Broncos running backs only gained 84 yards on the ground. (Getty Images)

After two missed Matt Prater field goals and a Peyton Hillis fumble five yards shy of the end zone, the Broncos remained tied with the Raiders 3-3 with one minute left in the first half. Then Oakland returner Johnny Lee Higgins took the punt 85 yards for the touchdown, and it was all downhill from there. The Oakland Raiders (3-8) beat the Denver Broncos (6-5) in Denver by a final score of 31-10.

The Broncos, coming off back-to-back road wins against teams with better records than Oakland, will now head to New York to face the Jets, who just knocked off the last remaining undefeated team in football.

The San Diego Chargers, meanwhile, play the Indianapolis Colts tonight in a game that could put themselves back in the AFC West conversation.

There’s no pointing fingers for this game – EVERYBODY is to blame. The offense. The defense. The special teams. The coaching and playcalling. Nobody did their job, especially in the second half. The players looked like they packed it in in the fourth quarter, and the coaches did a horrible job of preparing this team for battle. It’s hard to call yourself a Broncos fan after games like this.

But fans we are, and I’m not giving up hope. This team will bounce back, and they’ll play better against New York. Personally, it just pisses me off that they can’t play with that type of mindset week in and week out.

Feel free to vent with me (but play nice, children)….

 
10 – 31
FINAL

• Broncos chat – Rocky Mountain News, 1pm MST
• Live blog – you’re looking at it. 1:30pm MST
• Inactives – we’ll post it here. In the meantime, check out the Injury Report. Will Champ Bailey play?
• Want a spot on the live blog? We’ve got five openings. Email me with your name and email address at broncotalk@gmail.com

The Year of the Rookies continues for the Denver Broncos, as the squad announced that they have (finally) promoted seventh round pick S Josh Barrett from the practice squad to the active roster on Saturday.

Running back Alex Haynes, whom the club added last week, was waived to make room for Barrett on the roster.

Barrett (6-3, 225 lbs.) hails from Arizona State University, where he played 47 career games (27 starts) and tallied 174 tackles, six picks, 17 pass breakups and four fumble recoveries. Barrett played in all four preseason games for the Broncos, ranking fourth on the team with 11 defensive tackles and two special teams tackles.

The Broncos are skin deep at safety, especially with Marlon McCree out (see the Broncos-Raiders injury report). The three-headed running back tandem of Peyton Hillis, Tatum Bell, and P.J. Pope got the job done last week, so Haynes is left as the odd man out. I’m excited to see what Barrett can do at safety for the team, even if my expectations are a bit tapered at this point (frankly, our rookie class has spoiled us enough already).

Injury Report for the Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders NFL game for Sunday, November 23, 2008.

Denver Broncos wide receiver cornerback Champ Bailey is a game-time decision for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders.  Bailey has been out since October 20, when he suffered a groin injury against the New England Patriots.  He’s been limited in practice all week, and is officially listed as Questionable. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Mount Crushmore by Drew Litton (RMN)

I know, I know. This seems like an off-season subject, but it’s not always a bad idea to look back at your historic franchise players prior to playing your most dreaded rival.

Here is the idea…

IF Colorado built a memorial like Mount Rushmore for the Broncos (naming it Mount Crushmore obviously), what four player faces would be featured?

Now, before you go off half-cocked to fill the comments about how silly this is, let me explain MY perspective on narrowing a franchise down to just four faces….Ok, I agree – it’s dumb. Hundreds of people make a great NFL team and picking just four faces that would define all the decades the Broncos have been playing the game is just plain impossible. I mean, we had 28 presidents when we build Mount Rushmore. Picking four probably wasn’t that hard. But 53 men per year over almost 50 years… that’s just crazy talk.

So, now that I’ve made this disclaimer and agreed with you all that this is ridiculous… Let’s talk about our picks for Mount Crushmore. :)

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Spencer Larsen has been elected as the NFL’s Week 11 Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week. The Denver Broncos sixth round pick started at both middle linebacker and fullback for the Broncos on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s the second rookie winner in as many weeks – Eddie Royal was elected to the award in Week 10. This rookie class is something special. Go Broncos! Click here for the full press release »

Hello Week 11 and all of your challenging decisions. Will it be Jacksonville or Minnesota? Perhaps Baltimore over Philadelphia? Will Brett Favre stop the unbeatable Titans? Can Carolina go into Atlanta and prove that they are indeed the big dogs in the NFC South? Is Miami able to continue their unusual power of upsetting New England? Can Drew Brees continue his superman performance against a stellar Green Bay secondary? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Picks and analysis after the jump

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Adding injury to insult, Nate Jackson was placed on IR today after suffering a right hamstring injury yesterday in practice. Jackson has been a vital backup TE this season as starter Tony Scheffler has been ready to go less then half the games this year. In fact, last game Jackson had two great catches for 32 yards in drives that ended up scoring 10 critical points in the second half.

I am personally a fan of Nate Jackson, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that Jackson has been plagued with injuries during his career here in Denver. Starting with this visit overseas in the now-defunct NFL Europe where he missed time injured and including games off for injury in each of his years as a Bronco.

Although he’s one of Mike Shanahan’s favorites, I just don’t know how many more injury effected seasons he can make it through without losing his roster spot to someone with a better streak of luck.

To replace Jackson, the Broncos have signed TE Chad Mustard. Mustard’s name is nothing new to this blog as Chad has been dropped and signed more times than any other player in the history of the team (And, no, I didn’t actually check that fact).

While Mustard is a decent blocker, he doesn’t have the hands or speed that Jackson possesses – which makes Tony’s health an even bigger issue. We’re now operating without a TE safety net when it comes to quality receiving options. Tony needs to get and stay health the rest of the year or we’re going to be hurting.

Official Broncos Press Release after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable. (AP Photo)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Previous Caption Winner – Boisebroncoguy:

Matt, remember one thing, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight… er… whoops, bad analogy.

Remember to leave your caption for the top photo. Happy captioning! Go Broncos!

Lest we all think Clady isn’t getting any love from the press at all, Doug Farrar of Football Outsiders is taking a look at this year’s hot rookies. Clady gets top billing here. The money quote:

When I wrote about Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas last year, that was as blown away with a rookie lineman as I have ever been. Truth be told, I like Clady even more. He doesn’t have Thomas’ smooth, refined pass-blocking technique, but he’s much more physical in run-blocking situations. You’ll see ends blowing Thomas back from time to time, but that’s not going to happen with Clady. NFLDraftScout.com compares him to Chris Samuels, which I think is apt. Like Samuels in his prime, Clady will not blow you away with pure speed. He’s an outstanding inline blocker who’s quick enough outside, and in what may have been the single greatest draft for tackles in NFL history (SEVEN taken in the first round alone!), many early returns have Clady as the best overall.

There’s no doubt that Clady deserves pro bowl consideration this year!

Read the whole article!