Broncos fans have been so salty about that. They forget that it took two "fluke" returns to even put them in that position. Simply put, the Ravens outplayed the Broncos on both offense and defense. With not fluke touchdowns, Baltimore wins by seven in regulation.
I have no idea what makes people think the Broncos should be the favorite over the Ravens, Texans and even the Patriots this season.
The Giants got beat by probably the weakest Colts team of the prime Manning years in Indy back in 2010 in the classic "Peyton checks to run a lot because Giants keep playing 6 DBs" game. Also Brandon Jacobs throwing his helmet into the crowd after the Colts defense repeatedly stops his gigantic ass from running the sweep. I think the 2013 Broncos are a lot better than that Colts team, with the Giants not being all that much more improved. Denver should win.
Texans. Their QB is a weak link.
So is Denver's in the playoffs.
Denver is legit. They can contend with anyone. They are the only NFL team that scares me to death.
Long passes are part of the game, too. There's nothing more legitimate about a player breaking off two returns in one game than there is about a player catching a deep pass off poor coverage. Both involved the other team having at least one major breakdown. Neither should have happened, and if neither did, no one would have tried to pretend like Denver should have won that game.
And I was mostly joking about Manning's post-season record. However, he did have three turnovers in that game which led to 17 points for Baltimore. He didn't have a good game, even though I think Denver's receivers were poised to.
To be honestly, I don't know why I don't trust them. I think they're a solid enough team, although I think people are really downplaying what losing their top two pass-rushers would do to them. Their defense doesn't seem any better than average, especially if Champ's most recent game is the beginning of a trend and not an anomaly. I'd have to watch them more to get a better idea of how good the lesser-known players are.
I don't think Welker was a great addition. He could well improve the team's numbers, but I think he was mostly dangerous because of the schemes the Patriots were running. Denver should have looked for a slot player to run those schemes, rather than cutting Dumervil in order to afford for Welker to play in the Bronco's scheme.
Also, Manning could fall off a cliff at any moment. It will happen eventually, and when it does, the Broncos could be even worse than they were in the Tebow/Orton era.
All in all, I see them as a team fighting for one last chance at a ring with a rapidly closing window, rather than a stacked team that is predestined to get one. More like this year's Nets than the 2008 Celtics.
Except Peyton threw a hideous pick in overtime to choke yet another playoff game away per par....
The Dumervil move can't really be judged until the season. I have heard how good their D-line will be this season, but I need to see results on the field first.
Manning showed last season that he has a few more seasons left in him. You probably expected him to not have an MVP season coming back from neck surgery. He looks even better this year. They are also grooming his heir in Brock Osweiler who they seem to be real excited about.
Moot point, the game was over after the bomb. Denver had nothing left.
I agree with the first part. The defense could be better, but it's entirely unproven. For all the flack that the Ravens' defense catches, it is returning a DPOY winner and a strong DPOY candidate. They are also getting back a corner that didn't allow a touchdown in his last fully healthy season. They're replacing all their defensive departures with first- or second-round picks. Who on the Bronco's D should teams be scared of? Maybe Champ Bailey, but he's only getting older. Sure, the young guys could step up, but there's not way that the Bronco's defense should be considered very good until they prove it on the field.
Some players just fall off cliffs. It happened to Ray Lewis this past year. One season we're talking about how they keep beating Father Time, and the next, they look their age. Manning seemed like he could get it done, but how many hits is he going to be able to take? How is he going to play in cold weather after another year of wear on his body? He wasn't anywhere near good enough in the Divisional game to consider him an advantage the Broncos have over the other contenders.
He also had the critical lost fumble to let the Ravens tie in the third, not to mention that he didn't do anything after that fourth-quarter drive (which was apparently Fox's fault). That game-sealing interception was horrible, though. He looked like a rookie, except a rookie would have had the arm strength to make a better throw.
One main problem on the Broncos D was their lack of interior pressure. Flacco was stepping up all day against it. They did beef up that line keeping Vickerson and signing Knighton ( He played well under Del Rio) along with drafting Sylvester Davis in the first round. Jeremy Beal/Q-Smith are going to be their edge guys along with Robert Ayers (He seemed to click under Del Rio last season), Derek Wolfe is looking to improve from a solid rookie season,Nate Irving will be their starting MLB after molding him the past few years, they have Chris Harris who is becoming one of the best corners in the league, Wesley Woodyard was a pro-bowler this past season, safety Quinton Carter is back from injury along with a few others I hear who are competing for spots at those positions. Of course, they still have their leader in Von Miller. This is why I gave Elway 3 offseasons (2011,2012,2013) to show me he knows what he is doing. This season will tell if these picks pay off or not. They either take that next step, or they don't.
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