All is not well in Denver as the Broncos head to DC and get filibustered into submission.
The good ol' days with Orton as QB
It’s hard to know where to begin with the latest effort from the Broncos. Is it the offense that showed flashes of its former self in the first half? The offense that changed drivers and looked worse than before in the second half? The defense that went soft in the middle, showing glimpses of recent Broncos defenses past?
Either way, it all adds up to a team that may well be looking at what was unthinkable 3 weeks ago – an uphill climb to the playoffs that appears likely to end in mediocre disappointment. Early on, things looked good as the Redskins secondary executed a textbook brainfart and allowed Brandon Marshall to get not a few, but 10 or more yards behind the defense, giving Orton a chance to air it out for easy touchdowns. That was all the offense would muster, however, as even with some decent movement drives would stall, allowing the Redskins plenty of chances to get back in the game. Then when Orton went down with an awkward ankle twist at the end of the first half, the wishes of many in Bronco Nation came true as The Son of Simms marched out to take the reins of the offense in the second half. Surely a man with a much stronger arm that could threaten the long ball would be much more successful executing the McDaniels Short Game Offense. Unfortunately, the only long ball was an ill-advised, horrifically off-target bomb that got caught by the wrong color shirt. Simms looked completely befuddled and confused against a real NFL defense – something he hasn’t seen outside of practice for a long time.
Along with an offense that still looks lost, the defense that carried the team to the 6-0 start has begun to look remarkably soft in the middle. The Redskins, a team in offensive shambles, was able to push the ball up the middle or throw shallow practically at will. Think about that – a patchwork offensive line with backup running backs managed to tear the Denver defense apart in the short game. It was only Campbell’s ineffectiveness that kept this game from getting out of hand early.
The reality is that now, the Broncos are going to have to pull off an amazing stretch run to win the division and make the playoffs – a division that they held by the neck just a few weeks ago. Next week’s game looms large, in that the Broncos can salvage their season by taking the head to head advantage against the Chargers, assuming they can beat up on the woeful bottom half of the division. A 9 or 10 win season is still in their target, and realistic, but the Chargers come to town next week hungry for blood and revenge, and the Broncos will stagger into the game with either a gimpy QB or a backup QB and a 3 game losing streak. The 3 game losing streak was respectable with the Ravens and Steelers losses, but they looked downright pitiful against a pitiful team.
Some questions are being answered about the Broncos, and no one in Bronco Nation likes the answers they’re getting. McDaniels’ star was rising quick, and is now hurtling at terminal velocity back to terra firma, and with it the Broncos chances at a miraculous post-season run. Hold on tight, Broncos fans. The next few weeks are going to get bumpy.
