Month: November 2015

Mike Florio: Chiefs Would Demand Realignment In Chargers/Raiders Move To Los Angeles

This take isn’t nearly as hot as what he said about Peyton Manning last night, but it’s still hot enough to raise some eyebrows:

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Chiefs believe it would be an unfair advantage for both the Chargers and Raiders to have what amounts to an extra home game every year in the form of a road game. And it would be; both teams would have one less travel obligation per year, and that could indeed create a competitive advantage for those teams — along with a competitive disadvantage for the other two in the division.

The other team that would be equally impacted by this, of course, are the Broncos.  I’m skeptical that it would create that much of a competitive advantage, but there’s an easy way to solve such a problem: require that the Chargers and Raiders devote a home game overseas as a condition of moving to Los Angeles.  If that’s a condition that the Rams would balk at, then it just gives the Chargers and Raiders another advantage in squeezing the Rams out.

I’m also skeptical that realignment is needed for other cited reasons, mostly having to do with television.  Yes, CBS would get a double dose of the #2 media market, but the AFC contract is already significantly smaller by terms of media markets (the NFC would exclusively have the #3-#7 markets in this scenario), and getting Los Angeles twice would make things more even in that regard.  And thanks to the new addition of cross-flexing (first used in a Broncos game in fact, against the Vikings in 2011), it’s no longer mandatory that every AFC/AFC game has to be on CBS, thus the potential problem of the Chargers and Raiders airing on the same network can also be dealt with.

But if realignment must happen, then it better be the Chargers that get realigned, as the Raiders can’t leave the AFC West until the Broncos regain the head-to-head record over the Raiders.  But while that reason is selfish on my part, I think the Chiefs have their own selfish reasons in the race to Los Angeles.  If the Rams are the team that moves, that means that the Chiefs can get all of Missouri to themselves.  And while the Chiefs have one of the best local draws in the NFL, they aren’t exactly a big draw beyond the Kansas City metro area, so picking up more fans in the greater St. Louis area couldn’t hurt.

And for that matter, I would guess that the Broncos would favor the Rams in this battle, as well.  They have built a pretty decent following in Southern California, as the swaths of orange in the stands at San Diego demonstrates.  If a team has to move to Los Angeles, I’m sure they would much prefer that it’s not one or two division rivals that make that move.

Mike Florio: Peyton Manning “Intends To Play” In 2016

I made a note of this in the tail end of today’s game thread, but now that we have a clip of Florio’s statement (and notable reactions from Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, I figured that this should be split off into its own thread.

Broncos Vs. Bears Final Injury Reports

DeMarcus Ware and Peyton Manning, of course, have been ruled out and will not travel to Chicago. Smith and Walker will be game-time decisions, but it sounds like Sanders will play.

The Bears will be without Royal and it remains to be seen what happens with the others.

Again, my guess is that Jeffery will play and I would expect the same for McClellin. If Forte plays, he will probably get fewer touches than Jeremy Langford.

How Have Recent Non-Rookie First Time Starters Fared?

In the NFL it’s almost taken as a given that a young inexperienced quarterback will likely struggle early in their career. Often rookie QBs are thrown into the fire without full knowledge of their team’s playbook or adequate preparation for the difficulties of playing QB at the NFL level. Most teams draft a QB with the intent of letting him learn for at least a year before starting but many times impatience or circumstance scraps that plan. So how do first time starters do when they actually are given the time that every NFL coach and GM will tell you that they need? That is what I am going to look at here. Here are the results from first time starts of non-rookie QBs in recent years: Continue reading How Have Recent Non-Rookie First Time Starters Fared?

Adam Schefter: Teams Can Now Trade Compensatory Picks

I may have a longer post on this at Over The Cap, but from the Broncos’ perspective, this is certainly good news. At its simplest, it’s because they’re expected to get three fairly high compensatory picks of their own.  But remember that the Broncos have had a considerably deep roster for quite some time, and since John Elway has been GM they’ve repeatedly had to cut some of their draft choices and hope to send them to the practice squad.  There’s a good chance that there may not be room for 10 rookies in 2016, so having the full flexibility to either trade up to get the player they’d really like, or to defer their draft strength by trading into 2017, will be quite advantageous for the Broncos.

Midweek Musings: Broncos and QBs and Bears, Oh My!

Hello, Bronco fans! As you all know, a significant change took place with the Broncos this week, and SMA has already reviewed the effect Brock Osweiler could have on the offense. The question, though, is what this means for Sunday’s game against Chicago.

You are probably going to see a lot of people predicting that the Bears are going to beat the Broncos, because Osweiler doesn’t have the experience, the offensive line is a mess, the Broncos can’t run the football, and the likes of Jay Cutler, John Fox and Adam Gase are going to be motivated to be the team they used to be part of, and Fox and Gase know all the answers to how to beat the Broncos at what they do.

Except it’s not that simple. You can check SMA’s piece yesterday for what to expect from the offense, but let’s focus on what the Bears are like this season.
Continue reading Midweek Musings: Broncos and QBs and Bears, Oh My!

Roundup of film based Osweiler analysis

As Brock Osweiler’s first NFL start approaches, seemingly everyone interested in football on the internet has an opinion about his prospects. I tend to be more interested in the ones that take the time to study his play. With that in mind here are the film based analyses I have found so far this week. Feel free to add more links in the comments.

Continue reading Roundup of film based Osweiler analysis

Broncos Replace One Backup O-Lineman With Another

The Broncos released G Shelley Smith to make room for Brenner, who was likely acquired because he can play guard as well as center, giving the Broncos more flexibility with their O-line depth and perhaps somebody who can upgrade the depth.

Brenner, a third-year veteran, spent most of his time on the Dolphins’ practice squad his first two seasons, but started four games at guard as a rookie in 2013. He was waived by the Dolphins after they signed LB James-Michael Johnson, a position where the Dolphins needed depth.

Smith will count for $500,000 in dead money toward next season’s cap, but he was likely going to be cut from the roster next season, anyway.