Week 16 @ Cincinnati

[Broncos6482]

Don't the Patriots have a game this weekend? Why are their fans so worried about what's going on with the Broncos and Manning?

 

[cdumler7]

So my favorite quote of the week came from a Bengals player when asked of why they struggle so much in prime time games...Wallace Gilberry answered "I guess we're scared of the dark."


When I read that one I just couldn't stop laughing.


Alright to the actual game against the Bengals. Some players who have come alive for the Bengals as of late that we need to watch out for...


Carlos Dunlap--In the last 5 games he has had 3 sacks, 7 hits, and 13 quarterback hurries while also having 15 stops in the run game (pretty sure a stop is deemed a run that goes for 2 yards or less).


Jeremy Hill had a career day against the Browns going for 148 yards.


AJ Green is the one down field threat that can have a big game at any point.


Dalton on the other hand is coming out of a 4 game stretch where he just has 4 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. He has also been sacked 6 times in the last 3 games so OL issues have also surfaced.


A very interesting development for the Broncos that is worth noting moving forward is they had Chris Harris shadow Keenan Allen last week. Now the Broncos did the same tactic when we played the Chiefs but that was with Talib sitting out the game. I'm wondering if moving forward if the Broncos are going to start having Harris just shadow #1 receivers. We shall see if that continues this week with him maybe shadowing AJ Green. I would still give him safety help though as Green is a top-5 receiver.


Also very interested to see how our Linebacker core does this week. They were actually quite impressive last week when Marshall went down early in the game. Good news on that front is Marshall is out of a walking boot and said he feels really good. Should be good to go come playoff time for sure if not by the Raiders game. If it were me I would sit him until the playoffs though.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Don't the Patriots have a game this weekend? Why are their fans so worried about what's going on with the Broncos and Manning?

I think they're worried they might lose one of the next couple games. A Denver loss would provide them cushion, should they lose to the Jets. On the other hand, Pats can clinch home field throughout with a win and a Denver loss, so there's some more vested interest in hoping for a Denver loss against the Bengals. Plus, I'm guessing if we do lose to the Bengals, we'll see a lot of NE-ers coming on here to congratulate themselves on getting homefield.

SO, I'd say it's imperative that Denver does it's best to disappoint the NE fans this week

 

[iknowftbll]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet. The Bengals are giving up 124+ yards per game on the ground. That equates to 4.3 rushing yards per play. Dinged up or not, our O-line, Anderson and Thompson have got to be licking their chops.

This will be no means be an easy game, but if the Bengals can't slow down this Broncos new-found run game they are probably in for a long night.

Incidentally their offense is very good at running the ball, but our defense matches up against that much better than their defense against our offense.

The Bengals can win this game, no doubt. But we Broncos fans have a lot of reasons to be confident too. This game is the last in a pretty tough stretch, too. Following three straight road games that concluded with the loss to the Rams, the Broncos went on a 5-game stretch against solid AFC teams in playoff contention. So far they are 4-0 in that stretch. A 5-0 run would be very impressive.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet. The Bengals are giving up 124+ yards per game on the ground. That equates to 4.3 rushing yards per play. Dinged up or not, our O-line, Anderson and Thompson have got to be licking their chops.

This will be no means be an easy game, but if the Bengals can't slow down this Broncos new-found run game they are probably in for a long night.

Incidentally their offense is very good at running the ball, but our defense matches up against that much better than their defense against our offense.

The Bengals can win this game, no doubt. But we Broncos fans have a lot of reasons to be confident too. This game is the last in a pretty tough stretch, too. Following three straight road games that concluded with the loss to the Rams, the Broncos went on a 5-game stretch against solid AFC teams in playoff contention. So far they are 4-0 in that stretch. A 5-0 run would be very impressive.

Definitely think that which team runs better gains an edge. Feel pretty good that Denver is likely that team.

 

[cdumler7]

So pretty much people have been wondering what is wrong with Peyton for the past month (4 games).


Here are his actual stats in that time...Peyton has a 67% completion percentage (5th best in the NFL), 842 yards, 7 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions and a 103.8 quarterback rating. Essentially he has been playing just right below his season average in the past 4 games.


If you were to spread that out over what he was doing earlier in the year of throwing say 45 times a game that would be 30 of 45 passing, 347 yards, and 3 touchdowns a game. He just hasn't had the opportunities that he was before but efficiency wise he is actually still very close to what he was earlier in the season. Just because Peyton isn't putting up Star Wars numbers every week doesn't mean he isn't still being a very effective quarterback.

 

[cdumler7]

Going to be putting a few interesting stats up here as the night goes on as I am "working" right now but have just a few projects to do with nobody to bother me. Anyway in the last 3 regular seasons here are the teams with the best records in December/January...


1) Denver Broncos--11-1
2) Panthers--10-2 (this one surprised me a bit)
3) Colts--10-2
4) Seahawks--10-2
5) Patriots--10-2

 

[WalkerBoh]

I'll be happy when Denver sports the best record in February ;-)

 

[iknowftbll]

I don't know about for you guys, but Mondays where the Broncos play on MNF tend to be the least productive workdays of the year for me. It's all I can think about. I have a feeling I'm not alone.

Go Broncos!

 

[Broncosr0k]

I took off because I plan on being unproductive.

 

[Broncos6482]

I've only got 2 and a half days this week to get 5 days worth of work done, so I have no choice but to be productive!

 

[Broncos6482]

And yet, here I am posting on sportshoopla.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Okay..... I'm a bit disappointed the Jets couldn't manage just one more point against the Patriots. Oh well. Here's to a Bengal-stomping prime-time performance for the Broncos!

 

[randymon]

So pretty much people have been wondering what is wrong with Peyton for the past month (4 games).


Here are his actual stats in that time...Peyton has a 67% completion percentage (5th best in the NFL), 842 yards, 7 touchdowns to only 2 interceptions and a 103.8 quarterback rating. Essentially he has been playing just right below his season average in the past 4 games.


If you were to spread that out over what he was doing earlier in the year of throwing say 45 times a game that would be 30 of 45 passing, 347 yards, and 3 touchdowns a game. He just hasn't had the opportunities that he was before but efficiency wise he is actually still very close to what he was earlier in the season. Just because Peyton isn't putting up Star Wars numbers every week doesn't mean he isn't still being a very effective quarterback.

Not sure about the other guys Cd and his stats can only be attributed to the succsess of the run game being so good now. My concerns were more along the line of his accuracy and velocity of his throws. Just over the last few games he`s fallen short on some very easy short out patterns and he rarely ever does that,at least like he has lately. Also his footwork seems off and he`s back peddling and throwing of his back foot more than I`ve seem him do in past. I figured it was maybe late season fatigue and its also apparent his groin has been troublesome as well. Could be he tweaked it early than reported also. I have no worries though. A 80% healthy Manning is still better than 80% of the Qbs in the NFL

 

[cdumler7]

Not sure about the other guys Cd and his stats can only be attributed to the succsess of the run game being so good now. My concerns were more along the line of his accuracy and velocity of his throws. Just over the last few games he`s fallen short on some very easy short out patterns and he rarely ever does that,at least like he has lately. Also his footwork seems off and he`s back peddling and throwing of his back foot more than I`ve seem him do in past. I figured it was maybe late season fatigue and its also apparent his groin has been troublesome as well. Could be he tweaked it early than reported also. I have no worries though. A 80% healthy Manning is still better than 80% of the Qbs in the NFL

From watching the games a few times here is what I have seen from Peyton...With his neck surgeries he has had to really adapt his throwing. The main thing being most of his power has to come from his lower body. Since we have switched to this more run oriented style of play it has meant him playing more from under center instead of back in the shot gun like he is used to. This means a lot more back pedaling then having to work to step into his throws rather than already being in position and stepping into his throws. So to me this is more of a timing thing of him just having to get used to playing under center and learning better of how to step into his throws. I do think he is banged up a bit and I do think some of the happy feet issues have been because of all the OL issues of the season and him just being a bit nervous behind this group. He does seem though to be getting a little more comfortable. He still had a couple of off throws this past game but I also didn't see the panicked decisions that he had the first couple of games in this system. I think him turning his back to the play while he is back pedaling or doing the play action out of being under center makes him question a little of what he is seeing. That has improved so I expect him to do pretty decent tonight actually even against this great Bengals secondary.

Really for this game I don't care if we win ugly or win in a blow out. I just think this team needs the bye week more than we have the last couple of years. Our team is beat up big time right now with not having had a break since our early bye week. Hopefully we can get that wrapped up this week and maybe even rest a few players next week if need be to get them ready for the playoffs. I would rather not sit Peyton next week though as I don't like the idea of it being 3 weeks in between him throwing a meaningful pass.

 

[cdumler7]

Alright tired of talking about Cutler in the other thread. Time to focus on what actually matters in the Bronco game tonight! Inactives for this game are Ronnie Hillman, Tony Carter, Brandon Marshall, Paul Cornick, Michael Schofield, Dominique Jones, and Quanterus Smith.


Couple of notes on the inactives...Sad to see Hillman still not quite ready to go. Would rather get him a few carries before the playoffs.


Dominique Jones not being active in this one must mean then the other 3 TE's are good to go. Which to me is great news!


Quanterus Smith is another though that surprises me a bit. He hasn't done a ton this year but that leaves us with very few options at edge rusher. Broncos seem to want to go big up front for this one then with the Bengals looking to run it at us.

 

[{+}Mother-Marge{+}]

C'mon Denver,.......give us an early Xmas present and just lay down tonight,.....thanx...!

 

[iknowftbll]

C'mon Denver,.......give us an early Xmas present and just lay down tonight,.....thanx...!

"You smell something, Rabbit?"

"Yeah." *sniffs* "Fear."

 

[Duffman]

I don't care if any of you think I'm too negative or whatever I don't give a fuck but just watching this game it looks like we've gotten worse ever since we've became a more balanced team.

At least when we couldn't run the ball more often than not we could score at will via the passing game. And yes I know we couldn't beat Seattle or NE when they shut down Manning but we sure as hell can't beat with the way our offense is now either.

 

[iknowftbll]

I don't care if any of you think I'm too negative or whatever I don't give a fuck but just watching this game it looks like we've gotten worse ever since we've became a more balanced team.

At least when we couldn't run the ball more often than not we could score at will via the passing game. And yes I know we couldn't beat Seattle or NE when they shut down Manning but we sure as hell can't beat with the way our offense is now either.

Broncos record before: 7-3. After: 4-0. And those 4 came against teams contending for playoff spots. Tonight makes 5 straight against teams who were in the playoff hunt at the time of the contest. It's okay to give a little credit, my friend.