Green Bay Packers vs. Denver Broncos: Second Quarter

Denver defensive coordinator Bob Slowik finally gets it together and the Denver Broncos are able to stop the Packers on 3rd and 16. Packers will punt to Eddie Royal.

Eddie Royal lets his rookie shine and waves off a punt that bounces to the one before the Packers down it. I'd really love to see Royal get a punt return.

Let's see if Denver can do a 99 yard drive.

Jay Cutler yet again guns a pass, incomplete, this time to Tony Scheffler 1-7.

Andre Hall runs up the middle for a gain of two yards. 4rd and 8.

Peyton Hillis! The best hands in the backfield, for the first down, he gets all the way to the 17.

Andre Hall breaks an 18 yard run. Selvin who? He's one player away from going yard.

Next play: Andre Hall again for about seven yards. Mike Shanahan loves to run backs back-to-back.

Selvin Young, yawn, Clifford Russell is wide as Selvin Young gains the three necessary for a first.

Jay Cutler on first from the shot gun, run a draw, Selvin Young takes it for about eight before Charles Woodson attempts to take his head off. Selvin Young runs for two on the next play.

That's the problem with Denver, focused on the first down, not focused on scoring.

Cutler roll and passes to Eddie Royal, Nick Rollins is draped all over him, but there is no passs interference.

Nate Jackson! With an incredible catch for a first down!

Screw Brandon Marshall, Andre Hall is the most dangerous player in Denver. Catching a dump out of the backfield. He goes for 20 to the 17 yard line. Broncos continue to drive off of their 99 yard drive

Hall taken out in favor of Michael Pittman, who gets the two yards the Broncos need for the first down.

Nate Jackson with the touchdown from Jay Cutler!

Matt Prater killed that kickoff, it ended up somewhere near the south standers...

DJ Williams with great coverage! Yet, he gets the pass interference. Yet, it's great to see DJ able to cover a receiver of Donald Driver's ability.

After that horrible play, Brandon Jackson catches a dump off pass, splits Jamie Winborn and Nate Webster and goes forever. Before Hall of Famer Champ Bailey gets him out of bounds.

Jamie Winborn makes up for it on the next play and the Packers still can't run on the Broncos.

No pressure on Aaron Rodgers, Nate Webster wraps up the Packers back on the dump off.

3rd and 6, four men in the box, there's a flag- damnit. I was looking forward to seeing how Denver held them. Off-sides on Green Bay. They're going for it again 3rd and 11. Denver holds! Barely though, Dre Bly missed a tackle on the third-string tight end.

Packers going for it on fourth, quarterback sneak and, Aaron Rodgers gets his second quarter back sneak.

John Engleberger destroys Brandon Jackson on the next play. Nate Webster **** the bed and missed the first tackle. 2nd and 5.

Question marks everywhere... Either Dallas is horrible or Green Bay is really incredibly good. Don't know yet.

When Denver's not rushing, they have four men in the box, the three linebackers way back and they kind of just float there...

Dump pass is swallowed up by Marlon McCree and Kenny Peterson. Fourth down.

Elvis Dumervil hurt a finger, great...

Mason Crosby in for a field goal 10-10.

Two minute offense time, Jay Cutler comes out with 1:41 left on his 20.

Pass play deep to Brandon Marshall and it looks like it's intercepted. However, may have been interference and it is. 1st and 10 on the 48 yard line.

Cutler looks deep TOUCHDOWN BRANDON MARSHALL, same play, same man, defender knocks the ball into Brandon Marshall's hand.

Here's the message to the NFL, give Brandon Marshall on one-on-one coverage and he will destroy you.

Took the Broncos 16 seconds to score, this is Madden '08 type football. I am not kidding, the problem is that Denver only took 16 seconds off, but it gives us a chance to see the number one defense against an urgent offense.

Over the middle, Donald Driver catches one off of Marlon McCree, gave Driver at least 15 yards.

Dump off to Marency, goes for 10. 56 seconds left and two timeouts for the Packers.

Domonique Foxworth yet again shows why he's a number three corner back, letting the Packers catch yet again in front of him, another first and 10.

No pass rush, of course Green Bay gains another 9, Jamie Winborn on the tackle off of the dump off.

This bend but not break defense... I don't know. 14 seconds left and the Packers call a time onut on their own. 34. The tight end hurdles Foxworth on his way to the sideline. Smart attempt, poor execution.

Aaron Rodgers passes deep into the end-zone, but Foxworth blankets Greg Jennings and it goes out of bounds.

Mason Crosby comes in with five seconds left. 13-17 Denver and it's halftime.



There's more! Check out the Broncos Denver Broncos Blog for multiple daily updates.
Want updates on your cell phone? Join us on Twitter and receive updates to your cell phone.

Know Your Opponent: Green Bay Packers

Denver Broncos record vs. Green Bay Packers: Home 4-1 Away 0-4-1, overall 5-5-1.

Connections: The Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers first met each other in 1974 during the preseason at Lambeau Field, the Broncos won 31-21 (the preseason was 6 games back then). The Broncos and Packers, coupled with the New England Patriots are the top three winning teams in the NFL since 1997 (Patriots: 135-73, Packers: 134-74, Broncos: 130-78). Since the NFL incorporated a 16 game season, Denver holds the most season with an undefeated record at home (4), the Packers are tied for second (3) with the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. Broncos are 6-2 in the preseason vs. the Packers and undefeated at home in the preseason.

On Denver's side: Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Bob Slowik came to Denver via Green Bay, where he was the defensive backs coach (2000-2001), assistant head-coach/defensive backs (2002-2003) and defensive coordinator (2004). Denver offensive assistant offensive coach Joe Baker coached the secondary in Green Bay in 2004, where they led the league against the pass. Denver defensive assistant Charlie Jackson also coached with Green Bay in 2006 where he was a defensive assistant/quality control.

Denver safety Marquand Manuel started every game for Green Bay in 2006, totaling a career-high 102 tackles and one interception returned for a touchdown.

History: Most notably Denver defeated Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXII, other than that it seems to be whoever is playing at home historically wins the ball game. With the exception of last season's 82-yard connection courtesy of Brett Favre. Quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler have befriended one another this off-season.

Key contributors: WR- Donald Driver, WR- Greg Jennings, RB- Ryan Grant, OL- Chad Clifton, LB- Nick Barnett, CB- Al Harris, CB- Charles Woodson and S- Atari Bigby.

There's more! Check out the Broncos Denver Broncos Blog for multiple daily updates.
Want updates on your cell phone? Join us on Twitter and receive updates to your cell phone.

TMQ article opens up some old wounds

I might be part to blame, calling that the 2008 Denver Broncos would finish somewhere between 14-2 and 12-4 this season. I predicted nearly every preseason position battles winner (including Marquand Manuel over Hamza Abdullah), I predicted the rise of Jay Cutler and Eddie Royal and I've also predicted that Andre Hall would be the number one back in Denver (okay that one hasn't happened yet, but I've finally got the bandwagon behind me).

An unconscious memory was ripped to the forefront of my brain after reading this afternoon's TMQ Broncos Preview. Dripping in glossy sarcasm ESPN.com Page 2's Greg Easterbrook, points out that amongst other things:

"Bob Slowik is the new guy, and twice already Slowik has been fired after a one-year stint as an NFL defensive coordinator. This makes him an ideal fit for the Denver program."

Ouch, I don't want to point out that once Slowik took over the Broncos defense last season, the running defense specifically bumped up three pegs, from worst in the league to 29th in the league. Granted the Broncos shut down the San Diego Charger's LaDanian Tomlinson in a meaningless game, the same defense shut down Minnesota Viking's Adrian Peterson in a game that would have sent the Vikings into the playoffs.

I'm not here to be a homer or to rebut every point made by TMQ, there are very valid points made in the article. They were valid seven months ago too, but take into account those two games I mentioned in the last paragraph and package them with how Dallas' new one-two-punch did last weekend.

"The Broncos were 7-4 with the inside track to a wild-card berth, quarterbacked by Jake Plummer, a career 41-22 with Denver, and boasting one of the league's top defenses. Then The Ultimate Leader, Mike Shanahan, benched Plummer and sent in rookie signal-caller Jay Cutler. Since that moment, the Broncos are 9-12, their defense has gone Fizzie and even their vaunted rushing game has become mortal, slipping to ninth in 2007."

Need I say more? Jake Plummer was quite a quarterback, but had Denver stuck with Steve DeBerg (another guy who was quite a quarterback) in 1983 John Elway would never have emerged. Plummer had his shot, multiple times in the playoffs and he blew it, multiple times in the playoffs.

It's getting old, fans of Denver are ready to look forward to the upcoming season, why can't the media just let them? Take into account now, not last week, month, year... Right now, that's what matters.

There's more! Check out the Broncos Denver Broncos Blog for multiple daily updates.
Want updates on your cell phone? Join us on Twitter and receive updates to your cell phone.

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.

Links!

Hi everyone, sorry about the lack of content today (not that there's a lack of news), what with News organizations still reporting the hardcore facts about Brandon Marshall's traffic ticket (from three days ago). As you know from below Denver's started to actually sign draft picks that the team made in April, which is nothing but great news, because if we weren't going to sign them then we should have just traded those picks away and got someone like Eagles cornerback Lito Shepard or maybe we could have packaged this year's first, second and third along with next year's second for Devin Hester...

OKAY, I've been spending entirely too much time on the message boards today. Can't wait for Madden and I can make some of these things happen (I'm such a better GM than Shanahan). Seriously though, I did write a little bit today.

Bronco Madness was nice enough to give me a guest blog spot, so what did I do? I guest blogged, you can check out, "Life without Brandon Marshall?" I present the very likely situation that Brandon Marshall may not be able to suit for a couple games this season. Send Bronco Madness some love and check it out.

Here's a paragraph:

"...Marshall emerged last season, not just as Jay Cutler’s “go to” guy (I’ll still argue that’s Tony Scheffler anyway), he came out of the woodwork and had fans in awe saying things like, “My God, they can’t tackle him!” Didn’t even need a deep bomb with him, give him the ball three yards off the line of scrimmage, he may run for 70 yards to gain 15, but we knew he would get that 15…"

Now onto some more links (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!):

• Jay Cutler, "Bus [Brett Favre's agent] is from Mississippi. I can't understand half the things he says anyway." Some Packer's site interviews both Cutler and John Elway, who are at the same event and only grills them about Brett Favre. Thanks guys, I'll be sure to return the favor. When I see Brett on Saturday I'm only going to ask him about how hot Cameron Diaz is in real life!
• Speaking of John Elway, he has been named recipient of the Brodie Award, recognizing an individual’s accomplishments in both a chosen profession and in the sport of golf.
• Legworld curses Ryan Clady, Eddie Royal and the other Broncos' draft picks by saying they're, "Playing by the book." They haven't been signed yet, nor have they spent too much time with Brandon Marshall, what are they going to ball out on their parents credit cards? I think this might actually be the reason Denver waits so long to sign them...
• Some douche at The Bleacher Report says that the "Chargers will go 16-0," I really shouldn't even have linked to that. He also says Denver will go 9-7 and miss the playoffs. However, if you look at his whole AFC Breakdown Denver would make the playoffs based on their 9-7. I'm loving ripping these guys today. (Sorry).
• Want to see Day One of the Broncos Cheerleaders photos? Me either.
• Rasizer (who writes for Rocky Mountain News as well) also says the Broncos will go 9-7, but doesn't really say why. In other news, Rasizer will be voting for Truman in the upcoming election, in November.
• Highlights from Ryan Torain at the 2008 NFL Combine.
• NBC Sports thinks that the Broncos, "are expecting low-level free agent signings to solve their shortcomings defending the run." Personally, I'm expecting Bob Slowik himself to solve our shortcomings defending the run.
• Bronco Madness is handing out Broncos Blogger Awards! Vote for us for Rookie of the Year! (I don't actually think they allow voting, we'll see).
• BroncoTalk breaks down rookie kicker Garrett Hartley. (We actually appreciate it, because we can barely find information on the guy, yet for some reason, I feel like he may win out the position battle.)
• UPDATE: armchairgm.com says that New England will lose to Denver (and maybe San Diego), because Shanahan, "has had Bill Belichick’s [number] these past couple years and they have the combination of a strong running game and a talented defense that gives the Patriots fits." A humble Pat's fan? Really?
  

That's what I've got folks, see you later today.

Links!

It's the rut, what is it two more weeks until training camp? Who will win out at middle linebacker? Who's going to be the second wide receiver on the depth chart? How will Bob Slowik's defense shape up? Will Selvin Young keep the starting job throughout the preseason or are we going to see Michael Pittman, Andre Hall or Ryan Torain starting against Oakland? Are we going to see the youngins- Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Marcus Thomas, Selvin Young, Tony Scheffler and Jarvis Moss step into the players we're all sure that they can be (some have already made significant movements in the right direction). Is Eddie Royal the next Devin Hester? Or should we have drafted DeSean Jackson?

The journey to knowing is sure to be a fun one. Here's some things I've stumbled upon this morning, hope everyone had a great Independence Day and for our Canadian and Mexican readers, hope that you had a wonderful weekend.

Okay, first up, I stumbled on this site, thanks to Josh Temple at BroncoTalk. The blog Orange Bucksnorts features a column called "Cream of the Crop" which takes the best of message board posts, comments from articles at the Denver Post and wherever else fans or players may be quoted or writing, and displays them along with commentary.

Here's a beautiful example and I agree with Hercules, it may be one of the best things I've ever read, ever. It's to the Denver Post's Woody Paige:

Dears Woodrow Tiberius Grandfather Woodchuck,

First quest, can I has Jay Cutler autograph? He hard to get from east coast.

Second, before Bronco draft in makey chat Denver Post you say Bronco not high on Clady. Then Bronco pick Clady. Why Bronco not high on Clady? Was they makey wrong choice before draft to makey other team think not choice? I watch youtoob and clady pan cake guy to ground hard then fall on guy as get up. Fall on guy as get up! Like ton of brick house! Mean spirit guy we need guy this makey all the plays.

Three, sorry guy in first quest. Secon rushmore Chanp Baily. Three rushmore Steve Atwater cause megaton Okoye hit on monday night, call see play before happen, I dont care what guys say he there cause that. Four is reserve Jay Cutsler and is megaton propeller arm fully upgrade diabetes checked Elway cross return to stomach of receives.

Thank you Grandfather Woodchuck. Mighty Bronco wisdom man. May no disease toad rain on family area abode.

Horvil Tiki

I died a little laughing so hard, you can visit the blog here. Horvil, whoever you are, you have a spot on our site whenever you'd like.

Some links:

• Jay Cutler injures Golfer Jay Hass at a wedding, while throwing him a pass. He was also a groomsman at the wedding for his old backup QB.(We're digging deep here folks, did I mention it's not preseason yet?)
• The International Herald Tribune reports Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field at Mile High.
• Spencer Larsen played fullback for a couple weeks, but says he'll probably stay at linebacker. (I think we all knew that, but it was posted).
• Under owner Pat Bowlen, the Broncos have averaged 10.471 victories per season over 24 years.
• Kissing Suzy Kolber reviewed Stefan Fastis' new book and it's hilarious (and tons of quotes you'll never get from the Broncos on any official websites).
  

And that's that, this week, we've got Sam previewing the 2009 draft for Denver and I'll be breaking down the season ahead. Of course we'll keep you up-to-date if any news breaks (such as the signing of any draft picks), I'll also be guest blogging over at Bronco Madness with Garret and the guys, so check them out. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something soon to those great guys at BroncoTalk as well.

Oh and Hercules (Orange Bucksnorts), you've got a new fan.

Champ Bailey: In His Own Words

"Well, one thing about being on a bad defense, everybody looks bad," Champ Bailey said. "No matter how great you are, if we don't cover in the secondary, the front four is not going to get sacks, and if they don't get sacks - get pressure - we're not going to get any picks.

"It all goes hand in hand. And we didn't get our hands on enough of any of it [last season].

"I think we were just confused," Bailey said. "We were just so inconsistent. At times, we'd see good stuff, do some good things and all of a sudden, we'd look like the worst team in the NFL. You know you can't win games like that.

"We were so successful before last year. We're kind of going back to that. . . . Things are not as complicated, we know what our responsibilities are and it's really helped us. We can concentrate on execution instead of just thinking about where we're supposed to be.

"So, yeah, I know people pick and choose when to challenge me, but that was true in [2006] and I still had 10 picks, and it was true [in 2005]," Bailey said. "So I try to figure out what the problems were. I can't say I have full responsibility for what happened, but at the same time, I don't like to point fingers at anybody and I need to do what I can to make it better.

"And I know I can do better. I mean, I had three picks [in 2007]; I have to make a lot more plays than that."

"It's special to see [Boss Bailey] every day, to do things together again, all the time, like we've been doing our whole lives until we got to the NFL," Champ Bailey said. "I just feel like it can all be better this year. Last year, we had so much talent - potential - it was definitely frustrating. Nothing we did seemed to pan out for us as far as winning games.

"Hopefully, we change that."

It's a good time to be a Denver Broncos fan, it's not often (if ever) that we get to see two potential first ballot Hall of Famers in Champ Bailey and John Lynch every Sunday during the football season. Just as special may be the renaissance, of the brothers Bailey, we see when Champ lines up once again with his brother Boss this season.

Is it Sunday yet?

thanks: RMN