I have a personal issue with anyone who drives drunk. My father was nearly killed by a drunk driver when I was in High School and I know many people who have lost their loved ones because someone thought it was OK to drive while intoxicated.

The facts are that every year 40% of the ~40,000 vehicle fatalities involve alcohol. That’s ~17,000 people dead every year from drunk drivers. And when you consider that ~1.5 million people are arrested for DUI/DWI each year, it makes me think that whatever punishment we’re slapping these people with isn’t working.

For example, let’s say a person named Brandon Marshall is arrested for DUI in the state of Colorado. If this is his first arrest for DUI, he will face a fine of $300-$1000, between 5 days and one year in jail, between 48 to 96 hours of community service, 3-9 months of alcohol education and a one year license suspension.

Now, that might seem like a heavy enough penalty, but what this traditionally gets reduced to is a $500 fine, 10 days in jail (often waived for probation) and the one year license suspension. Add whatever community service and alcohol classes you want to that, and you still don’t get a decent sentence. If we said that our pretend DUI violator, Brandon Marshall, was financially well off and could afford a decent lawyer, he might be looking at even less than that by the time things got sorted out.

It just seems like our current punishment isn’t enough to make people stop taking a drive after drinking. So what would work?

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Two Broncos have been nominated by the NFL as Player of the Week candidates. QB Jay Cutler has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week Award, and DE Tim Crowder has been nominated for the Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week Award.

The FedEx Air Player of the Week Award is given to a player from the previous weekend’s games that showed exceptional prowess in their team’s offensive air attack. The Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week Award is given to a first year player with the best performance from the previous week.

In Week 7 of the NFL, Jay Cutler led the Broncos to their first win in nearly a month as the team beat the Steelers 31-28. He showed great poise in the pocket, leading the Broncos in a game-winning drive in the final 1:10 of the game. He went 22-29 for 248 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also led the Broncos to the team’s greatest third down success rate since 1994.

Tim Crowder made a game-changing play in the second quarter as he returned a Ben Roethlisberger fumble 50 yards for a touchdown. Contrast to what the NFL.com site may indicate, he is a DE and not a CB.

Be a homer, vote for our Broncos now!

VOTE FOR JAY CUTLER HERE
VOTE FOR TIM CROWDER HERE

The NFL reports that the draft process will undergo significant changes, starting this year. Day 1 of the draft will now only include rounds 1 and 2, and each round’s selection time limit has been shortened. Full Story:

The NFL announced several revisions to its annual college draft today to streamline the selection process for clubs and fans.

The changes were announced by Commissioner Roger Goodell at a league meeting in Philadelphia.

Beginning with next year’s draft, only Rounds 1 and 2 will take place on Saturday (April 26), the first day of the draft. Previously, the first three rounds of the draft were conducted on Saturday.

The time allocated for each club to make its selection in Rounds 1 and 2 also has been changed.

Instead of 15 minutes for each pick in Round 1, clubs will now be allowed 10 minutes. In Round 2, the selection time has been shortened to seven minutes from 10 minutes.

The draft also will begin later on Saturday — at 3:00 p.m rather than at noon.

Round 3 will be moved to Sunday and remain at five minutes per selection. Rounds 3 through 7 will be conducted on Sunday, with each selection allocated at five minutes.

The draft on Sunday now will begin at 10:00 a.m. rather than 11:00 a.m.

“We believe these changes will make for a more streamlined and efficient draft,” said Commissioner Goodell.

The 2008 NFL Draft will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and televised by NFL Network and ESPN.

• The league announced that the Monday Night Football game will be moved up 30 minutes pending the necessity of a Game 5 of the World Series.
• Simeon Rice‘s shoulder is the only thing keeping him on the sideline, and Mike Shanahan is still waiting to see it in practice before he makes a decision.  Great news: Rod Smith may try to practice this week, too.
• Jay Cutler knows how to move the chains, putting up the best third down performance since one John Elway lit it up 14 years ago.
• Our four young defensive linemen all had a piece of the Tim Crowder fumble return touchdown pie.
• The victory against the Steelers is the first step to turning this season around.
• More information on the Brandon Marshall arrest.
• Todd Sauerbrun is confident as a holder, and wants the game to be put in his hands.
• DP Game Grades
• Eye on the Packers

Marshall’s mug shot

The Denver Post reports that WR Brandon Marshall was arrested for driving under the influence in the early hours of Monday morning. He was booked into a detoxification facility for suspicion of DUI and cited. No trial date has been set.

The Broncos organization said they were aware of the arrest but had no comment.

Great win by a great team effort. Time to give out the game balls.

QB Jay Cutler – Statistically, he had the best performance of his 11-game career. For the third time this season, and for each of our wins, he has driven the team down the field in a game-winning drive. What really impresses me is the variety of receivers he’s hitting. He hit Brandon Marshall, Tony Scheffler, Daniel Graham, and Glenn Martinez for catches in the final 70 seconds of the game to drive us down the field for the win. Compare that to Philip Rivers, who may not have thrown a pick in his win against Denver, but he only hit three teammates the entire game (and only one of them a wide receiver). Cutler’s spreading the ball around, and he’s showing an uncanny ability to bounce back from his own mistakes without letting it affect him later.

Defensive Line – Week 5 against the Chargers, the Broncos defensive line tallied 0 sacks or forced fumbles. Week 7 against the Steelers, the defensive line tallies 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 1 defensive touchdown. Talk about a turnaround. Game balls all around, but especially to Elvis Dumervil, Tim Crowder, John Engelberger, and Alvin McKinley. Of course T-Crow’s touchdown return was a game changer, but Dumervil, Engelberger, and McKinley combined for all 4 sacks and 10 of 11 of the defensive line’s tackles. I think we’re finding our starting lineup, coaches.

CB Dre Bly – Talk about balls of steel. Cortisone shot at halftime and this cornerback played with a broken wing (how eery was it seeing him needing help up from that near interception in the second half?). He earned a huge amount of respect from me last night.

Offensive Line – No Tom Nalen. No Ben Hamilton. No problem. Chris Myers was solid. Chris Kuper was great in his first start. RG Montrae Holland showed a huge amount of athleticism in his shoestring tackle of Pittsburgh linebacker Larry Foote after the third quarter interception.

The Coaches – We were all embarrassed two weeks ago at what we saw on the field. The team wasn’t ready to play, and Mike Shanahan blamed himself. Give him credit last night, his boys were ready to play.

Game balls all around really, could have kept giving them out!

The 31-28 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers may be the first step to heal the emotions of a downtrodden Broncos squad. Unfortunately, the Broncos came out of the game hurting physically from injuries to two more playmakers.

In the same game that saw Champ Bailey and Javon Walker sidelined due to injury (quad, knee respectively), cornerback Dre Bly suffered a bruised right shoulder and tight end Tony Scheffler suffered an unspecified lower leg injury. Bly’s injury came as a result of his first quarter interception. He said he needed a cortisone shot at halftime to continue.

“I wasn’t going out. They were going to have to tell me my shoulder was falling off for me to come off,” Bly said. “They told me it was bruised. You can play through bruises.”

Bly was noticeably favoring his left shoulder throughout the rest of the game.

Tony Scheffler, who had yet to tally a reception this year until 2 catches in Week 5, limped off the field in the game’s final drive. He had his best game of the season with 5 receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown before he left the field for the game’s final few plays. He said he did not think the injury was serious.

The Broncos have an extra day to heal in preparation for the Packers on Monday night. The statuses of both players are expected to be updated later this week.

• Too bad NBC chose not to show the ceremony honoring Darrent Williams and Damien Nash (with mother Rosalind and wife Judy, respectively, in attendance). Reports show it was touching. – Denver Post
• I couldn’t agree more with Domonique Foxworth‘s thoughts on the matter – if all these guys mean to us now is motivation to win football games, we’re selling these men’s souls short. – Denver Post
• Beautifully written game recap from Mike Klis – praising the team and Cutler for his poise. And the team, for its heart.- Denver Post
• The defense stepped up (FINALLY), with their first defensive touchdown along with a bag full of sacks, forced fumbles and interceptions. – Rocky Mountain News
• Statistically, the Steelers were impressive in every category but one: turnovers. – Rocky Mountain News
• Jay Cutler had the best game of his young career. My thoughts: What no one mentions is that, as clutch as Elam is when it counts, Cutler is still the one consistently marching us down the field when it counts. – Rocky Mountain News
• The offensive line, revamped from injury, stepped up big time. – Denver Post
• So did the wide receivers. – Rocky Mountain News
• Chad Mustard is our lucky charm (3-0 with him, 0-3 without him) – Denver Post
• The Steelers are left wondering in which tier they fit in the 2007 NFL – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Downer article: “…but truly this one was won because Pittsburgh was careless and probably overconfident.” RMN had a few like this. Just let me enjoy the moment for 24 hours, okay guys? – Rocky Mountain News
• Brian Griese (remember him?) orchestrated a game winning drive that is already being praised “Season Saver” in Chicago. And he did it without any helmet audio. – Chicago Sun Times

The Broncos hope to turn their season around after beating a solid opponent.  Photo Courtesy.

What a game. I only wish I had been here with my fellow bloggers and readers, who looked like they were having a helluva time!

The Broncos seemed to have fixed just about everything that has slowed them down all year. They took care of themselves, and in the process took care of the Steelers! Jonathan was dead on – quarterback pressure won us this game, and our run defense finally stepped up too (119 yards, 4.6 ypc for Pitt, but we’ll take it, won’t we Broncos fans?).

Here’s the recap from AP, I’m off! GO BRONCOS, BACK AMONG THE REST OF THE WEST!

Courtesy CBS / AP:

DENVER — The Denver Broncos took the city’s minds off the Colorado Rockies for a few hours Sunday night, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-28 on Jason Elam‘s 49-yard field goal as time expired.

Rookie Tim Crowder had a 50-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and Jay Cutler threw three TD passes and the Broncos (3-3), coming off their worst home loss in 41 years, looked nothing like the troubled team that had lost playmakers on both sides of the ball and whose season was threatening to unravel before the leaves had finished falling.

Suddenly able to get to the passer despite Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey (thigh) missing a game for just the third time in his career, the Broncos forced three turnovers and sacked Ben Roethlisberger four times.

The Steelers (4-2), who had allowed just five touchdowns all season, surrendered four on this night, including Cutler’s throws of 15 yards to Brandon Stokley and 1 yard each to Tony Scheffler and Cecil Sapp.

Elam, who has the game-winner in all three of the Broncos’ wins so far, nailed his kick to cap a seven-play, 49-yard drive that covered the final 1:10 after Pittsburgh had rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie it.

It is critical that we retain the last half’s intensity and don’t let up on the Steelers.