The Pro Football Hall of Fame voting committee has announced their 133 preliminary modern-era finalists for the Class of 2009, with the Denver Broncos being represented by seven former players and coaches. They are former Denver Broncos S Steve Atwater (1989-98), RB Terrell Davis (1995-2002), LB Tom Jackson (1973-86), LB Karl Mecklenburg (1983-94), Head Coach Dan Reeves (1981-92), TE Shannon Sharpe (1990-99, 2002-03) and CB Louis Wright (1975-86).

RB Floyd Little and LB Randy Gradishar are eligible for the senior committee, but were not selected for consideration this year.

Shannon Sharpe should be a lock for the Hall of Fame, lest some real injustice occurs. I’ve already discussed (at length) why Terrell Davis and Steve Atwater belong in the Hall of Fame — there’s simply no reason whatsoever that they aren’t in there. Let’s do it, Hall of Fame voters – get TWO Broncos into Canton this year. I dare you.

Full list of nominees after the jump.

Five Broncos who Belong in the Hall of Fame [BroncoTalk]

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vs.
Broncos (4-3) vs. Dolphins (3-4)
INVESCO Field at Mile High
Sun, Nov 2, 2008
2:05 PM MST CBS4

Preview | Scouting Report | Predictions
Injury Report | Weather | Tickets

Aiming for a return to their winning ways, and a victory after their bye week for the sixth year in a row, the Denver Broncos (4-3) return to action on Sunday at INVESCO Field at Mile High when they face the Miami Dolphins (3-4). Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. MST.

Denver entered its bye week with a winning record for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. After a 3-0 start, the club has lost 3 of their last 4 games, including a 41-7 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. Despite recent struggles, the Broncos stand in first place in the AFC West over San Diego, which owns a 3-5 record and has this week off after a 37-32 loss to New Orleans in London.

Led by first-year Head Coach Tony Sparano, the Dolphins visit Denver after forcing four turnovers and scoring 18 unanswered points to earn a 25-16 win at home against Buffalo on Sunday. Oddly enough, this week’s game marks the Broncos’ third consecutive home contest against a team from the state of Florida with the club having hosted Tampa Bay and Jacksonville in consecutive games in Weeks 5 and 6. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Herm Edwards and Brett Favre (Getty Images)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

The Weekend’s winner – MNFAN:

CHAMP: Momma said there would days like this.
BOSS: Pastor said this too will pass.
CHAMP: They too will pass and pass for over 400.

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

Chad Jackson (Getty Images)

The Denver Broncos were very busy on Monday. The team added three players to their active roster while shuffling its practice squad considerably.

As previously reported, WR Chad Jackson signed with the club. Tackle Matt Murphy was also signed as Erik Pears was placed on the Reserve/Non-Injured list. Cornerback Josh Bell was promoted from the practice squad.

A familiar face joined the practice squad – center Greg Eslinger, whom the Broncos drafted in 2006 and released in 2007. Eslinger spent some time on the Cleveland Brown‘s active roster in 2007 and finished his season on the practice squad of the Houston Texans.

Finally, the Broncos added CB Rashod Moulton to the practice squad, an undrafted rookie from Fort Valley State University.

No quarterback signing yet… if my math’s right, the Broncos will have to release someone to make room on the roster for the backup QB, expected to be Darrell Hackney. Andre Hall, possibly? Full press release after the jump.

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It’s been three weeks since the Broncos had as positive an outcome as this past weekend’s set of games. Naturally, it came on their bye week.

All three AFC West teams lost (giving the Broncos a game and a half lead over the Chargers), two AFC division leaders fell as well, and another possible AFC Wild Card candidate struggled over the weekend, opening the door for the Broncos to get back on track among the leaders in the AFC.

With the Chargers on their bye, the Broncos have a golden opportunity against Miami. Win, and they open back up a two-game lead on San Diego. Lose and the race becomes a close one-game contest. They can either leave the door open for a San Diego surge or put them out of their misery here and now.

I’m all for the latter, especially when you consider this plain and obvious truth: only one AFC West team will be playing meaningful football in January.

So the importance of this game cannot be understated – for the division standings, for the conference playoff picture, and for the confidence of a young team that has struggled as of late to find its identity. Let’s start the second half of the season on a winning note. Let’s regain the momentum we had in Weeks 1-3.

Go Broncos! Chapter Two of this 2008 Season is underway!

The San Diego Chargers, trailing the Broncos by one in the AFC West division race, are in jolly ol’ England to face the New Orleans Saints. Both teams are banged up – the Saints are without Reggie Bush, while the Chargers have been missing guys all season long. As always, cheering for San Diego’s opponent is a must, so feel free to give a shout out to the Saints for good luck across the pond.

The afternoon games are highlighted by a battle of 5-2 juggernauts – the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers. Naturally we’re cheering for the G-Men in hopes to pull this AFC race a bit closer.

The Series of the World’s Game 4 is subbing for the evening game. No football tonight… Go Saints! Go Broncos!

The Bailey brothers and Patrick Ramsey aren’t the only Broncos dealing with injuries. Luckily, the Broncos look to use the bye week to get some of their other injured players back.

We already reported that Ryan Torain says he’s 100% and ready to go — expect his first NFL career action to take place next Sunday against Miami. Meanwhile, Jay Cutler doesn’t expect to suffer any long term effects from his finger injury. Thank your lucky stars there – that would have been a deal breaker.

According to the Denver Post, wide receiver Brandon Stokley is hopeful he’ll be ready for Miami. Stokley suffered a concussion in the Broncos’ loss to the Jaguars in Week 6 and missed the subsequent game in New England.

“If there’s no symptoms I’ll keep increasing it and hopefully be ready to go next week,” Stokley said.

Meanwhile, tight end Tony Scheffler and running back Selvin Young have both missed two weeks with groin injuries. They’re working to get healthy, but there’s no word yet on their return. The Post also reports that running back Michael Pittman suffered a stinger and will see a neurosurgeon as a precautionary measure. Pittman also suffered bruised ribs, which held him out of practice Wednesday, but says neither injury should keep him off the field.

A nice bit of R and R should help our Broncos on the mend. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the fans could use a break for a weekend, too…

Boss and Champ Bailey (Denver Post photo)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – BrianBroncosFan:

“Last QB had a finger problem too”

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

Not Daunte. (AP Photo)

You starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, nearly breaks his finger at the start of an embarrassing loss on Monday Night Football. Your backup QB, Patrick Ramsey, goes on IR. Your third string QB, Darrell Hackney, is a practice squad player who’s never taken an NFL snap.

Yeah, you could say the Denver Broncos have some issues at quarterback.

So when Daunte Culpepper announced his un-retirement from the NFL Thursday (Pro Bowl NFC North quarterbacks have that tendency, it seems), people immediately began putting his name in the Broncos’ circle. Culpepper released an email to members of the media indicating his retirement was over a few weeks after it began.

Now that there are some real opportunities that match my desire to play, I will choose the one that is the best fit for both the team and me so that I can continue my NFL career. For the second half of this season, I hope to play a role in helping a team win some games.

We all know about Culpepper’s past success and his “Could have been MVP” season in 2004. But let’s get real. In the past 3 seasons, Culpepper has played in 18 games with the Vikings, Dolphins, and Raiders. In those 18 games, Culpepper threw 13 touchdowns, 20 interceptions, and was sacked a mind-blowing 73 times. Seventy. Three. That’s over four sacks per game.

At that point, it’s obvious his mobility issues and confidence in the pocket (or lack thereof) have as much to do with the sack total as the offensive line protection.

I’m on the fence on this one. The Broncos could definitely use depth at quarterback, but I’m not a fan of Pep’s and really haven’t ever been. What do you all think? Is he worth a look, and the price it might take to pry him away from the likes of San Francisco or Kansas City?

The bye week has always been Denver Broncos rookie running back Ryan Torain‘s target week to see the football field. The elbow injury he suffered in training camp has sidelined him all season, but practicing last week was a good sign that Torain would be ready soon.

If his latest blog post is any indication, Torain is ready to go. Now. He’s spending his bye week with the training staff, preparing for a debut Sunday in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins.

Torain says if his number is called, he knows he’ll be ready.

I don’t know if my number is going to be called against Miami when we’re back at home. All I know is I’ve just got to stay focused, stay on top of my game, and if Coach does call my number I know I’m going to be ready 100 percent.

With Selvin Young sidelined and Andre Hall‘s recent batch of fumble-itis, Torain’s debut couldn’t come at a better time. Michael Pittman has been running very well lately, but when he needs to be spelled, Torain would provide a dynamic 1-2 punch. Give him between 5-10 carries next Sunday, and let’s see what this kid can do.