Chat about the game here folks, let’s have some fun. GO BRONCOS!

As Week 8 of the NFL season approaches, the Denver Broncos (3-3) are preparing to face the New Orleans Saints (2-4) in Denver, Colorado.  Here are five notes for your consideration going into the game — 

(1) Cornerback Tracy Porter unofficially ruled out for mid-season showdown.

Our thoughts and prayers are with cornerback Tracy Porter, who has been experiencing medical issues.  Per the team —

Prior to the team’s Week 6 game in San Diego, he experienced symptoms similar to those he felt in August when had what was diagnosed by the team’s medical staff as a seizure. He stayed behind in Denver and was held out of the game.

Porter practiced on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday and is officially listed as “questionable” on Denver’s injury report.  It appears more likely however that Porter will not suit up for the game. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

#81 Joel Dressen catches a touchdown pass from Peyton Manning over the top of #51 Jerod Mayo. October 7th, 2012. Courtesy of Yahoo NFL photo gallery (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

The Broncos turned uncertainty into franchise certitude with the monster signing of Peyton Manning in the off-season.  The future hall of famer immediately upgraded the team to contender, but to what extent?  Fans and critics immediately turned an eye to targets.  The departure of Brandon Lloyd almost exactly a year ago left the Broncos receiver depth green to say the least.  PFM can make receivers look good like no other but two young wideouts and no holdover tight ends would be asking a lot.  Pundits, writers, and bloggers debated about who and what the Broncos should add on the offensive side of the ball.  Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon made a ton of sense, so did long time Colt and Manning favorite Tight End Dallas Clark.  All of the above were not meant to be nor was a blockbuster trade to bring receiver Mike Wallace to the mile high city.  The Broncos stood pat except for moderate upgrades to the safety valve over the middle, the tight end position.

The Broncos added other former Colts in Brandon Stokley and Jacob Tamme, however they also picked up roll player Joel Dreessen a “blocking specialist” from the Texans.  Sometimes a player can’t escape a label, especially when they’re paired with a talented teammate.  In Joel’s case that was playing second fiddle to the consistently productive Owen Daniels.  Looking at Dreessen’s career it tells the story of a guy who worked his way onto NFL rosters with a niche skill.  Sometimes that’s special teams, long snapping, or effective blocking.  But the Colorado native has performed like an excellent stock option pickup, doubling his receiving yards after his 3rd season in the league, and then doing it again the following season.  2010 was his peak in Houston, but he still put up a respectable season last year before signing on with Denver.

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(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Following the Denver Broncos 35-24 second-half thumping of the San Diego Chargers, the AFC West remains winnable for all of the four teams in the division.  The Broncos are in the best position, tied with San Diego at 3-3 and owning the best division record (2-0) while Kansas City has been all but eliminated from playoff contention with a 1-5 record.

The Chiefs have struggled with poor quarterback play and after Brady Quinn started and threw for 180 yards and two interceptions last week while Matt Cassel sat out with a concussion,  Romeo Crennel was impressed enough to name Quinn the starter for the remainder of the season.  No, really.

“I want (Quinn) to be the starting quarterback without having to look over his shoulder. There’s going to be no quick hook or anything like that,” Crennel said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Oakland is 2-4 and preparing to travel to Kansas City for a division showdown this weekend.  Interestingly, the Raiders, who have run all over the Broncos in recent years, are averaging just 76.8 rushing yards per game, which is second-worst in the league.  Oakland rushed for 56 yards when they faced Denver in Week 4 earlier in the season.

Denver’s biggest threat — or perhaps not so big of a threat — is San Diego, who are being investigated by the league for allegedly using a stickum-like substance during their loss to the Broncos last week.  Norv Turner has denied the accusations.  The Chargers will take on the Browns in Cleveland on Sunday.

While the Chiefs change quarterbacks, the Raiders look to improve their rushing attack and the Chargers deny reports of cheating.  The Broncos returned to the practice field on Monday in preparation for their Sunday Night Football showdown with the New Orleans Saints.  Kickoff at Sports Authority Field @ Mile High is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. (MT).

The rest of the AFC West appears to be in shambles while the Broncos are coming out of their Bye Week with recognizable momentum.  Going into November with a win over New Orleans would only solidify Denver’s grasp on the division.

Mark Kiszla, of the Denver Post, gets paid to provide in-your-face snap opinions that may or may not match both conventional wisdom or reality. Sometimes his opinions make a lot of sense, but sometimes it feels like his job is really just to be a jerk to draw eyeballs. As near as I can tell, every paper that has serious sports coverage has one of those people. You know, judging people as harshly as possible because, hey, audiences like to judge.

In an article actually about Peyton Manning, Kiszla dropped a nice little shot at D.J. Williams. There’s actually nothing wrong with this shot, because Williams has certainly earned some very, very harsh criticism for his actions. But it also contains a question and I want to give my opinion on that question:
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Over at Shutdown Corner (SC), MJD has put together his Week 6 “Absurdly Premature 2013 Playoff Picture“, with the Denver Broncos making the cut as division champions.

Yahoo!‘s MJD has the Broncos claiming the AFC West crown and San Diego missing the playoffs.  His explanation below:   Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Broncos 35, Chargers 24 — it’s historic, epic, in-your-face Philip Rivers Game Balls time.

Tony Carter – I tweeted after Carter’s interception that, win or lose he got my game ball. I know we don’t normally give game balls for losses, but I was willing to make an exception for him. Luckily I don’t have to. This is Carter’s fourth year in the league. Believe it or not, he was with the Broncos in 2009 and 2011 (he spent 2010 with the Patriots) and barely saw the field; in all 3 previous years, he saw action only in the last few games of the season, meaning he was almost certainly an injury replacement for someone else. He barely made the team this year, but he flat-out outplayed the former charger Drayton Florence and made the team despite the $1.5 million (rather foolishly) invested in Florence. The only reason he was even active is that Tracy Porter couldn’t make the trip due to an illness that made him too lightheaded to play.

And while I don’t want to say It Was All Him, he sure did make the most of the opportunity on the Monday Night Lights. He scooped up the fumble and ran it back for a touch down, and then he steps in front and picks off Rivers at a critical moment. He only logged two tackles, but thanks to excellent play from the pass rush, he benefited from his good coverage. I am not going to agree with the tweets that say Tracy Porter lost his job, but I sure feel more comfortable knowing that our depth at corner has some ability to play. — E. Halsey Miles

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(An updated mug of Manning. You're welcome, herc.)

Following his historic, come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has been nominated for two weekly awards on NFL.com.  Manning went 24-of-30 for 309 yards and three scores on MNF, leading the Broncos to a 35-24 win.

Nominated for the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week and FedEx’s Air Player of the Week awards, Manning set and tied several records against San Diego.

• Denver’s go-ahead-score in the fourth quarter marked Manning’s 47th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, which ties Dan Marino for the most all-time.

• The deficit (24 points) tied the largest comeback win by any road team in NFL history and tied the largest comeback in MNF history.

• The win marked the first time in NFL history that a team won by double digits after trailing by 24 points or more and tied the Broncos’ largest comeback in franchise history.

• The Broncos’ 35 second half points against San Diego set a franchise record; their 21 fourth quarter points extended their league-leading +73 fourth quarter point differential, outscoring opponents 79-6 in the fourth quarter this season.

• Monday marked Manning’s fourth consecutive 300+ yard game and the 67th 300-yard game of his career, which is an NFL record.  The victory also marked Manning’s 144th win, which ranks fourth overall in NFL history and ranks first among active NFL quarterbacks.

You can vote for Manning at NFL.com/GMC and NFL.com/FedEx through Friday afternoon.  The winners will be announced on NFL Network and NFL.com this weekend.  Your vote matters; voice your choice!

Denver Broncos News

• What a comeback by the Denver Broncos last night. Down 24-0 at halftime to the hated San Diego Chargers, things couldn’t have gone more wrong for the Broncos. However, an amazing 35 point explosion in the second half erased all of those mistakes. [DenverBroncos.com & BroncoTalk]
• Peyton Manning achieved a comeback of monumental proportions that not even he had accomplished in his career and it was must see TV. [Denver Post]
• A slew of bloggers obviously went nuts over this victory and reading about a big Broncos win over a division rival is always enjoyable.  Check them out here, here and here. [Mile High Sports, Predominantly Orange & IAOFM]
• An interesting question is posed by one writer. What if Peyton Manning had signed elsewhere? As a Tim Tebow homer, I wouldn’t have been all that upset, but in hindsight I am glad Manning signed with the Broncos! [National Football Post]
• An unrelated story here, but a good one. An in-depth look at the final months of the life of Junior Seau and his fall into depression and suicide.  A sad ending to a great person and player. [San Diego Union Tribune]

Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more Broncos updates throughout the day.

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning motions to teammates during the first half of an NFL football game against the San Diego Chargers, Monday, Oct. 15, 2012, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

The San Diego Chargers put up 24 unanswered points in the first half of Monday Night’s AFC West showdown with the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos answered — with 35 unanswered points in the second half.

Tied for the largest comeback of Peyton Manning‘s career, one interceptions and a fumble return for a touchdown by backup cornerback Tony Carter and two picks for Chris Harris and one for Jim Leonhard each saw the Broncos make a furious comeback in their pivotal AFC West showdown. The Broncos went on to beat the Chargers by a final score of 35-24.

Peyton Manning never faltered. He threw for 309 yards and three touchdowns with one interception that was more the fault of his teammate Matthew Willis than Manning. He threw 30 times… only six fell incomplete.

A freakish first half full of trips, interceptions and fumbles can all be (nearly) forgotten after the second half Manning and the Broncos displayed. Denver moves to 3-3 and first place in the AFC West.

“There’s no speech that makes that kind of turnaround,” Manning said of his teammates after the game. “It’s a matter of will.”

And according to ESPN, it was the first time in NFL history that a team down by 24 won by double digits.

What a way to head into the bye, eh Broncos fans?