The Denver Broncos filled the vacant spot on their 53-man roster Wednesday by bringing in a familiar face. Punter Britton Colquitt, who competed for punting duties with Brett Kern during the team’s training camp and preseason, was signed to the Broncos’ active roster off the Miami Dolphins‘ practice squad.

Speaking of familiar faces, Colquitt will be seeing one of his own on the opposing sidelines this Sunday: his older brother Dustin is the punter for the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Broncos’ current punter, Mitch Berger, has not been involved in a roster move yet, suggesting that he may remain on the 53-man roster. Lindsay Jones of The Denver Post speculates that Berger could be sticking around for holding duties for Matt Prater, although the Colquitt move has not been announced in an official capacity so it is still possible Berger is sent to the, erm, grinder.

After Berger’s awful showing Sunday — one that did more to hurt the Broncos in a three-point loss than help them — that sounds pretty good either way.

Elvis Dumervil's league-best 17 sacks have earned him the first Pro Bowl appearance of his four-year career. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Five Denver Broncos players have been named to the 2010 Pro Bowl, the NFL announced, representing a good mix of old and new to the NFL’s big show.

For veteran defensive backs Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins, it’s just another walk in the park, and just another February in a tropical climate. The defensive team captains will now boast a combined 17 Pro Bowl nods after both were named to the 2010 Pro Bowl Tuesday.

Meanwhile, offensive tackle Ryan Clady and outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil, two of the Broncos’ premier up-and-coming presences in the trenches, were each named to their first career Pro Bowls. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who broke the NFL’s single-game record with 21 receptions in Week 15, completes the quintet with his second career and second consecutive Pro Bowl.

Dumervil leads the NFL with 17 sacks, a franchise record, and a mark Bailey says puts the sack-master in another category.

“Pro Bowl? He should be defensive player of the year,” Bailey said. [Denver Post] “[…] He’s having a great year. I mean any time you average more than one (sack) a game, you’re pretty damn good.”

We’d say they all are. Well-deserved, Broncos. Now go make yourselves ineligible by qualifying for the playoffs and then the Super Bowl. Press release after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos offensive lineman Russ Hochstein (71) blocks Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom (98) in Cincinnati in 2009. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

The Denver Broncos placed guard Russ Hochstein and rookie wide receiver Kenny McKinley on Injured Reserved Tuesday, the team announced. Hochstein had played in all 15 games this season (10 starts at left guard), while the rookie had played in eight games, returning seven kickoffs for 158 yards (22.6 avg.) and three punts for 32 yards (10.7 avg.).

Filling one roster spot is offensive tackle Herb Taylor, who was originally signed on Dec. 9th only to be waived Dec. 19th.

Welcome back to the starting lineup, Ben Hamilton. No word on another signing. Press release after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Head coach Josh McDaniels addresses the media each Monday…

Opening comments

“Like I said yesterday, we certainly had our opportunities there in the second half and really couldn’t convert on enough plays in the critical situations where we had opportunities there in the fourth quarter to win the game. That’s really all phases. Offensively, we couldn’t really convert on the opportunities that we had with good field position late in the fourth quarter when the game was either tied or we were down by three. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

According to the NFL, the Denver Broncos can advance to the 2009 playoffs with one of these ten scenarios coming to fruition:

The Denver Broncos need to win and get help to advance to the playoffs in 2009. (Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)

1. DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + BAL loss or tie OR
2. DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + PIT loss or tie OR
3. DEN win + NYJ loss or tie + HOU win OR
4. DEN win + BAL loss or tie + PIT loss or tie OR
5. DEN win + BAL loss or tie + HOU win OR
6. PIT loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + JAC loss OR
7. PIT loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + NYJ loss OR
8. PIT loss + BAL loss + JAC loss + NYJ loss OR
9. PIT loss + HOU loss + JAC loss + NYJ loss OR
10. MIA loss or tie + NYJ loss + BAL loss + HOU loss + JAC loss or tie

Note that all scenarios require a loss or tie by either the Jets or Ravens. New York and Baltimore control their own destiny; Denver does not.  The Broncos also cannot find themselves in a two-way tie with Pittsburgh; as Earl broke down beautifully earlier, either the Steelers must lose, or the Texans must win.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

It turns out that the Broncos’ playoff picture is more than a little bit crazy. Despite our rather anemic 8-7 record, we currently hold the 5th wild card seed. One would think that means that if we win next week, we’re in.

One would be wrong.

NFL tie-breaking rules can be rather complex when there is a multi-team tie. Currently there are 5 teams in the AFC at 8-7: Broncos, Jets, Ravens, Steelers, Texans. To break a 3-way (or more) tie for a wildcard seed, first go through and apply division tiebreakers to all teams within the same division so that only 1 team from each division. Only Ravens and Steelers share a division, and the Steelers lose this one on division record. Now we are five.

Then we apply the conference record. This eliminates the Texans, but the remaining three teams are all at 6-5. The next tie-breaker is common games. And this is where it gets fun. Because right now, in week 16, the Broncos have an edge in common games between Broncos, Jets and Ravens. And thus, the #5 seed is ours. After that, tie-breaks start over in head-to-head with Jets and Ravens and Jets come out on top.

“But wait,” you say. “Won’t that apply next week?”
Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton (R) throws a pass as the Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Joselio Hanson pressures during the second quarter of NFL football action in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 27, 2009. (REUTERS photo/Tim Shaffer)

Another tough game to swallow, and this one is likely a season-ender. We will have a full review and recap of today’s action later tonight; in the meantime, dish it out in the comments!

@
Broncos (8-6) @ Eagles (10-4)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Lincoln Financial Field
2:15 p.m. MT
GameBlog starts at 2:00 p.m.

The Denver Broncos (8-6) will play in Philadelphia this week for the first time since 1995 when they take on the Eagles (10-4) on Sunday in their regular-season road finale. Kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field is set for 4:15 p.m. EST, and the game will be televised on CBS with its top announcing team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms calling the action.

The GameBlog
The rules: Keep it clean and be respectful.

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Warmup YouTube
U2 – Bullet the Blue Sky – something the Eagles do better than any other team in the league.

Inactives
Denver: QB Tom Brandstater (3rd QB), G Seth Olsen, DT Chris Baker, WR Eddie Royal, RB LaMont Jordan, S Vernon Fox, FB Spencer Larsen, and CB Ty Law.
Philadelphia: DB Reshard Langford, CB Geoffrey Pope, FS Quintin Demps, G Mike McGlynn, WR Kevin Curtis, TE Martin Rucker, DT Trevor Laws, QB Michael Vick (3rd QB)

Weather: Partly cloudy, a mildly chilly 48°, but with medium winds in the 10-15 mph range.

Injury Report for the Week 16 NFL game between the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, December 27, 2009.

DNP – Did Not Participate; LP – Limited Participation; FP – Full Participation; NL – Not Listed

Changes in practice status from Thursday’s injury report in bold. Eagles report after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Donovan McNabb #5 of the Philadelphia Eagles drops back to pass against the San Francisco 49ers at Lincoln Financial Field on December 20, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Breaking down the Denver Broncos‘ opponent from the Football Outsiders‘ perspective. This week: Philadelphia.

Recall that lower (negative) percentages are good on defense, bad on offense and special teams.

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and we wish you a continued happy holidays! The schedule makers certainly didn’t give the Broncos anything to be merry about this season, as the Broncos’ Week 16 opponent boasts the league’s top overall DVOA. Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are the league’s most statistically efficient team. This will be no easy task for the up-and-down Broncos.

Pass Offense: 28.1% (12th)
Run Offense: 15.1 (4th)
This is one case where the FO/DVOA numbers don’t really tell the whole story. The Eagles’ passing offense keys off the big play, and the Eagles have five more plays (20) of 40 yards or more than any other team in the league. Click here to read the rest of this entry »