Thrash Football

I’m short on time, short on health, short on patience. 

I’m ditching the Buffets for the week and am strongly considering a Slayer-style death for ‘em all. It takes too much time, I keep hearing the posts are too damn long anyway, ESPN doesn’t NEED me to plug their stuff… they are the Worldwide Leader and wouldn’t piss on me to put me out, and Kyle from BroncoTalk is the only one sending the love back my way regardless (and let’s be honest… I should have been giving Kyle a Buffet of his own all along).

Here’s the Cliffs Notes version: go to BroncoTalk for your daily news fix, read Bill Williamson and ProFootballTalk to back that up (btw, OUTSTANDING note from Mort at the Worldwide Leader this morning you should read there), hit Fanball for all of your fantasy needs, check out the Fanball Sports Network (now available on Facebook) to trip around the league, and come to The Stable to smell the roses in between.

Time’s wasting…

Three Hits for the Glass-is-Half-Empty Portion of the Gallery

1) JaMarcus Russell will not play in this game barring miracle.At least a miracle for Denver… just watch…

… the dumbass can’t even talk. I’m not going to waste my time or yours on this offense. Their two best players (guard Robert Gallery and quarterback Bruce Gradkowski) are out. The only way things could be better for the Denver defense would be a start for JaMarcus. The only way they could be better would be with Gradkowski behind center… give the guy credit. This team played for him, posting two surprising wins over Cincy and Pittsburgh. Those are the notes Oakland fans would bring as the definitive positive on their menu.

(And they would ignore the trouncing they earned against Dallas in between.)

I’m not going to get carried away… the four wins Oakland has on the season have come by a combined 13 points. I sincerely doubt they could match that number on the scoreboard in total today… but at least they aren’t going to trot JaMarcus out there to insure all hope is lost.

At this point I would think the turds from the Black Hole would be hoping JaMarcus comes back in just for the comedic value of it all.

2) The Oakland defense is health.Mike Huff was the only true question mark coming into this game for the Oakland defense and he appears to be good to go, having practiced in full on Friday, and believe it or not… this could be a problem.

 If there is any dream of competitive edge for the ‘Ders in this game it is on defense. Defensive end Richard Seymour found a bit of success in Week 3 against this Denver offensive line (of course, he was motivated to show New England they had ‘effed up in that one… that was a long time ago). Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison are two of the more underrated linebackers in the league. If you don’t know Huff and Nnamdi Asomugha yet then you simply don’t follow the NFL as you should.

This crew held the Denver offense to just 157 passing yards in Week 3 while the Broncos found their gains on the ground with 215 rushing yards. This time around the Broncos will be without Correll Buckhalter who needed just 14 carries to earn 108 of those rushing yards. That could be a problem if Kyle and Brandon can’t get on the same page in trying to find opportunity against one of the best defensive backfields in professional football.

That’s a quality offering almost any team would enjoy offering each week on defense. Unfortunately they play in Oakland where their efforts, along with all hopes and dreams, are easily lost and forgotten.

3) I’m not high…

… and I’m not going to continue this attempt to identify positive notes that don’t exist. This team doesn’t have a real quarterback. They are missing their best receiver (who happens to be a tight end, Zach Miller). They are missing their best offensive lineman (Robert Gallery). They are missing any semblance of value on offense. They are missing a coach. They are missing an owner of worth. They are missing heart. They are missing motivation.

 To be honest, they are missing any reason to show up other than pride, and that was lost long ago.

Three Hits for the Glass-is-Half-Full Members of the Gallery

1) The team’s major players are healthy.We noted the potential loss of Buckhalter (officially listed as doubtful, having aggravated the bum ankle against Indy and without a day of practice on his resume for the week) but the only other names of note missing, in my mind, would be Ryan Harris (done for the year… the Broncos have, more or less, adjusted to this… though I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a MAJOR worry moving forward, at least in the Stable), Renaldo Hill (again to be honest, I’m somewhat excited about this as the Broncos will go young to replace Hill in giving rookie David Bruton snaps), and Ty Law (I haven’t seen him do enough to list his questionable status as a worry). Elvis is good to go, Spencer Larsen is good to go, both tight ends are good to go.

 And to think the press out west tried to play it as a week of worry…

While the thought of having Knowshon alone in the offensive backfield without Harris up front is of definite concern, it is fair to note (a) the kid put up quality numbers against Oakland the first time around (21 carries, 90 yards, one TD), and (b) he didn’t have his NFL legs yet, not a concern this time around. The Know has come on strong since a horrific day against Pittsburgh, averaging just a hair under five yards per carry since with just one disappointing effort (23 carries for 63 yards and no scoring versus Indy last week) to blemish the run.

I would think a Denver roster with less luck in the durability department could rule this day… this crew is almost as healthy as could be desired, and that’s almost as unhealthy as it can get for the Oakland Raiders.

2) The Broncos have no reason for hope or comfort.Visit the standings and you’ll agree.

We have four teams sitting outside of the division lead with seven wins, one game behind the Broncos in a fight for the two coveted wild-card spots. The Chargers sit with 10 wins and are all but guaranteed to wrap the AFC West. That leaves a nightmarish scenario for Denver to push into the postseason and the landscape ahead isn’t so great.

Among the teams fighting for those spots: Miami and the Jets in the East (both just one game behind the struggling Patriots, thus putting three teams capable of quality from that division in the mix), Baltimore (they’ve fallen off the pace a bit but may be back on the scent with their most recent win), and Jacksonville (though we should note Tennessee, one of the more dangerous sets in the league not in that group, is just one game back and looks to be as dangerous as any squad still in the hunt). Of those crews the Broncos may own one of the more promising schedules left to endure – going to Philly next week (who knows what in the hell we’ll get out there… 20 inches of snow being dumped by the heavens as we speak and an offense capable of huge numbers) followed by a visit from the Chiefs.

Nothing is settled and the Broncos cannot afford to give things away… and I believe they understand and accept that reality. We could argue the Broncos possess the best defense in that group of teams hitting the battlefield for the wild card, but they may also own (when healthy) the most potent offensive weapons in the lot.

They need to solidify that respect by taking care of business this week, and think we can all agree it would be best if they did so in dominating fashion.

3) They are playing the Oakland Raiders.Seriously.

Once again you can mark me down for the Broncos with a bullet. I sincerely thought the Broncos pulled a solid gameplan to fruition against Indy last week and simply failed to execute when they needed it most (as we reviewed earlier in the week along with Mr. Krieger). It would be hard to assert that kind of effort is necessary against Charlie Frye and the Oakland Faders.

Defense alone should win this battle. I would anticipate a huge day for Champ, Dawkins, and especially Elvis (though he may be slowed a bit by injury). Denver can’t afford to give up the game, they understand the situation at hand, and I haven’t seen struggles in recent weeks to suggest they can’t seize this opportunity to continue a positive push towards the playoffs.

I only hope they aren’t following my lead, discounting this game, and looking forward… there is no other ray of hope for the ‘Ders this week.

The Raiders are a joke… a complete and total travesty. That won’t be fixed today, it won’t be fixed this season, and there is no way around it.

Denver 32, Oakland 6

I’m going to see if Tiger Woods is having sex with my wife. Enjoy the game.

Tags: Denver Broncos, Game Preview, Oakland Raiders, Week 14