I vowed to myself that this season I would just relax and try to not get too angry at a team with a new head coach, and the greatest player in team history coming back to run the organization. Well, that lasted until about 1:00 am on Monday Night in the season opening loss to the Raiders in Denver. At about that time Kyle Orton simply dropped the ball as he was about to throw to a wide open Daniel Fells, who walks into the end zone, that would have given the Broncos a improbable 17-16 lead in the fourth quarter a game that they had no right winning. It also might have been the moment that turned Orton's career around in Denver. Of course, Orton drops the ball and the Raiders recovered and turned it into a 23-13 lead and pretty much ended the Broncos hopes.
It wasn't the way that John Fox, John Elway, or Kyle Orton had the 2011 season transpiring, but once again the Raiders come into Denver and beat down the Broncos 23-20. That is four straight wins in Denver, and Darren McFadden simply owns Denver. There is so much to discuss here, but to me the real story is and always will be around Orton. He played terrible last night, and his two turnovers were backbreakers. I can't say this enough but Orton simply isn't the guy. He isn't the guy you can just hitch your wagons to and win games with. Did you know that Orton is 5-19 in his last 24 starts? What QB would continue to keep their job after losing 19 out of his last 24 games as a starter? Forget about who would replace Orton at this point, the bottom line was last night was exactly what we have seen in Orton. At some point, the Broncos simply have to put Orton on the bench and move on, preferably with Tim Tebow. How much longer do we have to put up with this? Watching last night's game, I am pretty sure that this team is simply not good enough to make the playoffs. 8-8 would be a great season for the Broncos, so why not give the ball to Tebow and find out what we have in a future QB. Three starts by Tebow is not enough to see if he is the real deal, but the last 24 starts by Orton have proved exactly what he is.
Here are my other quick thoughts and observations from last night's game:
1) What a start for Von Miller with the hit and forced fumble on Jacoby Ford on the Raiders first play from scrimmage. Unfortunately, the Broncos couldn't convert and had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.
2) After going up 3-0, the Broncos really didn't do anything at all offensively. Knowshon Moreno fumbled a few series later, and next thing you know Denver was down 10-3.
3) I hated the call by Fox when he went for the 56 yard field goal attempt. I thought Fox was conservative and loved to punt the ball down. Instead, Fox sends out Matt Prater to attempt the kick, but that was the wrong call. Denver's defense wasn't playing that bad at that point, and they should have punted down and played defense and field position. Prater missed and the Raiders used the field position to take a 13-3 lead.
4) Orton's pick came at a terrible time, and give Sebastian Janokowski buries a 63 yard field goal as time expires in the half. To add insult to injury, a Raider kicker ties Jason Elam's record field goal in Denver.
5) At 16-3, the Broncos seemed like they were dead in the water. Eric Decker brought some life back with a 90 yard punt return early in the third quarter. That was a huge turning point, and got Denver back into the game.
6) Orton drove the Broncos down inside the Raiders 10 on the next series (Thanks to a crazy amount of Raiders penalties), but once again Orton can't convert in the red zone, and the Broncos settled for a momentum-killing field goal to cut the lead to 16-13. A touchdown there would have been a huge moment in this game.
7) After the infamous Orton fumble, Darren McFadden sliced through the Broncos for a 47 yard run down to the one. A Jason Campbell plunge gave the Raiders a 23-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter. That was such a pivotal moment and a 14 point swing.
8) Of course, Orton gets hot down 10 with Tebow chants resonating through the crowd. His touchdown pass to Lance Ball cuts the lead to 23-20, but the Broncos couldn't get the ball back because the Raiders got three first downs to run out the clock. When you need a stop with around four minutes left and two timeouts, your defense needs to get off the field. The defense couldn't and that was the ball game.
9) Too many fights and penalties marred this game. The game was ugly and rain added to the sloppiness. The game was chippy all night, and the constant flags were ridiculous.
10) As bad as a loss this was for the Broncos, they are not as bad as you might think they are. It doesn't help that Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil, Brandon Lloyd, and Knowshon Moreno all might miss next week's game with various injuries. Remember this about Week 1: Your team is not as bad as you think, and your team is not as good as you think.
11) The Broncos will try to rebound next Sunday at home against the Bengals. The Bengals look a little dangerous after their 27-17 road win over Cleveland. This could be a very tricky game-especially if the Broncos are without some of those four players mentioned above. If Denver starts off 0-2, Orton might literally get run out of town. I am serious he really might have to pack up and move out of Denver!
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