SPORTS-(BRONCOS)
Archive
Vs. Baltimore Ravens (L, 13-20)
Mike Shanahan looked confused. For the first time in awhile, Shanahan stood
on the sideline, looking around, making his trademark nervous eye-squint/smile thing...
and could not come up with the right answer. Despite being spotted an
early 7-0 lead, the Broncos offense never again found the endzone as Balimore's
defense did everything right and the Broncos were left asking all the quesitons.
"Can we run"? Nope. Not when Baltimore stacks two 400 lb juggbutts on the defensive line.
You really can't fault the offensive linemen for not moving these guys. If Tony Siragusa
and Sam Adams were to brush against each other, there would have been a huge greasefire
on the field. Baltimore's linebacking core consistently picthed in, shutting down
the tag-team combination of Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson.
"Can we pass?" Nope. With Ed McCaffrey out, the Baltimore defensive philosphy was
as follows: "when they pass, all we have to do is double-cover Rod Smith". Rod
caught 5 passes for 5 first downs, but passes intended for Desmond Clark,
Eddie Kennison and Patrick Hape had little, or no effect. Clark, especially,
was a goat- as he fumbled one catch, then failed to catch a 4th and 1 conversion
in the fourth quarter. Brian Griese had
near-perfect ratings against the Giants and Cardinals. Against the Ravens
he was merely normal- sacked four times and threw two interceptions.
The best recpetion of the day was made by Chester McGlockton. First play
from scrimmage, he jumps up and intercepts an Elvis Grbac pass, then moseys
to the two yard line. How did Elvis NOT see Chester- he's the biggest
juggbutt on the Broncos roster. Hitting Chester with a pass is the
old cliche' equivalent of "hitting the broad side of a barn".
"Can we tackle?" Not unless you're a safety, and even then it's suspect.
Eric Brown led the team in tackles, and Kenoy Kennedy was second. Never a good sign
to have both safeties lead the team in tackles. Kennedy's numbers would have
been higher, but he missed several shots. The defensive line stayed away from
Elvis Grbac like Salem witches to water. Early on, they would hit him after the pass,
but never when he, you know, actually HAD the ball in his hand.
"Can we win?" Obviously, no. There's another old football cliche-
"Defense wins Championships". One year after the Rams made a mockery of that
statement, the Ravens proved it by winning the Super Bowl. But to win championships,
you need to actually win GAMES, which is what the Ravens did, today. No way to
embellish it- the Ravens beat the Broncos like a speed bag. Ray Lewis
backed up his statement of "nobody will score more than 13 on us". Even a medicore
offense featuring Terry Allen and Qadry Ismail can come up big when
Baltimore has that type of defense. Since 1995, rarely has any team confused
Mike Shanahan. On Sunday, the Ravens did it, consistently.
If nothing else,this loss will make the Broncos wake up. They were tested in the first half
against the Giants, and
in the first quarter against the Cardinals. After that, they basically rolled in the second
half, and could do
no wrong. A little adversity gets a team to sit back and realize that it's not going to be
that easy. That (gasp!)
they'll have to work at it. Great teams respond positively to adversity (see 1997 Broncos),
while mediocre
teams play out the string (see 1994 Broncos). We'll get to see if this team is as good as we
think. At 2-1, they now have the divisional foes in front of them. Play it right,
and the Broncos could find themselves at 4-1 going into San Diego on October 28.
Believe it or not, that is YOUR 2001 AFC West Showdown (for now, at least).
Hey, when San Diego's on top of your division, that's not
an insurmountable obstacle.
The KC Chefs are next week, fresh off a blow-out over the Redskins. Teams rarely play
well after a blow-out (as this week's Broncos are a testament to), it's at home, and
well, it's the Chefs. One good thing about this weekend's Bronco loss- maybe it'll
make ticket prices drop for the next home game?
FINAL CUTS
Lame, insignificant thing of the week: Eric Brown dissed his fans on
Thursday night, but returned on Friday night. I was getting blitzed
but still managed to drop by. He wondered how I got Shannon Sharpe's
autograph on my football
and said "heh, maybe I'll hit him for you this weekend!?" Midway into the
third- yup, Eric Brown tackled Sharpe. Eric Brown has fulfilled his debt to me...
...||...
I dont' care how many receptions you've gotten with the guy in
Madden 2002- Kevin Kasper is NOT the savior for this team. Coaches have been
drooling over Eddie Kennison for a few years now (they tried to trade for him
in 97, I believe). Expect Kennison to start until early November. If, at that point,
he's still making 1 catch for 1 yard- THEN you shake things up.
...||...
More reasons MFL halftime studio shows suck: TV viewers got to
see Jerry Glanville and Randy Cross chopping their hands, and yelling
"I toldja so's" about morning games. Meanwhile, fans at
the Broncos game got to see the enshrinement of Dennis Smith and
Karl Mecklenburg into the Ring of Fame
...||...
Update on Simon Fletcher. (alledged rumor). A fan told me that
Simon got busted by the IRS for building a house with no permit,
in the backwoods of Utah about three years ago. Anyone confirm/deny this?...
Comment about this article. Hit the Message Board, or
Contact ES!
BACK to Broncos index
