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.

Broncos Injury Reports For Wednesday

Several notes culled on Twitter from various Broncos beat reporters about injuries the Broncos are dealing with:

* C.J. Anderson, David Bruton Jr. and Sylvester Williams all were present at practice Wednesday for the walk through but none of them took part in drills. Talk is that Williams might be available for Sunday’s game. Anderson remains day to day. Bruton will almost certainly be held out Sunday.

* DeMarcus Ware was at practice walk through and was limited. It’s possible he’ll play Sunday but his snaps will be limited.

* Ronnie Hillman is dealing with an ankle injury and did not practice Wednesday. Given the status of Hillman and Anderson, Juwan Thompson will likely get more touches against Oakland.

* Vernon Davis and Danny Trevathan are still in concussion protocol and won’t practice until they are cleared.

* T.J. Ward did not practice and I would imagine he won’t play Sunday.

* Peyton Manning did not practice. We already know Brock Osweiler will start Sunday.

The Not-So-Scientific Rankings Week 13

First of all, I know some of you will be raising your eyebrows when you see this week’s rankings. To which I’m going to say, I know. Things may not make sense, but the criteria and the rankings I use for my Not-So-Scientific Rankings will remain the same.

I will say, though, that the rankings will tell you who are likely to be the most dangerous teams in the playoffs, and playing that role may be more advantageous than being considered the favorite to win the Super Bowl, because the latter tends to be based more on reputation than anything. Being the dangerous team in the playoffs, though, doesn’t always account for past reputation and looks closer at what the team did early in the season, to what the team is doing now and how much it has improved.

Moving on to the rankings, which are an average of:

Pro Football Focus Power Rankings

Pro Football Reference Simple Rankings System

Five Thirty Eight ELO Playoff Probability Rankings

Football Outsiders DVOA Rankings

Andrew Mason’s Power Rankings
Continue reading The Not-So-Scientific Rankings Week 13

AFC Playoff Contenders And Remaining Schedules

Nick already reviewed what’s needed for the Broncos to make the playoffs, but I wanted to look at the upcoming schedules for the AFC teams who have the best chances to make the playoffs.

For this exercise, I made the following assumptions about the AFC.

* Cincinnati, Denver and New England will win their divisions while Kansas City should easily get a wild card berth.
* The AFC South is between Indianapolis and Houston.
* The final wild card spot is between the New York Jets, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Oakland.
* While others are still mathematically in the hunt, too much must fall into place for those teams to make it.

With that mind, let’s look at everybody’s remaining schedules:
Continue reading AFC Playoff Contenders And Remaining Schedules

The Morning After: Broncos and Advanced Metrics

So after 12 games, how do advanced metrics measure how the Broncos have performed? Let’s examine a few numbers.

We’ll start with Pro Football Reference’s Expected Points. I’ve gone over this previously when examining Super Bowl winning teams, in which I’ve used the following scale for evaluating PFR’s Expected Points and what they mean for each area.

Positive double digits: Great performance
Positive single digits above 2: Good performance
Between +2 and -2: Average performance
Negative single digits below -2: Mediocre performance
Negative double digits: Bad performance
Continue reading The Morning After: Broncos and Advanced Metrics

David Bruton Out 1-2 Weeks; Safety Depth To Be Tested

It remains to be seen if T.J. Ward will play this week, but all things considered, it was a smart decision for Gary Kubiak to rest DeMarcus Ware. Getting him to full strength will improve the pass rush and take pressure off the defensive backs.

If Ward can’t play against Oakland, it’s likely you’ll see plenty of Josh Bush and Omar Bolden. Bradley Roby could play safety on a couple of downs, too. And it might mean Lorenzo Doss sees a couple of snaps on defense.

The important thing at this point is to get everyone healthy, as after Oakland, two key games against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati await.

(EDIT 1:25 P.M. MST: I meant to say Lorenzo Doss, not Taurean Nixon, although it’s possible the Broncos could move Nixon up from the practice squad.)

How Can NFL Officiating Be Improved?

It seems we can’t have a single high-profile or prime-time game go by this year without having a questionable call by the officials that gets scrutinized to death and debated as to whether or not that call should have been made and, if not, that it decided the game.

The latest one was in last night’s game between the Packers and the Lions, in which the Packers attempted an endless lateral that led to the Lions’ Devin Taylor tackling Aaron Rodgers, but Taylor getting flagged for grabbing the face mask. On the next play, Rodgers completed a Hail Mary pass for the winning touchdown.

It’s not the only high-profile game to have a debated call, but it’s only compounding the narrative that officiating has gotten worse. There have been multiple suggestions about how to solve issues with officiating, but most of them tend to be reactionary or not understanding all the facts. Let’s go over a few things:
Continue reading How Can NFL Officiating Be Improved?

Midweek Musings: Chargers’ Real Issues Aren’t On Offense

Hello, Bronco fans! It feels good to know your Broncos are 9-2 and have beaten a bonafide playoff contender, doesn’t it? But as we all know, the work isn’t done yet and the Broncos face an opponent that has struggled this season but it isn’t going to go away quietly.

The San Diego Chargers are 3-8 but not for the reasons you may think. It has nothing to do with the offense, even though the offensive line has been hit hard by injuries and most of the linemen have struggled. The only offensive lineman to have started all 11 games this season is Joe Barksdale, while all other linemen have missed multiple games with injuries. As things currently stand, D.J. Fluker did not practice Wednesday as he recovers from a concussion and King Dunlap was limited, after missing several games with an ankle injury.
Continue reading Midweek Musings: Chargers’ Real Issues Aren’t On Offense

Mathis, Ware Practicing; Several Others Not

Some good news for the Broncos on the injury front: DeMarcus Ware practiced Wednesday after missing three straight games with a back injury, and Evan Mathis practiced, despite playing through an ankle injury in the New England game.

Louis Vasquez, T.J. Ward and Sylvester Williams did not practice. Neither did Peyton Manning, who is still wearing his walking boot. It’s been a week since Peyton started wearing the boot, and if he continues to wear it through the next week, that’s a sign he’ll be inactive for that much longer.

ETA: Some clarification regarding Peyton Manning:

Josh Bush Promoted From Practice Squad

The Denver Broncos have promoted safety Josh Bush from the practice squad.

The move was likely made because the Broncos won’t have T.J. Ward for at least one game because of an ankle injury.

Bush has regular-season experience, having played in two games last year and three earlier this season. He impressed during the preseason and it’s likely he’ll stick around even after Ward returns to the lineup.

To make room for Bush, the Broncos waived tight end Richard Gordon, who wasn’t needed any longer with the acquisition of Vernon Davis.

Also, the Broncos waived TE Arthur Lynch from the practice squad. It remains to be seen if the Broncos bring in somebody to replace him. (No, Gordon isn’t eligible.)