Orange Colored Glasses Vol. II – Denver diatribe and look ahead to Washingon

Here you will see the latest diatribe from John Krischel, my twitter buddy @mtokBronco, with his reactions after Monday’s home loss as he looks toward tomorrow’s meeting with the Washington Redskins. Thanks again to John for his candid thoughts on his favorite team!

As I write this, I realize something, Denver isn’t as good as I thought they were, nor are they as bad as I thought they were going to be at the beginning of the season.  I believe, like most people, I had Denver putting out a losing record, somewhere along the lines of 4-12 or 5-11, nothing like what they are now. 

After last Mondays debacle I really thought Denver was really bad.  I lamented about it on Twitter, I was called a bandwagon fan after my whining.  Eh, no bandwagon fan, but my self-esteem is so low, that my mood depends on a pro football team.  Is that sad?  I dunno, maybe less sad than not being able to admit it and admittance is the first step. 

With that being said, the Steelers are a really good team, especially with the long-haired crazy man back in the secondary.  The Steelers won the Super Bowl last year and this just in…..they are still REALLY good.  Their offensive line is coming together and with Rashard Mendenhall running the ball now, they have a running game.  Point of fact, they are probably going to go to playoffs and with Indy and New England; they are the favorite to win it all.

Now, Denver, they are still going through a learning phase.  Our offensive line is changing from a zone blocking scheme to a power blocking scheme.  Some players are struggling with this, namely, Ben Hamilton.  

Ben has started every game he’s been healthy for.  He’s a great zone blocker, but he was getting OWNED when he tried to man up with some of the bigger players in the game.  So, this week, coach McD replaced him with Russ Hochstein.  Now Russ is an old New England Patriot and knows this offense well, plus he’s 15 pounds heavier.  So, goodbye Ben, we knew you well, you were a great zone blocker for us, but with this new offense, you just don’t fit anymore.  Is this going to put us over the top?  No, but we are still a good team (not great) and will continue to get better.

Which brings me to next point - I was hacking on Orton Monday night, he was TERRIBLE, he can’t throw a pass over 15 yards…..that being said, I watched Jay Cutler on Thursday night. 

Sweet fanciful Moses, THAT was the reason Coach McD let him go.  5 INTs Jay, FIVE???? 

Jay is a great QB from either side of the 20’s, but once Jay enters the fabled red zone, Jay turns in to this man.  Jay may have all the tools, but there are some important things he is missing, football smarts and the ability to realize throwing the ball away is more important than trying to squeeze in an impossible throw between 5 defenders. 

Jay is who he is, and Frank Schaub, the beat writer from the Colorado Springs Gazette still thinks he’s the “bees knees”.  He and I have had a few back and forth about Jay and if he really is an elite QB.  Frank thinks that Jay will get better, he’s only 26.  My point is, you are who you are in your career.  He hasn’t had a winning record in football since his senior year of High School. 

So after saying all of that, would I rather have Orton or Cutler???  I’d rather take a tile Chuck and get another one, but at this point, since there is no other option, I’ll stick with Cutler.

On to the game at hand, the Denver Broncos take on the Washington Redskins on Sunday, November 15, 2009.  The Redskins are 2-6 and in a total free fall, but they are actually pretty solid defensively.  Denver is playing them at home too.  It’s never easy to win on the road, but with the fans turning against this team and the owner, maybe that home field advantage won’t be as great. 

Our defense is good enough to shut out this pathetic Redskins offense.  The ‘Skins are going to be without Clinton Portis, POSSIBLY his backup Ladell Betts and Chris Cooley.  Those are their main offensive weapons, plain and simple. 

Their offense is ugly, the problem is, the past few games, so is Denver’s.  Denver has scored a total of 10 points of offense in the past 2 games.  Again, the Redskins defense isn’t too bad at all.  Albert Haynesworth in the middle is going to give our team some trouble (a HUGE reason Ben Hamilton was benched). 

This isn’t the usual breakdown, but this game doesn’t excite me.  I know it’s the NFL and the old cliché of anyone can beat anyone on any given week, but the simple fact is, good teams beat bad teams in crunch time.  With half of the season gone now, it is crunch time.  The ‘Skins aren’t good and Denver has an appearance of a possible playoff team.  Denver plays San Diego next week and we MUST win this week, especially with a 2 game losing streak. 

So Denver needs to be all over the ‘Skins like a fat kid on cake.  Our defense can hold them to less than 10 points and our offense is just good enough, with the help of some turnovers, to gimp this one out on the road.  I say Denver wins 17-10. 

Next week is the test, the stinking HATED Chargers and that (insert expletive here) Phillip Rivers comes to town, so get ready Bronco fans, bring the hate often and early.