Author: Bob Morris

I'm a sports writer in real life, though I've always focused on smaller communities, but that hasn't stopped me from learning more about some of the ins and outs of the NFL. You can follow me on Twitter @BobMorrisSports if you can put up with updates on the high school sports teams I cover.

About That Orange Crush Defense…

Lost in all the talk about you-know-what-position is just how good the Denver Broncos defense has been this season. The Broncos D is not only arguably the best defensive unit the Broncos have ever had, it’s one of the best units in the NFL since the switch to four divisions.

Football Outsiders’ advanced metrics ranked the Broncos first overall for the 2015 season at -25.8 percent DVOA (keep in mind, a negative DVOA for a defense is good), but more importantly, those metrics ranked the Broncos as the eighth-best defense in all the years FO has rated teams (their work dates back to the 1990s). Among the defenses since the switch to four divisions, the Broncos rank seventh.

What units have ranked ahead of Denver? FO’s highest ranked defense is the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles (you can follow this link and scroll down for the table), but that team played when the NFL had three divisions per conference and the Eagles missed the playoffs (they finished 10-6, but Washington and Dallas had better records). The other units that ranked ahead of the Broncos were, in order of their ranking:
Continue reading About That Orange Crush Defense…

The Morning After: Leaning Peyton’s Way, But…

If someone told me Sunday morning that the Broncos would win the AFC West and get the No. 1 seed in the playoffs despite turning the ball over five times, I would have told that someone how crazy that sounded.

Well, here we are, the Broncos with their fifth straight AFC West title and knowing they will be playing at home for every AFC playoff game they have. And, of course, the talk is already focused on who should be starting at quarterback for the playoffs.

Let’s make one thing clear: Peyton Manning taking over as quarterback was not the sole reason the Broncos bounced back to beat the San Diego Chargers after turning the ball over five times, and it really isn’t the number one reason. If I was going to name the number one reason why the Broncos won, it’s because they stopped beating themselves and got back to executing. (There is a player who really made the difference, but I’ll get to him later.)
Continue reading The Morning After: Leaning Peyton’s Way, But…

Open Thread: NFL Coaching Carousel

Feel free to talk about any of the NFL coaching and GM changes here. The ones we know about so far:

Cleveland: GM Ray Farmer, HC Mike Pettine both fired, Sashi Brown in charge of football operations.
Miami: GM Dennis Hickey out, Mike Tannenbaum in charge of football operations, Chris Grier named new GM, HC interviews underway.
New York Giants: HC Tom Coughlin out.
Philadelphia: HC Chip Kelly fired, HC interviews underway.
San Francisco: HC Jim Tomsula fired.
Tennessee: GM Ruston Webster fired, HC interviews underway.

ETA: It’s official that one team wants to talk to former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan.

Midweek Musings: Evaluating Elway As Personnel Evaluator

So here we are, the final week of the NFL regular season. We know the Broncos will be heading to the playoffs, the fifth straight year the Broncos have done this, and a win against San Diego will mean the fifth straight AFC West title for the Broncos. It’s been amazing to watch what has happened since John Elway stepped into the Broncos’ front office.

Of course, it hasn’t been a perfect ride and Elway has made his share of mistakes, but what front office person hasn’t done that? Even the best personnel evaluators make mistakes. Just look at the track records of people like Bill Polian, Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells (how is it that so many people named Bill seem to be good at drafting players?), which are filled with mistakes from drafting and free agency, but the majority were very good.

So far, that’s been the case with Elway, too. There are those draft picks and free agents we can debate as to whether they were good or not, with some picks that really belong under “the jury is still out” and some free agents who you could go either way with an assessment.
Continue reading Midweek Musings: Evaluating Elway As Personnel Evaluator

Football Outsiders DYAR: How Are Bronco Players Doing Now?

As I’m sure most of you know, Football Outsiders rates DYAR for quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends. Earlier this season, when I discussed the possibility of the Denver Broncos reaching the Super Bowl, I reviewed the DYAR for the Broncos who play those positions.

I figured it was a good time to revisit where those players are at since the end of November. Let’s examine the players who are currently starting or contributing and how they have fared.
Continue reading Football Outsiders DYAR: How Are Bronco Players Doing Now?

Not So Scientific Rankings, Week 16

Time to roll out another set of Not So Scientific Rankings. Links to the rankings used are below.

Pro Football Focus Power Rankings

Pro Football Reference Simple Ranking System

Five Thirty Eight ELO Playoff Probability Rankings

Football Outsiders DVOA Rankings

Unfortunately, Andrew Mason has not posted his power rankings as of this morning, so I am moving forward without them.
Continue reading Not So Scientific Rankings, Week 16

Broncos Sign G Myers, Release S Prater

The Broncos have not yet officially announced the signing, but Klis’ story indicates Myers will report to Dove Valley Wednesday.

The Broncos have already released S Shaun Prater. Although T.J. Ward did not play much of the second half, he had no setbacks with his ankle injury and Gary Kubiak was limiting his snaps. The same applied to Darian Stewart. Both Ward and Stewart are expected to play against San Diego.

Also, the Broncos expect Omar Bolden to return to the lineup soon. It remains to be seen if he’ll play against San Diego, but it does appear he’ll be ready to go for the playoffs.

The Morning After: Breathing A Little Easier Now

A little late with this, but because my busiest work day comes on Tuesday, bear with me.

I’ll admit that I was shaking my head in disbelief during the first half of the Broncos game against the Bengals, to the point I made several observations on Twitter where I was somewhat disapproving of certain players and coaches.

Then came the second half, where they all forced me to eat some of those words.
Continue reading The Morning After: Breathing A Little Easier Now

Rational Reaction: Peyton Manning, HGH And Our Overreaction To PEDs

As Nick has already shared, an Al-Jazeera investigation claims that Peyton Manning, among other pro athletes, acquired human growth hormone from Charlie Sly, a pharmacist who worked at The Guyer Institute, an anti-aging clinic based in Indianapolis.

The NFL banned the usage of HGH in 1991, but did not implement testing procedures until 2011 and testing itself did not begin until 2014. A major reason why HGH testing wasn’t implemented when the NFL first banned its usage was because only a blood test could detect it and such tests weren’t reliable at the time.

Let me get one thing out of the way first: It is certainly possible that Peyton Manning acquired HGH when he was trying to recover from neck surgery. It’s known he explored multiple, legal options to get back onto the playing field sooner.
Continue reading Rational Reaction: Peyton Manning, HGH And Our Overreaction To PEDs

No Suspension Coming For Cody Wallace

He did, however, get fined.

I’ll add what Andrew Mason and Jeff Legwold had to say, because both hit the nail on the head.

Continue reading No Suspension Coming For Cody Wallace