Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The new rules, enacted last season, read more like the fine print on your mortgage than a way to decide a football game. In the end, the problem the rules were amended to solve went entirely unsolved. The concise version of the changes is this -  both teams have a chance to possess the ball in overtime unless the team that receives the initial kickoff scores a touchdown or the defense scores on an interception, safety or fumble recovery.

The time-honored old way – sudden death – is no more. At least for playoff games. The change seems like the league wants it both ways. Since the coin flip played as much into deciding the winner as the plays on the field, they wanted to make overtime a more level playing field, so to speak, without going as far as the college game by adopting a matching-possession rule that can take a 17-17 game and turn it into a 41-38 barn-burner.

Sudden death was the warrior’s way to decide a playoff game. Play until someone scores. Period. Even if it takes an already brutal and exhausting game and doubles it in length. If you lose the coin flip, your defense had better hold. If you win the coin flip, it’s your one best chance to win the game while your defense sits comfortably on the bench.

But the NFL solution is half-baked. Each team gets a possession – unless the first possessor scores a touchdown. Then, as happened in Denver last Sunday night, the game could end on one snap. Even Demaryius Thomas, the receiver of the touchdown pass that will go down in Broncos history as one of the most exciting moments the Broncos have ever produced, was confused. He scored the touchdown and was already steeling his nerves to sit on the sideline and pray the worn-out defense could hold. But the game was over, and the mayhem around him soon clued him in to the fact that he was the hero.

So, NFL, what do you want? Matching possessions? Or sudden-death? Pick one. The Broncos were the beneficiaries this time, and I am not complaining about that. But for the good of the game, quit trying to confuse your fans, get down off the fence, and come up with a system that works. And while you’re at it, implement the system across the board – from preseason on. Even the prospect of a tie during the regular season makes fans shudder. Hockey eliminated the tie by introducing the shootout, which is one of the most exciting situations professional sports have to offer. NBA plays until there’s a winner. So does MLB. Either go back to pre-2010 rules with strict sudden death and regular season ties, or give us a matching-possession system all season.

And since we’re talking changes, about that replay system…

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

In Carolina we saw John Fox ground ‘n pound his way to a Superbowl appearance and consistent winning over nearly a decade.  His defense-first mindset made Carolina a force to be reckoned with each season, but his limited offensive vision usually had the Panthers fading as more explosive teams blasted off to playoff glory.

Now with the Broncos, we see John Fox as the same steadying influence.  Despite the madness that is Tebowmania, the Fox-Elway Broncos have maintained a steady demeanor.  Make no mistake – coaches that win Championships command their teams like a general commands an army: calm and collected.

But when Tim Tebow finally slotted in as Denver’s starting QB we saw the Broncos take on a different energy.  A defense that had played well enough found a rhythm that had them playing at a higher level.  A run game that had been anemic suddenly had two options most downs that left opposing linebackers flatfooted in sideline-to-sideline pursuit.  Denver traded its best receiver and found that Eric Decker was every bit as useful as Brandon Lloyd.  Was that Eddie Royal that just two-cut sprinted his way to a return TD?  By Game 3 of the New Tebow Era we saw a team that had improved in all three phases.

Wait a minute, though.  This is where it gets good.  With Orton at quarterback and coaching holdovers from the previous (unnamed) administration, the Broncos’ offense looked roughly the same.  Yardage by the bucket load and self-defeating in the Red Zone.  But with Tebow at the helm we have seen John Fox asserting his Panthers personality on the Denver attack.  In Tim’s limited skill set Fox has found his perfect quarterback.

Consider the Broncos’ win against the rival Raiders yesterday.  Denver went into the Black Hole and beat Oakland into submission with a relentless two-headed rushing attack that left Raider defenders gasping for air by the fourth quarter.  Oakland has always stacked its D-line with monstrous men, and Fox exploited that by running straight at them with a young, athletic O-line until the Raiders crumbled.  Oakland blitzed for three quarters trying to break Tebow, but in the end it was Timmy and Willis McGahee speeding past spent Raider linebackers to big gains on the ground.

This is John Fox football.  In Carolina he had the under-talented Jake Delhomme running a wicked simple offense that took advantage of its strengths to perfection.  It took three games, but Fox is now finding ways to win with Tebow under center.  A permanent wildcat offense – Tebow made no throws in the fourth quarter – has defenses chasing two backs.  And once Tim finds his groove and starts reading defenses downfield we may see an offense versatile enough to keep the best NFL defenses guessing.  The man can throw it straight down a seem, and by stretching the middle Denver becomes dangerous.

The new-look Broncos can best be summarized by a simple option play at the line of scrimmage that has Tim deciding whether to send McGahee up the middle or run off-tackle himself.  This is a play that Tebow rode to two NCAA Championships.  Yesterday he rode it to a victory over the Raiders in Oakland.  The first time Denver ran this play in the first quarter on Sunday we saw McGahee stuffed for no gain.  The second time two linebackers bit inside and Tebow ran outside for a 20+ yard keeper.  A simple deception, but an effective one.  Real man-up football: John Fox football.

Time will tell how far John can ride Tim’s limited but highly focused talent set.  For now it is worth noting that the Fox-Tebow combo is 2-1 this season.  So long as both coach and quarterback continue to improve in their respective roles, the sky is the limit for the Broncos’ grounded approach to offense.

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When Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow stopped by “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart“ on Thursday it was first and foremost to plug his new autobiography, “Through My Eyes.” That said, he had took some good-natured ribbing from the host, and provided some decent witty banter.

Tebow was funnier than I expected and he came off quite well. Even for a St. Tebow heretic like me, it was entertaining interview- at times. You can read the repartee here

But then Stewart moved on to discuss the Ohio State Buckeyes scandal, and if we now had reached a breaking point when it comes to compensation for college football players.

“It’s a tough situation,” Tebow said. “I can look on both sides of it. I can look on the NCAA’s side and see how hard it is. They got to manage so many athletes and make sure that none are doing anything illegal. But at the same time, you have athletes that are working extremely hard and make millions and millions for universities and they’re still struggling just to go to Outback just to get something to eat.

“I think something fair would be if some of the athletes just got a little bit more so they could go to dinner. Afford a scooter to drive around campus. Little things like that.”

“Really … a scooter?” Stewart asked. “What are they, Dennis the Menace?”

You can watch the full episode here

Story courtesy TheSportsBank.net.

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The Broncos signed a deal to retain Matt Prater as their placekicker Wednesday. Prater, who struggled through the end of the 2008 season, seemed to have a resurgence in 2009, making 30 of 35 field goal attempts with no extra point misses.

The Broncos also worked on bolstering their defense, signing 348-pound Jamal Williams, who visited Denver as a free agent earlier this week. Williams will presumably enter training camp as the backup to Justin Bannan, who the Broncos signed to a 5-year deal. The details of Bannan’s contract were not immediately available, but sources indicate he’s getting “starter money”, which almost certainly sets the depth chart. But knowing the McDaniels system (and the short road to the McD Doghouse), the job is definitely up for competition.

The signings of Williams, Bannan, as well as Jarvis Green, indicates a movement that Broncos faithful have been clamoring for – a commitment to bulking up the defense. If this does the trick in terms of steadying the front 7, and the secondary can perform to its peak, the Broncos could show further defensive improvement.

The questions on defense are as follows:

1. Will “Wink” Martindale’s leadership be enough to improve the defense?

2. At what point will the secondary start to show its age? Ty Law, Champ Bailey, and Brian Dawkins – it’s a 2004 “who’s who” of secondary all-stars. If these guys can stay fierce without losing a step, look for the secondary to be among the most feared in the league. If they begin to play like guys in their upper 30s, it could be a rough year.

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The Broncos placed a first-round tender on Brandon Marshall earlier this week, and Denver will have seven days to match any contract offer the Seahawks make.  If the Broncos let Marshall go on his merry way, Seattle would owe Denver their top first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  For those of you keeping track, that means the Broncos would have three top-50 draft picks in 2010… follow closely now…

Denver traded Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler to the Chicago Bears last season, and they got 2009 & 2010 first-round picks in return.  The Broncos then traded their own 2010 first-rounder to the Seahawks in return for Seattle’s high second-round 2009 pick.  (Denver used that pick to draft cornerback Alphonso Smith.)

The 2010 Chicago pick that Denver retained ended up being the 11th overall when they lost a coin flip with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had an identical record to the Bears’ last season.  That left Denver with pick #11, and the Seahawks with Denver’s #14 pick.  Seattle also has a top-ten pick, #6, as a result of their dismal 2009 season.

If the Seahawks put an offer on Brandon Marshall and he ends up in Seattle, the Broncos would have the #6 & #11 overall picks in the 2011 draft.  They also have the #13 pick in the 2nd round, good for 45th overall.  Not bad.  In fact, this is probably the best situation available for Denver and Marshall.

Despite The Beast’s impressive set of receiving skills (and his amazing post-catch ability to run through & around opposing secondaries), Marshall has too much negative history in Denver to ever fully develop with the Broncos.  Brandon played a role in the shooting death of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, and his relationship with Denver head coach Josh McDaniels is tense at the best of times.

Marshall needs to go, and that’s why the Broncos placed a 1st round tender on him instead of the 1st & 3rd round tender they placed on DE Elvis Dumervil.  With the 1st round tender Marshall is marketable, and Seattle would seem a perfect fit.

The Seahawks just watched their #1 receiver, Nate Burleson, exit to Detroit via free-agency.  (Major burn.)  Their #2 (Deion Branch) and #3 (TJ Houshmandzadeh) are both beyond their prime at 31 & 32 years old respectively.  Plus Seattle has seen a rash of injuries at the wide receiver position for two consecutive seasons, and Brandon Marshall is a big, durable player with no history of major injury.

Expect this deal to be done by the middle of next week, as Seattle will not find a better receiver than Marshall in the 2010 Draft.  While Denver will not necessarily receive the Seahawk’s #6 pick, they should at least get their #14 back.  Negotiation is possible, but Seattle knows that the market for Marshall extends to a number of other teams.

The Broncos just re-signed Brandon Marshall’s proxy, possession receiver Brandon Lloyd, another signal that Denver is fully prepared to let Marshall ride off into the Seattle sunset.

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Will the real Tiger Woods please stand up?

As a hyperactive media plays Six Degrees of Tiger, we begin to wonder if the whole world has been tainted by Woods’ fall from grace.

Reports of the arrest of Canadian doctor Anthony Galea have provided a convenient way to drop Tiger’s name into a slew of local bi-lines across North America.  Galea treated Woods and a laundry list of other pro athletes in the past, so charges that the doctor smuggled growth hormones across the US/Canada border draws fuzzy (but buzzworthy) lines between Tiger and the likes of Chris Simms and Huston Street.

Simms (Broncos QB), Street (Rockies Reliever) & Woods were likely treated with the doctor’s unique plasma-therapy method for rapid healing, and have almost assuredly never had contact with human growth hormones.  But a vague connection to post-scandal Tiger is yellow-journalism gold.  The two-degree tie-in has warranted headline stories on local Colorado TV news outlets.

The obsession with Tiger’s personal life is, of course, not puzzling at all.

He is one of the most widely recognized people in the world, and yet so little is known of him beyond his amazing golf game and mountains of endorsement deals.  So when reports circulated that Tiger was a fallible, imperfect human… the game was on.

Alternate and conflicting messages have sprung up since the depth of Tiger’s extramarital affairs broke.  Some called for media to back off from what is surely a very personal matter for the Woods family, while others openly celebrated a falling star crashing to earth so rapidly and brilliantly before the eyes of the world.

Had this story broken relative to a moderately popular blue-collar athlete, we would have blinked once and looked away.  But Tiger is playing a gentleman’s game, and his face is recognizable to the far reaches of civilization.

For his part, Tiger has stepped forcefully out of the public eye.

What started with a withdrawal from his own tournament turned into a complete denial of his pro career until family matters are resolved.  Whether this is a publicity stunt or an honest attempt by a mostly good man to clean up his life is pure opinion.  But what is certain is that Woods’ handling of this saga over the coming weeks, months & years will speak as much to the man’s character as his apparently habitual cheating ever did.

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Brandon Marshall hauls in one of his NFL record 21 catches.

On a day where Brandon Marshall did all he could and more to lift up his team, the Colts set the mark that solidifies them as one of the best teams the NFL has ever seen. The problem today, was that Marshall couldn’t cover Manning’s receivers. He couldn’t put pressure on the QB. He couldn’t open up a hole for Moreno on 4th down. All he could do was catch and run – and catch and run he did, logging an NFL record 21 catches for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. Can’t say he didn’t try. But a record-setting day wouldn’t be enough against a Colts team that has turned their offense into a display of surgical precision. The first 2 drives was like watching Manning’s agent pitch a new endorsement deal – there was no resistance.

After that, the defense held strong and actually managed an impressive effort, getting 2 lucky interceptions off of deflections, and another legitimate pick. But when you can’t turn your turnovers into points, you aren’t going to win games. Denver several times was inside Colts territory and came away with nothing but a meaningless figgie.

For my own part, I’m coming back down to earth and really feeling at peace with where this team is – not good, but not as hopelessly bad as we had feared. McDaniels has proved he can coach, and will get some time to turn this thing around. I’m ok with a team that goes 8-8 and doubles the win total I had projected. None of that, however, lessens the sting of watching the collapse of a team that started so strong that the old Mile High expectations started to well up again and visions of playoff fairies started dancing in our heads.

The problems are obvious – Orton can’t throw downfield, so the entire offense happens in front of the secondary. Knowshon Moreno cannot hit the hole with authority. He dances – a lot, which is uncharacteristic of Denver backs. He doesn’t have the speed burst he needs, and for now he doesn’t seem to really understand how to see the field, make one cut, and hit the hole all in one smooth motion like Buckhalter seems to. It’s a strong but overworked defense, and a mostly efficient but rather anemic offense.

I’m not really sure where this team is headed. It’s entirely possible but not guaranteed that they’ll make the playoffs, and will have to hit the road to play a tough wild card game. I don’t think anyone expects a win that weekend, regardless of who the opponent is. The real question is how does McDaniels and team finish the season, and how do they treat their first off-season? They have a lot to address, and Josh is not yet endowed with “coach for life” status, which apparently is good for about 12 years around here.

Next week the Raiders come to town a much improved squad over the unit that Denver faced early in the season. Look for a tough game that will probably tell as much about the soul of this team as anything.

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Welcome back to all my loyal readers of ages past.  I regret that I was unable to be with you during the joys (Rockies 2009 June-October, Nuggets 2008-2009 playoffs) and struggles (everything else) you went through.  I was on a mission of great (and probably cosmic) importance.  No, I won’t bore you with the details here.  But know that I kept you in my heart the entire time, and also that I could not be kept away forever.

For I had the one thing that I knew would bring me right back to my post at ProSportsColorado.com…..  a duty to tell you everything you need to think about sports.

And thus I have come at last to tell you the news of our beloved majors, and at such a crucial time too.  The Nuggets at first place in the NW, and the Avalanche and Broncos currently enjoying playoff positions in the midst of their young seasons.  And we can’t forget the recently wildcarded Rockies, who are looking to solidify an already sturdy team in a presumably slow off-season, that they might finally win over an evidently weak division.

And what would you say would be the chances of these four well-positioned teams as they continue (or prepare to embark) on what could be the best collective season for major sports teams in Colorado history?

I would say fair…… at best.

All four teams are either in shambles or are just shells.

I am not saying this to cause a ruckus on the Internet, or to encourage doubt in four clearly above-average organizations.  It is obvious that unless swift and decisive action is taken (or a good amount of luck falls our way) one or more of these teams will fall back to the pack or worse quite quickly.

Look, I understand.  You are what your record says you are (or in the case of the Rockies, what the guys in Vegas predict your record will be).  And I agree that greatness could be in order for any or all of these franchises if they correct the few problems they have.  But the problems run deep, and said problems seem to lie in crucially important areas.

In order to understand more clearly the crisis that approaches each team, we’ll have to go into the dirty details.  I’m gonna do it alphabetically, so as not to play favorites (or unfavorites as the case may be.)

Colorado Avalanche—15-8-5, 0.625 of points earned, 2^nd Northwest Division

The Avalanche has a storied but brief history in Colorado

So the Avs were supposed to be cellar-dwellers for the next four years.  Oh how things can change quickly in the NHL.

Now we have a beast of a goaltender who no one thought would be good, two rookies who are rapidly making names for themselves (and who represent outstanding work by the Avs’ front office on day one of the draft.) Paul Stastny is playing like an All-Star, Hannan is playing like he did when he removed Forsberg from a playoff series so many seasons ago, and it looks like we have a Center Factory that just pumps out quick, intelligent youths that we could use as hockey players or as trade bait.

The first month of the season was one of the best months (if not the best month) in franchise history.  Impressive for a franchise that has won two Stanley’s Cups and a bucketful of division titles.  But that is where the love-fest ends.

After the amazing 22 out of 28 points earned (0.786) in the month of October, the Avs got a pathetic 13 out of 28 points earned (0.464) in November.  Remember, league average is around 0.525 percent of points earned, so 0.464 is awfully low.  If the Avs keep up this pace, they’ll end up with 85 points and a seat on the living room couch after Tax Day.

Now, this is not the time to panic (there will be plenty of time for that later.)  The Avs still sit at 2^nd in the division and 4^th in the Conference.  Professional Hockey, more than anything else, is about avoiding long losing streaks.  The best teams in hockey this year will lose 30 games.

What the best teams won’t do is lose 4 in row, or 8 out of 10.  San Jose already went through a rough spell and has climbed back to the top of the heap, and all signs point towards Vancouver and the hated Red Wings doing the same.

The question is how to adjust.  The answer is: fix the weakest part…..Goaltending.

Yes, I know Craigers is probably the best player on the team right now, but look at the stats per month:

October:  2.50 G/G

November:  3.71 G/G

In the past 12 games the Avs have held teams to 3 or less goals just 4 times.  You cannot win a Championship or even make a run if you have to score 5 goals to win the typical game.  What could have caused Anderson to start giving up a goal more pre game??  Fatigue.

Anderson has started more games (27) this year than anyone in hockey, and we are tops in the league in games played so far.  Pack more games into a tighter schedule and no nights off, throw in an above-average number of shots coming Craig’s way due to pitiful defense, and you end up with a tired goaltender.

I say we take the 4.29 G/G goaltender play from Budaj every 6^th to 7^th game if Craig gets back to 2.5 G/G goaltending.  And later in the year, when we get all the extra off days while teams catch up in games played, then Craig can get back to muscling out 15+ game stretches.

To me, the fact that this seems so obvious that it should have been done a month ago, yet wasn’t, is reason enough to fret for the future of Colorado Hockey.  What else is this coaching staff missing?  Maybe a lot if a blogger who has never skated a day in his life caught an error this glaringly obvious.

(Read in next week as Dan exposes the soft underbelly of Denver’s favorite under-overachievers: The Broncos)

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McDaniels and Orton watch from the sideline

You know things are getting dicey when your 2 million dollar backup gets pulled in the first half for a quarterback with a gimpy ankle that can barely walk off the field. A week of practice would get Simms comfortable, the conventional wisdom said. The conventional wisdom hasn’t watched the Broncos yet this year. Simms was completely ineffective, only managing to complete 2 passes for 10 yards.

The turning point of the game, in my opinion, was the very first drive of the game. The Broncos opened up with an offensive drive that pushed all the way to the red zone, mostly due to Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. The drive was stalled when Simms got caught from behind and dropped the ball. The Chargers recovered, and the tone of the day was set. Just like in Baltimore, when the tone was set on the first play, the Broncos would never recover from the deflation of missing the end zone on that drive. Later on, Moreno would fumble the ball at the goal line, and as a result the Broncos left 2 touchdowns on the table. Add a questionable on-side kick call by McDaniels which basically gifted a score to the Chargers, and the rout was on. The Broncos could do no more than post a meaningless second-half field goal, setting a new low for offensive impotence this season.

Instead of breaking down the failures point by point, I feel compelled to ask a couple questions that have been plaguing me the last few weeks. How is it that a team that went 6-0 by beating good teams and making remarkably astute halftime adjustments, appear so woefully inept and unprepared four weeks in a row? You could make the argument that the league has figured out the system, but you can’t tell me that Belichick hadn’t “figured out the system”. Wade Phillips couldn’t “figure out the system”? The difference is not that defenses have figured them out, it’s that Denver just seems unprepared. They aren’t making adjustments, they aren’t improving in the second half. Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Here’s another question – granted that Kyle Orton has a command of this offense that Simms just does not have, when down 23 points, why is Orton and his bum ankle on the field? I know you play each week to win that game and you play until the final whistle – I get that. But aren’t you better off either letting Simms take his lumps or giving Brandstater a few snaps, allowing Orton to heal further? The Broncos have a mere 4 days to prepare for the Giants on Thursday. If Orton reinjures his ankle, we’re in for the same results next week as we’ve seen this week. A season that once looked promising is now slipping away faster than you can say “wild horses”.The defense has gotten extremely soft in the middle, the offense has only managed 30 points in the last three games and looks completely lost. With today’s win, the Chargers retake control of the AFC West, and makes it all but impossible for the Broncos to make the playoffs.

Every week, I remind myself that the  wins the Broncos have are better than I thought they’d do, and so everything else is gravy. Unfortunately, the gravy has not been free flowing, and it’s still hard to swallow watching your team get utterly dominated week after week. Make no mistake – as they stand now, this team is bad. What makes it most painful, is that for six weeks we saw what they could do, and now we’re seeing the other side of the coin. Expect more of the same against New York this Thursday, and hope the long break allows Denver to get their heads on straight.

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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.

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