Denver Broncos NFL Scouting Report – Week 1

Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan is a notorious work-a-holic, rumored to research opponents weeks, if not months ahead of time. Instead of covering the entire NFL, what we at The Denver Bronco Talk Blog are doing is covering the NFL that you should care about. Every opponent the Denver Broncos face this season will get full weekly coverage from the first Sunday until the Broncos play them. As fans you will be able to focus on which player/team did what from week-to-week. Heck, you might even look better than Shanahan when the Broncos face off against a team that you’ve been scouting for the last six weeks.

Week 1 @ Oakland Raiders
Javon Walker will suit for Monday night’s game, coach Lane Kiffin forced him to practice Saturday or else… Here are a few Raider/Bronco historical facts. (Warning: these facts are a little Raider-sided.)

Week 2 San Diego Chargers
LaDainian Tomlinson was rendered virtually useless (sorry to anyone who drafted him number 1, me), for most of the game. Though he did finish with 97 yards rushing, no touchdowns. Philip Rivers threw for three touchdowns, with Antonio Gates being most productive of his receivers (four catches, 64 yards and one touchdown). Shawn Merriman had one tackle.

Week 3 New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees, my science, we may have a problem. Good news is the Saints still haven’t figured out who to give the rock to. Deuce McAllister was out and Pierre Thomas was in(effective). The Saints’ offense made Tampa Bay’s defense look very good at some points though, don’t know which is accurate– is New Orleans’ offense one-sided or are the Buccaneers a legitimately dominate defense? Reggie Bush finished with 112 receiving yards.

Week 4 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Come on, who wasn’t impressed by the Chiefs today? Could there be a renewed quarterback controversy in Kansas City? Starter Brodie Croyle went down in the third quarter and Damon Huard came in to replace him, throwing a touchdown in the process. That’s 100% more efficient than Croyle was. Also, just a bit impressive was Larry Johnson and cornerback Patrick Surtain.

Week 5 Tampa Bay Bucaneers
Great defense at times, but not enough to stop the juggernaut arm of Drew Brees. Earnest Graham had a jaw dropping 46-yard touchdown run, that accounted for more than half of his total on the day. If the Bucaneers realize that running the ball (7.3 yards per carry) proves far more productive for their offense than passing (4.7 yards per pass), they may be in for a serious playoff run. They lost, but could have won this one, had Jeff Garcia not thrown an interception on a deep drive inside Saints’ territory.

Week 6 Jacksonville Jaguars
This was the only game that I didn’t get to catch, but at a final score of 17-10, it looked like a real barn burner. Jacksonville’s defense scares me- always has, but Vince Young… He throws for 110-yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and still wins? Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor combined for a whopping 31-yards. Tell you what, Merrill Hoge has been hyping the hell out of the Titans’ Chris Johnson and today, Johnson proved him right…  The Titans quarterback is out by-the-way, possibly two-to-four weeks.

Week 7 @ New England Patriots
I had a conversation with a good friend of mine last week, he’s a huge Patriots fan. I asked him why they would have Tom Brady play in this game? He said, it’s the real season, anything can happen and he couldn’t have been more correct. I’m no Monday morning quarterback though. The opening game loss of Tom Brady, is the worst opening game injury in NFL history. It was also revealed that throughout most of the 2007 season, Brady was suffering from a groin injury so severe that it nearly required surgery. Matt Cassell will only be able to tred water so long for New England. Can you imagine Daunte Culpepper in a Patriots uniform? He’s the best of what’s available and Randy Moss would love to reunite, I’m sure. Mike Florio beat me to the presses with that one, at Sporting News. In the time that it was taken me to write this post, it has been confirmed that Brady will be out for the season. The Pats will bring in Chris Simms on Monday.

Week 8 Bye Week

Week 9 Miami Dolphins
These are not the 2007 Dolphins, nearly topping Brett Favre’s New York Jets. Chad Pennington can and should lead the Dolphins into some type of sunshine, he’ll need help from the running game. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown both had more yards receiving than they did rushing. Two penalties on number 1 pick Chris Long negated first-downs. Tight end Anthony Fassano, whom the Dolphins signed away from the Dallas Cowboys, is shaping up to be Pennington’s favorite target.

Week 10 @ Cleveland Browns
The Browns were completely ineffective against the Cowboys. Tony Romo had all day to pass, virtually no pressure. Cleveland did suffer a setback during pregame, losing slot receiver Dante’ Stallworth. Cleveland gave up 487 to Dallas’ offense. Cleveland’s much hyped defensive line was just that. Jamal Lewis gained 62 yards and the concussed Derek Anderson was worth 114 yards and a touchdown. I’m not ready to call him a one-hit wonder yet though.

Week 11 @ Atlanta Falcons
I was vehement that the Broncos sign Michael Turner, they didn’t listen. Turner ran for 220 yards and two touchdowns. One of those runs was a 66-yard scamper. Matt Ryan threw a touchdown on the very first pass of his career… What!? John Abraham sat out for a bit with an injury and still managed three sacks. Jason Elam was 2/2 by the way. I’m not ready to call them the surprise team of the season yet though, the Detroit Lions may just be that bad… The Falcons ran for 320 yards as a team.

Week 12 Oakland Raiders
Still not much more to say about them until after the game Monday night. Here’s a DeAngelo Hall interview where he speaks on Denver and Al Davis‘ insistence on winning the division first, then worrying about the playoffs. Also drops this little locker door worthy quote, “I take my chances against any receiver in this league. One-on-one I like my odds. I don’t think Denver posses any threats. So I’m just ready to go out there and have some fun.”

Week 13 @ New York Jets
Favre was less than impressive, though he did manage two touchdown lobs. I thought that the main player that would benefit in New York from the Favre trade would be running back Thomas Jones. So far, I’m correct – Jones has already matched his 2007 touchdown total with one. Bryan Thomas was a wrecking ball coming off the edge for the Jets, coming away with two sacks. Hopefully he’s starting to erase a little of Jets’ fans doubts for the player’s dedication to the team. Ultimate point, J-E-T-S, J-E-T-S, Brett, Brett, Brett! If you can just barely beat the Miami Dolphins, what the hell do you think Dre Bly’s going to do to him? The guy should have stayed retired or insisted on being traded to the Buccaneers.

Week 14 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Want to know the best part about the Chiefs-Patriots game? The Chiefs almost won, on fourth and goal from the Patriots five-yard line… Huard threw a pass to Dwayne Bowe that was knocked to the ground by Deltha O’Neal. Remember him? By the way, Croyle will be out a minimum of two weeks, according to Adam Schefter at NFL Network.

Week 15 @ Carolina Panthers
It seems ridiculous to say, being that they gave up 22 points, but defense won this game for Carolina. The only offensive touchdown the team scored came in the final two seconds of the game. Preseason critics were calling the Panthers a surprise team, they certainly surprised the hell out of the San Diego Chargers (and the rest of the NFL). Are the Chargers all hype this season or are the Panthers back to championship form? Well, I don’t want to jinx anything, but you tell me the last time an NFC team upset an AFC team that was supposedly a Super Bowl contender? This was one of those games that San Diego was supposed to win, but they do still have the third easiest strength of schedule this season.

Week 16 Buffalo Bills
Wow, Roscoe Parish, seeing him against Denver last season, you would have expected him to have a better season in 2007. His punt return for a touchdown made Devin Hester jealous. Marshawn Lynch is also looking like the AFC’s next great running back. The Bills and the Broncos this season are both looking to me like teams that will be contending for playoff spots in late December.

Week 17 @ San Diego Chargers
What’s the over/under that Shawne Merriman suits for this week 17 game?

In my debriefing for Week 1 in the NFL, allow me to point out that whoever wins tomorrow between the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos, will be number one in the AFC West. They will also, at worst be tied for number one going into Week 3.