We Should've Seen This Coming - The Orange Mane

TheReverend · 01-13-2013, 08:07 AM

We all got caught up in the media hype. I don't think this is "OMG Peyton Manning sucks in the playoffs!" at all... yes, he certainly choked last night (among others), but when push comes to shove, the Denver Broncos weren't nearly as good as we though after months of buying into the Peyton Manning inspired media hype.

Broncos 21 Falcons 27

Texans 31 Broncos 25

Broncos 21 Patriots 31

Broncos 31 Bengals 23

Broncos 34 Ravens 17

Broncos 35 Ravens 38

^ those are the ONLY teams we played with winning records... 2-4 against "good" teams, and Baltimore was extremely beat up by injuries at the time of the first match-up.

For several of those other games (Atl, Houston and NE), the game wasn't NEARLY as close as the final score indicates.

Bottom line: The best team we beat was the Cincinnati ****ing Bengals.

Time to address serious deficiencies in the roster and hope our aging "studs" can squeeze another season of competitive play out of their sagging bodies.

TonyR · 01-13-2013, 08:12 AM

Yup. Pretty much what I've been saying in a few threads, although I forgot about the Bengals win. We were very good. Just not 13-3, #1 seed good. Still, we should have won this game. Major disaster of a choke job.

Eldorado · 01-13-2013, 08:14 AM

S
RB
Interior OL
MLB
DL

In that order.

B-Large · 01-13-2013, 08:15 AM

I figured we would win against the Ravens, but would get destroyed against the Pats....

Maybe a powder puff Division and weak schedules are not so great after all

winstoncup bronco · 01-13-2013, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

We all got caught up in the media hype. I don't think this is "OMG Peyton Manning sucks in the playoffs!" at all... yes, he certainly choked last night (among others), but when push comes to shove, the Denver Broncos weren't nearly as good as we though after months of buying into the Peyton Manning inspired media hype.

Broncos 21 Falcons 27

Texans 31 Broncos 25

Broncos 21 Patriots 31

Broncos 31 Bengals 23

Broncos 34 Ravens 17

Broncos 35 Ravens 38

^ those are the ONLY teams we played with winning records... 2-4 against "good" teams, and Baltimore was extremely beat up by injuries at the time of the first match-up.

For several of those other games (Atl, Houston and NE), the game wasn't NEARLY as close as the final score indicates.

Bottom line: The best team we beat was the Cincinnati ****ing Bengals.

Time to address serious deficiencies in the roster and hope our aging "studs" can squeeze another season of competitive play out of their sagging bodies.

I agree with this.

Thing is though, if you had posted this a week ago, you would've gotten a ton of **** for it. You wouldn't be a real fan if you brought this up.

TheReverend · 01-13-2013, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eldorado

S
RB
Interior OL
MLB
DL

In that order.

Haha, CLEARLY we have no issues at CB...

TheReverend · 01-13-2013, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winstoncup bronco

I agree with this.

Thing is though, if you had posted this a week ago, you would've gotten a ton of **** for it. You wouldn't be a real fan if you brought this up.

I talked about it on the podcast about a month ago and got **** for it. Then I bought into it myself.

C'est la vie.

WolfpackGuy · 01-13-2013, 08:25 AM

Great teams step on the other team's throats and finish them off.

Even with the dubious officiating, the Broncos had MANY chances to put the game away but just kept finding ways to let the Ratbirds hang around.

go_broncos · 01-13-2013, 08:26 AM

We should have won the game.We are clearly the better team.
Fox,Mccoy, Defense, Manning in playoff's was the reason we lost the game.
I thought we won the game when we got the ball.
Fox is really conservative..He reminds me of Marty.

Cito Pelon · 01-13-2013, 08:27 AM

I didn't think the Ravens could match us score for score. But they did. Just couldn't put them away despite two TD returns by Holliday. Balt played better D than we did. There was one play where Rice got outside and all the Bronco D guys were caught crashing the middle, and there's Rice along the sideline with 4 Bronco players five yards away from him.

winstoncup bronco · 01-13-2013, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

I talked about it on the podcast about a month ago and got **** for it. Then I bought into it myself.

C'est la vie.

Really, that's how it was for alot of people, myself included. I knew we hadn't really beaten anyone elite, but I kinda figured it was okay, that the team was finetuning itself for a big run. You can only play what the schedule brings, right?

I said it another thread that this loss is worse than '96 because that team didn't have nearly the questions going into the offseason that this one does. We had a chance to steal one this year and blew it.

TonyR · 01-13-2013, 08:30 AM

Quote:

...Before the season, when I suggested that the Broncos would fail to live up to expectations this season, the deciding factor between the numbers (which predicted regression) and the impact of Peyton Manning (which suggested number-defying improvement) was the schedule the Broncos were likely to face. Denver's out-of-division schedule included the Patriots and Texans, as well as the AFC North and the NFC South, which looked to be two of the best divisions in football. More disconcertingly, the bulk of those tough matchups was focused during the first half of the season.

As it turned out, Denver's schedule wasn't very difficult at all.1 It's true that the truly difficult matchups for the Broncos took place during the first half, with Denver starting 2-3 via losses against teams that each won 12 or more games, including losses to both the Patriots and Texans. The AFC North and the NFC South? They didn't turn out to be so tough. Pittsburgh, Carolina, and New Orleans ended up serving as three of the league's most disappointing teams, Cleveland was about as bad as expected, and Baltimore and Tampa Bay were little match for the Denver onslaught. The AFC West was also worse than most people's wildest expectations.

The result was a schedule that was actually well below average. Projected to have the league's most difficult schedule before the season by Football Outsiders, the Broncos instead had the NFL's second-easiest schedule in 2012. And as you might expect, with those 12-win teams out of the way after the first few weeks, the schedule really got easy in the second half.

How easy? Well, consider this: The eight matchups Denver played in the second half were against teams who went a combined 44-84 this year. That's like the Broncos getting to play a bunch of 5-11 and 6-10 teams for an entire half-season. Since 1990, that's tied with another team for the easiest second-half slate enjoyed by a playoff participant across the entire era. Even if we adjust for the Broncos going 8-0 and take those losses off of those teams' records, Denver's strength of schedule in the second half was tied for the second-lowest in 23 years.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-playoff-games

^An article I posted a few days ago, which most probably didn't read...

Beantown Bronco · 01-13-2013, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Large

Maybe a powder puff Division and weak schedules are not so great after all

It's worked out pretty well for the Pats for the last 10+ years.

CEH · 01-13-2013, 08:32 AM

This team was good enough this year to make it to the Super Bowl

I firmly believe this but you have to have 53 players moving in the right direction
When someone wants to be the hero and gives up a 70 yard TD with 40 seconds left I'm not sure any type of player upgrade can solve that problem unless you assume the only way to win in the playoffs is to blow teams out and then you need more players but that is not really reality

I'd say it was more about Denver really didn't have any close games this year to prepare the team mentally for what was about to happen in the playoffs then to say the team was not Super Bowl worthy

Eldorado · 01-13-2013, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

Haha, CLEARLY we have no issues at CB...

You could talk me into CB over DL, but be realistic. The most glaring deficiency was safety play.

WolfpackGuy · 01-13-2013, 08:34 AM

The game and potential championship were there for the taking.

They were just too stupid to take them!

Two blown coverages/assignments by the safeties allowed 2 LONG TD's, and there was almost a third if not for an overthrow.

CEH · 01-13-2013, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyR

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-playoff-games

^An article I posted a few days ago, which most probably didn't read...

Still waiting for the articles that says Denver is vunerable to the 70 yard hail mary passes at the end of the game

fwf · 01-13-2013, 08:35 AM

We're not as well coached as we thought we were. I'll give you that.

Beantown Bronco · 01-13-2013, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eldorado

You could talk me into CB over DL, but be realistic. The most glaring deficiency was safety play.

On one play. If that one stupid, stupid play doesn't happen, nobody's saying that safety is our #1 weakness.

SonOfLe-loLang · 01-13-2013, 08:38 AM

I dunno, obviously we have weaknesses, every team does, but we played a dog**** game yesterday and still should have won it. A few random events didn't go our way and that was that. I think this is a contending team and there's no real fatal flaw. Had we gotten blown out that would be one thing, but a game in frigid temps that we shoulda won and lost at the end to what was essentially a Hail Mary. That's football. It we had essentially the same exact team next year I'd feel confident that we can contend. I'm looking forward to seeing who we will add and subtract, but we are a good team. And as long as 18 is taking snaps, I feel confident (despite what many on this board are saying now)

eddie mac · 01-13-2013, 08:39 AM

I'd wholeheartedly agree with this if we hadn't just played our worst game of the season on the biggest stage. There were just too many mistakes/mental errors/uncharacteristic performances for anyone to "see this coming", because the true fact is our last 11 opponents regardless of who they were, never even came close to us on the scoreboard.

Now I'm not saying we're anywhere near a perfect team but I'm certainly not buying into this pathetic attempt to claim that we we're not worth that 13-3 record and the 1 seed in the AFC.

Sure the Falcons, Patriots and Texans beat us early in the season when Manning was just getting adjusted to his new team but that was as much a learning curve as anything else.

Fox, McCoy, Del Rio, Champ, Manning, Dumervil, Kuper. Moore etc etc all dropped the ball here and they can all coach/play a lot better than they did yesterday and they've proven it.

It certainly wasn't the first time a high seed wasn't prepared coming off a bye and it wont be the last and regardless of how poorly each unit bar Holliday played they still should've won the game bar that outrageous/never to happen ever again play from Moore.

HorseHead · 01-13-2013, 08:39 AM

A couple of things:

A) Ravens are pretty good, far from a s-itty team..

B) Be honest, did you really think we would finish 13-3? Give it a month or so, relax. I actually think we'll even be better next year, possibly with a worse record. 12-4, 11-5. And make noise in the play offs, on the road.

c) Toughest part of this loss? You wake up the following morning, and you have to listen to a nation questioning the size of your team's b-lls...

eddie mac · 01-13-2013, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

Haha, CLEARLY we have no issues at CB...

They were outstanding all season and in the previous matchup held Smith/Boldin to about 40 yards combined.

TheReverend · 01-13-2013, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eldorado

You could talk me into CB over DL, but be realistic. The most glaring deficiency was safety play.

...are you kidding me?

Champ was beaten like a drum all day for 2 easy long-distance TD strikes, numerous first downs, and on the ONE TD Moore gave up (albeit easy), Carter was beaten like a drum and jogging behind underneath.

I know it's fun to blame it on Moore because that play was dumb as ****, but our underneath coverage was easily the main contributor to the loss, with monsieur Manning's play a close second and the refs in third.

TheReverend · 01-13-2013, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CEH

This team was good enough this year to make it to the Super Bowl

I firmly believe this but you have to have 53 players moving in the right direction
When someone wants to be the hero and gives up a 70 yard TD with 40 seconds left I'm not sure any type of player upgrade can solve that problem unless you assume the only way to win in the playoffs is to blow teams out and then you need more players but that is not really reality

I'd say it was more about Denver really didn't have any close games this year to prepare the team mentally for what was about to happen in the playoffs then to say the team was not Super Bowl worthy

Just stop. A LOT more went into losing that game than that play.

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01-13-2013, 08:07 AM	#1
TheReverend www.PatrickTurley.org ^ buy this... twice Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 33,010 Adopt-a-Bronco: Mike Shanahan	We Should've Seen This Coming We all got caught up in the media hype. I don't think this is "OMG Peyton Manning sucks in the playoffs!" at all... yes, he certainly choked last night (among others), but when push comes to shove, the Denver Broncos weren't nearly as good as we though after months of buying into the Peyton Manning inspired media hype. Broncos 21 Falcons 27 Texans 31 Broncos 25 Broncos 21 Patriots 31 Broncos 31 Bengals 23 Broncos 34 Ravens 17 Broncos 35 Ravens 38 ^ those are the ONLY teams we played with winning records... 2-4 against "good" teams, and Baltimore was extremely beat up by injuries at the time of the first match-up. For several of those other games (Atl, Houston and NE), the game wasn't NEARLY as close as the final score indicates. Bottom line: The best team we beat was the Cincinnati ****ing Bengals. Time to address serious deficiencies in the roster and hope our aging "studs" can squeeze another season of competitive play out of their sagging bodies.

01-13-2013, 08:12 AM	#2
TonyR Franchise Poster Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Mid-Atlantic Posts: 15,570	Yup. Pretty much what I've been saying in a few threads, although I forgot about the Bengals win. We were very good. Just not 13-3, #1 seed good. Still, we should have won this game. Major disaster of a choke job.

01-13-2013, 08:14 AM	#3
Eldorado Formerly orange&blue Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 1,779 Adopt-a-Bronco: Ayers	S RB Interior OL MLB DL In that order.

01-13-2013, 08:15 AM	#4
B-Large Solid Starter New to the Forum Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 203 Adopt-a-Bronco: None	I figured we would win against the Ravens, but would get destroyed against the Pats.... Maybe a powder puff Division and weak schedules are not so great after all

01-13-2013, 08:25 AM	#8
WolfpackGuy Call me, "Maybe" Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Delaware Posts: 5,675	Great teams step on the other team's throats and finish them off. Even with the dubious officiating, the Broncos had MANY chances to put the game away but just kept finding ways to let the Ratbirds hang around.

01-13-2013, 08:26 AM	#9
go_broncos Ring of Famer **** you Bill Vinovich Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 5,219 Adopt-a-Bronco: Rod Smith	We should have won the game.We are clearly the better team. Fox,Mccoy, Defense, Manning in playoff's was the reason we lost the game. I thought we won the game when we got the ball. Fox is really conservative..He reminds me of Marty.

01-13-2013, 08:27 AM	#10
Cito Pelon Attack at all times . . . Happy dog at the Divide Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: AFC West Championshipville Posts: 15,194 Adopt-a-Bronco: Elvis	I didn't think the Ravens could match us score for score. But they did. Just couldn't put them away despite two TD returns by Holliday. Balt played better D than we did. There was one play where Rice got outside and all the Bronco D guys were caught crashing the middle, and there's Rice along the sideline with 4 Bronco players five yards away from him.

01-13-2013, 08:32 AM	#14
CEH Ring of Famer Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 3,211	This team was good enough this year to make it to the Super Bowl I firmly believe this but you have to have 53 players moving in the right direction When someone wants to be the hero and gives up a 70 yard TD with 40 seconds left I'm not sure any type of player upgrade can solve that problem unless you assume the only way to win in the playoffs is to blow teams out and then you need more players but that is not really reality I'd say it was more about Denver really didn't have any close games this year to prepare the team mentally for what was about to happen in the playoffs then to say the team was not Super Bowl worthy

01-13-2013, 08:34 AM	#16
WolfpackGuy Call me, "Maybe" Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Delaware Posts: 5,675	The game and potential championship were there for the taking. They were just too stupid to take them! Two blown coverages/assignments by the safeties allowed 2 LONG TD's, and there was almost a third if not for an overthrow.

01-13-2013, 08:35 AM	#18
fwf Seasoned Veteran Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 478 Adopt-a-Bronco: Zane Beadles	We're not as well coached as we thought we were. I'll give you that.

01-13-2013, 08:38 AM	#20
SonOfLe-loLang Young Buck Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 13,219 Adopt-a-Bronco: Thunder (RIP)	I dunno, obviously we have weaknesses, every team does, but we played a dog**** game yesterday and still should have won it. A few random events didn't go our way and that was that. I think this is a contending team and there's no real fatal flaw. Had we gotten blown out that would be one thing, but a game in frigid temps that we shoulda won and lost at the end to what was essentially a Hail Mary. That's football. It we had essentially the same exact team next year I'd feel confident that we can contend. I'm looking forward to seeing who we will add and subtract, but we are a good team. And as long as 18 is taking snaps, I feel confident (despite what many on this board are saying now)

01-13-2013, 08:39 AM	#21
eddie mac Ireland's No1 Bronco Eddie Mac 87 gone but never forgott Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: IRELAND Posts: 15,572 Adopt-a-Bronco: Rod Smith	I'd wholeheartedly agree with this if we hadn't just played our worst game of the season on the biggest stage. There were just too many mistakes/mental errors/uncharacteristic performances for anyone to "see this coming", because the true fact is our last 11 opponents regardless of who they were, never even came close to us on the scoreboard. Now I'm not saying we're anywhere near a perfect team but I'm certainly not buying into this pathetic attempt to claim that we we're not worth that 13-3 record and the 1 seed in the AFC. Sure the Falcons, Patriots and Texans beat us early in the season when Manning was just getting adjusted to his new team but that was as much a learning curve as anything else. Fox, McCoy, Del Rio, Champ, Manning, Dumervil, Kuper. Moore etc etc all dropped the ball here and they can all coach/play a lot better than they did yesterday and they've proven it. It certainly wasn't the first time a high seed wasn't prepared coming off a bye and it wont be the last and regardless of how poorly each unit bar Holliday played they still should've won the game bar that outrageous/never to happen ever again play from Moore.

01-13-2013, 08:39 AM	#22
HorseHead Ring of Famer Stay thirsty my friends.. Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Vermont Posts: 1,211 Adopt-a-Bronco: Bay Bay	A couple of things: A) Ravens are pretty good, far from a s-itty team.. B) Be honest, did you really think we would finish 13-3? Give it a month or so, relax. I actually think we'll even be better next year, possibly with a worse record. 12-4, 11-5. And make noise in the play offs, on the road. c) Toughest part of this loss? You wake up the following morning, and you have to listen to a nation questioning the size of your team's b-lls...