Midweek Musings: Broncos and QBs and Bears, Oh My!

Hello, Bronco fans! As you all know, a significant change took place with the Broncos this week, and SMA has already reviewed the effect Brock Osweiler could have on the offense. The question, though, is what this means for Sunday’s game against Chicago.

You are probably going to see a lot of people predicting that the Bears are going to beat the Broncos, because Osweiler doesn’t have the experience, the offensive line is a mess, the Broncos can’t run the football, and the likes of Jay Cutler, John Fox and Adam Gase are going to be motivated to be the team they used to be part of, and Fox and Gase know all the answers to how to beat the Broncos at what they do.

Except it’s not that simple. You can check SMA’s piece yesterday for what to expect from the offense, but let’s focus on what the Bears are like this season.
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Roundup of film based Osweiler analysis

As Brock Osweiler’s first NFL start approaches, seemingly everyone interested in football on the internet has an opinion about his prospects. I tend to be more interested in the ones that take the time to study his play. With that in mind here are the film based analyses I have found so far this week. Feel free to add more links in the comments.

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Broncos Replace One Backup O-Lineman With Another

The Broncos released G Shelley Smith to make room for Brenner, who was likely acquired because he can play guard as well as center, giving the Broncos more flexibility with their O-line depth and perhaps somebody who can upgrade the depth.

Brenner, a third-year veteran, spent most of his time on the Dolphins’ practice squad his first two seasons, but started four games at guard as a rookie in 2013. He was waived by the Dolphins after they signed LB James-Michael Johnson, a position where the Dolphins needed depth.

Smith will count for $500,000 in dead money toward next season’s cap, but he was likely going to be cut from the roster next season, anyway.

Broncos Vs. Bears Early Notes

I’ll have the Midweek Musings tomorrow. Got things to do at work this afternoon.

Regarding the Broncos, Daniels appears to be the usual day off he takes from practice. Ware and Sanders, of course, are related to injuries from last week.

The NSS Rankings And Who May Need Regime Changes

Here are this week’s Not So Scientific Rankings. You might have expected the Broncos to drop out of the top five, but they didn’t. They did, however, see their average score decline and they remain the borderline among the top-five teams.

As always, the rankings are an average of the following.

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
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Doc Podcast, and My Thoughts on the Oz Situation

What’s up in-thinair, been a while since I’ve gotten the chance to post. School’s been super hectic with college apps and such, and I don’t see that letting up. I’ll try to make it on here to post sporadically, but unfortunately I won’t be posting multiple times a week like I was in the summer.

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Aldon Smith Suspened for One Year; Just the Most Recent Example of Goodell Hypocrisy

Via ESPN:

Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith has been suspended for one year without pay under the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, the league said Tuesday.

In September, Smith, 25, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run, drunken driving and vandalism, charges that stem from an alleged Aug. 6 incident.

“Under the terms of the policy, Smith will be eligible to apply for reinstatement no sooner than 60 days before the one-year anniversary of the suspension,” the NFL said in a statement.

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Lindsay Jones Investigates The Elway/Fox Tension

This is certainly an appropriately timed article.  In talking with sources in the know, Jones lists three primary reasons for the ultimate divorce.  Two of them should be well familiar by now, no matter how painful it is to revisit: the decision by Fox to play for overtime in the 2012 playoffs, and the poor game preparation for the Super Bowl in 2013.

The third, however, is new to at least myself, though it makes sense: disagreements over playing time and staff additions:

Fox, who has built a reputation as a players’ coach, would play veterans over rookies whenever possible. There were several notable issues in 2014 in which highly drafted rookies were shelved in favor of veterans. Third-round tackle Michael Schofield was never active despite the Broncos having extensive issues at right tackle last year and first-round receiver Cody Latimer rarely played. Schofield is now Denver’s starter at right tackle, and Latimer is active on game days as a reserve weapon.

There were also disagreements about Fox’s staff. Two years ago, Elway favored Gase to be the new offensive coordinator, while Fox wanted to interview Ken Whisenhunt, who had recently been fired by the Arizona Cardinals.

We can go ahead and debate about who was right in the comments. One last fact that I’ll add, however, is that Whisenhunt went to the division rival Chargers instead, and helped rescue Philip Rivers from a downward spiral

Chiefs at Broncos: The 10 Things I Liked and the 10 Things I Didn’t

We witnessed a game where Brock Osweiler came in for the injured Peyton Manning. It was questionable to even let Manning play in the game, let alone three quarters. After four interceptions, Osweiler finally came in and led the team to two scores, and almost three. Before you start clamoring that Brock should be our starter, just remember that the Chief’s defense went into a prevent defense so the Broncos would burn time. Now on to one of the easiest lists I’ve made this year:

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