No Good Thing Ever Dies

“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
- Andy Dufresne, Shawshank Redemption

Isn’t it nice to have hope back in Denver?

The Rockies are back in the MLB playoffs and Rick Reilly will be giving the capital dome a tongue bath. The Avs are back at work and that’s more than enough to put a smile on any hockey face. The Nuggets are working out, they have a bunch of fresh, young faces on the scene, and like every other team in the NBA, they are undefeated.

And the Broncos…

… they’re standing at 4-0, one of five undefeated teams left in the league, and hope has been reborn.

Not that we don’t have detractors. The bulk of the world reflects on the teams the Broncos have dispatched – tallied at a combined record of 6-10 through four weeks – and question if a true test has been met.

We prefer to note some other numbers, namely 79-26. The first represents the number of points scored by your Denver Broncos, the second represents the number of points they have allowed.

At this time last season the Broncos were at 3-1, but the other numbers weren’t nearly as attractive. They had garnered 133 points on offense (they are down 40% on those returns thus far this season)… but they had also allowed 117.

22%

The Broncos have yet to surrender 1/4 of the points they had allowed at this point last season, and that is, without question, the most immediate and undeniable difference between the Josh McDaniels version of the Denver Broncos versus the same model driven by Mike Shanahan. In their first three games of the season the Cowboys had scored a combined total of 86 points (28.7 per game), including 31 against a formidable New York Giants defense in Week 2 followed by a respectable 21 points against Carolina in Week 3. In Week 4 they failed to get a whiff of that same offensive production.

And a third of those points were scored on a 49-yard boot by kicker Nick Folk. All 10 of those points were scored in the first quarter. The field goal came after a 38-yard drive followed by the touchdown dive by Marion Barber after a 61-yard drive. The rest of the Dallas possessions resulted in drives of the following lengths with the noted results: 5 (fumble), 14 (punt), 25 (end of the half), 10 (interception), 14 (punt), 3 (punt), 9 (punt), 20 (punt), 78 (downs).

To be fair, only five of the 24 combined possessions resulted in points on the board. It wasn’t an offensive clinic by any stretch of the imagination, but that’s what the Broncos wanted. We noted three keys to the game on Sunday morning that, we felt, would result in a Denver win.

1) Elvis Dumervil needs to take advantage of Flozell Adams.

With two sacks and two additional hits on the quarterback, I’d say he came through in a major way.

2) Ryan Clady needs to be Ryan Clady.

DeMarcus Ware’s box score for the game: four tackles (two solo), no sacks, no quarterback hits, no tackles for a loss. It’s safe to say Clady came through (though, in the interest of honesty, Kyle Orton did absorb three sacks and four hits while Clady found a tripping penalty, though it failed to hurt the team on a 2nd and long).

3) Knowshon needs to make the leap.

With 14 carries for 65 yards he failed to make good on our hopes and desires, but at 4.6 yards per carry (as well as two catches for 11 yards with a touchdown, the first of his professional career) laced with 6.2 yards per carry for Correll Buckhalter, it is safe to suggest the rushing offense got the job done.

Yet there is no question where the Broncos’ bread is being buttered. As we stand today the locals are ranked 3rd in the NFL in total defense, surrendering just 239.8 total yards per game. In terms of scoring they rank at the top of the heap, holding the opposition to 6.5 points per game. They are holding teams to just 163 passing yards per game (4th in the NFL) while opposing quarterbacks are averaging a QB rating of 56.0 (2nd). They are equally impressive against the run, ranked 6th in the land with 77.3 average rushing yards surrendered per game (3.2 yards/carry).

Other notes of interest…

Kyle Orton has yet to throw an interception. We mentioned this last week and failed to jinx the cause, so we’ll roll it out there again. And get this… Orton now stands at 17-2 in home games as a starting QB. We’ve been vocal in support of consideration for Tom Brandstater and we still wonder what he might bring to the table down the road, but the time has come to give Orton his due. He’s not exciting, he’s not explosive, but he keeps winning football games.

DJ Williams was the star of the show but the players added by McDaniels and Mike Nolan, namely Andra Davis and Brian Dawkins, continue to bolster the effort. Davis now trails DJ in total tackles by one (31 for DJ, 30 for Andra), both guys have a sack, but Davis leads the way with four tackles for a loss of yards (versus just one, the sack, for DJ). Dawkins is less than a handful of tackles behind them both.

And Champ is being honored as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Brandon Marshall and Josh McDaniels… hugged. It was surreal, but if you watched the game you noted a brief hug following the winning touchdown run by Marshall (a PHENOMINAL play by the powerhouse wideout – if I counted correctly, Marshall broke two tackles and outran about five more on that run). However, the show to see came after the game as McDaniels stood at the podium to answer questions from the press. Marshall suddenly emerged from the locker room and gave Josh a full-fledged bro hug, and it wasn’t some throw-away, put-on-a-show-for-the-cameras quickie. It almost looked like Marshall was holding back tears, and all Josh could say… “Well, there you go. He’s just one of us.”

Of course, we have the best number available on the board… zero. The Broncos have yet to file a loss and there isn’t a football fan alive that claim anything short of shock with that number. And say what you will the path taken to reach this point. These are NFL teams with NFL players and NFL coaches, and your Denver Broncos continue to prevail.

Which brings us to the road ahead. Whether you believe the Patriots represent the first true test of the inaugural season for Josh and Company, there is one ominous sign that brings a certified level of dread and dismay to the scene…

… we’ll address the Donkeys, the Pats, the news of the week, links, thoughts, Correll Buckhalter’s crutches, Ben Hamilton’s hammy, analysis, commentary, and everything in between later in the week, but until then we leave you with one simple request.

Try not to think about the vaunted SI curse.

Thanks for stopping in.

Tags: Andra Davis, Brandon Marshall, Brian Dawkins, Champ Bailey, Correll Buckhalter, Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Drew Litton, Elvis Dumervil, Knowshon Moreno, Kyle Orton, New England Patriots, Ryan Clady, Shawshank Redemption, Sports Illustrated Curse