Thursday, November 23, 2006
Broncos v/ Chiefs: The End of a Season
Tonight, Denver fans, what you watched was the end of one season and the beginning of a rebuilding season. Gone are the thoughts of an AFC West championship and a good playoff run. Gone are the thoughts that this Denver team is one of the better teams in the league.
The Chiefs played well and Larry Johnson continues to prove that he’s one of the finest players in the league. The Broncos have talent, too, but they showed once again that they don’t have talent consistently when and where they need it to win the tough games. The running game--the bedrock of any Shanahan team--is virtually non-existent and the passing game, unfortunately, is hampered by inconsistent and lackluster quarterbacking along with too few legitimate receiving threats.
The defense played well and continued to show that the biggest reservoir of talent on the team is on that side of the ball. Even though they were pushed around on a couple drives, they played an overall strong game. It would be better if they could find a way to be getting pressure on opponents’ quarterbacks, but that is the same thing that critics have been saying for the last few years.
I think the biggest disappointment that I will have coming out of this season is that it is a wasted year in Champ Bailey’s career--and one of his best seasons, for that matter.
And Jake Plummer, regardless of how many wins he has as a Broncos quarterback, seems to have played himself out of his job. Today, he made some bad decisions, a few bad throws, and got little help from his second tier receivers. He also showed a little heart when he scrambled, one of the things that fans love about him. What he didn’t do was make a compelling case for his continuing presence as the Broncos starting quarterback.
Given that the Broncos season has taken a depressing dive over the last week (two losses to AFC West opponents in the last four days), the truth is that the last portion of this season will be devoted to seeing if the team can find the players of the future. Who will step up to take over the role of starting running back and carry us into next year? Mike Bell is almost as inconsistent as Plummer, but shows moments of great talent. Tatum Bell has proven that worries about his hardiness were realistic. Nash is someone who we still don’t know.
And what about the wide receiver situation? I think that it is obvious that Javon Walker will be the number one receiver starting next season and Rod Smith will be a possession-oriented number two. Who will back them up? Kircus, who showed such promise in the pre-season? The Broncos miss having a good, reliable threat from one of their backs, the tight ends aren’t up to the standard that Shannon Sharp set years ago, and there still isn’t a standout third wide receiver.
Of course, the biggest challenge will be seeing if Jay Cutler is the guy who can set the team up for better things next year. Is the Cutler we saw in pre-season truly as talented as he appeared? Is he ready for the responsibility of an NFL leadership role? He looks like he’s 15, which worried me in, perhaps, the most shallow possible way. I have little faith in those pre-season numbers as most of his time came against second string defenses playing simple schemes. The regular season, kind of like the playoffs in the NHL, is an entirely different game.
This isn’t a defeatist view; I fully believe that the Broncos have a great shot at a Wild Card spot in the play offs this year. What I don’t believe is that the Broncos, with so much of their game in disorder, are heading to the Super Bowl. It’s time for Shanahan to start working to salvage what remains of this season and to prepare for next year.
Here’s to Herm Edwards and the Chiefs. While the Broncos seem to be fading, Kansas is starting to shine.
(0)
Comments & Trackbacks
Good analysis. It also hurts that the Bronco linebackers seem to have lost the ability to tackle during the last four days at least. The combination of a lack of pass rush, lack of immediately tackling the receiver, inability to stop the run time and time again makes for long, frustrating afternoons.
You know, you mention one of the things that really puzzles me: what happened to tackling? One of the things that made the Broncos defense so good in the early going was disciplined tackling. There just weren’t that many yards coming after first contact. It really has been frustrating watching them lose that discipline.
On a brighter note, Champ Bailey really is amazing. If it weren’t for him, the score would probably have been quite a bit higher. Not only was he playing his position well, but he proved to be a heck of a safety net for everything slipping through those missed tackles.
I used to wonder who got the best of the Portis-Bailey trade. Now, I have no doubt that it was the Broncos.
You don’t sound as grumpy as you said you would be.
I also don’t know if you should be as hard on your team as you are. It’s always tough going into Arrowhead...almost as hard as going into Invesco. With as close as we played you in Denver with Damon Huard in his first start, you pretty much had to expect a loss in KC. What’s surprising to me was that it was as close as it was with your injuries hampering you. Green really seems to be over the hill now. Hopefully it’s just rust, but…
If you found your way to Chiefscoaltion.com and read my pre-draft QB analysis, I ignored the experts and picked Cutler as the best QB in the draft. He’s got everything. Touch, accuracy, arm strength, mobility, decision-making, leadership, poise. I know Leinart and Young both won national championships, but each of them had visible drawbacks to go with their strengths. In all my research on him, I could not find a single knock on his game.
Yeah, it’s hard to judge performance when a guy is going up against 2nd-string opponents. Except that his teammates in those situations were also 2nd-string. And for a rookie to come in and dominate like that (when they usually need a year to get used to NFL speed, where even the 2nd-stringers are better than the average college team you face), shows something.
I shuddered when I saw Denver got Cutler. I wouldn’t be surprised if keeps you in the playoff hunt. If he takes you to the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins a playoff game for you singlehandedly.
Of course, if you don’t make the playoffs, it will be due to injuries leading to the wheels finally falling off the running game, and too many gaps in the defense. And then you’ll come on strong next year. One can’t challenge for the Super Bowl every year, right?
KC is coming on strong. Edwards is a good coach. He had lots of adversity in NY, and they are notoriously tough on coaches, yet he stilll brought them to 3 playoffs in 5 years. Once after a 2-5 start. The Chiefs are playing tough, and won games despite huge numbers of injuries, too. We weren’t quite as injured as you in this game, but we had a number of stars not at 100%, including Tony Gonzalez and our #1 Linebacker, Derrick Johnson. So getting healthy may give us a chance to challenge for the AFC West title...if we can win in San Diego, which is really tough this year. We need you to beat SD for us, okay? [grin]
The thing that scares me the most is Trent has given no indication he will return to even solid starter form, much less pro-bowl form, and I don’t think we can keep winning in spite of his performance like we did the last two games.
We need you to beat SD for us, okay?
Anything can happen in this league. After all, I never thought that SD could win in Denver this year.
As far as the Chiefs mounting a challenge for the division… Let’s turkeypeck the schedule for a moment. (I would say henpeck, but you are what you eat. And most of us have eaten a lot of turkey over the last 24 hours or so.)
Still this weekend is SD hosting Oakland. Both myself and my stomach lining as a whole (Plus my ulcer in specific.) are cheering for the Bolts, because if we lose this one all hell will break loose in the AFC West. Don’t think it’ll happen, though. The Silver and Black have been beaten like a red-headed stepchild riding a gov’mint mule, and it shows in their performance on the field. SD by 15.
Week 13 is a different animal altogether. Seattle’s in Denver. KC’s in Cleveland. And SD goes to Buffalo. This one gets into the conference toss-up category. Seattle’s on a roll and looking to knock the Bears off of homefield advantage territory with the return of Hasselbeck, but with the possible replacement of Jake “Sybil” Plummer, who seems to have enough game-day personalities to satisfy Sigmund Freud, the Broncs might settle down. Or get merrily slaughtered for fielding a rookie QB against one of the top teams in the league. 6-to-5 and pick-em. Cleveland’s almost a joke this year… but just almost. KC by 10. SD has never played too well in the projected sub-freezing temps that will be in upstate NY next Sunday. But I don’t think that even a prayer to the gods of weather will help the Bills out this time, as snow isn’t in the forecast. SD by exactly one trip to the house.
Week 14 is even more interesting. Denver at Sandog gives you the rematch of last Sunday, but in more favorable territory for my team. But yet again, if Jake gets pulled in favor of Kid Cutter, it could be an entirely different story. For this factor, while I will ask the Speaker for unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks, I’ll peg this one at SD by 4. KC won’t have time to relax their injured this week though, as the Ravens come to town. They’ll need to start everyone that they can against this Baltimore team, as they danced around the Chargers in Week 3, but at least you have home-field advantage for the calculations. KC by 2.
Week 15… Denver gets the joke day in Arizona. Regretfully, I doubt that Shannahan will keep The Snake under center for long enough to tease his old team. If there’s a week where the switch can be made in advantageous conditions, giving the rookie a soft team to get his feet wet is where to do it. Of course, they might have their post-season dreams already turned into that traditional nightmare where they show up to the prom naked by then. Denver by a blowout. KC at SD? Methinks this one will be switched to the late game regardless of what else happens in the intervening weeks. Oi vey, will this one be tough to call this far ahead of time. But as the trends sit now, I’m going with a purely partisan call and saying: SD by 4.
Week 16 is a nice one. At least for those teams that don’t have lightning on their helmets. Chargers in Seattle is going to be a hell of a game, but not a good one for the Chargers. Crowd noise in domes is even worse than at Arrowhead. Seattle by 6. KC takes the last Oakland game, and if this was a movie, the soundtrack would be done by Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. This is as close to a gimme-game as you can expect for the Chiefs this entire section of the schedule, as the Raiders really are a joke this year. If someone offers you 20 points, I’d say take them. Denver hosting Cinci… The Bengals are still a team? Whodathunk it? Same odds.
And the last dance: Jax at KC. Both teams will still be in the hunt for a playoff birth, which makes this one for all the marbles. Win or go home. Jax goes home if the Chiefs stay healthy. If. KC by 5. Denver hosting San Fran? Denver coasts their way into the day of judgment against what would otherwise be a good team. Too bad they started as bad as the Raiders did. Denver by 7. And finally, SD hosting Arizona. Might as well call this one a just-before-first-round-of-playoff bye week. Light practice, even. SD by 14.
So in my mind, the final division standings will be decided by the end of Week 15. If the standings end up with KC and SD tied for the division lead with Denver a game behind, it’ll look extremely interesting once Week 16 rolls around. But for that to happen, KC simply must win in San Diego, as a Bronco win in the Gaslamp District wouldn’t be too much help for KC’s final result. Until then, it is the Chargers’ division to lose.
Of course, the last time it was the Chargers’ division to lose, they lost it.