If Talib Is To Be Suspened, What About Lamarcus Joyner?

I’m sure many of you are aware that the NFL has informed Denver Broncos CB Aqib Talib that he will be suspended one game for poking Indianapolis Colts TE Dwayne Allen in the eye.

This begs the question: So what about St. Louis Rams CB Lamarcus Joyner?

For those not aware, Joyner was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a hit on Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater. You can read this Deadspin article and see a clip of the play, in which it looks like Joyner wants it to appear he’s avoiding Bridgwater, but keeps his elbow lowered to nail Bridgewater in the helmet.
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What Was Denver’s Strength Was Not Good Vs. The Colts

On paper, this should have been a Denver Broncos win today. But as we all know, matchups don’t always play out like they do on paper.

And while we are aware of what have been the weaknesses with the Broncos offense — and they were evident against the Colts — that really wasn’t what cost the Broncos the game today.

If we are honest with ourselves, it was the Broncos defense that didn’t come through like it has in the past seven games. The defense isn’t the sole reason for the loss, but the defense was nowhere near as sharp as it had been.
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Game Thread: Broncos at Colts, 2015 Week 9

Talk about today’s Broncos matchup here. Players who will not suit up today:

* Broncos: Shane Ray, Jordan Norwood.
* Colts: Phillip Dorsett, Nate Irving.

And Ian Rapoport shared this news about Colts WR T.Y. Hilton.

Pro Football HOF: Questions To Consider About Nominess

As a companion piece to what I shared about the Pro Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2016, here is a list of questions I came up with a few years back about what to consider when judging players.

The questions are based off those posed by Bill James, who debated the merits of certain baseball players argued as worthy of the HOF. He came up with a series of questions to consider. I took his questions and modified them to fit football.

Here are the 15 questions I believe everyone should consider when debating a player’s HOF candidacy.
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2016 Pro Football HOF: My Semifinalist Picks

Something that hasn’t been discussed here has been the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame list of nominees.

Here is the full list, which includes mentions of the two senior committee nominees and the one contributor nominee. Those three immediately go to the final round and are considered separately. Meanwhile, the rest of the nominees will be reduced to 25 semifinalists.

I am going to present who I believe should be the 25 semifinalists from the above list, in order of position as they are listed.
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PFF: Why Denver’s D Was So Good Against The Pack

Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson does a great job breaking down how well the Denver Broncos defense played against the Packers.

Read how he breaks down the play on which Rodgers had more than seven seconds to find an open receiver, but nobody got open and he couldn’t escape the pocket, so he had to throw it at the feet of a receiver.

Makes you wonder what this defense can do against other top offenses, doesn’t it?

Midweek Musings: Colts May Not Be Good But They Aren’t Pushovers

So it’s time for another showdown between Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck. Unlike the last two times, though, we have a vast gap between the two teams, even though they both happen to be division leaders and are probably going to have little trouble winning the division. And that’s why Ryan Grigson is on his way to another Executive of the Year award, amirite?

Of course, we know the real story is that the Denver Broncos lead a division that has a good team (Oakland), an average team that could challenge them in the rematch (Kansas City) and a bad team (San Diego), while the Indianapolis Colts are leading the weakest division in the NFL, and possibly the weakest division ever since the switch to four divisions in each conference. The Colts and the Texans are below average, with the arrow kind of pointing upward for Houston because they got rid of Ryan Mallett, but it might not be enough to overtake the Colts, who still have enough talent to sweep the division.

And to think I was the guy who thought Andrew Luck might set new records on offense this season.
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The Not So Scientific Rankings, Week 8

In this week’s Not So Scientific Rankings, I’ll briefly talk about the teams that the Denver Broncos have played or will play this season and we’ll figure out how good the Broncos’ schedule really is. After all, the halfway point is about when you know which teams really rank among the best and which ones are bottom feeders.

As always, these rankings are the average of the following:

* Pro Football Focus Power Rankings

* Pro Football Reference Simple Rankings System

* Football Outsiders DVOA Rankings

* Five-Thirty-Eight ELO Playoff Probability Rankings

* Andrew Mason’s power rankings
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Derek Wolfe Named AFC Defensive Player Of The Week

This is one of the benefits of having the best defense in the NFL: Players get a lot of recognition. To add to Legwold’s tweet, DeMarcus Ware was the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September.

Considering that Derek Wolfe was Pro Football Focus’ highest rated Bronco in the Broncos-Packers game, it’s hard to argue Wolfe didn’t deserve his award.