2008 Game by Game Preview: Week 7 New England, Week 8 Bye Week

With the NFL Preseason weeks away we here at Broncos Denver Broncos will be previewing the entire season ahead, two games at a time. This is all in fun, but in reality it will be our best effort at predicting how the 2008 season will actually shape up for the Broncos. It should be fun to look back in January or February and laugh...

So here goes any credibility that we have, hope that you enjoy and feel free to add, subtract or crack my orange tinted glasses in half. Just do it in the comment section:

Week 7 (Mon. October 20th, 2008)
at New England.

some facts: Denver and New England are tied for 2nd in the NFL for Super Bowl berths, with 6. Denver was the 6th team in the NFL to go to back to back Super Bowls, New England was the 7th. Denver was the only AFC team to do it in two decades, until New England joined them. Patriot's coach Bill Belichick and Mike Shanahan are the only active coaches to have won two Super Bowls and are members of an elite fraternity (12 coaches) to have ever won two Super Bowls. Since 1995 (under Shanahan) Denver is third (130-78-0) for most wins in the NFL, New England is first (135-73-0). In that same time span Denver is third in the NFL for points scored (5,079), while New England is fourth (4,883). Shanahan is 8-3 against the Patriots as a head coach, 4-2 at home and 4-1 at Foxborough. In the 2003-2004 seasons New England surpassed Denver's record of most wins in a two-year span (33), setting it at 34. Champ Bailey had one of the most dramatic interceptions in NFL Playoff history picking off New England's Tom Brady in the end-zone on January 14th, 2006, setting an NFL record for longest interception return not for a touchdown. Bailey's career was foreshadowed when he picked off former New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe in his first preseason game, returning it 46 yards for a touchdown. In 2005's regular season corner back Domonique Foxworth had 10 total tackles against New England (the second highest in his career). Denver tight end Daniel Graham was drafted by New England in the first round in 2002. Both safeties John Lynch and Marlon McCree's last interceptions took place against New England. McCree's best game in 2007 was played against New England (10 total tackles, 6 solo).

They're going to 'murdah' me for this one, but it is undeniable that Shanahan has owned the Patriots, whether it be in Denver or Foxborough. Actually the Patriots would probably be better off if this game were in Denver. Last year, as stupid as it sounded, the Patriots were lucky that they didn't have to play against Denver, with the way that teams were playing every game against them as if it were the Super Bowl (see the game vs. the Ravens or any game following week 7).

New England has the least difficult strength of schedule of anybody in the NFL (go figure) and partly because they're playing the AFC West. This is also likely the most difficult game that Denver will have all season, given the respect for the opponent coupled with the fact that the game is on Monday Night Football, the team should shine. That as well as the fact that the team has nothing to look forward to the next week except a well deserved break, following the most difficult stretch of their season.

Expect many players to step up in this game that haven't been necessarily heard from before. As always when Denver plays New England, fans will see formations on both sides of the ball that they haven't seen all season. Look at how great some of these match-ups will be, Champ Bailey vs. Randy Moss, Ryan Clady vs. Richard Seymour/Mike Vrabel, Tom Brady vs. Denver's Secondary, Boss Bailey vs. Ben Watson, Daniel Graham/Tony Schefler vs. Tedy Bruschi/Victor Hobson, Dre Bly vs. Wes Welker, et cetera...

New England for whatever reason, seems to never be able to defend against the safety blitz, when it comes to Denver (or even certain other AFC West teams). Denver had extreme trouble competing with teams that played the 3-4/5-2, the good news is this season, by this game, they will have already faced two of the best 3-4/5-2 defenses the NFL has to offer in Jacksonville and San Diego. So the Broncos offensive line will hopefully be ready for whatever it is that New England has to throw at them.

The scary part is on defense for the Broncos. Do they have what it takes to defend a full-on Brady attack? I think that they do, even with the likely emergence of Chad Jackson and Jabar Gaffney the talent in the secondary in Denver is going to be too much for anyone this season. Couple that with the fact that Brady will be avoiding joint rushes from Marlon McCree and John Lynch the whole game.

In the end, this will be the definitive game that makes the rest of the NFL take a look back and say, "Huh? These guys are really that good," and I'm looking forward to it. Got my tickets to Gillette Stadium already.

Denver emerges from Week 7, victorious 6-1, as they head into a perfectly timed Bye Week.

Week 8 (Sun. October 26th, 2008)
Bye Week.

Denver comes off the most difficult part of their entire schedule with a much deserved one-week vacation. Back to Denver to prepare for Miami and lick their wounds, in the upcoming weeks they face Miami, Cleveland (in Cleveland) and Atlanta (in Atlanta).

Denver is 6-1 with their sights set on Miami.

Links! (7/14/08)

Busy weekend for both Sam and I. Sam's at the tail end of wrapping up his Broncos 2009 Draft Preview and I've made it up to Week 7 of the Broncos 2008 Season Preview.

Excitement's building all around, the Washington Redskins open their training camp this Sunday (they're the first team in the league to start). Denver will open their doors July 25th, oh and then a little more than a week after that:

Madden 2009, get ready to be the best on the intranets. We're actually working on our own little Madden 2009 training camp, to prepare for the game. Basically we got 11 kids aged 10-14 to scream, "You suck! (old man) What are you like 30???" As you run the gauntlet attempting to hold on to your remote control. As an added bonus you can select which regional dialect you'd like them to use (we have: Southern, Texan, New Jersey, Staten Island, Brooklyn or North Dakotan).

Show the NFL you're ready, go 19-0 three season in a row, while trading away your underachieving players at the end of every season to get the number 1 draft pick and constantly rebuild your team.

LINKS:

• I so had this way before everyone, but I didn't have any other links, I guess I could have just made a story about it. Rookie Ryan Clady ejected from a charity softball game.
• Mike Shanahan says everyone is healthy coming into training camp. Please don't let that be a jinx, where we lose several key players prior to the first week.
• Josh Cook thinks the Broncos are the third best suitor for Brett Favre, who is Favre, is he good? I mean is he better than Jay Cutler? His name is everywhere all of a sudden...
• The Denver Post's Mike Klis says that the Broncos had no idea about Travis Henry's positive drug test in May. (They may have been aware of his positive drug test in 2007 though, that's just me speculating.)
• ProFootballWeekly scoops the fans once again, saying that Eddie Royal could be a surprise starter. (Somewhere in Bronco land there's a pissed off message boarder, or three, who said that two months ago. They've already got banners made and everything). They also let us know the Samie Parker may need to [try hard] to make the team, he's only one of 12 receivers going into camp, give the vet a chance. (Their whispers section also has something about Jay Cutler having been diagnosed with diabetes over the off-season, I'll definitely be looking for a second source on that one.)
• The Sporting News put Jay Cutler at number 13 (between Eli Manning and Jake Delhomme) as they rank the top 25 quarterbacks. That's just lazy, they didn't want to include seven more and just round out the whole NFL?
• Add this article to the list of people trying to shove Shaun Alexander down the Broncos throat.
• ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert says Brandon Marshall may be suspended (if convicted), I had no idea that it had gotten this serious. Someone should call him...
• The Sporting News' Dennis Dylan predicts the Broncos will go 9-7 and miss the playoffs.
• The Rocky Mountain News reports that, "Alan Roach, who served as PA announcer for Rockies games from 1995 to 2006, will handle those duties at Broncos home games this season."

2008 Game by Game Preview: Week 5 Tampa Bay, Week 6 Jacksonville

With the NFL Preseason less than a month away we here at Broncos Denver Broncos will be previewing the entire season ahead, two games at a time. This is all in fun, but in reality it will be our best effort at predicting how the 2008 season will actually shape up for the Broncos. It should be fun to look back in January or February and laugh...

So here goes any credibility that we have, hope that you enjoy and feel free to add, subtract or crack my orange tinted glasses in half. Just do it in the comment section:

Week 5 (Sun. October 5th, 2008)
vs. Tampa Bay.

some facts: Broncos QB coach Jeremy Bates came into the league under Tampa, in 2002 he was in charge of Offensive Quality Control, as the team rode a particularly potent offense through the post season on the way to winning the Super Bowl. In 2004, under Jon Gruden, Bates helped former Denver QB Brian Griese set several franchise records. Mike Shanahan is 2-1 verse Tampa Bay and 1-0 when playing them in Denver (Denver as a club is 4-2). Broncos safety Hamza Abdullah came to Denver via Tampa's practice squad (in November 2005). Dre Bly's performance against Tampa (as a St. Louis Ram) in 1999 (Bly's rookie season) in the NFC Championship game won him a Defensive Player of the Week award. Broncos WR Keary Colbert's best game in his career came against Tampa Bay (he posted 2 TDs on 3 receptions for 74 yards). RB Andre Hall entered the NFL as a UDFA for Tampa in the 2006 off season. Safety John Lynch is third on Tampa Bay's list for most games in a career (147), in 1997 Lynch posted 154 tackles for Tampa. DT Dewayne Robertson had the best game of his career against Tampa (9 tackles, 2 sacks) in 2006. WR's Darrell Jackson and Glen Martinez both played high school football in Tampa.

Tampa Bay on defense is scary and it's not going to get any easier on offense for the Broncos for the next three weeks. The Broncos pull Tampa, Jacksonville all before playing in New England, Denver lucked out pulling both Tampa and Jacksonville at home. I love when Denver plays Gruden though, just a fun guy to watch coach I guess (blasphemy for me to say about a former Raider, I know, Shanahan's a former Raider though).

Tampa has some team moral issues this off-season, with quarterback Jeff Garcia calling out the team publicly, for a new contract. At one point even saying that he may sit out the entire season. They solidified their backfield by restructuring Earnest Graham's contract, insuring that with Cadillac Williams still on the PUP list, they should be fine with running the ball in 2008. Tampa comes to Denver after playing Green Bay in Tampa, will Brett Favre be playing for one of these clubs? At this point we have no idea, by the time this game comes around it'll be fun to look back at how ridiculous that question was.

On to the game- Tampa's great in pass defense (1st in NFL 2007) and very stingy with giving away yards (1st in Yards per Play, 4.7, in 2007) at all. This season they don't seem to be any worse. The thing about Tampa is that they played six games last season against the high octane offenses featured predominantly in the NFC South (read: sarcasm). When they did play teams with great offenses, they lost: Indianapolis, Houston, New York (Giants) all came out with a W in the 50/50 column.

Denver's still most likely without Brandon Marshall at this point in the season, but will be doing fine. Eddie Royal will be finding his place amongst Darrell Jackson, Keary Colbert and Brandon Stokley. Not to mention that quarterback Jay Cutler's favorite target, Tony Scheffler, is having a career year. Tampa simply does not have the weapons on offense to gain the yards necessary to quiet the Mile High crowd.

Denver emerges from Week 5, victorious 4-1, as they prepare for Jacksonville.

Week 6 (Sun. October 12th, 2008)
at Jacksonville.

some facts: Mike Shanahan is 3-3 vs. Jacksonville (2-1 at home). It was against Jacksonville that former Bronco kicker Jason Elam tied Jack Dempsey's 63-yard field goal (1998). Broncos Offensive Assistant Coach Joe Baker was an Asst. Special Teams coach in Jacksonville from 1995-1998. Jacksonville swept the entire AFC West in 2007. Elvis Dumervil posted two of his 12.5 sacks against Jacksonville last season. CB Domonique Foxworth won Defensive Rookie of the Week in 2005 against Jacksonville, posting 7 tackles one interception and one pass deflection. Brandon Marshall posted the best game of his career (133 yards on 7 receptions) last year vs. Jacksonville. Safety Marlon McCree played one of his best seasons as a Jaguar in 2002, recording 6 interceptions that season. Kicker Matt Prater missed two field goals (as an Atlanta Falcon) last season vs. Jacksonville. Defensive tackle Marcus Thomas is from Jacksonville, FL (as most are aware at this point). Linebacker Nate Webster posted 13 total tackles (the most of his season) last year in the Jacksonville game. DJ Williams recorded 14 total tackles in that same game. Jacksonville as a team ran the ball 47 times against Denver in 2007 (the most of any Denver opponet), Jacksonville held the ball for 38 minutes and 42 seconds in that game (the longest time of possession of the season against the Broncos).

I have the same reaction every time I see Jacksonville on the schedule (s***!), every since they beat John Elway in the playoffs in 1996. This game puts Denver in the dead center of the most difficult part of their season (Tampa, Jacksonville then New England) and they'll have to go 2 out of 3, at least, to prove to the NFL that they deserve to be considered amongst the top teams in the league. Let's face it, as far as defenses go in the NFL Jack Del Rio's defenses are consistently about as good as it gets. It will be an entertaining game, as long as everyone on both sides is still healthy at this point.

Will David Gerrard be a one-hit wonder for Jacksonville? Probably not and the Jaguars went out and got him better receivers to throw to in the off season (via free agency), including the familiar Jerry Porter and the (so far) underachieving Troy Williamson likely inhabiting the number two in Jacksonville. On the defensive side, new coordinator Gregg Williams promised that, "The Jaguars were going to use every defensive system ever created."

Sounds fun right? That and Jacksonville SLB Daryl Smith has about the same potential to as lit dynamite, he only gets better in the big games (14 tackles last season in the playoffs vs. New England). Rookie LT Ryan Clady should be in for a long day, lining up against Reggie Hayward, we'll finally get to see how sweet his feet are. Whoever's playing RT (Harris, Kuper or Pears) is the one who will have the real challenge, Jaguars' LDE Paul Spicer. Let's just hope Jay Cutler can make it out without a concussion.

I mentioned Williams earlier, he's regarded by many to be the best defensive game planner in the league. Should be a fun test to see whether Shanahan really still has it in him. Look for Denver to handle Garrard similarly to last season, with the dynamic tandem of Jags running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor both being held in check (just like last year, when they ran the ball a combined 47 times, yet somehow didn't hit the century mark for yardage). The problem Denver had last season was running the ball, coming into the game Travis Henry was the league's leading rusher. The Jaguars held him to just 35 yards, the Broncos as a whole only had 42 plays from scrimmage.

Where Denver had success last year, is where they will have success this season. Passing the ball, hopefully Marshall's back from any suspension, and if he is, the Jaguars just do not have the talent to cover everyone. If they are able to cover every passing threat Denver has, they won't be able to stop the run, either way, Denver's better this year. Jacksonville isn't, that's not to say that they were a bad team. I believe that they were a great team last season. They did extraordinary against the Patriots. However, Denver was one drive away and one dropped pass (Daniel Graham) away from rolling into Indianapolis undefeated in 2007.

Denver wins this time, and marches to Foxborough 5-1.

UPDATE (7/19/08): Jaguars wide receiver Jerry Porter underwent successful surgery (7/18/08), he is expected out anywhere from 6-8 weeks. He should be fine by the time Denver faces Jacksonville, but it is not guaranteed yet.

2008 Game by Game Preview: Week 3 New Orleans, Week 4 Kansas City

With the NFL Preseason less than a month away we here at Broncos Denver Broncos will be previewing the entire season ahead, two games at a time. This is all in fun, but in reality it will be our best effort at predicting how the 2008 season will actually shape up for the Broncos. It should be fun to look back in January or February and laugh...

So here goes any credibility that we have, hope that you enjoy and feel free to add, subtract or crack my orange tinted glasses in half. Just do it in the comment section:

Week 3 (Sun. September 21st, 2008)
vs. New Orleans.

some facts: Mike Shanahan is 2-1 versus New Orleans. Drew Brees has been hurt twice against Denver in his career (one of which ushered in the Philip Rivers' era). Denver WR Keary Colbert posted his best game last season against New Orleans (4 for 74 yards, including one 49 yard reception). RB Michael Pittman was born in New Orleans and has posted one of his ten 100 yard games against the Saints. Brandon Marshall's DUI trial begins just prior to this week, which may or may not lead to his suspension, and would likely go into effect prior to this game.

Denver comes into the game hot off of the home win against San Diego. Fan spirits are high, while New Orleans is primed to knock Denver off of the high horse that it comes riding into Mile High on. Speculation is still running rampant on whether Saints RB Reggie Bush was a bust and Denver's loving the idea of proving last week was not a fluke.

Against a dangerous Drew Brees, sans serious impact receivers Champ Bailey and Dre Bly salivate over the possibilities. New Orleans is of course not without weapons on offense with the one/two punch of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush, the Saints look to spread Denver thin by spreading the ball wide and short dumps to their backfield.

However, this is not Denver's 2007 defense and playing sideline to sideline with the type of speed Denver's currently employing is not a viable option and New Orleans must quickly adjust. John Lynch, still fresh in Brees' mind from the last time they met, blitzes effectively, disrupting Brees' timing allows Bailey to easily handle Marques Holston.

On offense, the big news will be the premiere of rookie wide receiver Eddie Royal, early in the second half. He appears to be totally in sync with Cutler and fans couldn't be happier. Selvin Young posts his second 150+ yard game, but runs the risk of being injured, a healthy rotation of Michael Pittman and Andre Hall insure that Young stays healthy for next week. Denver finishes the game 2-1, despite some fans thinking that this may be one of the toughest games we have all year.

Week 4 (Sun. September 28th, 2008)
at Kansas City.

Denver handled Kansas City very easily last season, but with Herm Edwards job on the line, not to mention the Chiefs stellar home field record still holding weight; no matter how bad they may be, Denver should expect problems, as always from the Chiefs. Kansas City is young and they're not expecting to be great yet. It's easy for the Broncos to look past this game towards the following week against Tampa Bay. But they better be careful, because it is very possible that Denver could be back at .500 again by the end of the day.

To pull an away game at Kansas City in late September beats the hell out of pulling them at home in December though. Brodie Croyle is still experiencing an extreme trial by fire and there will be some debate over whether Damon Huard should start this game (and at some point in this game, he'll more than likely see action). I mentioned a trial by fire and though there may be a quarterback controversy in KC, there is in fact no doubt over whether or not they still have a great running game.

This is the trouble for Denver, because despite the fact that Denver has, at this point, defended well against the run, this is their real first challenge. Between Larry Johnson trying to prove that he's still one of the best and Kolby Smith relieving him Denver's in for trouble. Dwayne Bowie's ambition is also out to prove against Champ Bailey and company that he's the NFL's next Marvin Harrison.

Denver will take it's dents in this game on defense, unexpectedly, but will continue to shine on offense due to Eddie Royal's great returns. Easy field position pairs with Jay Cutler's new stable of exciting wide receiver's has fans searching the internet looking for how early they can vote for the Pro Bowl.

Denver ends the game looking like a legit threat in the NFL. Broncos roll to 3-1.

2008 Game by Game Preview: Week 1 Oakland, Week 2 San Diego

With the NFL Preseason less than a month away we here at Broncos Denver Broncos will be previewing the entire season ahead, two games at a time. This is all in fun, but in reality it will be our best effort at predicting how the 2008 season will actually shape up for the Broncos. It should be fun to look back in January or February and laugh...

So here goes any credibility that we have, hope that you enjoy and feel free to add, subtract or crack my orange tinted glasses in half. Just do it in the comment section:

Week 1 (Mon. September 8th, 2008)
at Oakland.

The trash talk started as soon as Javon Walker put his name on the dotted line of that contract. Further establishing that Al Davis is in fact senile and bent on getting his digs in at Mike Shanahan and Pat Bowlen every opportunity he gets. Even new middle linebacker Niko Koutouvides got in on the action, back in June...

Plenty of rivalry, not to mention that at this point the "Raider Week," has been in full affect for a good month now.

The last time the Broncos saw JaMarcus Russell, they made him look good, not great, but good. He went 4 of 7 for 56 yards. Justin Fargas teed off on Denver though, rushing for 146 yards on a Denver defensive line that was showing improvement (and would weeks later practically shut out Minnesota and Adrian Peterson).

The problem with this game is once again on defense for Denver. The Broncos have gone back to a defensive scheme they are familiar with and a scheme that has been very successful for them. However, who's still around to remember that successful defensive scheme? I count three starters that remember what it was like to shut out a team and stop them from scoring in coach Bob Slowik's familiar system.

Not having enough veterans proves to be detrimental enough as Denver experiences problems keeping Oakland off the field and constantly giving their own defense bad field position on poor punts. Shanahan's famous premeditated 25 plays will give Denver a halftime lead though. However, Jay Cutler and company can only play catch up, trailing almost immediately after halftime.

Denver embarrasses itself in front of everyone on Monday Night Football, making Russell look like he deserved to be a number one pick and creating rookie of the year talk for Darren McFadden. Lane Kiffin gets to keep his job for one more week, as the need for him to win turns out to be more than the Broncos can deal with. Denver goes 0-2 (in the last two games) to Oakland and 0-1 on the season.

Week 2 (Sun. September 14th, 2008)
vs. San Diego

The thing about losing week one, especially to Oakland is that Denver will come on focused. Things normally turn out pretty decent for Denver when they lose to a bad team in the first week. The unfortunate thing, for the Chargers, is that they happen to be who's next up. No love lost at all as ESPN and crew probably interview Philip Rivers at some point in the week, to discuss bad blood between him and Cutler and play it during their morning show.

Coming off the week one loss in Oakland, we see Eddie Royal ignite a fire in Denver off of an opening kickoff return, running deep into San Diego territory. Selvin Young, dents the impenetrable Chargers defense over several carries, before Cutler hits tight end Tony Scheffler in the near corner of the end zone.

Rivers is immediately unable to pass, witnessing Bronco blitzing schemes that never had the opportunity to surface in Oakland. With his biggest target Antonio Gates, being covered by Boss Bailey (who shut down both Gates and Tony Gonzalez last season), completely taken out of the game. San Diego must maintain the rush, however the Broncos are prepared to stop the forced rush and we get to see something that we haven't seen in a while. Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson ineffective against the Denver defense. Champ Bailey makes Rivers' day extra miserable, picking up his first interception of the season and quietly walking back to the sideline.

Meanwhile, on offense, Denver coasts, being able to run the ball (by committee even) at will against San Diego. Cutler beats the San Diego defense over the top constantly by consistent tosses to Scheffler, Brandon Stokley and Darrell Jackson. It'll be the third quarter before Brandon Marshall will be able to shine, as revenge tour 2008 kicks into high gear and Denver handles the Chargers easily at home. Destroying Chargers hopes for grandeur early in the season, yet only adding fueling to an angry giant.

Going into week three Denver's rushing game is once again the talk of the NFL, as their defense is still too risky to publicize. Denver is 1-1.