1. Some. There is a segment of the Bronco population that was rabidly anti-McDaniels to begin with, have only grudgingly accepted him before, and are quick to point blame now. The more rational elements are putting blame elsewhere. However, I would also echo DenBronx that I feel he is struggling with effective play calling

2. No. Not at all. The age is only an issue in the secondary, which is still playing very very well. The defensive issues are vs. the run (which is mainly on the line) and teams running the hurry-up, not allowing substitutions (again, mainly on the line).

3. Effectively, he did so right about the time we last played you. He has been steadily getting mroe carries all season long, and right about Week 5 is when he started to eclipse Buck. With few exceptions, that trend has continued. It is clear McDaniels likes Moreno very much, and values our running game as a key part of our success. We have had the best success running Moreno up the gut 15+ times, and Buckhalter on screen passes and swings 5-10 times.

1 a little 2 lack of tacking 3 yes i think so

Right now, they’re about where most (rational/informed) Bronco fans thought they would be during the preseason: good, serviceable, but not great.

Their strength in the early going was multifaceted, but I would say it boiled down to 1) lack of scheming by opposing teams; 2) frequent roation and/or packaging playing to their strengths; and 3) confidence. As a side note, Elvis Dumervil was getting held far less.

(1) is not happening any more, (2) is being negated by no-huddle/hurry-up, and (3) is still there but is tenuous. Injuries really aren’t an issue on the line, although Ryan McBean has proven to be more significant than nearly everyone thought.

The DL is holding up, but barely so…our schemes have been seen now and offenses are adjusting to it. I don’t see much changing from our side so we are getting beat. These guys are solid, but no superior…and when teams go no-huddle (a fad of the past few games) it has led to our guys getting worn out…see any of the 2nd halves from the last three loses by the Broncos.

Peterson is probable; so is Williams.

Harris is out for sure. Polumbus has been doing a good job in his spot.

We are on a three game skid. I’m not confident in this team with the way they played the last three games. There has been some HUGE room for improvement in all three phases over the past three loses.

That being said, this is a great game for a football fan…probably will decide the division. I see it as an opportunity for our team to EARN our way to the playoffs. We need to beat SD this game to be contenders….if not we are on our way to a mediocre team.

Not really much. That’s not necessarily due to your prowess (although you do have some strong weapons) — it’s more on our struggles.

I do think we have a very very good chance to win, since the Redskins game could be seen as a wake-up call and it is at home. Plus, you guys are more of a finesse team (I hate using that word, but I think it applies to us) like we are, and we match up well.

Offense: Rivers…that QB is so dangerous when he has time.

Defense: None…I’m not worried about stopping any one of your guys, I’m more worried about our offense executing plays the right way.

He’s re-energized after last game and his good news (congrats to him and his wife!), plus our run D is reeling lately. Besides, LDT always has good games vs. us.

Sproles.

For the last few years, every team’s return man has scared me, but Sproles has consistently produced against our dismal ST units. Based on our performance the last few games on ST, he could have another big day.

“you guys couldn’t have honestly liked those did you?”

They burned those uniforms in the 1960s. What do you think the answer to that question is?

just realized the Orton question was answered in another post. guess i should read before i ask. bad dave.

If the Charger defense puts pressure on the Bronco QB, neither one will be awesome. Philip Rivers, on the other hand, can function with quite a bit of pressure coming at him.

The broncos are orange. They should have orange jerseys as their primary jersey and not the alternate. The brown was an interesting uniform. I’ll leave it at that.

However, we were undefeated with those socks and haven’t won since we put them away after the Chargers game. Coincidence????

I think we’d all rather have Ryan Harris as our starting right tackle, but he is still injured. That leaves us with Tyler Polumbus. I guess this will end up answering Neoplatonist Bolthead’s question, as well.

Tyler Polumbus has played well in the last few weeks. The tackle positions are not going to be the problems of the broncos offensive line. The real struggles that we have had have come up the middle. The scapegoat of the offensive line, so far, has been Ben Hamilton. He’s been knocked on his butt a few times this season and hasn’t held his blocks as well as the other offensive linemen.

The best thing about the broncos line is depth at the tackle position. We have two great starters in Clady and Harris, who are both young players. Throw in Tyler Polumbus and we are good to go at tackle. The guard and center positions are a different story. With Hochstein (9th season) (Hamilton as a backup in his 10th season) and Weigmann in his 14th season, we have two aging starters. We drafted Seth Olsen to hopefully turn into a starter in the near future, but we are going to need at least two more offensive linemen for the interior in the draft or sometime this offseason.

Simms is definitely shocking to watch because of the lefty release. It all seems backwards, to me. However, that shouldn’t affect how our line blocks. Regardless of if we have a right handed quarterback or a left handed quarterback, the line still needs to keep a nice pocket for the QB to throw out of.

This comes up a lot, Buck, but the fact is that the plays and the protections are unchanged whether the QB is right or left handed.