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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Hines Ward gains yards - again.

After one half, it looked shaky, but manageable. Sure, the offense had completely stalled and despite some effective short passes couldn’t put the rock in the house. But the defense was holding steady and making Big Ben look as uncertain as Orton. In that sense, it was an even playing field.

That’s all Pittsburgh wanted, was an even playing field. That meant they had the advantage. Dueling defenses? Check. Struggling quarterbacks waiting to see who breaks out first? Check. Seemingly even split among fans in the stands? Check.

Unfortunately, that meant Pittsburgh had Denver right where they wanted them: within just a few points and an entire half of football to play. At one point, the only scores in the game were Denver’s opening drive field goal and a defensive strike from each side. From there, it just got ugly. I was loathe to echo Dennis Green’s “they are who we thought they were” after the Baltimore game, but after this performance, I’m beginning to wonder. Bronco fans who jumped on the bandwagon are already surveying the softest landing place for when they jump off. I’m still not convinced it’s that bad, but McDaniels now has to face his first real test as a head coach. How do you coach this team from the opposite end of the spectrum? Coaching a team that is winning, and getting all the lucky bounces in the meantime, is easy. Coaching a team that seems to have completely lost focus, not so much.

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the offense. You can’t expect the defense to come out and hold teams to 10 points on a weekly basis. The defense just got worn out, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Offensively, Orton showed up with 3 really bad throws resulting in picks (one came back for 6), and a few throws where he just missed his man. He also brought out the cannon and gunned a few to exactly the right place, but overall Orton looked shaken. Maybe it’s leftover from the first sack of the Baltimore game, but this is not the same calm and collected guy who marched the field against New England. However, outside the interceptions, Orton’s numbers weren’t that horrific – but take a look at the running game. 27 yards rushing, for the entire team. Twenty. Seven. Quite simply, that will not do. This team will not win another game this season if it cannot rush for more than 27 yards. Polumbus showed his inexperience, though I don’t envy his having to make his first NFL start against the Steelers. Overall, the running game struggled from the very beginning. It’s clear that in the NFL, one-dimensional offenses ultimately fail. Defenses are too good to get beat by the same thing again and again. When Denver has a consistent running attack, the short slice-and-dice passing game can be effective. But when the running attack fails, the lack of a long-field passing game rears its ugly head. It’s becoming obvious that Orton can’t stretch the field, and when the run stalls, the defense only has to cover a 15-yard field. Is it any wonder that they’ve scored one offensive touchdown in 2 games?

Defensively, I want to blame them for letting Ben and company march the field in just a few minutes, and I’m sure there were some defensive breakdowns that happened, but any defense that spends 23 minutes of the second half on the field is going to be gassed. Football is the ultimate team game. Offensive ineffectiveness burdens the defense. Defensive ineffectiveness puts the offense in a difficult position of needing big scores all day… ultimately, this game was a full-team failure.

Next week, the Broncos get to play a team that is really, really, really bad. They need to build their confidence by performing on all cylinders in all aspects of the game against Washington, because the week after that an angry and surging San Diego Chargers team comes to town looking for revenge and to regain their place in the division race. Is Denver “who we thought they were” from all the preseason predictions? I’m not so sure of that. 6 games straight with quality wins shows that this team can perform. But can they hang with the best of the best? It’s looking grim, to be sure.

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Ty Law, from the glory days in New England

As I sat down to prepare this article on the Broncos matchup with Pittsburgh Monday night, what I did not expect was for the Broncos to look to yet another aging, but impactful veteran in the secondary. With yesterday’s signing of Ty Law (which the Broncos have yet to officially announce, as of this writing, but all other outlets report it as a done deal), the average age of the Broncos secondary just went into the stratosphere. But the Broncos staff is hoping that along with the age comes the same experience, drive, determination, leadership, and raw grit that Brian Dawkins has brought to help make this unit one of the best in the league.

There’s no doubt that the older of the two Ty Laws in town (in a coincidental twist, the Nuggets rookie sensation is named Ty Lawson… can’t wait for the papers to try to twist that into a witty headline) wants to play Monday, and that based on his history with Hines Ward, the Broncos probably want him to play too. With Champ on one side, you can bet whoever plays opposite will get the action. I would expect the Broncos to leave Goodman on the other side, bringing in Law in nickel packages to roam the secondary looking for a head to smash.

Before the Law signing, I was planning on talking about how the Broncos will likely face a no-huddle offense that strikes repeatedly in order to wear them down. I still believe that, but now I think more than ever the line and linebackers need to push hard against Big Ben and see to it that he doesn’t get the time to scan the field. The one weakness with Law is that he is not as fast as he once was, and look for the Steelers to attack him as soon as he hits the field and before he gets a chance to shake off the rust of being away from competitive football all season.

Of course, all this assumes that Law will in fact play. Either way, the Ravens game showed us that the Broncos will have to play the same hard-hitting and gritty defense that shut down the Patriots in Week 5.

So lets talk about what’s really going to determine Monday night’s game. It’s not the home field advantage (though that can’t hurt), and it’s not the special teams (dear God, please let it not be the special teams)– it’s whether or not Orton and the boys can come out hard and fast and put points on the board. The O-line is struggling. Polumbus is serviceable, but as of yet he’s no Harris, and Harris is out with dislocated toes (ouch!). Last week, it started with a hard blind-side sack and went downhill from there. The Broncos need to establish the run, and do it early, then work on the short passing game that makes this team go. And of course, at some point, they’re going to have to shoot down the field or else the Steelers defense will eat them apart, much as the Ravens did. Look for Moreno and Buckhalter (especially Buckhalter) to try to hit the holes hard in the first quarter. If they don’t stack up 100 yards rushing, they can’t even come close to winning this game.

So welcome to Denver, Ty Law. We’re glad to have you. If you bring even half of what Dawkins has brought, you’ll be welcome to finish out your career right here in the Mile High City. And if you can help the Broncos beat Pittsburgh on Monday night and show they can bounce back from a loss (say, I don’t know, maybe 24-13? That’d be nice), then you can ride with this team all the way to the AFC West crown and a very unexpected but warmly welcomed playoff run.

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Moreno celebrates Denver's only high point Sunday.

In a game that was billed as the story of two defenses, it was a special teams play that turned the game around. After getting simply manhandled in the first half, the Broncos went to the locker room having allowed only 2 field goals in a half that could have seen them down by much more than that. The Broncos rebuilt defense lived up to its billing by bending but not breaking, keeping the gap within one touchdown. But on the kickoff to the open the second half, Lardarius Webb took the ball 95 yards to the house which instantly took the wind of the Broncos’ sails – wind that would not blow their way the rest of the game. It was the second kick returned for a touchdown in as many games for the Denver special teams – a stat that will not go unnoticed in team meetings this week, to be sure. What the Broncos defense worked so hard to maintain, the kick coverage team lost in just a few seconds.

From that point, it was all downhill. Sure, Denver managed to put the ball in the end zone once on a Knowshon Moreno rush, but that drive was successful as much in part due to the Baltimore defensive failure as it was offensive success. A few untimely penalties kept that drive alive, and as long as the Ravens played clean, the Broncos could put together no answer for Ray Lewis and Company.

There are a couple ways to react to this game – and we’ll see plenty of both around here this week. There will be the “I told you so” bunch– you know who you are–The types who loved the 6-0 start but will insist that this week you saw the real Broncos, the first 6 were aberrations and this is what you can expect from here on out.

But a more realistic view takes a few things into account. First, that playing the odds, it’s really difficult for a team to win 7 in a row in the NFL, no matter who you are or who you play. That the Broncos are 6-1 is a major victory. Second, that the Ravens are a very good team, and that any team in this league would be happy to .500 against the top quarter of its schedule. In other words, if you take the top 4 teams that Denver plays this year (New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis), any of us would be happy to see Denver split those games. So far, that’s what they’ve done. If Denver continues to win the games they should win, and compete in the games against elite teams in the league, we’ll still see a playoff game here in Denver come January.

What the Broncos need to take away from this game are some things to work on, for sure. Any defense will struggle to keep you in a game when the offense can’t put up points. It’s just not realistic to expect them to pitch a shutout in order to win a game, so Orton and company need to figure out how to move the ball against good teams. Slow developing draws and screen passes weren’t effective today, and they won’t be if the defense is as aggressive as Baltimore’s was today.

They also need to figure out how to cover a kickoff. If we want to see a young head coach’s head explode in anger, go ahead and let another returner run the length of the field. Nothing kills a team’s effort faster than special teams failures putting undue pressure on everyone else.

Finally, they need to figure out how to bounce back from defeat. This is one we haven’t gotten a chance to gauge yet – what happens when Denver gets its clock cleaned, and then has to come back and play a high profile primetime game against the defending Super Bowl champions? That’s what we have to look forward to. Nothing is getting any easier, and Denver now has an opportunity to show that it really is the team of grit and character that we’ve seen up until now.

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