Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals: The BT GameBlog

@
Broncos (0-0) at Bengals (0-0)
Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009
Paul Brown Stadium
1:00 pm ET CBS
GameBlog starts at 12:30

Denver 12, Cincinnati 7 FINAL

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!

It’s NFL kickoff, people! Denver Broncos. Cincinnati Bengals. Two teams flying under the radar. None of that matters. The previews don’t matter. The scouting reports don’t matter. Everything anyone has said on paper doesn’t matter. It’s time to put it out there on the field. It’s time to execute. Man-on-man. It’s time for each Bronco do outperform each Bengal they face every time. It’s time for coaches to outmaneuver, outthink, and outreact.

It’s time for football.

INACTIVES
Denver: Starting RG Chris Kuper won’t make the start tonight. QB Kyle Orton will. Other inactives: QB Tom Brandstater (3QB), S Josh Barrett, DT Chris Baker, OT Brandon Gorin, OLB Jarvis Moss, DE Le Kevin Smith, WR Brandon Lloyd.
Cincinnati: J. .Palmer, D. Jones, D. Dorsey, T. Nelson, S. Kooistra, C. Coffman, J. Simpson, F. Rucker

Coverage: CBS 4 in Denver will provide the game; check your local CBS affiliate for those outside of Denver. Most of the Rocky Mountain states and a good chunk of the west coast will be able to tune in (NFL TV distribution map). Play-by-play provided by Gus Johnson; color commentary provided by Dan Fouts. DIRECTV users tune into Channel 707. Sirius listeners tune into 144 for the Denver feed, 91 for the Cincy feed.

Warmup music: Incubus – Redefine. It’s time to redefine the Broncos.

Weather: A lot of talk was made about the heat and humidity in Cincinnati during the week, but I don’t see it being too big a concern. Mild temps, mild wind (5mph), no excuses. Full weather profile. [Weather.com]

Matchups That Matter

Cheerleaders:

vs.
Amanda L vs. Lauren B.

Amanda is a lifelong Broncos fan, loves to watch football and hopes her fantasy football team does better this year. Dibs. Edge: Denver.

Coaches:

vs.
McDaniels vs. Lewis

That’s Marvin Lewis‘ official profile picture? What was it, taken in the middle of Hard Knocks? Edge: Lewis is on the hot seat and always seemed like a buddy coach more than a coach coach to me. I’d rather have McDaniels. Denver.

Quarterbacks:

vs.
Orton vs. Palmer

When healthy, Carson Palmer is one of the game’s best. And he’s healthy. Edge: Cincinnati.

DEN Off. vs CIN Def.

The Bengals defense is extremely underrated. They finished in the top 10 in 2008 and only seemed to get better, adding the likes of Tank Johnson and Ray Maualuga. Robert Geathers up front is a beast; I expect them to be tough against the run. The Broncos will have to open up in a spread offense and find success throwing the ball to open up the ground game. Cincy’s defense isn’t to be taken lightly.

Their secondary can be thrown against, though, so I expect a big day from Brandon Marshall and a lot of creative gameplanning involving Peyton Hillis.

CIN Off. vs. DEN Def.

The Bengals’ offensive line is as bad as its defensive line is good. Ronald Fields and Kenny Peterson need to wreak havoc in the trenches, putting the o-linemen on their heels. If they can occupy three to four blockers most plays, it’ll open the pass rush on the outside from Elvis Dumervil and various DB blitzes, which I expect Mike Nolan to employ. It’s a good chance to see if our new 3-4 front can dominate against a lesser opponent.

Cincy’s receivers are no joke, so the secondary will have to stay disciplined as well.

The Prediction

I think this will be a tough game for the Broncos. But I can’t pick an opening day loss. It’s not in me to do it. Broncos 17, Bengals 14 in a surprisingly defensive slobberknocker.

Throw out your predictions and come back to talk about the game!