Thin Air

There is a lot of criticism surrounding Peyton Manning and his “inability to throw.” Even more frustrating is the amount of fans crying to play Brock Osweiler and benching Manning. This won’t happen. But, is the criticism earned? Let’s dig deeper.

Continue reading Deep Dive: Let’s Discuss Manning

#Patriots left tackle Nate Solder will miss the rest of the season with a torn right biceps, according to a team source. Surgery upcoming.

— Jim McBride (@globejimmcbride) October 14, 2015

Solder is a Denver native and University of Colorado graduate, FWIW.

The Patriots have been rotating offensive linemen throughout the season, but now they will be without one of their best linemen.

I’m sure guys like Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware aren’t upset about this development, though. Hehehe.

Broncos announce they have waived Mitchell Henry and signed TE Richard Gordon.

— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) October 14, 2015

The Broncos website has a brief writeup here.

Most likely, the Broncos brought in Gordon because he can play fullback. Given that Gordon is younger than James Casey (who they released this past weekend), the Broncos might believe Gordon might be worth looking at for the long term.

It remains to be seen if Henry will be added to the practice squad, but the Broncos would have to make a spot available.

Here we go again with another edition of the Not So Scientific Power Rankings. For those who missed last week’s rankings, you can go here for the explanation.

Week 5 is usually the week you find out which teams really stand out above the rest, which teams are not going to the playoffs and which teams we may have overrated or underestimated prior to the season. The rankings I have, while not perfect, do reflect some of those factors, I believe.
Continue reading The Not So Scientific Power Rankings: Week 5

I didn’t hear any mention of this during the broadcast but Peyton Manning has achieved another historic milestone:

In Sunday’s win against the Raiders, the Broncos quarterback took the NFL’s No. 1 spot in combined regular season and playoff passing yards with 77,725. He surpassed Brett Favre’s mark of 77,693.

Peyton also inched closer to the more high profile regular season mark:

Given his current average of 246.8 passing yards a game this year, Manning should surpass Favre’s regular-season mark at home in Week 10 against Kansas City.

There is a good chance we are witnessing Peyton’s swan song this year. If so, let’s be happy the Broncos have constructed a strong team to send him out on a winning note. Fivethirtyeight.com gives the Broncos a 94% chance to make the playoffs so it looks like Peyton, the Broncos and the rest of us will have at least one more ride.

…the Broncos beat the Raiders, and the Chiefs and Chargers both lose in heartbreaking fashion in their own stadium.  It’s always important to cherish moments like this:

Thought people would be interested in reading what Diana Moskovitz of Deadspin had to share about the real issues behind why Greg Hardy has a job in the NFL and, more importantly, points out that the issue has more to do with people being slow to stand against domestic violence.

I’ve known people in abusive relations, and the chances are that you have too, or that you’ve been in one. And the abuser was, very likely, the same man or woman who also brought the best potato salad to the neighborhood potluck, or made the biggest donation at church, or always picked up the kids on time from daycare: A normal person, for better and worse in varying measure, who also beats the shit out someone they said they loved.

One commenter made a good point: Domestic violence isn’t a football problem; it’s a people problem. It takes people continuously saying domestic violence is unacceptable, until perpetrators seriously consider their actions and businesses such as the NFL consider proper measures to make sure players who commit domestic violence get the counseling they need in addition to whatever discipline in handed out, rather than just arbitrarily deciding punishment, followed by owners picking and choosing who stays and who goes based on how talented they are.

This game aggravated me. Yes, yes, I know we won. I don’t think we deserved the win. Our offense was laughable and our defense took some time to get in the game. Like it or not, Carr is a good quarterback on his path to becoming a great quarterback. Had Sebastian Janikowski not missed two field goals, they would’ve tied this game. They could’ve possibly won it since the failed field goals set our offense up in great starting positions. Stomping all over the Raiders is likely over for the next couple of years while Jack Del Rio and Derek Carr are in town.

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

Grantland’s Robert Mays didn’t have a lot to say about Von Miller, but then again, he didn’t have to when an animated GIF is worth a thousand words.

Go look at Mays’ column and watch Miller again and again.

Then you can ask yourself… what the hell was Raiders RT Austin Howard thinking?

The Broncos are 5-0 but based on some of the comments regarding the offense’s play against the Raiders, people are aware that all is not well.

That doesn’t mean the wheels are about to come off or the Broncos are destined to finished 2-8 following the Week 7 bye. It is worth visiting the issues that are plaguing the Broncos, though, and exactly what can be done to get the offense up to speed so it can at least complement what’s arguably the best defense in the NFL.

Of course, we all start the conversation with Peyton Manning and one debate that keeps coming up, regarding whether or not the Broncos should sit him out for certain games early in the season, saving him for divisional matchups and the tougher opponents. While I understand the reasoning that you don’t want to wear out Peyton, the problem is that it’s nearly impossible to sell that idea on his teammates when the Broncos are winning.
Continue reading Gut Reaction: Is The Offense’s Struggles Really About Resting Peyton?