Hope all our readers have a safe and happy Halloween. Looking at the games the Broncos have played thus far, it isn’t a stretch to take the Trick or Treat theme of today’s holiday and relate it to the Broncos team thus far.

– The run defense has been inconsistent to say the least. Letting the worst rushing team in the NFL’s fourth string running back put up over 100 yards on our defense is simply insulting. It makes you scratch your head, too – we had just held Willie Parker to under 100 yards (partly due to the Steeler playcalling, to be certain), and follow that up with a piss poor performance against the Packers.

– The running offense, on the other hand, has been pretty good, sometimes great. Even with Travis Henry dealing with injury and possible suspension, we’ve found a running game against good defenses like Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, and Selvin Young looks like he could be a nice find and a promising prospect for next season and beyond.

– We’ve been really hurt by injuries this year. It all started last year with injuries that have resulted in the absences of both Rod Smith and Al Wilson (seriously, if you had told me last year we would lose both these guys, I would have told you we were in trouble. Can we really be that surprised?). Add Ebenezer Ekuban, Tom Nalen, and Ben Hamilton‘s season ending injuries, along with long-to-short term ailments to Javon Walker, Tony Scheffler, John Lynch, and Champ Bailey, and we’re a regular MASH unit out there.

– For the most part, the backups have stepped in and done their job. Chris Kuper and Chris Myers looked really good against Pittsburgh, but the offensive line as a whole struggled to protect Cutler against Green Bay. Elvis Dumervil earned his starting spot after Ekuban went done and has done simply phenomenal. And Brandon Marshall and Brandon Stokley are doing a good job making Javon’s absence a little less noticeable.

– Our 3-4 record, and third place in the AFC West. Being below .500 is never good, and we need to play better, particularly at home.

– The toughest opponents on our schedule are behind us. We may be on the road for all but 3 games for the rest of the year, but most of them should be considered winnable games.

– Our athletes’ issues and incidents are keeping the fans’ focus off the field. Between Travis Henry’s pending suspension for smoking marijuana, Brandon Marshall’s recent DUI arrest (on top of his other marks this past offseason), and the always looming fear of our rookies toking up again, we have our fair share of the NFL Personal Conduct Policy covered. I’d love it if we could stop hearing our Broncos on the police blotter.

– It’s why they call the evening news the bad news… not enough focus on the guys who go about doing service in the community. Just check out the Broncos community development blog that’s all about the boys doing extra in the Denver area – from the Drive for Life to the Boys and Girls Club (including the new Darrent Williams Memorial Center planned) to their own personal foundations, the Broncos have more do-gooders than bad apples.

– It doesn’t look like this is the year we return to the Super Bowl, not with the two-headed monster that is the 2007 NFL and the Chargers bouncing back strong.

– Despite all our woes, we’re still a mere game behind first place in the AFC West, and as they say, anything can happen in January.

Again, Happy Halloween and Go Broncos!

Each week, Jonathan, Earl and I will give out the game balls for last weekend’s game. Everyone picks someone different. Usually we’ll have these up by the day after, but we’re a bit behind with the Monday game. Enjoy.

Alright guys, tough loss to a good team in overtime. I really never expected to lose a game like that, with long bombs over our cover corners. Looking for the positive when we’re down on our team can be tough, but it’s time to shape up and find the silver lining. Who impressed you guys Monday Night?

Jonathan: Game ball… tough… The obvious ones are Marshall, who’s last clutch-catch made Elam‘s FG possible. However, I’m not really feeling the love for Marshall with his sideline giggling and DUI charge. I’d pick Stokley for my team any day over Marshall (upside or no).

Another candidate is Young who had a great first game with 71 yards on the ground and almost another 50 through the air. However, Hall had the nearly the same average yards per rush and I’m not a huge Young fan.

So… I think I’ll give mine to Cutler, who completed 62% of his throws for 264 yards and one TD. But beyond that, he didn’t throw an INT. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers and lead yet another last minute drive for the tying score. He was also under much more pressure this week than he was vs the Steelers and he didn’t make any terrible rookie mistakes. There’s plenty of room to grow and learn, but this game showed that Cutler is developing.

Earl: I’m giving mine to Tony Scheffler. Tony got our only touchdown of the game, and made a big contribution to the offense when it was on track. Tony had a great game and it’s good to see him back to the form he was in at the end of last season.

Kyle: Excellent choices guys. Cutler’s really growing into an elite quarterback at this early stage, and Scheffler’s return has already netted him a few touchdowns. I’m giving my game ball to the Special Teams as a whole.  Of course the second Toro field goal play in 7 games deserves mentioning. Karl Paymah and Jamie Winborn had some nice tackles, and for once we actually won the field position battle. In particular, that 4th quarter punt that pinned the Packers inside their 5 yard line was a great job by the coverage and by punter Todd Sauerbrun. Andre Hall looked more willing to hit the holes than any returner we’ve had thus far — all in all, a great coaching job by Scott O’Brien.

Injustice is the only word that one can use when you consider the Denver Broncos currently enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  That’s because there is only one, the obvious inclusion of John Elway.

Four former Broncos are on the preliminary list of candidates for the Hall of Fame.  Terrell Davis is eligible for his second year and is on the list; Gary Zimmerman, having been very close several times, returns to the candidate list; Randy Gradishar and his 2,000 tackles in 10 seasons has returned to the list, and cornerback Louis Wright completes the Broncos to be considered.

I had listed five Broncos who absolutely belong in the Hall of Fame during the offseason, which consisted of the first 3 names, along with Floyd Little and Steve Atwater.  Let’s hope the voting committee can take their first step to righting this wrong by enshrining one of these Broncos this year.  With a generally weak year of first-balloters (Cris Carter and Darrell Green headline the list, neither of which I would say are sure-fire first-ballot winners), we have a good chance to get one or even two of these guys in.

No MSM links today, there’s plenty of that for tomorrow.  Few goodies from around my Broncos blogging brethren.

• Herc says the Broncos are as good as done.  Stick a fork in ’em.  [Orange Bucksnorts]
• Who do you blame for Monday’s loss?  Certainly don’t blame Bailey or Bly.  [Thin Air]
• Post-game quotes from the loss. [Mile High Report]
• History of the last five meetings between the Lions and Broncos.  [Mile High Report]
• Seriously… how much more love could the ESPN guys possibly give Brett Favre? [Colorado Homers]

I’ll have full Daily Links tomorrow. I had a nice shot of perspective hit me in the face with some bad personal news, literally five minutes after I wrote the recap, so sorry if I’m not quite as coverage-frenetic as usual. This is from Hashmarks, who had excellent coverage throughout the game:

It’s too early to write off the Broncos, but let’s be realistic here. This team is probably not going to win a playoff game. The AFC is too tough even if the Broncos rally from 3-4 and find their way into the postseason.

What this season becomes, then, is a chance for the Broncos to develop Jay Cutler while assessing the rest of the team on both sides of the ball.

Cutler made some strides tonight. He tossed a touchdown pass for the 12th consecutive game. His 11-game streak with at least one interception also ended. He threw a few into tight spots and one or two of those could have been picked off, but he also had some balls dropped by his own receivers. Cutler led the team on a clutch fourth-quarter drive toward the tying field goal as time expired.

Earlier, the fumbled snap at the Green Bay 1 hurt badly, but those things can happen when a young quarterback loses his veteran center midway through the season. Certainly a fumbled snap has no bearing on Cutler’s long-term development. He’s gaining valuable experience and generally making the most of it. Cutler is the future for this team, even if the present doesn’t look so good.

In the end, all of the long drives the Packers (6-1) were failing to sustain didn’t matter much. Two long bombs over the heads of Broncos cornerbacks Dre Bly and Champ Bailey were enough to do the Broncos (3-4) in.

You’ve heard the maxim that football is a game of inches: it only takes a few big plays to determine the winner in the end. This was definitely the case on Monday Night. The two touchdown tosses, along with the goal line fumble by the Broncos cost them tonight’s victory. They failed to get pressure on Favre, failed to force the turnovers, and lost what has to be considered a sloppy football game by both teams.

Courtesy Associated Press:

DENVER (AP) — It was another signature moment in a career that is full of them.

On the first play following the kickoff in overtime, Brett Favre connected on an 82-yard touchdown pass with Greg Jennings and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Denver Broncos 19-13 on Monday night.

Denver had tied the score at 13 on Jason Elam’s 21-yard field goal as time ran out in regulation, setting the stage for another Favre comeback.

Green Bay (6-1) won the coin toss and on the first play, Jennings was matched up in man-to-man coverage on the left side. Favre, who threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to James Jones in the first half, hit Jennings in stride at the Denver 40. Cornerback Dre’ Bly had no shot at catching the speedy wide receiver who trotted into the end zone as Favre rushed to celebrate Green Bay’s first 6-1 start in five years.

The Broncos (3-4) sent it into overtime with a drive that began at their own 7 with 2:27 left.

Out of timeouts, the field goal unit scrambled onto the field and Elam calmly nailed the kick, just as he did two months ago when the Broncos ran the same fire drill to beat Buffalo as time expired in the opener.

The Packers won the flip and Favre found Jennings isolated along the left sideline just as Jones was in the first half, when he beat Champ Bailey for the score.

Denver almost had to share the spotlight with the Colorado Rockies, who were scheduled to play Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night at Coors Field before they were swept by the Boston Red Sox Sunday night.

Favre, who was criticized for a series of underthrown passes against Washington last week, made it a double-whammy.

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Green Bay Packers (5-1) @ Denver Broncos (3-3)

Talk about the second half here. Our defense needs to step it up. Our offense needs to find its steam again. Drive summaries here, notes in the comments.

Note – I guess I’m not the live blogging type.  The Broncos are now at 10-13 and need to stop the Packers again.  This has been the Tale of Two Quarters thus far, and the Broncos are looking somewhere in between the first and second.

This may be another close one, at least Elam is 1/1 thus far!

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Green Bay Packers (5-1) @ Denver Broncos (3-3)

The weather is a surprising warm for two days shy of November in Denver. With two strong-armed quarterbacks taking the helm we could have a shootout in the making.

Here’s to a Broncos win! Post your thoughts on the game here, we’ll be chatting along with you. Live blogging below – drive summaries mostly, with notes in the comments.

Packers 5th Drive – Back to back penalties on the Packers pin them deep, oddly enough.  Halftime, Broncos down 13-7.

Broncos 5th Drive – Time to run the two-minute drill. A sack is not a nice way to start, and now we’re pinned real deep.

Packers 4th Drive – Again, running the ball without a hitch. You’ve got to be kidding me, I really, honestly thought we were past this. Marcus Thomas reportedly went down, they had a quick bio on him. Two Packer penalties are moving them back (thank God), so they’ll be throwing on third and goal. Off target by Favre. They’ll boot a field goal to make it 13-7.

Broncos 4th Drive – Mrs. Favre has been invited in the booth. Her story is heartwarming, but can the guys at ESPN at least wait until #4 is on the field before talking about him? 3 and out.

Packers 3rd Drive – John Lynch is hurt, it looks like his right hand or arm. Antwon Burton also goes down as the Packers move the ball on the ground without half a problem. Without Lynch in there, a physical aspect of this defense has been lost, and the Packers are taking advantage. 1st and 5 after a 12 man on the field penalty, in the red zone. The Packers can’t take full advantage though, thanks in large part to the tight containment by D.J. Williams on the play action fake (I didn’t even see the handoff!). Packers 10, Broncos 7.

Broncos 3rd Drive – Daniel Graham must have been blocking his man downfield for twenty minutes. Selvin Young takes advantage, grabbing a screen pass and taking it all the way to the Packers 7 yard line. It’s all for naught, though, as a fumbled snap leads to a turnover. Horrible way to start the 2nd quarter. Packers ball on the 1.

Packers 2nd Drive – Brett Favre throws a huge 79 yard pass, over Champ Bailey, to his rookie WR James Jones. Just like that it’s a tie ball game, extra point pending. We can’t let that big play deflate the crowd or the team. They tested Bailey with his quad and passed that test. Let’s see em try it again.

Broncos Second Drive – Nice return by Glenn Martinez to set things up. After our long first drive that netted a punt, and the 3 and out, we’re already at about midfield. After a very nice run by Selvin Young and a very, very good throw by Cutler to Brandon Stokley on third and 9, the Broncos are threatening. After a pass interference call extends the drive, Cutler directs traffic, lasers to Scheffler and we have a Denver Touchdown. 7-0 Broncos.

Packers First Drive – Three passes, two screen completions for a total of 4 or 5 yards. Champ Bailey made a clutch tackle in space to end the Packers first possession with a 3 and out.

Broncos First Drive – So far it’s all been about the tight ends. Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham and Chad Mustard have all been targeted thus far. I’ll be jumping between here and the comments tonight, summing up drives on the main post and posting smaller notes in the comments. We’ll see how it rolls. After moving down the field pretty well through the passing game, the running game failed to get going, and the Broncos are forced to punt.

• Game Center
• Game Day Inactives – Broncos – Packers
• Injury Report
• Around the Web

Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry has been deactivated for tonight’s game, meaning rookie Selvin Young will get the start. Henry was limited in practice all week with a rib injury.

Curiously, rookie DE Jarvis Moss has also been deactivated. The rest of the inactives are S Hamza Abdullah, CB Jeff Shoate, FB Mike Bell, DT Amon Gordon, G Isaac Snell, and WR Javon Walker.

Moss’ benching disappoints me if it’s not due to some unreported injury.  I thought he was really making strides, and is his sitting out worth keeping Simeon Rice happy?

Champ Bailey is expected to play.  I’ll have the gametime thread in a moment.

I feel I need to explain why ya’ll have seen very little of me lately on the Blog….

As some of you are aware, my wife and I are involved with the State of Tennessee’s Department of Children Services as Resource Parents (that’s the new term for Foster Parents). We have had a beautiful 5-year-old little girl staying with us since May and last week we added to our family her 2-year-old brother who came into care about two weeks ago. I can’t go into any details (as facts and photos of active cases are not allowed to be shared), but I will say that going from zero kids to two children in so many months has been a bit challenging!

And while both my wife and I believe we’re just doing our part to help out the local community, we differ on what that means. You see she thinks that means giving these kids a safe and happy home to live in and I firmly believe it means converting these kids into life-long Bronco fans! :)

So, now that I’ve given you my excuses for not posting much recently, here are some things I’m looking forward to seeing tonight…

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