Lane Kiffin walks off the field after a 24-0 loss to Arizona. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – Arden:

“Yep yep yep…I must have sprained it with Gisele last night…you know, Gisele, my girlfriend…the model…the LINGERIE model…God, it must suck to be common.”

Very hard to choose from yesterday. Honorable mention to everyone!

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

• In case you’ve missed part of our week-long series: Denver Broncos 2008 Season Preview.  More to come! [BroncoTalk]
• The RMN lets its own monster preview out of the cage, starting with the offense.  [Rocky Mountain News]
• Dre Bly says just look at the stats to see who the better CB tandem is.  [RMN]
• Matt Prater and Eddie Royal steal the focus of the special teams feature.  [RMN]
• Cutler and company feel confident after a good preseason.  [Denver Post]
• In the end, it’s all up to Jay-C.  [DPO]
• Ten years after Super Bowl victories, the Broncos have questions.  [RMN]
• Winner of Rhetorical Question of the Week: “Mike Shanahan, do you still hate the Radiers?” [DPO]
• Raiders Week: Stopping the run the Broncos’ #1 concern.  [RMN]
• Raiders Week: The official site breaks it all down.  [DenverBroncos.com]

BLOB BLITZ

• We’re helping fans decide the next nickname for Brandon Marshall.  [BroncoTalk]
• Shanny understands the low national expectations.  [ESPN]
• The Broncos have made a believer out of Dennis Green.  [Mile High Report]
• Elvis Dumervil is excited for the season, and answers your questions.  [DB.com]
• The Broncos’ Community Development staff give their kudos to Domonique Foxworth [DB.com]

BroncoTalk’s week-long Denver Broncos 2008 Season Preview continues… Enjoy!

“It’s hard for the quarterback to throw with tears in his eyes…” – Buddy Ryan

In 2007, I managed to watch nearly all of the New York Giants games last season, as well as nearly all of the New England Patriots games. Living in Manhattan, it’s tough to get the Denver Broncos on cable, thus I like Direct TV. What I saw while observing the Giants, especially during the later part of their season and into their successful playoff run was not a scheme necessarily, but a player set. The absence of scheme created chaos and chaos turned out to be impossible to interpret for opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks. The Giants were extremely gifted, to say the least, with their front four. Though, it’s likely that you’ll only see one in the Hall of Fame. Contrast that with the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers (four members in thee Hall of Fame, eight pro bowlers), who are arguably the greatest defense of all time.

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Today two players on the Denver Broncos switched their numbers heading into the season. Fullback Peyton Hillis is now number 22, a jersey number that he wore in college and guard Dylan Gandy has taken the great Karl Mecklenburg’s former number and now will wear 77.

Be sure to update your player guides before next Monday, so you’re not wondering why Domonique Foxworth is playing fullback or how Karl Mecklenburg has reimerged as a promising offensive lineman.

DENVER BRONCOS

OAKLAND RAIDERS

Thoughts: Our old pal Tom Nalen has been ruled out for Monday’s game, which is disappointing but not unexpected. Backup Casey Wiegmann has looked good in preseason thus far. Javon Walker‘s presence on the report doesn’t come as a surprise either – if I were him, I’d just call in sick altogether.

BroncoTalk’s week-long Denver Broncos 2008 Season Preview continues… Enjoy!

Yesterday, Denver Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall sat down with Vic Lombardi of KCNC in Denver and said that he wants to make 140 catches this season.

Prior to that coach Mike Shanahan predicted that the Denver Broncos would make the playoffs this season.

And! Even before that Selvin Young predicted that he would rush for 2,000 yards this season.

Back to Brandon ‘The Beast’ Marshall for a moment, ‘The Beast,’ is what Mr. Marshall would like to be known as, by the way. He stated, “If the fans vote and they have something better, let’s go with the fans.” I don’t know if we have anything better (but keep reading for more), we called him ‘Baby T.O.’ for too long.

He wants 140 catches, but knows that the Indianapolis Colts Marvin Harrison has the record with 143. What we know is that he’ll be bunking up with Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler for the next eight days playing catch in the back yard. The two plan to game plan as if Marshall were going to be a part of the Monday Night Football game against the Oakland Raiders on September 8th.

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In a quick follow-up to last night’s hilarious news involving Tatum Bell, Rudi Johnson, and duffel bags, Bell told reporters that he is innocent of any wrong doing.

“I ain’t no thief,” Bell told the Free Press in a phone interview. “I ain’t never been one, and I ain’t never going to be one. It was all a misunderstanding.

“You can ask anybody I played with for all my years or anybody that know me, man. They know I ain’t never stolen nothing from nobody or had those kind of intentions.”

An unconvinced Johnson said his bags were missing his identification, credit cards, about $200 in cash and his underwear. “He left the money clip, but he didn’t leave no money in it. He should have took the clip, too. …”

Meanwhile, PFT is reporting that the Texans ain’t got no interest, ain’t never been interested, and ain’t never going to be interested in Bell’s services, contrary to previous reports.

Bell: ‘I ain’t no thief;’ but Lions’ Johnson doesn’t believe him [Detroit Free Press] (via)

…Is as pointless as it comes, but as mandatory also. The NFL season kicks off tomorrow, so it’s as good a time as any to get this down for future bragging rights. Last year I did a grand weekly prediction column, division-by-division. Let’s not go over that, shall we?

So take these with a grain of salt, this is how I see the 2008 NFL shaping up, division by division, through the playoffs, and ultimately the Super Bowl. Clicking through to actually read these represents a binding contract between you and I that you will leave a comment afterward so we can all make fun of you too. On to the picks!

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Tight end Tony Scheffler has always had a slow start, and strong finish, to the regular season.

In 2006, his rookie season, Scheffler really didn’t come on until draftmate (and camp roommate) quarterback Jay Cutler took the field in Week 12. Scheffler tallied a total of 7 catches and 0 touchdowns in the first 13 weeks of the season. He finished with 4 touchdowns in the season’s final four games.

In 2007, a foot injury held Scheffler out of the first four weeks of the season, and he didn’t really get going until after the bye. His stats placed him among the top 10 tight ends in the NFL last season, despite only playing in 12 games.

In 2008, Scheffler overcame a minor setback to his injured foot in mini camp and participated in all of the team’s training camp. Nate Jackson came on strong, however, and usurped Scheffler on the depth chart throughout preseason as the team’s #2 tight end behind Daniel Graham. It appeared that Scheffler’s lack of playing time as a backup would hinder his start again this season.

The team’s online depth chart, however, lists Scheffler back at his #2 tight end spot. With Brandon Marshall suspended for the season opener, Cutler needs as many weapons as possible. While Jackson certainly has ability (when healthy), there’s a level of comfort and chemistry between Cutler and Scheffler that just can’t be ignored.

I, for one, am thrilled that Scheffler will be considered a major part of the team’s game plan as they attack the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football.

Tom Brady gets his foot checked out. (AP Photo/Robert E. Klein)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments.

Yesterday’s winner – mikebirty:

“Let me see if I can get my hand in your pocket, find your wallet and get a ‘donation’ to the Darrent Williams Teen Center.”

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