BroncoTalk is an unofficial Denver Broncos fansite and is not affiliated with the NFL. Images and articles used on this site are used under the fair use provision of the Copyright Act for purposes of comment, criticism, and news reporting.
About
BroncoTalk is the ultimate fan-powered Denver Broncos blog. Make us your daily stop for the latest Denver Broncos news and commentary on the web!
Hue Jackson watches a replay and decides not to challenge a play when the San Diego Chargers appeared to fumble the ball on a kick off in the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum on January 1, 2012 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
2011 saw the Oakland Raiders come within inches of their 13th AFC West crown needing literally just one win in Week 17. The Denver Broncos squeaked away with the title and famously back-peddled into the playoffs only to use up all of their Jesus juice while beating the Pittsburgh Steelers with one of the most miraculous throws in Tim Tebow‘s career. They of course were beaten to a pulp the next week by the New England Patriots (for the second time in 2011).
The Patriots, as Raiders fans will know, are largely populated by players that Oakland has basically put out to pasture. Had Oakland had one more crack at Denver the outcome would have been obvious– obliteration, the Broncos would not have stood a chance. With that, I present to you the top five reasons why Oakland deserved the AFC West crown:
5.) Darren McFadden was one week away from coming back from injury–
Can you imagine our prolific running back Darren McFadden against the likes of Pittsburgh in the playoffs? There is no answer on the Steelers’ defense, not a single one… He would have rushed for 150-200 yards easily. Not to mention what he would have then turned around the following week and down to the Patriots, come on! With a healthy McFadden back in the lineup there is no one standing in the way between the Raiders and the Super Bowl, that’s a fact.
4.) Strength of common opponents-
Sure, Oakland played all of the same opponents last season except for two, but when the Raiders played the teams they were at full-strength. When the team left the stadium leaving behind only, broken bones, the screams of terrified wives and mud holes that’s when the Broncos would play them. Only then! Would Denver get a crack at the team, it’s borderline conspiracy on behalf of the NFL to make Tebow’s path to the playoffs as simple as possible.
Will Donavon McNabb and Terrell Owens reunite in Oakland? (Image courtesy of Al Tielemans)
The Oakland Raiders will pursue free agents Donavon McNabb, Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice, according to an anonymous tip. Oakland is looking for “the final pieces” to make a Super Bowl run.
“We feel that with these players, we would instantly become Super Bowl contenders,” said Raiders Owner Mark Davis on Saturday evening. Davis pointed out how the Denver Broncos were viewed as Super Bowl contenders after signing a big-name veteran in free agency.
“If you look at what Denver did — they brought in one has-been who was a big deal during his prime and look at what everybody in the media is saying,” said Davis. “We’re going to do the same thing for our fans. The only difference is, we’re going to triple what Denver did.”
By “tripling what Denver did,” Davis is referring to bringing in three veteran free agents. Those players haven’t played professionally since 2011 (McNabb), 2010 (Owens) and 2004 (Rice), but quarterback Peyton Manning also missed all of last season, Davis noted.
“Manning missed a season, T.O. missed a season and McNabb played last year. And we all know Rice could put on the pads today and play better than most wide receivers in the game.”
Davis said the three players would provide veteran leadership and a “family-like” atmosphere in the locker-room.
“I want the Raiders to go to war together as a family. Rice and Owens were teammates together in San Francisco and McNabb played with Owens in Philadelphia. Obviously bringing in guys that developed great relationships as teammates earlier in their careers would help our teams’ comradeship.”
Stay tuned as we continue to cover this developing story.
I am not personally a huge college football fan, so I tend to leave the analysis of individual players to others and instead focus on interesting statistical trends dealing with the draft.  One of my favorite resources is a retired old geezer named Tony Villiotti who has been analyzing the drafts since 1969.  I have no affiliation with him or his website Draft Metrics – I’m just a fan.  That said, his analysis of the draft from a positional view is very interesting to me and how it relates to the Denver Broncos specifically.
Two of his more recent articles sparked me to write this little blog post up.  The first concerned his ideas about Value Groups and how they relate to successful careers in the NFL.  I won’t go into great detail about it as you can click that link and read up on it in fairly short order, but essentially it is the statistical compilation of length and quality of careers for every draft pick from 1992 to present day. Click here to read the rest of this entry »
I will normally be taking the weekends off from pumping out the daily links, but since I’m the new guy – and that I woke up earlier than usual – I decided not to take today off. Â These are later than usual, but enjoy the links nonetheless!
Draft Strategy: Introducing the “Urgency Index†by Tony Villiotti
The Urgency Index is based on historical information from the 1992 through 2005 drafts and compares the probability of drafting a five-year starter in the Value Group being reviewed with the probability of drafting a five-year starter in later Value Groups.
NFL faces new offseason rules under new CBA | Denver Post
Broncos coach John Fox loves to see Peyton Manning throw a football, especially now that Manning will do that in a Denver uniform. Fox, however, is far from enthused that Manning has to throw passes at a local high school to work with his new teammates instead of right outside Fox’s office window at the Broncos’ Dove Valley complex. Click here to read the rest of this entry »
This is Part 2 of a staff tryout piece written by Geoff Bangs. Check part 1 here.
PICK NUMBER 88
Round 3 is where we can find some real quality value in this deep DT class. Here I introduce you to one of my favorite prospects this year. Derek Wolfe (6-5 295 lbs.) The Cincinnati Bearcat VASTLY improved in his senior season. Here is an interview where he speaks about his progress at the combine.
I love it. This is everything and more you want to hear from a first round selection, let alone, someone being slept on as hard as him. Click here to read the rest of this entry »
After dealing with “It can never work” all last year with the Tim Tebow offense, I found myself irritated to read that his style of play will now be effective. Apparently, Rex Ryan is the one coach that can make it work. Â If you want to know what the East Coast Bias is, well there happens to be a perfect example of that ambiguous term. Â Not that it matters now though. Â We have Peyton Manning! Â On to actual Denver Broncos news…
Peyton Manning good to go for Broncos, says QB coach David Cutcliffe | Denver Post
David Cutcliffe has been watching Peyton Manning throw for nearly two decades. And, after orchestrating Manning’s workouts from the time the quarterback was cleared by doctors to resume throwing and when Manning signed his contract with the Broncos last week, Cutcliffe saw enough to confidently predict that Manning will be just fine.
Sometimes it just makes too much sense. Work with me here.
The Denver Broncos have a scary-big hole to fill at defensive tackle. A 6-foot-6, 310-pound, run-stuffing three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle just announced on Sirius XM Radio he is eying a comeback in the NFL.
And he was in his prime under Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
(Editor’s note: The follow piece was written by Geoff Bangs, who is trying out for a position on the BroncoTalk staff. We’ve split his article into two parts. Today he’ll break down the first two picks the Broncos will be making in the 2012 NFL Draft. Rounds 3-7 here. We hope you enjoy.)
April 26th, 2012. 27 days from the 2012 NFL Draft.
The Denver Broncos currently hold the rights to picks #25, 57, 88, 108, 120, 137, and 188. Our original fifth and sixth round selections were traded away by Josh Mcdaniels (5th to Browns for Quinn, 6th to Eagles for Mays). Our 7th, as I’m sure most of you know, was just recently given to the NY Jets along with Tim Tebow-san for New Yorks 4th (108) and 6th (188) round considerations.
After the monumental signing of Peyton Manning along with key additions such as Tamme, Dreessen, Porter, and Caldwell the Broncos free agent season is simmering down and their draft needs are becoming clearer. Denver did well to re-sign linebackers Joe Mays, Wesley Woodyard and defensive end Jason Hunter this week and are now continuing to look at bringing back Marcus Thomas.
What obviously hurt us this week was the loss of Brodrick Bunkley to the Saints. Bunkley was ranked last year as the #1 DT against the run by profootballsource.com. Prior to losing Bunkley it was already known the Broncos ached for a solid 3-tech that can collapse the pocket and pressure the QB. Now we need a run stopper as well. Some have high hopes for Vickerson returning from IR. Either way it’s absolutely crucial the Broncos draft one, if not two, stud interior defensive lineman. That’s why in this segment we will be taking a closer look at the defensive tackles of this 2012 draft class that could be available at our selections.
The Denver Broncos on Thursday announced the signing of free agent defensive end Jason Hunter, who has spent the past two seasons in Denver. A rotational defensive end, Hunter has also played as an outside linebacker during his tenure with Denver.
Hunter, 28, is entering his seventh season in the NFL. After joining the league with the Green Bay Packers in 2006, Hunter would go on to have a brief stint in Detroit before joining the Broncos during the 2010 off-season.
A versatile player, Hunter has played in 88 games (23 starts) and has recorded 148 tackles, 11 sacks, defended 6 passes, intercepted a pass, forced three fumbles and has recovered six fumbles. Needless to say, he’s done it all.
Hunter (6-4, 271 pounds) gives the team four defensive ends on the roster joining Elvis Dumervil (5-11, 260 pounds), Robert Ayers (6-3, 274 pounds) and Jeremy Beal (6-2, 276 pounds). Denver carried five defensive ends on the roster last season.
Hunter is a solid signing to add depth to the defensive end position. Now the team needs to focus on bringing in a defensive tackle.
![[RSS]](http://broncotalk.net/images/rss-icon.gif){kind=icon}
Subscribe via email
Facebook
Twitter
Loading ...
 
 
 
 
Published on Sun Apr 01 07:30. 19 Comments |
Tagged: Al Davis, Brady Quinn, Carson Palmer, Darren McFadden, Denver Broncos, Hue Jackson, Kansas City Chiefs, Kyle Orton, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Roger Goodell, San Diego Chargers, Tim Tebow.