Seeking Your Approval

It seems like it was only yesterday…

The weather was nice.

Now we have a bit of snow with more on the way, and the vaginas of the MLB can’t play catch.

Ryan Clady had a flowing head of dreads, the envy of Richard Seymour and many of the other defensive ends of the NFL.

Now he does not (Ryan shared this pic with those of us lucky enough to call him a “friend” on Facebook, and I hope he doesn’t come out to Golden to rip my arms off for sharing it).

And way back when, the Week 4 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys was meant  to serve as the justification for what the Denver Broncos  are and could be.

Now, it’s just another log on a fire no one can see, smell, or feel.

(We should have known this, huh? They are coached by Wade Phillips. Kind of like putting OJ in charge of the knife-sharpening… hard to imagine it turns out well.)

So… while the Broncos stand at 4-0  the voices of optimistic support that recognize their work thus far can’t be found. Tony Kornheiser, the former voice of the common man on Monday Night Football and the current voice of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption (not to mention his Washington DC radio show, one of several I throw on the pod each morning), refuses to buy in. Ron “Jaws” Jaworski, the analytical voice of the ESPN Monday Night Football booth, doesn’t buy in. Dan Patrick, host of the greatest sports radio show on the planet, doesn’t buy in. Jim Rome, the most popular name in the sport radio biz, doesn’t buy in. Scott Van Pelt, Cousin Sal (Simmons is on this one as well, but he’s a believer), Merrill Hoge, Dan Marino, Mike Tirico, Jason Whitlock, Bob Ryan, Dan LeBetard, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (I’m not going to mention Francesa… I respect his work, but he’s an asshole), Dan Fouts, Cris Collinsworth, Rodney Harrison, Brian Billick (one of my least favorite people on the planet), Jamie Dukes, Ryen Russillo, Deion Sanders, Tony Dungy, Colin Cowherd (I keep missing Gottlieb, another Stable favorite), Erik Kuselias, Tom Waddle (one of my childhood heroes), Rod Woodson, Terry Bradshaw, and many, many more have openly stated their lack of desire to buy in.

The win over Dallas was supposed to shut all of those folks up, at least in their attempts to voice dissent against the rise of the mighty Denver Broncos. That didn’t work. This week’s battle with New England Patriots is now tabbed as the game to settle the score. It doesn’t seem fair but that’s life in the NFL.

Let’s run through the headlines and links of that life, including some news and notes on the Broncos, before we launch in the weekly Stable preview.

(I love these, but I’m not a big fan of watching Tom Brady run off 25-yard rips on the ground. You always got the first down in Tecmo coming around the corner. I would be ecstatic to see Eddie get a TD. Yeah, when you get down to it, I like this preview… and if you tell me we get to the final minute and Orton has a chance to win the game, I’ll take that.)

D.J. is starting to get a ton of pub, including this from Bill Williamson at ESPN. Bill also took an early look at the race between Cutler and Orton.

Sounds like the Pats will be getting their own defensive stud back for the week, that being Mr. Jerod Mayo. They will be without Fred Taylor, who may be looking at the end of a solid career.

The locals are giving Brandon Marshall the Josh McDaniels treatment. It’s becoming cliché but it is true: winning cures all evils. The league was quick to jump on the wagon as well.

The Niners won’t be seeing their newly-acquired offensive weapon on the field this week but the drama surrounding Michael Crabtree and the speculation that his agent, Eugene Parker, and the Jets engaged in conduct that would easily be defined as tampering by the NFL, not to mention the adjoining rumors that the league may be trying to squash this, is much more intriguing than his pending arrival on the field. If you are into conspiracy theories this story will wet your whistle… and to be honest, as much as I hate to admit it, it makes sense.

The Broncos spent some time getting accustomed to the snow and cold that plagued our region this week… only to find the updated forecast calls for sun and temps in the mid-40s at game time.

Moment of honesty. It’s 1:22am as I type this and I’m watching the DVR rerun of today’s Auburn/Arkansas matchup…

… with personal motivation. With Boise State on the bye I turned my fantasy squad over to a kid I feel may be one of the more underrated prospects working i the college ranks today.

I managed to avoid the box scores and I’m watching to see what my man Mallet can do. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s starting to sound like the Denver defense could be in position to put a disappointing experiment to an end this weekend.

Personally, I’m hoping to see our own experiment go on a rampage, named as the AFC Rookie Player of the Week.

Not that we want to look too far ahead, but this headline could prove worrisome for the Broncos in a couple of weeks.

Elvis continues to advance his brand on the league…

… and we couldn’t be happier. This week will offer the best challenge he has seen to date as the Pats bring more than a few capable of blocking and forcing Dumervil to slow progress into the pocket. But with the way he’s been playing, he could flip that coin.

The Cowboys… not only did they take it on the chin here in the Mile High last week, but the NFL came knocking and asking for checks following defeat.

Unfortunately they also came knocking for Ryan Clady. On a more positive note, Williamson noted the intrigue of Clady’s streak in running the left side without falter as one of his highlight targets for viewing pleasure this week. “Denver left tackle Ryan Clady has been an amazing pro. The No. 12 overall draft pick in 2008 has not allowed a sack in his 20-game NFL career. It is the longest streak for a player to start his career since the NFL started tracking sacks allowed in 1994. Clady’s streak is the longest current streak in the NFL and the ninth longest in NFL history. The Boise State product has shut down many of the league’s sack stars and now he risks his streak against the Patriots.”

The folks at Yahoo believe the Broncos have one of the toughest roads to travel in hopes of finding the NFL playoffs.

They also believe, like the Stable, that one man in particular is transforming the emotion in Denver to one of defense…

… a topic we discussed at length during my appearance on Fanball’s Fantasy Buffet webcast on Friday.

We go all the way to Washington DC to learn Brandon Stokley thinks very, VERY highly of Kyle Orton (and who can blame them in DC… I wouldn’t want to talk Redskin football either).

Stokley and others also offered thoughts on this week’s opponent to the Dove Valley crew.

The boys at the Bleacher Report are anxious to see the battle of David and Goliath… they just aren’t sure which is which.

Not that we expected any differently, but Correll Buckhalter has been ruled out for this week’s battle.

We’ve also learned the Pats have left receiver Joey Galloway at home. He hasn’t provided much help from Brady thus far but the move is one of curiosity nonetheless.

This week’s version of my feature on the mothership, 5 Questions Owners Aren’t Asking.

Just to help you prepare for the shock of it all, the Broncos won’t be donning the orange and blue this week, instead opting to support the league’s merchandising campaign focused on throwback apparel.

Instead, its yellow and brown this week. Glorious.

Which brings us, as always, to the business at hand.

The Broncos welcome the New England Patriots into the Mile High, and while many will be focusing on the obvious intrigue of Belichick versus McDaniels, we prefer to focus on the battle we expect to see on the field.

And as always, we have three goals that would summarize a successful approach for the Broncos in this, their most worthy challenge yet.

1) Take what they give.

The Jets struggled to relate to the gifts the Patriots were offering on defense and they used Brandon Meriweather, one of the best young safeties in the game, to make ‘em pay. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez likes to work the ball down the field (thus the foolish decision to trade for Braylon Edwards) and found a few hits of success with Jerricho Cotchery (averged 21.8 yards per catch in that game), but he failed to find the endzone and the Pats made ’em pay by putting pressure on the pocket and causing fumbles. The approach lulled the Jets away from a rushing attack that was working well (4.1 yards per carry for Leon Washington, who should have had more than 14 carries) while the New York defense pulled the win despite those downfalls, holding Brady to just 216 yards with no touchdowns and one interception (53.1 QB rating).

The Ravens took a similar approach but recognized more of their potential on offense, moving the chains both with the pass and the run (264 yards on the day for Flacco, 6.8 yards per carry on the ground). However, (a) they held the New England rushers to minimal gains in terms of yards (2.8 per carry, 85 on the game) but they gave it up in the most crucial of moments with Sammy Morris and Brady both rushing for red-zone touchdowns, and (b) they gave up one big play too many, letting Brady and Moss hook it late in the game to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

In both cases the Pats were in perfect position to take the loss, but the Mastermind formulated a plan that kept the game close while pulling the opposition away from an offensive formula that was working. Those teams failed to seize scoring opportunities, they failed to hold up on defense, and every team but the Jets (who won the game with defense… much like the Broncos have done thus far) has suffered as a result.

The Broncos need to stay dedicated to the run, they need take advantage of the areas where Brandon Meriweather can’t be found (that means getting Eddie Royal involved), and they need to score touchdowns when they get in the red zone (not field goals).

2) Discipline

In the 25-24 win over Buffalo, the Bills committed nine turnovers for 71 yards (versus six for 55 for the Patriots). In the 26-10 home win over Atlanta the Falcons committed seven penalties for 54 yards versus just two for 10 for the Pats. In the tight 27-21 win over Baltimore the Ravens gave the Pats 85 yards on nine total penalties while the Pats matched with just five for 41.

In their one loss the Patriots lost that battle, suffering 11 miscues for 89 versus eight flags for 55 for the Jets.

This isn’t rocket science. You can’t give the Patriots free gifts, renewed drives, or free plays to experiment.

Six penalties for the Broncos versus four for the Bengals nearly cost Denver one win. They nearly let Dallas back in the game last week with the same struggles, suffering 10 penalties for 81 yards versus seven for 70 for the ‘Boys.

Fail to correct those mistakes this week and the Pats will take full advantage.

3) Minimize the work of Wes Welker and Ben Watson.

As I noted on the Fantasy Buffet podcast linked above, this will be the first team the Broncos have seen this season with a potent mix of (a) a capable quarterback, (b) a worthy offensive line, (c) strong receivers proven in their ability to make plays, and (d) an offensively-gifted tight end that knows how to eat up yards after the catch.

The tight end was a noteworthy source of frustration for the Denver defense in the preseason. Vernon Davis still stands in memory as the linebackers (namely Andra Davis) struggled to make the decision between dropping into coverage to shadow those targets and rushing the passer. The Broncos have yet to see a team with a commodity like Watson, a potent short-range target working in vacant space offered by the typical 3-4 defense.

To make matters worse, it sounds like the Pats are getting Wes Welker back this week as well, another target earning a living in those same work spaces. His return will put pressure on Andre Goodmen and any other defender tasked with putting coverage on Welker, but putting Watson out as a target puts additional work on the linebackers and/or Brian Dawkins. They need to step up, to recognize his advances as a receiver, and to get him covered.

If the Broncos can force those targets to other parts of the field, it will work to their advantage.

You can count the number of folks in the industry giving Denver a shot today on one hand… and you can add the Stable to that list.

For all of the questions surrounding Denver and the validity of their resume thus far, I fail to see how the Pats register as such an overwhelming favorite without some of the same concerns. They had to fight and claw to beat a horrendous Buffalo squad by one point. The loss in Week 2 after they managed just nine points of offense against the Jets. Last week they struggled to put Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens to bed by giving up 6.8 yards per carry on the ground while the Dirty Birds kept the chains moving with short-range targets to guys (Derrick Mason and Ray Rice) capable of finding yards after the catch.

They have yet to score more than 27 points in a single game…. it’s not like they are en fuego.

The best back they can put on the field has 78 yards rushing through four games.

Randy Moss has been solid versus vulnerable backfields (141 yards against Buffalo, 116 versus Atlanta) and quiet versus the others (24 yards versus the Jets), 50 versus Baltimore)… and he has just one touchdown to show for his efforts.

I believe the Patriots are overrated. I believe Tom Brady is not nearly as comfortable as you may believe. I believe their strengths on defense fail to address the power Denver will feature on offense.

I believe the Denver defense is underrated (that’s right, I said it) and Brady will once again struggle to find comfort. I believe our coach is underrated. I believe our strengths on defense match up rather well with the strengths New England will feature on offense.

Give me the Broncos… and while the scores may go a bit higher than the games we’ve witnessed thus far, it will be ugly once again.

And let’s be honest. We can deal with winning ugly.

It’s still winning. Maybe the folks that keep second guessing should keep that in mind when they pick against us again next week.

(BTW, nice day for my boy Mallet, and with Noel Devine and Freddie Barnes treating me well… the weekend already has a nice feel.)

Thanks for stopping in.

Tags: Andra Davis, Ben Watson, Bob Ryan, Brandon Marshall, Brandon Meriweather, Brian Billick, Brian Dawkins, Champ Bailey, Chris Russo, Colin Cowherd, Correll Buckhalter, Cousin Sal, Cris Collinsworth, Dallas Cowboys, Dan Fouts, Dan LeBetard, Dan Marino, Dan Patrick, Deion Sanders, Denver Broncos, DJ Williams, Doug Gottlieb, Eddie Royal, Erik Kuselias, Fred Taylor, Jamie Dukes, Jason Whitlock, Jerod Mayo, Jim Rome, Kevin Faulk, Knowshon Moreno, Kyle Orton, Merrill Hoge, Mike Tirico, New England Patriots, Randy Moss, Richard Seymour, Rod Woodson, Rodney Harrison, Ron Jawoski, Ryan Clady, Ryen Russillo, Sammy Morris, Scott Van Pelt, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady, Tom Waddle, Tony Dungy, Tony Kornheiser, Wes Welker