Broncos Thoughts of the Week:
1987 had
The Drive led by John Elway. 98 yards to tie the game and beat Cleveland in OT during the AFC Championship Game.
1992 there was
The Drive II, also by John Elway. 98 yards again, to beat the Houston Oilers in the final minutes of the AFC Championship Game.
2011 now has
"The Drive Jr." or "The Drive Too" with John Elway watching his embattled QB, Tim Tebow, lead the Broncos 95 yards downfield to beat the Jets 17-13.
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| View from my seats in the South Endzone as the Jets punt for the 1st time. |
The stakes might not have been as high in 2011 as they were for the first two Drives. Back then the Superbowl was on the line. This time the stakes were improving the season record to 5-5 and staying in the playoff race for the AFC West. Maybe what was most on the line was Tim Tebow's reputation and future in his first national TV appearance.
With just over five minutes remaining in the game The Broncos had not accomplished much. There were 9 straight drives of three and out, a lost fumble by Willis McGahee and many botched opportunities to start drives in the Jets half of the field. The game seemed to be proving all of Tebow's critiques right in that he can't pass, but somehow Tebow found another way to win. As his supporters say, 'he just wins,' and he sure does.
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| Goodman is pursued by Sanchez into the endzone after intercepting the QB. |
Andre Goodman, who Sanchez and the Jets had picked on all night with Plaxico Burress receiving many passes over Goodman, came up big with Denver's first TD of the night. Goodman intercepted Sanchez and returned the ball untouched into the endzone for his first pick-6 of his career.
Von Miller continued his impressive rookie season recording 1.5 sacks on Sanchez and multiple other hits to shake up the Jet's QB. Miller finished the night leading the team with 9 tackles and a forced fumble.
"If you pressure any quarterback and get to him, he will make some bad decisions," Miller said. "That is our game plan every week, just get to the quarterback and get some hits on him."
The Denver defense finally has something opposing teams fear. A pass rush that creates chaos for the opposing QB.
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| If this photo went just 2 rows higher you could see me and my dad in the top left. |
Special teams also had a big night, forcing and recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after Goodman's pick-6. Cassius Vaughn returned a Jet's kickoff deep into Jet's territory. And most impressive of all was Punter, Britton Colquit's performance, down many punts inside the Jet's own 10 yard line including one at the one yard line with help of a great special teams performance by Mathew Willis.
Thankfully, big plays by the defense and special teams kept Denver and Tebow in the game for the fourth quarter, trailing 13-10. Eddie Royal mistakenly called for a fair catch at his own 5 yard line with 5:54 remaining to set up Denver's 95 yard come-from -behind drive.
The drive nearly ended on the first play when Tebow threw a screen pass to Royal in Denver's own endzone. Royal was nearly wrapped up for a safety, but managed to escape and gain 9 yards. Tebow would hit 3 of 5 pass attempts on the drive, including a great sliding 18 yard catch by tight end Dante Rosario.
Previously Tebow had only carried the ball twice for 11 yards, but on the final drive Tebow rushed seven times for 58 yards and the game winning TD. He finished 9 for 20 in passing with 104 passing yards and was only sacked once.
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| Tebow celebrates his game winning score. |
On Third Down and 4 from the 20, the Jets showed an all out blitz for the first time all night. The Jets rushed at Tebow, Tebow scrambled left and took off for the first down, broke a tackle and went straight into the endzone as he was mobbed by teammates for the go-ahead score.
"I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting, and that had been knocked down a bunch of times and got back up," Tebow said. "I'm proud of these guys for their resiliency and determination."
"After the touchdown, it was fun, but during that drive, it was a lot of focus," wide receiver Eddie Royal said. "Everybody in the huddle was tired at that point, but we all knew we had to suck it up and focus in, and make these plays that we needed."
Denver is now half a game out of first place in the AFC West, with a 5-5 record. An improbable situation given that the team started 1-4 under Kyle Orton and has since gone 4-1 with Tim Tebow at QB. If the Raiders lose on Sunday to Minnesota, Denver will be tied for first place.
The Jets fall to also have a 5-5 record, essentially dashing their playoff hopes in a difficult AFC East division with competition from Buffalo and New England. Denver now owns the tie break over the Jets for an AFC wildcard position.
Tebow Time? Try Miller Time Instead:
With the entire nation setting their clocks to Tebow-Time, The Broncos are setting their clocks to Miller Time. Von Miller's amazing rookie season is being overshadowed by the media circus that is Tim Tebow. Miller leads the Broncos in tackles and sacks, with 9.5 on the season. He is on pace to set a new rookie record for sacks. With the return of a healthy Elvis Dumervil, Miller is even more of a threat as the Broncos seem to be returning to the days of the Orange Crush.
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| Von Miller gets to Jet's QB Mark Sanchez. |
Under a new defensive minded head coach in John Fox, new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and John Elway's emphasis on defense in his first draft as an executive the Broncos seem to be building a defense that can win championships.
"I think guys are beginning to feel more comfortable in the system and what they're being asked to do, and I think some of the play has shown that," said Allen.
In the last two wins the Denver Defense has only allowed 23 points, and Von Miller has nearly knocked the opposing teams QB out of the game or the entire season in both wins.
So as everyone else sets their clocks for Tebow Time, true Broncos fans are living on Miller-Time. We're not yet sure if Tebow is the future of this organization, but Von Miller is for real and he is the Broncos' future on Defense.
Decker Distracted?
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| Jessie James performs the halftime show wearing Decker's jersey. |
Receiver Eric Decker was off his game on Thursday night. He missed all 5 passes thrown to him (though you can't blame him for all of those), and his one pass attempt of the night when out of bound in the endzone.
Decker may have been distracted by the presence of his super star country singer girlfriend, Jessie James, who was preforming the half time show.
Decker is second in the league in receiving touchdowns, with 7 and has 34 catches for 462 yards.
Let's hope Decker just had an off night and returns to form next week against San Diego!
Beer of the Week:
The
Twisted Pine just released their double IPA, The Misty Mountain Hop. According to the Pine this is
"a single hopped unfiltered India Pale Ale with Simcoe hops." Very hoppy, very good. Get it while it lasts!
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"So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains
where the spirits go now"
-Led Zeppelin |
Drew Litton Comic of the Week:
Tebow's drive, in
comic form:
MLS & Rapids Thoughts of the Week:
Colorado Rapid's Supporters groups will be throwing head coach Gary Smith a farewell party during the MLS Cup on Sunday at The Celtic Tavern in downtown Denver.
Many Rapid's fans are still upset about Smith's departure and feel the executives forced him out and that they should have tried to fix the club's relationship with him after Smith brought Colorado their first MLS Cup in 2010.
Kronke Sports Entertainment, who owns The Rapids, Avalanche, Nuggets, St. Louis Rams and Arsenal FC, has not put in the financial backing to the Rapids as they should to keep the team successful and profitable. Rapid's supporters joked on Facebook that there should be an "Occupy Stan's Front Yard" protest where Rapid's fans camp out on Kronke's front lawn to demand the club be given more attention.
The Rapids have a strong and passionate fan base and a lot of talent on the team. With more money put into the team, and marketing the Rapids have the potential to become a very profitable and successful team in MLS.
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The MLS Cup kicks off on Sunday, November 20th at 7pm Mountain Time on ESPN. The LA Galaxy will take on the Houston Dynamo at the Home Depot Center in LA.
The Galaxy are heavy favorites to win the cup this year, but many experts involved with MLS are predicting a Dynamo upset. It will be tough for the Dynamo though because they are missing league MVP candidate Brad Davis to injury.
As Colorado fans, lets hope that Houston can pull off the upset over the hated Galaxy!
Rockies Thoughts of the Week:
Nolan Arenado, the fantastic 3rd base prospect of the Colorado Rockies, was named the MVP of the 2011 Arizona Fall League. Arenado played in 29 games and had an average of .388 with 6 home runs and 33 RBI's. The Rockies are excited about his prospect in the major's next year and are inviting him to spring training camp. Arenado may be the answer to the Rockies recent problems at thirdbase.
In other Rockies news, the team has begun hitting the free-agent market and trade market. The Rockies are interested in picking up a 2nd baseman, a right fielder to complement or replace Seth Smith, and starting pitching.
The Rockies have expressed interest in Roy Oswalt, whose agent has said the Rockies have a shot at him. Oswalt is aging and would probably demand a 2 year $30 million contract. This shows that the Rockies have money to spend on big name players. But with big name pitchers failing in Colorado previously, it might be worth looking into players who would not be as expensive.
The Rockies are also trying to trade for Atlanta Braves 2nd baseman Martin Prado, after losing Mark Ellis to LA in free agency. Prado is a career .293 batter, but in 2011 had an off year batting only .260 after three years with an average over .300. The Rockies hope that Prado will thrive in Colorado and return to his form of a few years ago.
Avalanche Thoughts of the Week:
Last night the Avalanche won for the first time since November 10th, beating the Dallas Stars 3-0 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The Avs had previously lost three straight to Calgary, Minnesota and Pittsburgh.
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| Giguere makes a save in goal against Dallas. |
Back-up goalie Sebastian Giguere got the shutout win, and is possibly beginning to create a goalie controversy for the Avs.
"Giggy is playing very well, giving us what we expected," head coach Joe Sacco said. "Varly has played very well for us, especially at the start of the year. You know, he's going through a tough stretch right now, but I'm confident he'll be back to top form too."
The Avalanche made the game easy for Giguere, outshooting Dallas 45-24 as they constantly put pressure on the Dallas defense the entire game.
The Avalanche will now start an 8 game, 17 day homestand which is the longest of the season so far.
"That was a good start to the homestand. We didn't sit back in this one. We just played the same way the whole game," said Stansty who scored on a power-play goal against Dallas.
Cheerleader of the Week:
It only took about 20 seasons of Broncos games to finally catch one of the little foam footballs the cheerleaders throw into the corners of the South Stands. I had planned that if I caught one I would give it to the little boys sitting in front of me, because when I was that age I always hoped someone would do that for me. The two boys though had both caught the foam footballs earlier in the game so when
Katie, this week's cheerleader of the week, threw one my direction I was able to catch it and actually keep it! Thanks Katie for making a childhood dream of getting one of those little footballs reality!
