Year XXVI covering the NFL & year XXI chronicling the Broncos, now for
@DenverSportsCom
. I rouse less rabble than I once did, but perhaps I should change that?
Today, I had to say goodbye to Rupert, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who epitomized the maxim of a dog as "man's best friend" better than any companion one could imagine. After 11-and-a-half years, his heart gave out just before midday.
Demaryius Thomas made the new Mile High roar louder than anyone ever did.
He took hit after hit and played through pain. He never quit. Even when he was struggling, he found ways to help his team.
Russell Wilson details that the Broncos asked him during the bye week to remove the injury guarantee from his contract, and that if he didn’t, “I’d be benched for the rest of the year.”
Aaron Rodgers was a 3-4-year solution.
Russell Wilson is an 8-to-10-year solution.
Advantage: WILSON
Biggest offseason day for the Broncos since they traded for Peyton Manning.
I’m looking at a Super Bowl 50 ring with my surname on it. I wouldn’t have it without the contributions of many. But few had bigger roles than Demaryius Thomas — particularly on a snowy night against the Pats, when he rebounded from drops with the clutch catch that mattered most.
Togetherness.
If it were up to me, they’d make a statue of this moment and erect it outside of the stadium.
Peyton Manning and Demaryius Thomas went together like peanut butter and jelly. They were the perfect passing pair.
Sean Payton with his Super Bowl pick:
“I’m picking the Eagles. We never want anyone in our division to win anything.”
Wow. This guy gets it. There’s going to be no tip-toeing and offering platitudes to division rivals anymore from the Broncos coach.
ESPN clearly had massive interest in Tony Romo and would have offered bank after CBS's exclusive negotiating window passed. Now comes Plan B or C or D for MNF if they want to change the booth.
Ronnie Hillman led the 2015 Broncos in rushing yardage & TDs. Demaryius Thomas led the team in receiving yardage. In the game that clinched the No. 1 seed they had the opening & closing TDs.
Not even seven years later, both Super season heroes are gone.
Broncos projected first-team defense:
DE Shelby Harris
NT Mike Purcell
DE Dre’Mont Jones
OLB Von Miller
ILB Alexander Johnson
ILB Josey Jewell
OLB Bradley Chubb
CB Kyle Fuller
CB Ronald Darby
SLOT CB Bryce Callahan
FS Justin Simmons
SS Kareem Jackson
That’s a top-5 D.
Garett Bolles’ holding calls, year by year:
2017: One every 1.6 games
2018: One every 1.78 games
2019: One every 1.23 games
2020: One every 3.75 games
2021: One every 2.33 games
2022: One every 1.67 games
2023: ONE EVERY 5.5 GAMES
Bolles is playing the best ball of his career.
Denver big-four sports: A potential Stanley Cup winner, a basketball playoff perennial with a two-time MVP, a football team with a future Hall of Famer at QB, and …
This is the happiest Broncos team
coming off the field I’ve seen since … Super Bowl 50. They are in ecstasy. The music is throbbing in the locker room. We can hear it in the media room.
So, Teddy Bridgewater was indeed a bridge.
Give him a salute, though.
Team captain. Only offensive player to win the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award. Best passer rating and TD-INT ratio of any Broncos full-time starting QB since Peyton Manning’s retirement.
On this day five years ago, the Broncos held on for dear life to defeat the Patriots 20-18 and advance to Super Bowl 50.
The memories are as vivid as if the game happened yesterday. Yet it feels like a lifetime ago.
Kareem Jackson said Sean Payton called him at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“I can’t say exactly the words, but he’s like, ‘We’re rolling; don’t you come in and mess it up.’”
“I don’t like the body language of Drew Lock right now. It’s exuding way too much confidence.”
— Andre Ware, on Texans radio
Obviously, Ware is seeing this from a Texans perspective, but “way too much confidence” is exactly what the Broncos need for a change.
That is the third time a Melvin Gordon fumble has been returned for a touchdown in the last 12 games.
It is his fifth fumble in his last five games dating back to last year.
Doesn’t matter what he can do in pass pro, you cannot play a guy who’s fumbling at such an extreme rate.
The Broncos …
* are 0-3 in OT this year …
* became the first team to not score at least 20 points against the Raiders this season …
* have lost 6 of their last 7 …
* have just 4 TDs in 5 home games …
* have blown 10-point leads in their last two games.
Garett Bolles, on holding Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett without a sack: “Just doing my job, man. That’s all it is. I mean, if I play my game, this team can go as far as we need it to go.”
Now is the time for the Broncos to do what the Seahawks consistently failed to do — or outright ignored: Build the Great Wall of Denver in front of Russell Wilson.
Whatever happens on the scoreboard, happens.
But the Broncos rediscovered their fight & vigor today. Russell Wilson took a pounding and has gotten back up to keep swinging. The special teams had its best day in ages. The offensive game plan was sensible.
A+ job, Jerry Rosburg.
Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
Celebrate this one today,
#BroncosCountry
.
Your Broncos played their best game in ages. They made the champs look like chumps, turning a colossus into stumblebums.
The Broncos were heroes, just for one day.
Broncos 24, Chiefs 9 — FINAL
Cam Newton was unstoppable during his 2015 MVP season
▫️ 3,837 yards
▫️ 35 TD
▫️ 10 INT
▫️ 636 rush yards
▫️ 10 rushing TDs
▫️ 15-1 record
Can he reach his peak again in New England?
@brgridiron
The Broncos finish 5-12. They match a club record for losses in a single season.
But after averaging 15.5 PPG in the Nathaniel Hackett era, they averaged 27.5 PPG in two contests under Jerry Rosburg and with Justin Outten calling plays.
The Rosburg Effect was real.
I was thinking about
@ChrisHarrisJr
’s best moments as a Bronco earlier today, but I forgot this one: The Fourth-Down Stop.
Video posted by
@RyanCBS4
:
On this date in 2004, Broncos fans awoke to some stunning news broken by
@AdamSchefter
— that Denver and Washington were “closing in on a blockbuster deal” that would send Clinton Portis to D.C. and Champ Bailey and a draft pick to the Broncos.
Can’t fumble twice at the goal line.
Can’t get just 6 of a possible 28 points in the red zone.
Can’t commit a dozen penalties.
Can’t dawdle in two-minute with a deficit.
The Broncos’ formula worked again.
They won the turnover battle -- again.
They worked the ground game for a season-high in rushing yards.
And today, they shut down the mighty Myles Garrett, holding him without a sack or even a QB hit.
Five in a row.
DEN 29, CLE 12
Yes, if Kyler Murray is dissatisfied with the Cardinals, the Broncos should inquire about his potential availability via trade. This shouldn’t even be a question.
Denver takes the field with 10 players and takes a delay-of-game penalty, which the Lions decline. Tribute to DT. “DT” chants ring through the stadium.