Sunday, December 27, 2009

Broncos lose to Eagles: 30-27

Philadelphia hit the game winning field goal with 4 seconds to go to defeat Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos 30-27. Denver made a valiant second half comeback on the strength of two touchdowns in less than a minute, but Philadelphia was able to prevail.



Again, the key to Denver's game was the strong play of the defense in the second half. The Eagles had trouble moving the ball and the Denver offense was given plenty of opportunities with great field position. In the end, it was not enough to overcome the terrible first half.



Denver is now at the mercy of the scoreboard. If we can beat Kansas City next week, we still need either Pittsburg or Baltimore to lose, and perhaps the Jets as well. We'll see how the tie-breakers play out. I think that the Jets and Broncos have identical conference records. the subsequent tie-breakers are below:

Head-to-head, if applicable.
Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.
Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
Strength of victory.
Strength of schedule.
Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
Best net points in conference games.
Best net points in all games.
Best net touchdowns in all games.
Coin toss.


Denver has lost to both Pittsburgh and Baltimore. I'll have to investigate common games played with the Jets but it may come down to Strength of victory if those two teams are tied. I do know that if the Jets win next week, they are in.

From 6-0 to 8-7. 2-7 in the last 9. Enough said.
Posted by Mark at 5:48 PM
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2 comments:

  1. Josh McDaniels Sucks!

    Fire Him!
    ReplyDelete
  2. Kyle Orton FanDec 29, 2009 09:55 AM
    I hate to say but, I don't think Broncos fans are as sophisticated as they once were. Right now I think there is way too much focus on Orton when the problems stem more from the game plan from the head coach.

    I gave McDaniels a fair shot before this evaluation I'm NOT ready yet to pull the plug on him however, I think he needs to expand his playbook and start getting players involved beyond simply dink and dunk. Below is my 'BALANCED' critique of McDaniels

    MCDANIELS PROS / CONS

    I have to admit heading into week 16 I'm rather disappointed in McDaniels. However, I can't ignore the positives he brought in this year either.

    I'm going to list PROS / CONS and would like some feedback.

    PRO's
    Defensive upgrade:
    For all those whining for the return of Shanahan, let's get one thing straight. Mike Nolan would NEVER work under Shanahan. So you can extinguish the absurd notion that Shanahan would HAVE THIS DEFENSE. HE WOULD NOT.

    The defensive players Nolan brought in make improving the defense next year less daunting than we all thought at the beginning of preseason.

    NOT giving up:
    In the Indy and Philly games, last years team would have just rolled over. The players seem to like McDaniels enough to TRY and give him 60 minutes.

    Enthusiasm:
    McDaniels has brought in enthusiasm on the sidelines that I believe carries out onto the field we haven't had since Red Miller was coaching.

    The Marshall Situation
    Contrary to popular belief, the Marshall / Broncos situation was already brewing BEFORE shanahan was fired. Shanahan himself confirmed this when he publicly stated he would have traded Marshall. It's obvious Marshall is a McDaniels' 'guy' and McDaniels 'my guy' policy seemed to have benefited the Broncos in this case.

    CONS:
    THE QB SITUATION:
    IMO anyway, the Cutler situation becomes much more in focus by looking at the Orton situation. Whether you like Kyle Orton or not, anyone who is HONEST will tell you the Kyle Orton you saw in Chi-town is NOT the Kyle Orton 'reinvented' in Denver. In Chicago Kyle Orton wasn't this 'dink and dunk', never throw down field qb because THAT'S NOT THE OFFENSE THEY RAN. Kyle Orton, like every other NFL qb threw the ball all over the place when asked. McDaniels must have known Cutler would 'reasonably' have a problem being handcuffed to a dink and dunk throw down field ONLY as a last resort style of offense. If you think the limited pass play is because of Kyle Orton, you need to explain why was Simms even MORE handcuffed than Orton during his limited regular season playing time.

    THE biggest Cons for McDaniels is the limited playbook he has Orton run. The Cincy game is a real testament to this. Sure the wining TD was on a 'fluke' play. The fact is, that 'fluke' play was the longest pass play ALL DAY. The Bengals, as most teams, had shut down the 'dink and dunk ALL day and it took a down field play to win the game. If the other team isn't giving you down field pass plays you have to TAKE IT from them. The ONLY games this season Orton was really 'allowed' to throw all over the field was during the New England game and Chargers away game. We have seen way TOO many times where Orton is asked to go down field AFTER the game has gotten out of reach and a.) the opposing defense tees off on him AND b.) Orton has to get into a down field passing rhythm when he hadn't thrown down field all day. I find blaming Orton rather hard for coming up short when the guy is handcuffed from the start of each game by the coach. I also find this offensive scheme of McDaniels rather odd when Orton is head and shoulders a better qb than Matt Casell yet Casell was given a lot more flexibility to throw the ball than Orton is given.

    The 'My Guy' McD Club...


    THE REST can be viewed here...
    http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=123481820&start=550
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