For veteran cornerback Champ Bailey, the 2012 preseason will be anything but easy, even if he does feel like he is 23 years old again.  The Denver Broncos‘ exhibition schedule features several of the greatest wide receivers to ever play the game.

Bailey will be busy, as can be observed by viewing the Broncos’ preseason schedule, seen below:

2012 Denver Broncos Preseason
Opp	Week	Date	Time(MST)	Station	Match
	1	AUG 9th	6:30 PM	KTVD-TV	@ Chicago Bears
	2	AUG 18th	7:00 PM	KUSA-TV	Seattle Seahawks
	3	AUG 26th	2:00 PM	FOX (NTV)	San Francisco 49ers
	4	AUG 30th	8:00 PM	KTVD-TV	@ Arizona Cardinals

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We’re reading increased reports of big Orlando Franklin‘s possible shift from right tackle to a position in the interior of the offensive line, with right guard (somewhat surprisingly) being the most-discussed destination. The idea: move Franklin to right guard, then shift Chris Kuper over to left guard, replacing Zane Beadles. The move would put the Broncos’ strongest offensive linemen next to each other on the left side while giving Franklin a better chance to display his wicked mauling blocks on run plays, while offering more leniency in pass protection.

The problem: who plays right tackle?

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EA Sports has been revealing player ratings for Madden NFL 13 in weekly announcements leading up to the game’s August 24th release.  On Friday, they announced complete running back ratings.

Denver’s Willis McGahee saw a +6 rating jump from 2011, going from an 79 overall rating last year to 85 overall in 2012.

Ranked 19th overall among running backs (24th overall including fullbacks), McGahee is the highest-ranked back in Denver and features ratings of 93 (trucking), 86 (speed), 85 (acceleration), 83 (strength) and a brutal 58 (elusiveness).  Seven backs who rushed for fewer yards than McGahee in 2011 are rated higher than the veteran in this year’s Madden.

Related: EA Sports ranks Peyton as sixth-best QB in NFL

Rankings 1-through-23 and beyond after the jump.

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Thomas does have other options beyond football. In June, he performed at his "first gig." (Image courtesy of @MarcusThomas_79)

Back in April, the Denver Broncos and free agent Marcus Thomas were in a standoff over the defensive tackle’s future.  Two other teams reportedly were interested in Thomas’ services and the Broncos offered him a one-year deal, which he turned down for want of a longer commitment.

At the time, Thomas told fans he’d sign with Denver “Whenever they call me.” This was interpreted by yours truly as “agent-speak” to get the fans on Thomas’ side while he was really arguing for more money behind closed doors.

Eventually, the Broncos gave away Thomas’ jersey number, signed defensive tackle Justin Bannan and drafted Derek Wolfe in the second round of the draft.  Thomas remains a free agent while, as of Friday evening, Bannan, Ty Warren, Kevin Vickerson and Mitch Unrein are the top four defensive tackles on Denver’s depth chart.

As it turns out, I may have misjudged Thomas.  What appeared to have been a player holding out for more money may have actually been the team simply deciding to move in a different direction.  Thomas’ most recent remarks seem to reinforce such a theory.   Click here to read the rest of this entry »

The Denver Broncos defeated the Chicago Bears by a score of 31-3 on Thursday night.  The Broncos are now 1-0 in preseason play.

Game recap here.  Game Balls here.  Video highlights below:

Broncos 31, Bears 3 — as if this offseason wasn’t exciting enough, the Broncos have to go and completely destroy their first preseason opponent. We, as fans, can either try to stay level-headed… or go completely nuts. I’m aiming for the former personally, but man, it’s hard. The Broncos looked ggoooooodd last night.

Gentlemen, you know the drill! For five years now, a Broncos victory means we at BroncoTalk give out Game Balls. Who ya got?!

Ian Henson —

Defensive- I am going to go after some more out-of-the-box type guys, rookies Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson both stood out. However, I really liked what I saw from Nate Irving who saw time on pretty much every team (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and did well at all levels. Twice he stuffed a runner behind the line of scrimmage; he looked like the middle linebacker that Denver was hoping for him to be when they drafted him last season.

Honorable mention: Omar Bolden.

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During the Olympics, NBC routinely airs promos for the 2012 NFL season and Sunday Night Football on NBC.

On Thursday night, the Denver Broncos opened the preseason with a 31-3 win over the Chicago Bears.  The game, televised locally on KTVD-Channel 20, drew better ratings than the Olympic Games on Channel 9.

Per the Denver Post‘s Joanne Ostrow —

From 6:30-9:45 p.m. Thursday when they were head-to-head, the Olympics on NBC, locally Channel 9, managed a 7.5 rating and 20.9 share while the Broncos’ preseason opener on KTVD-Channel 20 (Channel 9’s sister station) triumphed with a 12.3 rating and 35.8 share. The ratings, based on the 25-54 demographic, are based on preliminary overnights; finals will be reported Friday afternoon.

In short, 203,598 adults watched the Broncos while 124,182 watched the Olympics.

In July, the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies scored lower ratings than Denver’s AFC Wild Card victory posted earlier in the year.  In that case, viewers cared more about the NFL and Tebowmania than the Olympics.

In last night’s case, viewers cared more about a preseason game—and quarterback Peyton Manning—than the Olympics.  The ratings prove that football truly is America’s Game.

Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning throws during the Broncos' 2012 preseason opener against the Chicago Bears. The Broncos routed the Bears 31-3 in Manning's Broncos debut. (Andrew Mason/MaxDenver.com)

The hit everyone was waiting for never happened. Left tackle Ryan Clady would rather be penalized than see Peyton Manning get zinged during the Denver Broncos‘ first preseason game.

“Peyton gets creamed or I take a 10-yard penalty?” Clady asked rhetorically [via Mike Klis]. “Peyton gets clobbered or I maul this guy?”

The answer was simple, and Clady took the (suspect) holding penalty, just as the new Broncos offense everyone was waiting to see was just getting into rhythm. It may have been frustrating to fans to see Manning’s perfect 11-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas get brought back, but it was smart on Clady’s part.

With Peyton Manning under center, you can get those yards back. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• If you are out of market like me, then you will definitely want to watch the 8-9 new videos the Denver Broncos put up last night. [DenverBroncos.com]
• Mike Klis from the Denver Post also wrote up a nice recap of the game (aren’t they all nice when the final score is 31-3?), which included a few quotes from Peyton Manning, Brandon Stokley, and Eric Decker. [Denver Post]
• While most of the media has been focusing on Manning’s debut, Rich Kurtzman highlights Denver’s stiff defensive performance.  [Examiner]
• I’ve always enjoyed Andrew Mason’s reports, and today he offered his take on QB 2A and 2B, with Brock Oseweiler beating out Caleb Hanie.  [Max Denver]
• We’ll stick with Mason to round out our Broncos news this morning with his in depth report on Manning and the potential of the Broncos passing game in 2012. [AOL Sporting News]
• Oh and did you hear?  There is going to be a female referee for a bit.  If you want to check out what she’s all about, I found this little story on her. [AOL Sporting News]

The BT GameBlog enters its fourth season as THE BEST coverage of Denver Broncos football on the web. Come join the BT Staff and fellow readers to talk about tonight’s game at the Chicago Bears … and how Peyton Manning looks in orange and blue.

Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. MT… GameBlog starts at 6:00.