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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

We get to witness Brock Osweiler starting more games while Peyton Manning is recovering his injuries. Scotty Payne from Mile High Report gathered various draft reports back in 2012, which you can read here. I want to go over some of the analysis and compare to the reports against what we’ve seen so far.

Continue reading Reviewing Brock Osweiler’s Draft Report

This will certainly look familiar to those of you aware of the Broncos’ upcoming offseason obstacles:

Many outside of Denver did not know who Osweiler was going into the season. The fourth-year pro had thrown a total of 30 passes as Manning’s backup. Osweiler, Denver’s second-round pick in 2012, seemed destined to follow the path of many backups — a short-term deal for around $3.5 million a season with hopes to score a starting job in the future.

But two games into his starting career, visions of that type of contract are gone. […] Now, [the Broncos] probably see Osweiler as deserving of a contract similar to Nick Foles’ $12.2 million per year extension with the Rams.

Osweiler turns 26 in 2016, and if he finishes the year with a 6-1 or 5-2 record as a starter, he will have no reason to take that type of offer from Denver.

I’ll save my own detailed take for the end of the Broncos’ season.  That is because, as much as this has drastically changed in just three weeks, it could drastically change once again depending on future games.  As much as we don’t want it in the short term, if Osweiler throws up a couple of dud games and/or the Broncos go one and done in the playoffs, his value could easily cool back down to the Nick Foles range.

I do want to make a comment about Von Miller, however.  It’s clear that the Broncos would be best served to hammer out an extension with him sooner rather than later if they can model it close to the value of Justin Houston’s extension.  But if Jason is correct in that Miller can leverage his way into Ndamukong Suh money on the open market, the Broncos will have to take a long, hard look into how much is simply too much to retain Miller.

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:

Kubiak said Manning's cast has come off. But boot still on #broncos

— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) December 2, 2015

Here are this week’s Not So Scientific Rankings. As always, they are an average of the following:

* Pro Football Focus Power Rankings

* Pro Football Reference Simple Ranking System

* Five Thirty Eight ELO Playoff Probability Rankings

* Football Outsiders DVOA Rankings

* Andrew Mason’s Power Rankings
Continue reading Not So Scientific NFL Rankings For Week 12

I’m surprised I didn’t end up in the hospital after that game. What an exciting game and an even more exciting outcome!

I’m not going to talk about penalties. There were missed penalties for both teams and I don’t think any of them had more of an effect than the other. The clock runoff at the end of regulation confused everyone and I don’t think it was fair for the Patriots. Regardless, I believe the outcome would be the same. Like I’ve said before, there were over a hundred plays where the game could’ve been won or lost. Before I go into my jive, here are some fun stats:

• Tom Brady: 23/42 for 280 yards – 3 TD – 1 INT – 3 sacks
• Brock Osweiler: 23/42 for 270 yards – 1 TD – 1 INT – 3 sacks

Continue reading Patriots at Broncos: The 10 Things I Liked and the 10 Things I Didn’t

Now that we’re close enough to conduct reasonable projections, and Sunday night’s pivotal game against the Patriots is the books, I thought I’d take a look at what the Broncos need to obtain the best possible playoff seeding.  This is a mini-project that I might take on for the remainder of the regular season, depending on how things shape up.

Continue reading Broncos Playoff Standings: 2015 Week 13

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.)

Chris Mortensen reports that Peyton Manning will not be healthy enough to play “anytime soon”. This is not surprising given the nature of the injury.

From Jason La Canfora, the guy who called the meltdown in the Chiefs game before it happened, a report indicating the Broncos may be prepared to stick with Osweiler over a healthy Manning.

Everyone in the Broncos hierarchy, from football czar John Elway on down, is committed to giving this offense a chance to thrive under the first-year starter, and Elway and Kubiak — who passed on acquiring Manning when he was head coach in Houston — are strong-willed enough to do what they believe is best for the organization regardless of the political fallout. “They are not going to be bullied into doing anything they don’t want to do, by anyone,” as one team source put it.

Continue reading Reports: Brock/Peyton decision could be a month away, Broncos prepared to stick with Osweiler