The Broncos concluded their 2010 season with a 33-28 loss to the San Diego Chargers at Invesco Field on Sunday. Denver took a 7-0 lead early on a Tim Tebow touchdown pass to Brandon Lloyd; however, from that point it was all San Diego. Ryan Matthews ran through and around the Broncos to help give the Chargers a 26-7 lead. Tebow brought Denver back with a touchdown pass to Eric Decker to make it 26-14 late in the third quarter. Matthews scored on a fourth and one play midway through the fourth quarter to give SD a 33-14 lead. Denver's Cassius Vaughn returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, and Tebow added a touchdown run with 30 seconds left to make it 33-28. The Broncos recovered the onside kick, but Tebow's last two hail mary passes fell incomplete and the Chargers defeated Denver once again at Invesco. Denver finished at 4-12 and in last place in the AFC West. Here are my quick thoughts on the game.........
1) Tebow definitely struggled in this game. He didn't play well from a throwing standpoint. He was 16-36 for 208 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He also ran for 94 yards and a touchdown. He was very inaccurate throughout most of the game, and his two interceptions were the result of misreading the coverage and throwing into to double coverage, and throwing the ball late on a slant route. It wasn't the best day he had throwing the ball, but he still made some nice throws from inside and outside the pocket. His ability to make plays when the play breaks down will be his biggest asset as he heads into the offseason. Overall, Tebow will definitely improve in my opinion, and he kept us in the game throughout. Young QBs are going to have tough days and this is just another learning experience for him.
2) Our defense just sucks so bad I can't even believe it. Poor tackling, poor angles, stupid penalties, and just bad fundamental football all around. Watching Robert Ayers miss that tackle on Ryan Matthews' 4th down touchdown run just summed up everything that went wrong for Denver's defense in 2010. We need new coaching, a better scheme, and faster and younger players at every level of our defense.
3) Our offensive line play wasn't very good this year, especially in the run game. The Broncos couldn't run the ball at all this year and yesterday they were once again beat at the line of scrimmage. Ryan Clady and Ryan Harris both took steps back this year, and I'm not sold on JD Walton or Zane Beadles. We may have to look at some OL spots in the draft this year.
4) Denver lost to SD for the 8th time in the last 10 meetings. The Broncos are still very far away from competing with the Chargers.
5) Denver finished 3-5 at home this year and 1-7 on the road. The 12 losses is the most ever by a Denver Broncos team in franchise history.
6) Denver finished last in the AFC West and the 2011 opponents are set: HOME-SD, Oak, KC, NE, NY Jets, Cincy, Detroit, and Chicago. AWAY-SD, Oak, KC, Miami, Buffalo, Tennessee, Green Bay, and Minnesota.
7) The Broncos will select #2 in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Panthers will select #1, the Broncos are at #2, and the Bills are at #3.
8) John Elway will be announced as Vice President this week. I will make my statements on that when that is officially announced.
9) Whatever happens this season, I just hope that we get a good Head Coach in here and keep Tim Tebow as our starting QB. Tebow did enough the last three weeks to earn a chance to start for the Broncos in 2011. If you put the right pieces around him (Coaching, Running game, and a better defense) you can build your franchise around him. Let's hope he is the guy going forward.
10) Random thoughts on the end of the NFL season: A)I like the playoff matchups: Jets at Colts and Ravens at Chiefs in the AFC and New Orleans at Seattle and Green Bay at Philly in the NFC. We'll talk more about those matchups later in the week. Once it was determined that the Colts and Jets would be playing each other, NBC had to grab that game for primetime and the NFL made the right choices for all the playoff spots. B) Kudos to the Bears for playing all out against Green Bay. It was good for the NFL. C) 10-6 usually gets you in the playoffs, but the Giants and Buccaneers both miss out this year at 10-6. What a job by Raheem Morris in Tampa. D) The Lions will be everyone's sleeper team heading into 2011. They won four straight to finish at 6-10. E) The Raiders might actually get rid of Tom Cable, which is a mistake. Marvin Lewis will probably be gone in Cincy, Eric Mangini is out in Cleveland, and perhaps Jeff Fisher in Tennessee. F) I'll have a Broncos postmortem mailbag for tomorrow and Wednesday, and a playoff picks column on Friday!!!!
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