• Holy Orange Tuesday, Broncos fans! BringBackBroncosOrange.com leads the throng calling for Denver to return to its orange unis.
• 13 teams wear blue as their primary home color; none wear orange. The Broncos need to separate from the pack.
• And the identity of fandom in Denver has always been orange.
• Josh McDaniels says he would support the color change.
• The Broncos seem to only know how to win when they’re playing ahead.
• The Broncos’ remaining opponents boast — at best — a 5-4 record.
• Brandon Lloyd and Knowshon Moreno give their takes on the Todd Haley-McDaniels non-handshake.
• Haley and McDaniels couldn’t be more different.
• There were a number of sick catches Sunday. Brandon Lloyd’s might have been the sickest.
• Mike Shanahan didn’t have the best of nights last night.
• BroncoTalk has surpassed 2,000 fans on Facebook.  Thanks to all who follow us at Facebook.com/BroncoTalk!!

Quarterback Kyle Orton #8 of the Denver Broncos greets his teammates as they enter the field to face the Kansas City Chiefs at INVESCO Field at Mile High on November 14, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 49-29. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Over the past few weeks, there have been some scattered murmurings occurring in NFL circles regarding the Denver Broncos‘ quarterback situation — talk not unlike the hushed whispers one might hear in a king’s palace shortly before his subjects execute a coup.

The talk starts innocently enough: “Our current regime is faltering. Maybe it wouldn’t be faltering under another’s reign.” From there, given enough of a frenzy, the rumors and mis-education spread like wildfire. “Our ruler is costing us.” Even as any half-logical critical thinker would conclude the issues go deeper than one person, the hysteria propels the disenchantment. “We don’t stand a chance with him.”

Thank goodness the majority of Broncos fans, and, more importantly, Broncos brass, are half-logical critical thinkers. Kyle Orton has done nothing to deserve such talk, and on Sunday, he showed he is capable of quarterbacking a dominant football team when the other pieces fall into place. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Head coach Todd Haley of the Kansas City Chiefs questions a call as they face the Denver Broncos at INVESCO Field at Mile High on November 14, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 49-29. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Todd Haley on Monday did his best to make amends following the tumult that resulted from his disrespectful gesture toward Josh McDaniels after his Chiefs were thumped by the Broncos Sunday.

“I do believe in doing what’s right and that was not right,” Haley said. “I probably let the emotions of the situation get me too much. I apologize to the fans and to Denver and to Josh.

“It’s necessary to let everybody know that I would do that over again at the end and that it wasn’t the right thing to do.”

A 49-29 upset is usually enough to fuel the fire of any rivalry, but the heat between these two 2nd-year head coaches is now at rocket fuel levels. Mark your calendars, ladies and gents — the rematch on December 5th in Arrowhead should be good.

Haley Apologizes [Kansas City Star]

• Todd Haley giving Josh McDaniels the finger wag at mid-field is the big story this morning. – Broncotalk, Denver Post
• Knowshon Moreno had the best day of his career yardage wise, he hopes there are many more to come. – Max Denver
• KnoMo and the rest of the running game instilled hope amongst the fans yesterday. – Predominantly Orange
• Josh McDaniels talked about using the pass to open up the run early in the game.  – Postgame Interview via 850 KOA
• An excellent post game break down from the Kansas City view of the game. – Kansas City Star
  
• The team tweaked their defensive roster to get back to the 3-4 scheme they want to run. – Denver Post
• Those tweaks appear to have led to a “banner day” for the fill in outside linebacking unit. – Max Denver
• Looking back on Jason Hunter’s fumble recovery touchdown run and Renaldo Hill left the game with a 3rd quarter neck injury.  He said he felt fine during postgame interviews.  – Denver Post

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Quarterback Kyle Orton #8 of the Denver Broncos delivers a pass from his own endzone against the Kansas City Chiefs at INVESCO Field at Mile High on November 14, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 49-29. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Some happily stupefied fans likely queried as they watched the Denver Broncos take a 21-0 first quarter lead against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday: “Who are these Broncos, and where have they been all season?”

A partial answer: It took the Broncos ten weeks to get back to the starting offensive line formation in which they spent most of training camp.

After weeks of shuffling, and weeks more of ineffectiveness, the Broncos moved Zane Beadles to left guard Sunday, letting Ryan Harris resume his duties at right tackle. The result? The new old-look o-line sparked the Broncos to their best offensive performance of 2010.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Orton and Elway chat in 2010. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

A must-read from ESPN’s AFC West blog — Josh McDaniels asked the franchise’s all-time greatest player, John Elway, to address his beleaguered players during practice this week. Broncos officials believed it to be the first time the Hall of Famer had spoken in such a capacity since retiring in 1999.

“This is a Hall of Fame player, a two-time Super Bowl champion, this is the biggest name in team history,” Denver safety Renaldo Hill said. “I wanted to hear every word this man said.”

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Head coach Todd Haley of the Kansas City Chiefs has some unwelcome words with head coach Josh McDaniels of the Denver Broncos as he refuses to shake his hand after the Broncos 49-29 win at INVESCO Field at Mile High on November 14, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. The Denver Broncos defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 49-29. (Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley marched through a crowd of press and players following his team’s 49-29 loss to the Denver Broncos all the way to midfield to meet Josh McDaniels.

Not for the postgame handshake. To wag his finger at McDaniels, exchange some choice words, and walk away.

The Chiefs were thoroughly dismantled in Denver Sunday, trailing 35-0 shortly before halftime before making the score a bit more presentable with 29 points.

Still, that’s pro football. It’s not personal. Haley’s move was. It’s nothing short of a huge mark of disrespect by Haley toward McDaniels.

Haley wouldn’t comment on the incident following the game other than saying it’s “a private time between head coaches that has become not so private,” but various reports suggest Haley was upset over the fact the Broncos were still chucking the ball around deep into the fourth quarter. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Tim Tebow prepares to take the snap during their NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Denver November 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Rick Wilking)

Sometimes, a bye week is just what the doctor ordered.

That seemed to be the case in Denver on Sunday, as the Denver Broncos came off their bye week to put a 49-29 drubbing on the division-leading Kansas City Chiefs at home.

Quarterback Kyle Orton threw for a career-high four touchdowns. Tim Tebow ran in his third of the season (tying Marlin Briscoe for most rushing TDs by a rookie QB in Broncos history) while throwing for his first. RB Knowshon Moreno rushed for over 100 yards for the first time in his career, and LB Mario Haggan notched a career-high three sacks.

The Broncos got the ball rolling the first quarter and never relented. They enjoyed a 35-point lead late into the second quarter before allowing Kansas City to score its first points.

The team’s 49 points marks the second highest point total in franchise history (50 in 1963).

With the win, the Broncos move to 3-6 on the season, down two games to the 5-4 Oakland Raiders and 5-4 Chiefs. They face the 4-5 San Diego Chargers in San Diego next week.

@
Chiefss (5-3) @ Broncos (2-6)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
INVESCO Field at Mile High
2:05 p.m. MT

The Denver Broncos (2-6) on Sunday will host the Kansas City Chiefs (5-3) at INVESCO Field at Mile High in their second divisional game of the 2010 season. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. MDT.

Live Blog

The Rules: Keep it clean, no insulting other commenters. Join us beginning 15 minutes before the game for the best in-game commentary in Broncos Country! GO BRONCOS!!

Kansas City Chiefs inactives: WR Dexter McCluster, S Kendrick Lewis, FB Tim Castille, S Jon McGraw, DB Reshard Langford, LB Corey Mays, LB Justin Cole, DT Anthony Toribio

Denver Broncos inactives: CB Andre Goodman, RB Laurence Maroney, CB Cassius Vaughn, LB Robert Ayers, LB Kevin Alexander, OL Stanley Daniels, OL Eric Olsen, QB Brady Quinn (3rd QB)

That means Wesley Woodyard will play and likely start in D.J. Williams‘ place. The only real surprise for the Broncos is Laurence Maroney; Lance Ball gets the nod in his place. Meanwhile, QB Tim Tebow continues his role as Kyle Orton‘s primary backup and (recently) red zone threat.