WEEK 9: 4-4 Denver Broncos vs 6-1 Dallas Cowboys - Sunday November 7th @ 11am MST

[broncofan48]

Cooper, Sterns, Surtain and Browning have me excited for the youthful potential of this defense.    Speaking of Browning he looks really good to mE out there.  
 

Maybe I’m missing something but I really don’t understand why Strnad was playing above him

[Dbrog24]

Just got done watching the game and wow! Echo everything people are saying here and I need to get a Williams jersey asap.. Dude's an absolute stud. I do think this game had a lot of oopsies by the cowboys so let's not get carried away (the blocked kick recovery, multiple multiple drops, bad penalties). We also had some horrible tackles where we just needed to hold onto the player and we probably could've shut them out. 

Not raining too much on this though. It's the most guts and energy I've seen from our team since probably the Giants game and it's incredibly encouraging that Shurmur finally realized if we are going to be able to get more out of less, we need to rely on our run game. Just nice to see our guys rally when no one would have blamed them for quitting. 

Also I disappointed my dad! 😂

[AnAngryAmerican]

It feels like an anomaly, and unless it’s repeated, why buy it? Dallas is better than us in every facet and yet we dominated in every facet. Seriously, WTF. 

I’ll give credit to the staff and the team - and to piggyback on what George said - give all the credit to Vic’s coaching and Paton‘s roster construction - but, damn, if this is sustainable we’re well on our way. 

[broncosfan_101]

37 minutes ago, bMiller031 said:

This kind of development is more meaningful than 4 draft slots, IMO.  Great to see the rookies play and play well.

As someone who’s all about not getting stuck in the mushy middle (ie. picking between 11-20 every year), I still love wins like this. Not only because we need to see the on-field development of guys like Jeudy, Surtain, Pookie, Meinerz, etc., but also because there’s real value in building a culture. And when you see a guy like Justin Simmons, who’s had an up-and-down year after getting the kwan this summer, absolutely answer the bell and take ownership of this defence after Von’s departure…that’s a guy you want a young defence to follow. 
 

Also, uhhhhh…Calvin freakin Anderson?? That was a grown man game.

[AKRNA]

3 hours ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

Wow. Just wow. Where has this team been all year? What a shocker. 

It's really the same team as the first three games. Back to the same game plan we used successfully through preseason and the first three games. The game plan Shurmer abandoned against Baltimore and forgot about for all 4 losses.

Letting the defense dictate your play calls, not down and distance by the book. Shanahan would be proud. TD made his career on 2nd and 3rd and long and Shanahan made his by "running when they expect pass and passing when they expect run" his self described method of play selection.

It was really fun to watch him go back to basics.

Also, a huge game for our defense and new LB corp. Where did they get that? What a great coaching job on both sides of the ball and a tip of the hat to Paton. His acquisitions came up big time today.

Don't look now, but this could be a game changer. A dominating win against a quality opponent on the road. With Philly coming to town we've got a great chance of going into the bye at 6-4 and riding a 3 game win streak.

With 5 division games after the bye, we control our own destiny. 

 

[Scoundrel]

Anyone have an update on Surtain’s injury?

[The Helicopter]

What an unexpected showing. It was fun. I’m not sold we’re this good and it’s almost more concerning we play on the extremes. Are we beating ourselves or is the competition? I think Dak shoulda waited another week. Injuries keep mounting and that’s not sustainable.

[AKRNA]

Quick question. When Meinerz came in did he replace Graham at RG?

[anewdawn]

Two banged up lines and the show they both put on was so damn impressive.  I just sat and watched in awe.  Never got too excited as I expected Dallas to come back and I calmly enjoyed the game as it just was becoming more and more clear that we would kick their a***s!!    

[broncosfan_101]

8 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

Quick question. When Meinerz came in did he replace Graham at RG?

Yep, RG.

Just for you, buddy.

[AKRNA]

7 minutes ago, broncosfan_101 said:

Yep, RG.

Just for you, buddy.

Yee f**king haw!  That's where he belongs. Now they can put Muti at LG, thats where he belongs.

[bMiller031]

33 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

Yee f**king haw!  That's where he belongs. Now they can put Muti at LG, thats where he belongs.

Sounds like we might see Meinerz at RG from here on

[Broncofan]

Several thoughts from today's shocker of a game:

1.   This is our first true signature win this season - I don't think it's controversial to say wins over NYG, NYJ & JAX didn't show us much (even with their even more improbable win over BUF today), and last week's win vs. WFT with Heinecke at QB, and 2 missed/blocked FG's on their end, only showed we aren't an awful team.   Now, as I've said after our L's - we're never as bad as our worst game.  We're also not as good as our best game, either.    The fact  JAX beat BUF today, NYG beat LV and ATL beat NO (although all 3 were home dogs), it really drives home the point about every given Sunday.

2.  A huge reason why we won the game beside the great play from our D - we won the TO game 4-0.   It only shows up as 2 TO's, but those 4th down stops early in the game gave our O short fields, and allowed the run game to keep Dak & co. off the field.   Any time a team wins the TO battle by 2, they narrow the gap - it's incredibly rare for teams that win by 3-4 TO's to actually lose the game (week 1 DAL vs. TAM was one such example, but it's less than 1x a year).

3.  Jerry Jeudy gave a strong show on why he's our alpha WR going forward.   He's just so hard to cover, and he's got serious YAC ability.   He wins at all 3 levels, we just didn't see much of the deep game this week, but we've seen it before.    And yeah, Tim Patrick is a dog.  Courtland Sutton is clearly a more talented player, but Patrick is truly a 90-percent lite version of Sutton (that 10 percent matters vs. top competition).   It's going to be a tough decision, because we certainly shouldn't pay top FA market money for both guys in their respective tiers.  I will also say Kendall Hinton still keeps progressing.  He's got a long way to go before he's a viable top 3 guy, but at least you see the glimpses of potential (and given his college background as a QB, this is still very promising).

4.   Caden Sterns is really closing the door on any idea we should retain Kareem Jackson.  I've said it before that drafting him was genius, and would allow Paton to cut bait after this year - frankly, Sterns is making a case to be the full-time starter now (I get the rookie wall is likely coming, just saying he's clearly playing so well).   Guy's a playmaker, and scary part is he's only going to get better.   Jonathan Cooper really flashed today.   He's not Von V2...but he doesnt' look like he's going to be Malik Reed V2, either. 

5.   Both Meinerz & Anderson showed out today on the OL.  It made such a difference.   And yeah, this is no surprise - but Javonte Williams really is making the case to be the starter on all but obvious passing downs (for MG3's protection, and to keep both fresh).   Dude's going to be a 3-down monster next year.

6.   Because our D was amazing today, we got a 13-0, then 16/19 pt lead - Teddy didn't need to do much.   He was effective, and we saw what attributes he brings when we are ahead - he doesn't put the ball in jeopardy.     Didn't make silly mistakes that allowed DAL to come back.

7.   For those that question why a top veteran QB would want to come to play for Denver next year - this game is exactly why.   Supporting cast showed its potential.  The OL showed clear progress, and shows there's something to work with.   Our D lived up to the pre-season hope.   A great QB would be really excited to play for us next year, especially when they look at who's playing best (more on this at the end).   We can show this game vs. a legit top 6 team, and show the promise we have.

The biggest take-home point - we're still just a middle-of-pack team.   DAL played their worst game, and frankly, they overlooked our D and OL run prowess, and got their teeth smashed in.    Chances are if we played them later this year, they'd handle us readily, but they weren't expecting what our guys had in store for them.    But I don't say this with negativity - but more the realization middle-pack teams can beat top 10 teams, what happened today across the league showed that in spades.     Here's the thing, though - other than a few guys, the best guys on our team are the young core - and our rookie class / 2nd year class have led the way.  

Until we get a true QB solution, sustained success against good teams isn't coming.   I'm not trying to hijack the thread - it's just a common sentiment we have.   But we absolutely need to give GM Paton a chance to make his pick at HC/OC and the next QB.    Because frankly, when we look at Paton's draft class - it's fair to say it's the most impactful year 1 than Elway had since 2011-12 era.   If he can find our Russell Wilson (or A-Rod), I also have real hope he can find guys in Day 2-3....witness the impact his draft guys had today - but also as the season has progressed:

Honestly, the real message is to give Paton enough time.    If he doesn't find our QB, in the end, it will be for naught.  But given the direction we took with Fangio / Shurmur staying, and passing on QB for a win-now year (and make no mistake, nothing's really changed in the long-term outlook that Fangio & co. are unlikely to remain, barring a sustained run of success, which seems very improbable), Paton's shown enough in year 1 in how the team's built long-term to give him the reins next offseason.   I hope it ends up with one of the big 3 vet elite QB's (unlikely Watson, MIA is going to keep bidding hardest for him), but the point being, we have to kinda trust in him, until he shows us he can't find the guy.    The team he's building in all other respects makes this a no-brainer IMO.

Final thought - ppl will despair that we will likely be good enough to be competitive, and win 8-9 games (7 was our floor that I saw at start of year, 10 the ceiling) - because it won't land a high draft pick.  And yes, I think that's important.  But if there's one year where it may not be as valuable, it's 2022 offseason - not just for the thin for true franchise-level ceiling QB's Rd1...but also, because going vet QB is an unprecedented viable option.    Obviously higher picks makes either scenario more plausible - but it's clear we're not going to be a bottom 6-or  similar tier team.   Given that, I just hold out hope Paton accumulates enough ammo to get our guy - and just keep watching the rookies/2nd year guys who look to be our future, and keep taking hope in their progress.  They certainly gave a ton for all of us to go to bed tonight with way more hope than the last few weeks. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Broncofan

[Cutler06]

2 hours ago, AKRNA said:

Yee f**king haw!  That's where he belongs. Now they can put Muti at LG, thats where he belongs.

What do you do with Risner then ??

[Cutler06]

Gives me more hope for the future given we have 11 picks in the 2022 draft.  Still have to wait to see how Paton handles the QB situation, still one of our two biggest problems with this team 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Cutler06