Trevathan, Ward Won’t Play Sunday

Also, CJ Anderson tried to practice Friday but had to leave the field. Gary Kubiak has listed him as questionable. Kubiak said Ronnie Hillman should be fine, so expect he and Juwan Thompson to get the bulk of touches.

David Bruton, however, practiced on a limited basis. If he is active, I would imagine the Broncos would do everything they can to limit his snaps. If he doesn’t play, it’s at least a good sign that he’ll be available to play against Pittsburgh.

Shane Ray returned to practice Friday, so he’ll be active. All indications are Vernon Davis will play Sunday, too. And Kubiak expects DeMarcus Ware will be active.

Midweek Musings: Round Two With The Raiders

Hello, Bronco fans! Just have a few things to go over about this week’s game with the Raiders and some other things to consider.

* The biggest difference between the Raiders team now versus the one the Broncos first played in Oakland is the Raiders defense has lost a couple of key players. Aldon Smith, of course, has been suspended for a year for violating the substance abuse policy. Per Pro Football Reference, Smith played 88 percent of Oakland’s defensive snaps in the Week 5 matchup. He was credited with four tackles and half a sack.

Also gone is defensive end Justin Tuck, who tore his pectoral muscle in the Week 5 game. Before the injury, Tuck played 64 percent of the defensive snaps and had one tackle. Linebacker Neiron Ball, who played 62 percent of the defensive snaps and 35 percent of the special teams play, is out for the season with a knee injury he received against San Diego Oct. 25.
Continue reading Midweek Musings: Round Two With The Raiders

NFL Rookie Diaries: Shane Ray

Via The Players’ Tribune:

Von is the guy who teaches me the physical stuff. DeMarcus is the veteran — the guy whose brain I just want to pick. He’s so much more technical. We’ll be watching film, and he’ll stop, rewind, and replay it in slow motion.

“Hey, did you guys see that? The quarterback is leaning before he snaps the ball. If you key on that, it can help you get off the ball faster.”

We’re all looking around at each other.

I didn’t notice that … you?

Nope, me neither.

DeMarcus picks up on things nobody else in the room sees because he’s just been doing it for so much longer.

I’ve been on the record several times as saying that DeMarcus Ware is a likely cap casualty for 2016.  But stories like this told from Ray help to slow my roll.  Even though Ware has been limited this year on the field, his behind the scenes contributions can’t be taken for granted.

Ray’s entire entry is worth a full read.

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

Broncos Sign Shiloh Keo

As Ian Rapoport also pointed out in reply to Klis, Keo was quite direct and public in his desire to play for the Broncos:

Coming from the Idaho Vandals in college, Keo was selected in the fifth round by the Texans, and played for both Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips during his entire tenure in Houston, which included 11 starts in 2013.

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

Christian Ponder, We Hardly Knew Ye

Via Andrew Mason:

The Broncos waived QB Christian Ponder on Tuesday, leaving them with 52 players on the primary roster, including three quarterbacks — one of whom, Peyton Manning, will not play this week as he continues his recovery from a plantar fascia tear.

The roster vacancy leaves the Broncos room to make a move as soon as Wednesday. That spot could be used to address the safety position, which is coping with injuries to T.J. Ward, David Bruton Jr. and Omar Bolden.

Continue reading Christian Ponder, We Hardly Knew Ye