Broncos @ Colts GameDay Open Thread

Heh. Nice. Are you attempting to play with my frivolous bloke I have a nice joke for you) How do you get holy water? Boil the hell out of it.

Q3 - 6:33: Denver seems to be moving the ball well. Cutler seems to be calming down.

Jonathan, let's move these over to the 2nd half open thread (new post)!

Awesome stuff man!

Some notes on the first half...

Although we had a GREAT 1st Quarter, our 3rd down conversion percentage has dropped back to 50% vs Indy's 75%. That tells you how Indy was able to get back in this game despite Denver out gaining them 149 yards to 63 yards on the ground.

The other thing that has allowed Manning to get two quick scores has been our (once again) terrible kick-off coverage. Both of those scoring drives came after great field position on returns we should have NEVER given up.

Time of Possession has balanced out a bit after Manning's two scoring drives and now sits at 16:50 to 11:47.

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Now, we need to come out in the Second Half and control the game like we did with our ground game in the 1st quarter.

2Q - 0:37: Travis Henry is officially over 100 yards rushing for the game.

Q2 - 0:56: We get the STOP! Good job guys!

Q2 - 2:00: We're stopped on a 3rd and 2 as Henry can't get it done. We have to punt for the first time this game... I really don't like giving Manning the ball back with 2 minutes on the clock! :(

Q2 - 3:49: Well, we have a great chance to show what we can do in 3 and half minutes. We need at least a FG to gain the lead again. 13-14.

2Q - 3:49: TD for INDY. Darn it! It was close to a sack, but Manning is good enough (and so was Clark) to make it work for them. :(

3:17 -- dammit, I thought we had him there.

2Q - 4:22: 3rd and 6... NEED a stop here!

2Q - Manning is in the RED ZONE.... give us a stop (or a pick), boys!

3:14 -- ouch, they're gashing us. That pressure we had in the first series is gone.

2Q - 6:30: Manning is moving the ball... We need a STOP! D-FENCE! D-FENCE!

2Q Update: Time of Possession so far is 14:50 DEN vs 6:41 IND.

2Q - 8:22: Addai for 14 yards... come on D!

2Q - 8:29: BAD, SPECIAL TEAMS! BAD! We just gave up another 34 yard return! We can't spot Manning 34 yards every kickoff! GRRRR!!!

Weird... Elam was just shown on the sidelines getting work done on his leg... hope it's not serious.

3:07 -- a field goal is better than nothing but it is not what we wanted there. Still, that was good possession time. With this kind of a game, we are relying on our special teams to set up bad field position for the Colts, and so far that is shaky. This game, if it keeps going as it is now, could come down to special teams.

2Q - 8:29: Elam coming out to kick it from the 4 yard line. It's good. 13 to 7.

2Q - 9:13: Big 3-and-9 here!

3:04 -- Cutler took a few plays to get into rhythm but now he's looking pretty darn good. Colts defense is getting a little better against the run though, hopefully we can keep it moving.

2Q - 10:03: Stokley gets his first catch for 12 yards!

2Q - 12:23: Nate Jackson gets 24!

2Q -13:33: Daniel Graham gets in the game with a 14 yards! Henry is averaging over 9 yards a carry! :)

So, here is the statement possession. If we can continue to dominate the run and work in some wise passing plays, we can keep the momentum. If there is a quick stop by Indy, Manning's group will keep it.

Now 10-7, but that setup from special teams...that was going to be tough to stop anyway. But the Colts are adjusting to our defense, which is typical. I hope Shanahan has plans to change things up a bit.

2Q - 14:23: Indy TD on the ground.

1Q Summary: DEN has 133 yards total OFF vs IND's 42. And the difference is ALL on the ground as DEN has 114 yards rushing vs Indy's 15. Manning's getting things moving now, so we need a big stop.

1Q - 0:52: Harrison is back in the game and just got 8 yards.

1Q - 1:52: Waiting on #88 (hurt his back), but I wanted to point out that we made our first slip up and guess what... it was blown Special Teams - surprise! We gave Manning the ball near mid-field. Now, we need a BIG stop by our D!

So, they can call the foul on us for pushing the returner to the ground, but they won't call the obvious hold on Champ? Come on ref! :(

1Q - 2:19: TOUCHDOWN - BRANDON MARSHALL!!!! We're up by 10 and have worked almost all the way through the first Quarter. Now, we need to keep having success on the ground to maintain this lead by controlling the clock.

BRAAAAANNNNDDOOOOOONNNNNNN MARSHALL!!

10-0 Broncos in the first quarter!

Brandon Marshall IS the man.

1Q - 3:46: We're over 115 yards now and are in the RED ZONE! Henry just fumbled, but we recovered.

Q1 - 6:00: Running game is ROLLING boys!!! We're OVER 75 yards in the first 9 minutes of play!!!

Q1 - 7:47: Henry already has 47 yards and the Defense (with new starting DT's) has made it's first Manning stop! Go news so far!!!

Damn, Jarvis Moss is looking HOT.

So is Henry.

Early on, the Broncos are giving me cause to actually be excited for a game that I've been absolutely dreading.

Jarvis Moss was playing inside for a few snaps too.

Wild!

Grrr, the game's on pay TV here in the UK so they're delaying the transmission over the Internet until 1 AM our time. Which means an early morning tomorrow and half the game before work (or the whole game and I call in sick)

Two new starting defensive tackles. That's a gutsy move. Can't wait to see how that works out.