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Published on 11/17/2009 at Tue Nov 17 09:00.
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Studs and Duds: Broncos Week 10

Posted Tue Nov 17th by

Chris Simms #2 of the Denver Broncos looks for a receiver against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on November 15, 2009 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins defeated the Broncos 27-17. (Larry French/Getty Images)

Chris Simms #2 of the Denver Broncos looks for a receiver against the Washington Redskins at FedExField on November 15, 2009 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins defeated the Broncos 27-17. (Larry French/Getty Images)

Broncos 17 – Redskins 27.  Who ya got, gentlemen?

SimmsDud: Chris Simms. The Broncos could very well be 7-2 had Kyle Orton not been absent from the second half with an ankle injury. Simms looked like a rookie out on the field, completing only several passes for miniscule yardage. Broncos fans better pray that Orton is able to compete at home against San Diego next week if they want to have a shot at making the post-season. Clearly, the Broncos under the guidance of Simms won’t have a shot at those aspirations. – Christopher D. Hart

OrtonStud: Kyle Orton. Strange as this might sound, Kyle’s injury (and the rough outing Chris Simms had yesterday) made KO look like a franchise QB. I mean, we all know he probably blew a blood vessel throwing those deep balls to #15, but he made the right reads and put the ball where it was catchable. Most of the whining this week will be about Simms, which I think is unfair — he didn’t call the plays that put his rusty arm on display and Simms was also playing from behind as our defense wasn’t able to shut down the second half like we did during our first six games. But regardless of the belly-aching over Simms preformance, the clear winner in Sunday’s loss is Kyle Orton’s reputation as a starting QB. – Jonathan Douglas

MarshallStud: Brandon Marshall. Marshall, because he’s the obvious choice. Because I have to pick one. It’s really hard for me to pull a positive out of this. We played like a team that knows it’s destiny, and that destiny isn’t all too great. 8-8 is becoming more of a possibility with every passing week. Who’s happy? – JKK (in a Broncos rut)

KuperDud: O-Line. It’s actually hard for me to pick a dud. I have to point to someone and say yeah, you lost he game for us, loser, and that’s hard. We lost not because of Simms but with a lack of dominant running game, because a good running game in the second half would not have unbalanced the time of possession so badly, and the defense might not have broken down so badly. But why was the running game poor? Probably a lack up front. Wiegmann, Kuper and Hochstein, as a unit need to get the back out to the second level and then the back can work. Unless they fix that, we are going to lose a lot more games that we should have been winning. Broncos O line: this dud’s for you. – E. Halsey Miles

MorenoStud: Knowshon Moreno I had a big debate about who to give my “stud” to. Brian Dawkins and D.J. Williams both played excellent for most of the game (I think they tallied around 25 tackles between them), but the run defense fell apart. RB Knowshon Moreno had his best day as a Bronco yet, but he was up-and-down, and I was very frustrated with at least two dropped Simms passes in the second half. I’ll still give it to Moreno because he played a bit better in pass protection this week. This is a hesitant “stud” award, KM — don’t go resting on your laurels now. – Kyle

Darrell Reid MugshotDud: Darrell Reid. Due to the Broncotalk staff being fair, we have to play by the rules and cannot all pick Chris Simms as our unanimous DUD. With that said, I’m going to give my dud to Darrell Reid for an unbelievably bone headed play. That fake field goal, pooch punt turned 35 yard touchdown pass?  Darrell  should’ve made the read to pick up the fullback Mike Sellers running a circle route out of the backfield. What does he do instead? Blitz into the backfield when the play is already halfway rolled out to the right sideline. When he blows by his man, he points back to whoever is still left, as if to say “Oh yeah, you take my assignment” Poor Marcus Thomas does his best effort to turn a zone drop into man coverage but can’t keep up with a runningback for the distance of the route. An embarassing touchdown allowed. For that Jarvis, you get the dud. – Josh Temple

*As noted by a reader it was not #94 Jarvis Moss in question on the fake fg play, it was #95 Darrell Reid.  I had to go back and watch the grainy flash video footage again to confirm.  I read the jersey number incorrectly initially as it was hard to pick up at full speed.  My apologies to the readers and Jarvis Moss.  -Josh Temple

  • rcsodak

    Dream, if you're going to pick on a guy, and rightly so, at least define his 'accomplishments', or lack thereof, appropriately. He didn't complete “several passes for miniscule yardage”, he completed 3! 3 out of 13 for 13 yards!!!!!! He sucked!

    Josh, do you REALLY think Moss was told to follow Sellers the whole time? Or are you just guessing? I'd surmise it's probably the latter. And maybe rightly so. I mean, the guy has been a consummate failure since his arrival. But until I hear from Nolan that Sellers was Moss' responsibility, I'll stick with the fact that the whole play was a cluster ****. Denver coulda/shoulda on that play. But you don't rely on a backup OLB to stay with a FB after a running start. McD said they should have blitzed, and THAT, is what Moss was probably told to do.

    My stud pick is BMarsh, for getting past the coverage…followed by Orton.
    My dud pick goes to the whole Defense. They were the ones that allowed Washington to have their BEST game/points scored since forever.

  • Andpark

    Wasn't Alphonso way out of position on the fake FG? DUD. Ugly ugly stuff.

  • Carl

    What about trying brandtstater. he looked really good over the preseason and simms just seems inadequate

  • Jack

    The dud as much as it pains me to say it was not Simms but McD with proper number of reps with the first team Simms would've done much better. McD was unprepared for an injury to Orton and it showed in Simms play.

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  • robtink242

    Mike Sellers isn't fast at all. He doesn't have near the speed of Jarvis Moss. And I am not disagreeing with you but further elaborating how much Jarvis Moss sucks. Personally Tim Crowder is way better player than Moss. Crowder start for the Bucs and was reassuring reason for them to trade Gains Adams. If the Former first round pick in Moss leaves this team his career is over.

  • dj73104

    Jarvis Moss wasn't even on the field for the fake field goal! It was 95 – Darrel Reid.

  • pwsbronco

    Lost not because of Simms but a lack of a dominant running game????
    If I recall we were running down their throats when Kyle was in, Moreno was all over them. When Simms came in he couldn't complete a throw, 3-13 and 13 yards hardly takes him off the hook.
    You may blame McD for the play calling but when the QB comes in he sure as hell better be ready to play. Simms wasn't even close. Call it rust but 3-13 and 13 yrds is pathetic. With that kind of passing it sure does not help your running game.
    Simms is a pro, whether he has not played since 06 is not an excuse, be ready when your time comes up. It has been done by many QB's.
    Really can't believe he is our backup…
    So, really have to dissagree with you on letting Simms skate and trying to blame the running game here….Got to do better than 13 yards passing in a half or you are going to have to take the biggest part of the blame for the loss, like maybe 99%….. quick 3 and outs just kills a defense and it really showed, not to say the D has not been struggling lately but if you look at it, the offense has had a big part in the fall of our D….

  • arvada62

    Can't believe the man-crush Kyle has on Orten. Orten is a journeyman, career backup QB and nothing more. Even a blind squirrel gets an acorn now and then and Orten got zero coverage on BMarsh so BMarsh could adjust to Orten's under-thrown, Hail Mary rainbows for two big plays. Hardly the stuff of being a “big stud”! It would be like saying the game winning tipped ball that Stokely caught against the Bengals showed what a great receiver Stokely is. If Orten is Denver's only hope of beating the Chargers, then this team is in worse shape than anyone imagined.

    Second half, no running game to speak of so McD's whole passing game concept (i.e., play-action) was a non-factor for the Washington defense. Simms showed his lack of first team practice reps and playing time. McD must have thought he'd never need to send in a backup QB as he obviously didn't prepare Simms at all. And the O-line didn't exactly give Simms a comfortable pocket, he was running for his life on most plays.

    If you want a Stud for the Redskins game, the pickings are slim, but Elvis D. never gave up the hunt and played all out until the last down. For a Dud, I nominate Coach McD for having the team so unprepared for the Redskins and being unable to adapt to the unfolding game situation. This was clearly Coach McD's worst game as the Bronco's head coach.

  • TheTroglodyte

    How much lower of a percentage of reps did Simms get compared to other teams backups?

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    Considering that whole defenesive playcall looked improvised when the Redskins audible I would think the linebackers have to be smart enough to pick players coming out of the backfield. Do I know if Moss had Sellers as an assignment? No. But I don't think anyone had an assignment on that busted play, maybe the dbs, but that's about it.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    It's hard to tell from the angles I reviewed, but it looks like Alphonso covered someone that came off the left side of the formation across the field over the right hashmarks then came back and tried to make the play on Sellers. I can't confirm it, but it looked like he made the right play.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    I'm getting a little tired of the reps arguement. You're a pro, it is your responsibility to know the playbook. Regardless if you're familiar with the players around you or not, routes are still the same, positions are still the same, just the timing might be a little different. You have to make better throws. I can see the reps argument if he's just missing guys by a few steps or it's obvious that a qb is out of sync with his players. Simms looked like he just signed with the team that week and didn't have a review of the gameplan (although he did).

  • jbirchbronco

    Please give it up on the Brandstater stuff man!! He has only played in the preseason and only against 3rd Stringers. I'm so sick of reading about the “Start Brandstater” comments. Orton will be good to go this week. He's our only option. We're in a playoff race here fellas, and Orton gives us our best chance to WIN!!

  • TheTroglodyte

    Just for fun I did searches on 10 difference backup qb's and every team said the same thing. They get little to no reps in practice each week.

    So are you saying that McD is wrong because he gives the same amount of reps to Simms as every other coach in the league gives there qb

    Or are you saying that you actually know how many reps Simms gets and it's even less than every other backup qb?

    Or did you just repeat something you heard somewhere because you thought it would make you sound smart?

  • Tim

    Does talking out of your arse make you feel tough? You have no idea what you are talking about.

  • http://www.broncotalk.net Josh Temple

    Noted and updated thanks for the catch. I watched the replays on NFL.com and it was hard to determine if it was a 94 or 95. The player's frame looked smaller than Reid.

  • Jack

    I just read that in another blog actually and sort of assumed other backup qb's got more reps. I guess I really don't know what I am talking about lol

  • tinman1219

    I could care less about the studs or the duds unless the running game gets better we won't control the ball. Why isn't Hillis Playing he is a stud, both as a runner and as a receiver, get him is the game..

  • http://ehalseymiles.com E. Halsey Miles

    Moreno had some pretty good runs in the first half, it is true. At halftime, he was 12 for 53 with a 4.4 yard average. He even finished the game at 18 for 97 with a 5.5 average, which suggests he did better in the second half.

    Then why did we have troubles with ball control? You go out there and you're trying to give your backup QB a break and ease him in, you need to get those first downs with runs. Put them in manageable situations.

    The Redskins defense has allowed 125.7 yards on average to other teams. Somehow, despite running it down their throats, we only got a total of 120 — we couldn't even get up to the average, when we were in a situation where we should've been leaning heavily on the run game. Maybe the fault is more McDaniel's than the O-Line for letting Simms pass too much, but I can't help but think that a more dominant run game, rather than a very average run game, would have allowed the Broncos to remain more in control during the second half of the game. Instead, the offense fell down, and the defense has been more and more exposed as the league gets more looks at it.

    We have an average, at best, run game, and we need a dominant run game.

  • pwsbronco

    I agree that we need a better run game but in defense of our avg run game, the skins defense went right after our run game and challenged Simms to throw. They knew as we did that we were toast in the pass game as soon as Simms came on the field.
    If Simms starts on sunday the Chargers will do just the same. Press our running game and make Simms beat them, and that is what any and all teams would do. There is never an excuse for 3-13 for 13 yards. Not many of us could do much worse than that. Can't even make an arguement about even a perceived threat with those numbers.
    We can only hope and pray that if Simms plays on against the bolts that he has help from above or our running game can carry us or our defense can show up again or our special teams gets the same help as Simms or that Rivers and LT are inactive and then it may be a game….
    Bottom line……. We need help and lots of it or get back to playing at the beginning of the year, get our confidence back and play our positions…

  • steeplebomb

    its Orton, not Orten. Get it right. A blind squirrel wouldn't have the win/loss record Kyle has. Not saying he's amazing, but he's a hell of a lot better then a backup QB (like, I don't know, Simms?)

    McD has a limited amount of time and reps to prepare the team with each week. Should he give 'Orten' more so he can improve from a journeyman or should he give Simms more to prepare him for game time situations?

  • arvada62

    Remember Orton or Orten spent 3 years with the Bears struggling to beat out Rex Grossman. Hardly stellar competition and Lovie Smith isn't exactly a dumb head coach. I say, Coach McD make the decision now to start Simms and spend the week preparing him to start. Otherwise, we will end up with one gimpy starting QB who will probably only be able to practice at full speed for a day or two and one inadequately prepared backup QB who will be in the game after the first sack of gimpy Orton/Orten.

  • pwsbronco

    I agree that we need a better run game but in defense of our avg run game, the skins defense went right after our run game and challenged Simms to throw. They knew as we did that we were toast in the pass game as soon as Simms came on the field.

    If Simms starts on sunday the Chargers will do just the same. Press our running game and make Simms beat them, and that is what any and all teams would do. There is never an excuse for 3-13 for 13 yards. Not many of us could do much worse than that. Can't even make an arguement about even a perceived threat with those numbers.

    We can only hope and pray that if Simms plays on against the bolts that he has help from above or our running game can carry us or our defense can show up again or our special teams gets the same help as Simms or that Rivers and LT are inactive and then it may be a game….

    Bottom line……. We need help and lots of it or get back to playing at the beginning of the year, get our confidence back and play our positions…

  • steeplebomb

    its Orton, not Orten. Get it right. A blind squirrel wouldn't have the win/loss record Kyle has. Not saying he's amazing, but he's a hell of a lot better then a backup QB (like, I don't know, Simms?)

    McD has a limited amount of time and reps to prepare the team with each week. Should he give 'Orten' more so he can improve from a journeyman or should he give Simms more to prepare him for game time situations?

  • arvada62

    Remember Orton or Orten spent 3 years with the Bears struggling to beat out Rex Grossman. Hardly stellar competition and Lovie Smith isn't exactly a dumb head coach. I say, Coach McD make the decision now to start Simms and spend the week preparing him to start. Otherwise, we will end up with one gimpy starting QB who will probably only be able to practice at full speed for a day or two and one inadequately prepared backup QB who will be in the game after the first sack of gimpy Orton/Orten.