Well, the perception is that you just hate the guy

[errand]

Originally Posted by spdirty

Yeah well its not only who drafted him but where he was drafted and who he was drafted ahead of. When you are drafted that high you are expected to be basically Adrian Peterson 2.0. He isn't. So excuse some of us when we get a little bit pissed off if seeing him reminds us of the wasted draft picks we had.

Not only that but he really hasn't shown himself worthy of being a starting running back in this league.

That said I'm glad he had that kind of effort today and I hope that kind of effort continues and continues injury free.

OK...so he's not Adrian Peterson 2.0.....how is that his fault some coach thought he would be? I wouldn't have issues with Moreno, he was what he was...a decent RB that can help you win some games....I would have issues that McD thought he was better than he turned out to be.

[HAT]

Originally Posted by errand

I would have issues that McD thought he was better than he turned out to be.

It wasn't just McD....KM was a consensus mid-first rounder.

People hate KM AFTER the fact because of McD (like Popps already said)....But plenty of today's haters were for the pick back then.

"F yeah! Nice to finally invest a top pick in an RB instead of trying to plug and play with 4th rounders like Shanny did"

Typical OM revisionist history.

[TonyR]

Originally Posted by DENVERDUI55

You couldn't be farther off Tampa has an awful run D and I would dare say bottom 5. I know for a fact SF has the number 1 and Chicago isn't far off.

Tampa is #1 in the league in fewest rushing yards allowed per game. San Diego is #2. Pittsburgh is #3. Denver is #4. San Fran is #5. (all excluding today's games)

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/te...sition/defense

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Hamrob

Chris Kuper had no business being on the field today. I think that really messed our Oline play up.

I thought he gutted it out and played as well as he could despite coming back from injury.

Romeo does have a sound system against Manning. Bring heavy pressure, blitz often shortening his read time and try to take away the middle of the field playing man to man. The man coverage takes away a quick pass and if he gets good pressure Manning will be forced to throw it away.

Manning still had nearly 300 yards today and 2 TD's with only 1 (bad) INT.

There were some great holes and KM found most of them today.

The one thing that I saw today I don't remember ever seeing from KM before was PATIENCE. KM waited for the hole, did not get out in front of his blockers and ran to daylight when he saw a cutback lane. It is much easier to cut when your feet are not busy dancing trying to make dudes miss.

I want to see this consistently, if nothing else maybe he makes himself attractive trade bait this offseason rather than an outright cut. Hard to see them bring him back at 1.5 mill next year.

[WolfpackGuy]

Solid game, but he still trips over his own feet too much.

[2KBack]

Originally Posted by DENVERDUI55

Yeah I said nothing about pass beantown said Tampa has number 1 run D and its actually number 32.

Tampa does have the #1 Ranked rush defense....but #32 ranked Pass D.

[DENVERDUI55]

Originally Posted by TonyR

Tampa is #1 in the league in fewest rushing yards allowed per game. San Diego is #2. Pittsburgh is #3. Denver is #4. San Fran is #5. (all excluding today's games)

http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/te...sition/defense

Whoops must of been looking at the wrong chart. Moreno will have to bring his A game.

[dsmoot]

Originally Posted by razorwire77

I thought Moreno ran hard today against a surprisingly motivated Chef defense. He's earned the right to start next week, but I don't see the big-time talent whose only limitations are that he is hampered by injuries narrative that some of you guys are spinning.

KM doesn't really have the 2nd gear and explosiveness that an elite back his size should have. He doesn't have the great feet that you want in an every down back. Willis is 30 pounds heaver, significantly older and running with a no cartilage knee and he is still more sudden and quick in space.

KM showed decent vision today, which is encouraging. He's better than Ball, and he finished the game strong, but I don't think this was a coming out party or anything. We're really going to struggle running the ball consistently against decent teams with KM, Ball, or Hillman.

KM is what he is. We just have to deal with it. I liked what I saw of him today. Protecting the ball. Not as much dancing. Running with authority and hitting the hole hard when he made the decision (much more decisive). Kudos to him. We need him to be that alternate back with Hillman because I don't trust Hillman yet in tough running.

[CEH]

Originally Posted by WolfpackGuy

Solid game, but he still trips over his own feet too much.

And to have his shoe come off when he needed to be in there on 2nd down is just another reason why he needs to prove he can be trusted

If this was a single occurance, OK but this happens every game he plays in

[montrose]

Originally Posted by Vine

Fumbling in itself is not unforgivable, but some of his fumbles came at the most inopportune times that ended up costing Denver games.

McGahee's had this issue too, it can frusturating.

[winstoncup bronco]

Originally Posted by errand

Well, the perception is that you just hate the guy

I know. Don't you just hate it when someone rambles on constantly about someone they hate?

[montrose]

Originally Posted by Lestat

he looked like he was ready to go. maybe we should have played him more earlier.
wonder if the team thought he wasn't fully back or what.
definitely didn't look like a 4th string RB. which further pisses me off about Lance Ball getting carries over him.

It's easy for us to call him 4th string and assume it means each of those other RBs is "better" than him as a RB in the coaches eyes. However, determining a final 46 for gameday is a tough choice for the coaches and so beyond the 22 starters - they have to account for special teams.

If this were college and everyone could dress, Knowshon would've been playing over Ball and even Hillman in some instances but with the roster limitations it was more valuable to have Ball active because he's on every special teams unit while Hillman's speed provided a nice chance of pace to McGahee. Another example is WR, where Bubba Caldwell is usually inactive - but the games he is active he plays over Matt Willis. Its just that Willis is a better special teams guy.

Hence, Knowshon goes from inactive to starter in one week.

[winstoncup bronco]

Knowshon played better than I expected today, but I'm still not a believer in the guy.

Hopefully he can go on a magical end of season run, but I don't see it.

One thing is for sure, if he doesn't do anything from here on out to keep his spot on this team, he has no one to blame but himself. No more excuses.

[winstoncup bronco]

Originally Posted by montrose

It's easy for us to call him 4th string and assume it means each of those other RBs is "better" than him as a RB in the coaches eyes. However, determining a final 46 for gameday is a tough choice for the coaches and so beyond the 22 starters - they have to account for special teams.

If this were college and everyone could dress, Knowshon would've been playing over Ball and even Hillman in some instances but with the roster limitations it was more valuable to have Ball active because he's on every special teams unit while Hillman's speed provided a nice chance of pace to McGahee. Another example is WR, where Bubba Caldwell is usually inactive - but the games he is active he plays over Matt Willis. Its just that Willis is a better special teams guy.

Hence, Knowshon goes from inactive to starter in one week.

Maybe, but the best players make plays. He's not a specialty player, at least that's not what he's supposed to be. He should be a #1 back by now. The fact that he isn't is not due to a numbers crunch.