This is a game that started off miserably and looked to get worse. By the fourth quarter, the usual cast of negative nellies in the liveblog were crowing about how it was over, calling every throw an interception. And indeed, this game had the potential to be another nasty blowout, like Kansas City or New England.

Then something magical happened. Jay Cutler connected with Eddie Royal for a single play variant of The Drive that ignited the offense and inspired the defense.
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This is just the spark the Broncos need.

Trailing 23-10 in the second half, the Denver Broncos (5-4) were in trouble. Already without their top three options at running back, they relied on their passing game – and an amazing play by their seventh round rookie fullback – to mount a furious fourth quarter comeback.

Despite scoring only 13 points in three quarters, the Broncos outscored the Cleveland Browns (3-6) 21-7 in the fourth quarter to beat the Browns in Cleveland 34-30. Quarterback Jay Cutler finished with 447 yards, the third-highest total in franchise history. Eddie Royal‘s 93-yard touchdown marked the second-longest pass to a rookie in franchise history.

There was literally no threat of the run. The Broncos were one-dimensional because they had to be – but amazingly, that one dimension was enough to put up 34 points. Not to say the running game didn’t have its impact – FB Peyton Hillis‘s second effort on 4th and 1 is the stuff of legend. It was the type of game-changing play that can alter the course of a season.

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• Keys for a Broncos win
• LIVE CHAT – Rocky Mountain News
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• INACTIVES – posted below once announced
• KICKOFF – 6:15pm MST! Go Broncos!

The Denver Broncos are on a three-game slide and have fallen to .500 after a blazing 3-0 start. Still in sole possession of the AFC West lead, the Broncos have an opportunity tonight to maintain a winning record and keep the rest of the division behind them. Here are my four keys to win this game:

1. Pressure Brady Quinn
Any new quarterback making his debut will have a much more difficult time if his opponents are constantly in his face. The Broncos need to pressure Quinn early and often and not let him get comfortable. The key will be the four-man rush — with the defense reeling from injury, specifically in the secondary, blitz packages will come at a premium. Elvis Dumervil, Ebenezer Ekuban, and Jarvis Moss have been getting after the quarterback very well lately, tallying a total of 6.5 sacks in just the past two games. They’ll need to match that production for the banged-up Broncos secondary to take advantage.

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In more proof that Al Davis has lost whatever marbles he had left, the Raiders waived DeAngelo Hall today. Angered by the Raiders being completely blown out by the Falcons, Al Davis made a list of people that should be considered for flushing and high priced corner Hall got the first cut.

But that’s not all. Javon Walker is on the list too. Though it remains to be seen if the Raiders can even afford to cut him after the monstrous signing bonus they gave him, it’s a bit of schadenfreude from a distance; with the Lane Kiffin firing, the Raiders are going from merely a bad team with too many problems to count to NFL laughingstock that may be so messed up that it will take years to recover any semblance of decent play from the franchise.

The Broncos could lose the rest of our games and end the season 4-12 and still wouldn’t be in as bad of shape as the Raiders right now. I can’t wait to see who gets cut next.

If you thought yesterday’s presidential election and subsequent end of the campaign trail would also bring an end to over-hyped media mudslinging, you were sadly mistaken.

Dolphins LB Joey Porter and Broncos WR Brandon Marshall have had a war of words since the game on Sunday, and while no one is accusing the other of associating with terrorists, there are plenty of “popcorn muscles” and “soft”s and “like a girl”s to go around.

It all started when Porter called out Marshall in his post game press conference.

“I didn’t get inside his head, we just were talkin’. He got in his own head. He was done. He’s one of those soft receivers, where he has to have the ball all the time. If he don’t get it, he’s going to mope and cry. He did it to himself.”

Marshall, never one to back down from a fight, responded Tuesday. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Every week, it seems the Broncos lose two to three more players for a significant amount of time due to injury. This Sunday was no different. The Broncos lost running backs Andre Hall and Michael Pittman for the season on Sunday; they also lost linebacker D.J. Williams and safety Marlon McCree for three to four weeks each.

To offset these injuries, the Broncos added three players to their active roster Tuesday – outside linebacker Mario Haggan, safety Roderick Rogers and running back P.J. Pope. Head Coach Mike Shanahan discussed the injuries, along with the possibility of getting some of the other guys back, during his Tuesday presser.

“(RB) Michael Pittman was put on IR. A spinal cord (injury),” Shanahan told reporters. “He had some numbness in his hands and doctors recommended that he stay out. (LB) D.J. Williams has a third-degree MCL (injury). Four weeks of (missed) participation there. (RB) Andre Hall (has a) broken hand. (S) Marlon McCree (has a) high-ankle sprain—three to four weeks (he will be out) in that area. (TE) Tony Scheffler and (RB) Selvin Young, we will get a chance to evaluate a little bit later today.”

When asked if he could remember a time where he coached a team with so many injuries, Shanny replied, “I don’t know that I’ve ever had both captains out on defense before, so that’s a little bit different. But that happens during the season and there is no reason to use that as an excuse. That’s why you have depth on your football team.”

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In a presser today, Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan confirmed that D.J. Williams will be out for 4 weeks with a 3rd degree MCL injury, and Marlon McCree will be out 3-4 weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Wesley Woodyard and Louis Green will compete to spend time replacing D.J. Williams. “We are going to have (LB Wesley) Woodyard and (LB Louis) Green (to replace LB D.J. Williams). Woodyard doesn’t have a lot of experience, obviously, but he has played well on special teams. Lou Green has a lot of experience. We will take a look at those two guys and make a decision on which direction we are going to go,” Shanahan said.

The only good news so far is that Jarvis Moss — and, in fact, the entire defensive line — stepped it up a bit on Sunday, and we can hope that trend continues, but at the cost of the linebacker core getting weaker and weaker, and the secondary getting weaker, it’s hard to think there will be any real improvement until they get some of these players back.

We can bet that Broncoland fandom will be rooting for Wesley Woodyard on this one, though personally I would rather have D.J. Williams. With a short week and so many injuries, I don’t know what we can expect out of a game that should be winnable, but the team is in such disarray I’m not confident they could beat anyone right now. I really hope that’s just a touch of despair and not reality talking, but 4 losses out of 5 with each loss coming with bad news is hard to stomach.

After a disappointing 3-5 start, the Cleveland Browns have benched quarterback Derek Anderson in favor of 2007 first round pick Brady Quinn. Quinn will make his pro football debut on Thursday Night Football against the Denver Broncos.

With Champ Bailey and D.J. Williams out for Thursday’s match (along with S Marlon McCree), Quinn will play against a banged-up Broncos defense that was already having trouble against the pass when healthy. It’s all on the defensive line to get pressure on Quinn and force him into mistakes.

All I have to say is this: If Jay Cutler doesn’t out-perform Brady freaking Quinn in his freaking NFL debut, I’m going to go freaking nuts.

Both Andre Hall and Michael Pittman have been moved to the Injured Reserve list following Sunday’s loss to Miami, making bad news for the team continue to get worse.

Pittman, who had suffered a rib injury in the loss to the Patriots two weeks ago after appearing like he could the full time back in the Denver system came out of the game with a neck stinger in the second quarter. Hall suffered an unspecified injury to his left hand and despite a case of fumblitis against the Patriots, had an excellent return game.

There is still no news on D.J. Williams‘ MCL injury, but the early rumors don’t sound good. Wesley Woodyard stepped in to play for Williams after he went out, but as good as we all know Woodyard is, he is no DJ Williams and it showed at the end of the game.

With this loss, the Denver Broncos are down to just two running backs, both of whom are dealing with injuries, and one of whom has seen limited action. You can bet that the Broncos will search far and wide for a body, but with a running game that was terrible in Miami, the hopes and dreams of the Broncos running game now rests solely on the untested Torain’s shoulders.

(Ed: The Broncos also signed third-year DT Matthias Askew to its practice squad. Full press release after the jump.) Click here to read the rest of this entry »