Denver Broncos News

• Last season, elite tight ends burned the Denver Broncos week in and week out and so far this year, the elite tight ends just keep on coming. [Denver Post]
• The Houston Texans are now the NFL’s “cream of the crop“. Thank you to a nice choke job from the San Francisco 49ers. [Chron.com]
• Meanwhile, the Broncos are 1-2, with two close loses to the NFP’s #1 and #2 ranked teams. I find that encouraging considering the Atlanta Falcons waxed the San Diego Chargers on the road last week. [National Football Post]
• Now I’ve been out sick for the better part of a week, but all you’ve really missed from these Daily Links to knowing how much everyone in the media is freaking out over the replacement refs. Today’s mass of angry writings can be found here, here and here. [Denver Post & SI.com]
• Peter King, who tends to side with Unions, isn’t wasting any time to jump on the NFL’s back.  And for once, I agree.  The NFL is hassling over a savings of a couple million dollars a year. Give me a friggin’ break! [SI.com]

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

Joe Mays delivers what was deemed to be a helmet-to-helmet hit on Matt Schaub (Joe Amon, The Denver Post).

The NFL has just announced that they will be suspending Denver Broncos middle linebacker Joe Mays for one game due to a hit he delivered Sunday to Houston Texans‘ quarterback Matt Schaub. The hit left Schaub missing a portion of his earlobe.

Mays has apologized to Schaub twice and Schaub accepted, but apologies and accepted apologies are not enough in this NFL. Mays was fined two weeks ago the NFL minimum ($7,875) for a hit against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.

This one is going to be a bit more pricey, Mays is fined $50,000 for the hit on Schaub and will also lose a game check.

Mays could appeal the decision, but for now he will not be allowed to attend the Broncos’ facility in Dove Valley nor will he be allowed to play this Sunday as the Broncos face the Oakland Raiders at home.

Denver is already a bit thin at linebacker, after losing DJ Williams to a six-game suspension. Undrafted rookie Steven Johnson is listed behind Mays on the depth chart and could likely see a start unless, the Broncos see fit to rotate the roster somehow. Both Nate Irving (who was knocked out of Sunday’s game with a concussion) and starting outside linebacker Wesley Woodyard have middle linebacker experience.

With Mays being out of the line-up it could be a golden opportunity to see the rookie Johnson who stood out in training camp and the preseason. Johnson has been inactive on the Broncos roster since week one.

(Image courtesy of CBS)

Last week, Denver Broncos‘ coaches John Fox and Jack Del Rio had some candid conversations with the replacement referees during Denver’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.  The refs, at worst, may have gotten a slap on the hand for the atrocious job they did while calling the game.

In the case of Fox and Del Rio, their wallets will now be a little lighter.  Fox has been smacked with a $30,000 fine and Del Rio will be donating $25,000 to the league, according to ESPN‘s Adam Schefter (via PFT).  Expect more coaches to be fined for Week 3 tirades which were directed at the unfortunate and unqualified replacement referees.

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ have another problem on their hands that has nothing to do with referees or even football.  Rather, they have a pigeon problem.  Just over one week ago, President Joe Ellis promised that the pigeons would be taken care of, which excited the fans who have received gifts from the sky via said pigeons on a weekly basis during the course of the season.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Floyd Little and his presenter, son Marc Little, are introduced at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Scott Heckel)

In a series of tweets just before kickoff Sunday, Sports Illustrated’s most celebrated writer Peter King released a series of tweets in response to Floyd Little’s claim in his newly released book Promises to Keep, that King called Little to tell him that he did not vote for him to make the Hall of Fame in 2010. Little was voted into the Hall in February of 2010 and inducted in August of 2010.

King, when prompted by a Denver Broncos fan on Twitter as to whether he had a response to Little’s comments from him book responded,

“It’s true that I told Floyd I didn’t vote for him, but I called him the night of the vote to say Jeff Legwold did the best job [that] I’d ever seen of presenting a candidate in the [Hall of Fame] room. I told him I thought he should know that. [I] told him congratulations, and said [that I wanted] to be fair, and I want[ed] to be honest, I didn’t vote for him. Under no [circumstances]  did I call him and do anything like taunt him or demean him for making the Hall. That’s what happened.“

Okay, a couple of things… Peter King must have one heck of an editor and two, good job Legwold! Things are looking up for guys like Rod Smith, Randy Gradishar and a host of other former Broncos that fans have been begging to get recognition over the last thirty or so years.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos News

• A second straight week of frustrating football for us Denver Broncos fans, but at least Peyton Manning has been able to make the scores respectable. [BroncoTalk]
• The highlight reels are tough to watch for the first half, but the second half of the video is entertaining enough! [DenverBroncos.com]
• It wasn’t just Peyton Manning who struggled early, the Orange Crush defense was more like the Swiss cheese defense.  [Denver Post]
• Oddly enough, where the Broncos defense seemed to come up big time after time for Tim Tebow last season, they are coming up short for Peyton Manning. The law of averages appears to be evening things out. [CBS Sports]
• Not everyone is bothered by Manning’s bad quarter from yesterday’s game, but the Broncos need to rebound quickly to stay competitive in 2012. [Denver Post & ESPN]
• The lone bright spot from yesterday was Rod Smith being inducted into the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame. A well deserved honor. [TimesCall.com]

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

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Early on, it looked the Denver Broncos—especially their defense—were going to have a great game on Sunday.  On Houston’s first offensive play, Texans’ quarterback Matt Schaub was sacked in his own end zone by Broncos’ defensive end Elvis Dumervil, giving the Broncos an early two-point advantage.

It was Dumervil’s 53rd and 1/2th sack of his career and set the Broncos up with the ball and momentum early in the game (after the offense has originally stalled and punted on their first possession, pinning Houston deep and setting up the ensuing safety).  Quarterback Peyton Manning led the Broncos down the field but the drive ended with a Matt Prater field goal, foreshadowing the kind of afternoon the Broncos’ offense would have.

Unable to finish drives effectively, Prater kicked three field goals in the first half and as a result, the Broncos scored four times and only had eleven points on the scoreboard to show for it.  Meanwhile, Houston’s Schaub was having a good day, leading the Texans to a 21-11 halftime lead after tossing three touchdown passes.

After the half, Denver’s defense stiffened, allowing just two scores and forcing several three-and-outs late in the game.  The Broncos offense rallied and Manning threw two touchdown passes—including his nineteenth career touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley, a 38-yard pass in the fourth quarter—but ultimately Denver was unable to match Houston’s four touchdowns and fell 31-25 after failing to score as the game clock expired on a last ditch lateral-heavy effort.

Although in a losing effort, Manning did throw for 330 yards, which marked his 64th career 300-yard game.  Manning now holds the record for most 300-yard games by a quarterback in NFL history, after passing Dan Marino (63) on Sunday.

The Broncos will return home to face the 1-2 Oakland Raiders next week.  The Raiders defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 34-31 earlier today.

What were your thoughts of the game?  Are you panicking, or are you confident the team will be able to bounce back after losing to a pair of 3-0 teams?  Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

After struggling to find running lanes through the first two weeks of the season, Broncos‘ running back Knowshon Moreno won’t get any carries against the Texans this week.  The team just released their Week 3 inactive list, with Moreno the most notable player mentioned.

In Moreno’s place, rookie running back Ronnie Hillman will make his NFL debut.  Complete inactive list seen below:

(Click here to see a larger image.)

(Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)

Kyle will be traveling throughout the day, so Mr. East will be running the LiveBlog this week.  In the meantime, here are some pregame thoughts for your consideration:

Pregame Thoughts:

• It will be interesting to see what role Von Miller will have this week.  In Week 1, Miller played the ‘Sam’ linebacker position extensively against the Steelers and recorded four tackles and two sacks.  In Week 2, Miller played defensive end throughout much of the game against the Falcons and recorded three tackles and a sack.  The Broncos likely moved Miller to a pass rushing role last week to counter the Falcons’ pass-heavy offense.  This week, against Houston‘s run-heavy attack, expect Miller to have more of a traditional outside linebacker role.

• Over the past two weeks, Demaryius Thomas has been quarterback Peyton Manning‘s favorite target.  If that continues and Thomas scores again this week, Demaryius will have scored a touchdown in three consecutive games.  Meanwhile, fellow receiver Eric Decker will be looking to get his first score of the 2012 season after leading the team in touchdown receptions last year.

• The Broncos’ offensive line will have their hands full this afternoon.  The Texans have one of the better defensive units in the league and they specialize in harassing quarterbacks.  If Manning is going to improve on his three-interception performance from last week, he’ll need solid protection from Ryan Clady, Zane Beadles, J.D. Walton, Manny Ramirez, and Orlando Franklin up front.

This photo of Denver Broncos coach John Fox shouting at the NFL replacement refs went viral Monday night. (US Presswire photo)

ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported that Denver Broncos head coach John Fox and Jack Del Rio are likely to be fined in the vicinity of $20,000 for their part in the ruckus that ensued in last week’s Monday Night Football loss in Atlanta. Fox at one point appeared to have been flagged for something he said to a sideline judge, but the flag was picked up during a conference in which something else was penalized.

As PFT points out, the timing is a little weird. Normally fines occur on Fridays, it could be the fact that there are not players involved. However, it is more likely the NFL wanting to avoid the possibility of allowing every NFL talk show to readdress the accountability of the replacement referees as everyone turns on their televisions to prepare for today’s games.

Twenty-thousand dollars to a coach is no joke, players tend to make much more than coaches (especially coordinators), so this the NFL definitely coming down with the hammer and using Fox and Del Rio as their figurative heads on a pike.  Still, I cannot expect coaches like these to calm down, especially when the game is on the line.

UPDATE: Or will they? According to the Denver Post’s Mike Klis, neither Fox nor Del Rio have been informed of this fine… Yet, ESPN was. Odd.

UPDATE (9/24 3:35 PM EST): According to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer, John Fox is fined $30,000 and Jack Del Rio $25,000.

My take? The Broncos should fine the NFL and refund those Broncos fans who made the trip to Atlanta to watch a game that at best had questionable calls and at worst had such terrible calls that it cost Denver a win.