Broncos players board an airplane for London on October 28th (Denver Broncos photo)

And they’re off!

Approximately 10 hours from now, the Denver Broncos — John Elway in tow — will arrive in London, England for their Week 8 game against the San Francisco 49ers. They’ll arrive Friday morning London time and hold practice at 3 p.m. (8 a.m. MT). Five Broncos aren’t traveling due to injury.

Follow the Broncos on twitter for notes on the trip (players Eddie, Bruton, Stanley Daniels, and practice squadder Lance Ball are also tweeting about the trip), and check back here for the latest. Safe trip, fellas.

The San Francisco 49ers offense has several big threats in the passing game, including Tight End Vernon Davis (#85). (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

Every week, teams review film, discuss what they did right and wrong, then spend an entire week breaking down film on their upcoming opponent. Similarly, in BT’s Film Room, I’ll watch film on the Broncos upcoming foe week-to-week and give you my thoughts on what to watch for on Sunday. This week: San Francisco 49ers Edition.

Despite their 1-6 record, the San Francisco 49ers certainly need to be given some respect – especially their talented offense which features Tight End Vernon Davis, Running Back Frank Gore and Receiver Michael Crabtree.

Judging from the film, Davis is the guy the Broncos defense really needs to prepare for. Davis has been on a hot streak, catching a touchdown in each of the 49ers last four games. This season, the Niners’ leading reciever–Davis–has caught 32 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns. San Francisco likes to get Davis down the middle of the field in one-on-one match-ups against linebackers and overmatched/undersized cornerbacks – where Davis is extremely effective.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway prepares to throw a football during a Denver Nuggets promotion in February 2010. Elway, who retired in 1999 after winning his second straight Super Bowl in Denver, is planning to attend some of the Broncos' training camp practices this summer and has agreed to help market the team's game in London in September. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

At a time when many Denver Broncos fans feel their team is leaderless, its all-time great will resume his captain’s role.

Hall of Fame QB John Elway will be among the honorary team captains during the Pepsi Max International Series game at Wembley Stadium in London, England October 31st. Opposite Elway will be another NFL legend, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver (and once-training camp Bronco) Jerry Rice.

The pair will each be joined by a member of England’s 2012 Olympic team: three-time Olympic gold medalist yachstman Ben Ainslie (49ers) and 10,000m and 5,000m gold medallist at this summer’s European Athletics Championships Mo Farah (Broncos).

The buzz for the NFL’s international game is at an all-time low thanks to the teams’ collective 3-11 record, but adding these NFL legends and hometown heroes into the mix is a suave PR move. Now, Elway — do you feel like suiting up?

Cox

The Denver Broncos depart for London, England in a few hours, but injuries will keep a handful of Broncos from making the trip.

Head coach Josh McDaniels ruled out two more players Thursday, bringing the grand total of Broncos ruled out for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers to five.

CB Perrish Cox (concussion) and DL Kevin Vickerson (groin) will not travel, along with (previously announced) LB Robert Ayers (foot), S Darcel McBath (ankle), and LB Wesley Woodyard (hamstring).

The Broncos signed DL Le Kevin Smith to add depth at defensive line in Vickerson’s absence.

So, after last week’s fiasco, we can all expect a (justified) big drop in the rankings. Nothing to do but take a deep breath and get it over with fast… like ripping a band-aid… I hate ripping band-aids… Our weekly perusal around the Interwebz for water cooler fodder. (Number in parenthesis represents last week’s ranking).

ESPN: 27th (22)
The Broncos have been outscored by 61 points, the third-worst mark in the league.

FOX: 28th (25)
Talk about the wheels coming off. That loss to the visiting Raiders last week is about as embarrassing as it gets. QB Kyle Orton played his worst game this season, but the defense didn’t exactly show up, either. Hopefully the London air will bring some life back to this football team. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• Josh McDaniels is on the hot seat, but his players are saying the right things.
• Since they come from the same coaching system, Alex Smith‘s struggles in the NFL have some scouts believing the Broncos should take their time with Tim Tebow.
• Knowshon Moreno‘s role in the offense is expanding beyond “a two-down player,” says McDaniels.
• But has he tweaked his hamstring again?
• The last time Jarvis Moss had a truly great game was in college — the BCS title game — against 49ers starter Troy Smith.
• The Broncos’ defense has been wildly inconsistent for years.
• Robert Ayers, Wesley Woodyard, and Darcel McBath have already been ruled out.
• The NFL expects London to sellout again.
• Gil Brandt would draft Auburn’s Cam Newton before Tebow.
• Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell is preparing as if he’ll start again.

San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks Troy Smith (L), David Carr (C) and Alex Smith warm up before their NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta, Georgia, October 3, 2010. (REUTERS/David Tulis)

With QB Alex Smith expected to miss 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury, the San Francisco 49ers will start Troy Smith at quarterback against the Denver Broncos, head coach Mike Singletary announced Wednesday.

The move comes as a surprise since Smith was third on the 49ers’ depth chart behind David Carr.

It’s even more surprising since, per this Comcast SportsNet report, Smith has yet to take a practice snap with the 49ers’ first team offense.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Fan voting on NFL.com for the 2011 Pro Bowl is under way!

Your vote counts, so get to the polls!

Fan voting for the 2011 Pro Bowl has started on NFL.com! Voting for the NFL’s annual All-Star Game can be done online and on web-enabled mobile phones by going to NFL.com/ProBowl.

After last weeks embarrassing loss to Oakland, there’s been some grumbling in Bronco Nation that no Broncos deserve to make the Pro Bowl this year. On the contrary, there are in fact six players that do deserve your vote:

• Brandon Lloyd – Wide Receiver. This season Lloyd has been on fire, catching 14 passes of 20 plus yards and 6 of 40 plus yards, ranking him second in the NFL in receiving yards with 709. What’s even more amazing is he’s done all that off only 35 catches, giving him a 20.3 yards-per catch average. To put that in perspective, consider Miami’s Brandon Marshall, Atlanta’s Roddy White, and Indianapolis’  Reggie Wayne all have a 13.8 yards (or less) per catch average. Also of note, 91% of Lloyd’s catches this season have gone for first downs – a stat quarterbacks and coaches love. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Cornerback Perrish Cox #32 of the Denver Broncos celebrates his interception of a pass by quarterback Dennis Dixon of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the endzone during preseason NFL action at INVESCO Field at Mile High on August 29, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

According to this AP report, the concussion Denver Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox suffered in the third quarter Sunday was so severe, it wiped away any memory of the Broncos’ lopsided 45-point loss to the Oakland Raiders.

For Perrish Cox, the Fiasco at Invesco never happened. If only we all could be so lucky.

“I woke up and asked what the score was, and they told me, ‘A lot to a little,'” Cox said. “That was kind of shocking to me — I don’t remember nothing.”

Per the report, Cox remembers the night before, then reporting to the training room nearly 24 hours later, but nothing in between.

“He got dinged in the head so we’re going through that whole procedure and making sure we make a real smart choice on whether to travel him or not,” Josh McDaniels said. “That’s one that we’ll treat very seriously and go through all the precautions.”

Kidding aside, that’s one alarming head injury. McDaniels didn’t know how air travel would affect Cox’s status, but right now, despite his best efforts, our guess is Cox sits this one out, especially since Andre Goodman is back at practice.

Broncos CB Cox loses some memory after head injury [Yahoo! Sports]

Record: 1-6
Streak: Lost 1
All-time vs. Denver: 5-6
Last time: 49ers, 26-23/OT, 2006
The Line: Even

Alex Smith hands off to Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers on October 24, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos (2-5) will travel overseas to face the San Francisco 49ers (1-6) at London’s Wembley Stadium as part of the NFL’s 2010 International Series. Kickoff on Sunday is set for 5 p.m. GMT (11 a.m. MDT).

Who’s hot: Tight end Vernon Davis. Davis is a physical freak-of-nature, an unheard-of combination of size and speed. He’ll outweigh opposing safeties by 40 lbs. but outrun them as if he’s 40 lbs. lighter. He’s averaging 60.3 yards per game and already has four touchdowns on the year. Click here to read the rest of this entry »