Strategic Rooting

[CEH]

Oak needs to lose to a common opponent that Denver beat . Houston would have been perfect.

 

[CEH]

#1 in pass Defense and our defense has faced a top 10 QB 7 out of 10 games.
We need to get our run defense in order and Denver should start to roll on defense with turnovers galore.

 

[cdumler7]

Oak needs to lose to a common opponent that Denver beat . Houston would have been perfect.

Hopefully Carolina can finish what Houston should have been able to accomplish. There is a chance. Oakland coming off an emotional win on Monday night with quite a bit of travel and I would say a very hard hitting game against Houston to now play the Panthers who played last Thursday and have had 10 days to prepare for this one. They will be without Kuechley which is why I give the Raiders a huge edge in this one but wouldn't surprise me to see the Raiders play flat. Maybe Carolina can give us a very nice gift as we then go and dismantle the Chiefs.

 

[Mingo]

Strangely - I find myself a Panther fan this weekend. Go Broncos (and Panthers)!

 

[CEH]

Cam is terrible
Has an MVP fallen so far so fast
Maybe next year he
iNt for a pick 6

 

[iknowftbll]

^ Yeah, I watched a few snaps of that game and the Panthers can't get out of their own way. The Raiders defense is playing better for sure though.

 

[iknowftbll]

^ Yeah, I watched a few snaps of that game and the Panthers can't get out of their own way. The Raiders defense is playing better for sure though.

Haha, and now the Panthers just took the lead.

 

[Dr Cyanide 28]

Wow. way to fucking go jets and panthers. both had a chance. both gonna blow it. fuck

 

[iknowftbll]

Wow. way to fucking go jets and panthers. both had a chance. both gonna blow it. fuck

The Panthers started chasing points and that often leads to problems. Down 24-13 they score on a deep TD a few minutes into the 3rd and subsequently go for 2 to make it 24-21. The try fails and on the turnover they score another TD, which would have made it 27-24. Instead, after another failed 2 point try the score remains 25-24. Then they go up 32-24, a lead that easily could have been 34-24. This would be a tie game right now and instead they trail by 3 in the closing minute. Teams burn themselves when they chase points. Never go for 2 until you need to!

 

[Dr Cyanide 28]

doesn't matter anymore. we fighting for wildcard that's it

 

[nflbronco]

doesn't matter anymore. we fighting for wildcard that's it

draft position this loss might keep us home.

 

[CEH]

Did you see the Bears WR drop a wide open TD on 3rd and goal down by 6 with 20 seconds left against TENN.

I think I'm done hoping for help. Can't count on the bad teams to help out because they are bad for a reason.

 

[58crash]

We need to win out simple as that .. if not we are probably done for the year ..

 

[Mingo]

This is getting much simpler - everyone else needs to lose to any team with a worse record than them and the Broncos have to win out.

 

[iknowftbll]

The right combination of wins and losses down the stretch and the Broncos make the playoffs at 10-6. That involves the Dolphins dropping to at least 10-6 as well. And the catch is this: some combinations of both teams finishing 10-6 involve the Dolphins in and the Broncos out. This is because of the various tie breaker possibilities. Of course, looking at the Dolphins schedule it's actually a lot easier to see them reaching 10-6 than the Broncos. And either team reaching 11-5 will likely get them in. I doubt seriously there will be a team as good as 11-5 left out, even in this crowded playoff picture.

 

[iknowftbll]

With the Raiders losing the other night, the Chiefs now have the inside track to winning the AFC West. They have the same record as the Raiders but own the sweep. The Broncos will get another crack at them, but the Chiefs have a 4-0 division record and will finish with a better AFC West record than the Broncos no matter what at this point. This means the Broncos have to win the division outright because a tie breaker favors the Chiefs. With that said, there are some match ups this week that can really give the Broncos the assist they are looking for.

As Broncos fans we should root for...

...the Broncos over the Titans. No brainer. A win puts the Broncos at 9-4 and just a game behind the Raiders and Chiefs but still in significant disadvantage with regard to the tie breaker.

...the Bills over the Steelers. The Bills (6-6) would still be 2 games behind the Broncos with a win (and a Broncos win) while the Steelers would also drop to 7-6 and into a pack of middling teams. While they're still in the running to win their division, a loss makes them less a threat to edge out the Broncos for a WC spot.

...the Patriots over the Ravens. The Patriots are already a lock for a first round bye so a win by them doesn't make the Broncos any worse off. Besides, we don't want the Broncos squaring off with the Patriots with the Patriots coming off a loss. Meanwhile the Ravens are tied with the Steelers and lead the AFC North at 7-5. A loss drops them to 7-6, still leading, but less a threat to steel a WC if the Steelers overtake them.

...the Cardinals over the Dolphins. The Dolphins are 7-5 and nipping at the Broncos heels. While the Cards haven't had the type of season a lot of us expected them to, they are still capable of going into Miami and dealing that team a major blow to its playoff hopes. And doing so would be a nice assist for the Broncos.

...the Texans over the Colts. While this doesn't help the Broncos with WC seeding, it could help with potential playoff match ups. My guess is the winner of the South will be the #4 seed at 9-7 (one of the Ravens or Steelers is likely good enough to reach 10-6 and take the #3 slot). The Broncos would need to move up to the #5 seed to face off with the AFC South winner and this is still a possibility. I'd much rather see the Broncos play the winner of the south than the north, and if that's the case I'd much rather that team be the Texans than the Colts.

 

[iknowftbll]

...the Bills over the Steelers. The Bills (6-6) would still be 2 games behind the Broncos with a win (and a Broncos win) while the Steelers would also drop to 7-6 and into a pack of middling teams. While they're still in the running to win their division, a loss makes them less a threat to edge out the Broncos for a WC spot.

BTW, this one is a double-edged sword because we really don't want the Bills finishing 10-6 either. After playing around with the playoff machine I'm left to believe it may actually be better we go all in on the Steelers winning the North and start rooting against the Ravens. So I'll reverse my pick for this one: It's better for the Broncos if the Steelers win this one.

 

[58crash]

I get it almost impossible but we win out there is still a possibility of winning the west at some point this OL does come together then things look way better .

The First two games the OL was solid . I think Coaches need to look what worked then because after that the OL looked.............

I hope The staff is all hands on Deck working on the OL problem this is were we make or break the season .

 

[58crash]

We have regressed pretty much all season on OL. Strange because usually that is what makes OL better . time ...

 

[iknowftbll]

^ The Broncos actually can still get the #1 seed, but that's such a longshot it's almost not worth discussing. The Broncos pretty much need to win out and need the Chiefs to fall to 11-5 in order to win the division. There are still a couple tie breakers that give the Broncos the advantage should they finish with the same record as the Raiders (assuming one of the wins is that last game against the Raiders).

And I agree: the line does seem to have regressed. The worst part is it's likely going to be a patchwork unit again next year because it's not like they're going to magically just get better plus there will likely be changes again to personnel.