Browns-Bengals Week 2 TNF Pick

Cincinnati (+6) over CLEVELAND 

Broncos Lose Opener to Titans 16-14

New year and same result for the Vic Fangio-led Broncos. The Titans defeated the Broncos 16-14 on a field goal with 17 seconds left to send the Broncos to 0-1. Denver had a 14-13 lead late in the 4th quarter, but they couldn't close out the game. Tennessee drove down the field in an empty Empower Field at Mile High, with no fans and crowd noise, and kicked the game-winner. Fangio completely botched his timeout usage at the end and left Denver with only 17 seconds left but all three timeouts after the Titans scored to take the lead. Overall, it was another disappointing defeat and the second straight year that the Broncos lost the season opener. Here are my thoughts and observations about the game.....

1) Drew Lock played well and he looked comfortable and led his team back when they were down 13-7 in the 4th quarter. He did miss a couple deep throws and some open receivers, but overall he played well. He has to really step it up and play at a high level if the Broncos are going to do anything this year.

2) This game was so similar to the games that the Broncos lost last year. They controlled most of the first half but the game was tied at 7. They took the lead at 14-13 in the 4th quarter and had two drives to put the game away, but they couldn't do it. They left the door open for the Titans and it cost them at the end.

3) There is no excuse for Vic Fangio's miscues at the end of the game with the timeouts. As Tennessee started to get deeper into Denver territory, he has to take one or two timeouts to give the Broncos some time left on the clock to score if they don't stop the Titans. Fangio said he was thinking of the next defensive call and not the timeouts. That is inexcusable. You are the head coach. You have to have an idea of what is going on and the game management situation in that spot. Just awful by Fangio there.

4) I thought the fact that no fans were there really hurt the Broncos. In a normal situation, the fans would have been fired up for the MNF opener, and they would have been super loud all night long. Instead, the Titans were able to use a regular snap count, make audibles, and even Ryan Tannehill used a hard count to get the Broncos to jump offsides on a key play. It really hurt the Broncos. They are one of the few teams that has a true homefield advantage still. It was a shame. The atmosphere was just not there.

5) The Broncos are once again 0-1, and the injuries are starting to pile up. Philip Lindsay left the game at halftime with a turf toe injury and A.J. Bouye left the game with a separated shoulder. It looks like both will miss a few weeks. Now, Denver heads to Pittsburgh to take on the 1-0 Steelers on Sunday. I know there are no fans in attendance at Heinz Field, but Denver still has to go across the country and play a really good team with a really good defense. It looks like we are staring at 0-2 for the second straight year.

Broncos-Titans and NFL Week 1 Picks!

Well, here we are. Week 1 of the NFL season kicks off this Thursday with the Texans visiting the Chiefs. The 2020 NFL season will be like no other. I believe the lack of fans at these stadiums will really be a factor. I think you just simply have to take the better team-no matter where the game will be played.We will see how this thing plays out week-to-week. In the meantime, let’s try to have some normalcy and have a little fun with the week to week picks, and hopefully, this season will start and finish on time.

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

Houston (+9) over KANSAS CITY: KC will win the game, but I look for Houston to cover the spread-especially without the usual raucous Arrowhead crowd.

Miami (+6) over NEW ENGLAND: This is the most intriguing of the early games on Sunday. I like the Pats a lot this year with Cam Newton at QB, and I think they win, but look for the Dolphins to keep it close.

Cleveland (+8) over BALTIMORE: I am one of the few that thinks it will be very hard for Baltimore and Lamar Jackson to replicate what they did last year. I think they win this game but once again, I expect a close one.

BUFFALO (-4) over NY Jets: The Jets look like they are setting themselves up for 2021, and the Bills are looking to build on last year’s playoff berth. I think they handle they handle the Jets here in Week 1

Las Vegas (-2) over CAROLINA: The Panthers could also be looking at 2021 with new head coach Matt Rhule trying to build a program. I think the Raiders eek out a close one.

Seattle (-1) over ATLANTA: Seattle is the better team and without fans in attendance they won’t have to worry about the Dome being a factor in Atlanta.

Philly (-6) over WASHINGTON: I think Philly will be in the playoffs this year, so I have to take them in Week 1 over Washington.

Chicago (+3) over DETROIT: I think the Bears could be sneaky good if they figure out the QB position early on.

JACKSONVILLE (+7) over Indy: I think the Colts win with Philip Rivers as their new QB, but I think the Jags will keep it close.

Green Bay (+3) over MINNESOTA: Best early game of the day #2: The Packers go into Minnesota and knock off their division rivals.

LA Chargers (-3) over CINCINNATI: Tyrod Taylor and the Chargers spoil the debut of Joe Burrow.

Arizona (+7) over SAN FRANCISCO: Arizona keeps it close enough to give the 49ers a scare, but SF pulls it out late.

Tampa Bay (+4) over NEW ORLEANS: Tom Brady’s debut as a Buc and he heads to New Orleans to take on the Saints. Gotta think the Saints win, but the Bucs keep it close.

Dallas (-2) over LA RAMS: I like the Cowboys a lot this year, and I think they head into LA and spoil the Rams opener in their new-and empty-stadium.

Pittsburgh (-4) over NY GIANTS: Take the better team here and that is the Steelers.

Tennessee (-2) over DENVER: The Broncos lost Von Miller for the season with a freak ankle injury in practice on Tuesday. Bradley Chubb will be on a pitch count for Week 1 since he is recovering from ACL surgery last year. The Broncos defense was supposed to be their strength and without Chubb and Von, it will be hard to generate any type of pass rush. The Titans can just line up and run the ball down the throats of the Broncos defense. Plus, with no fans in attendance, the usual Broncos home field advantage just went out the window. It all adds up to a long night for the Broncos.

Final Score:Titans-27 Broncos-14

2020 NFL Predictions

How can you even predict the 2020 NFL season? Will they even play 16 games? How many games are rescheduled or cancelled due to Covid-19? How can you even get a gauge of these teams based on no offseason, not OTAs, and no preseason games? Each team’s Covid list is more important than their injury report. What a weird year this will be. The Raiders are now in Las Vegas, theWashington Redskins are now known as the Washington Football Team, and Tom Brady is now a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. There will be no fans in most of these stadiums for most of the year. WTF! The one exciting part is that this season the NFL added one extra wild card for each conference. Only the #1 seed will get a bye in the first round, and we will have a triple header of playoff games on Saturday and Sunday of Wild Card Weekend. I have to admit: It will be awfully hard to nail these 2020 predictions, but I’ll take my shot…..
 AFC East
1) New England (10-6)
2) Miami (8-8)
3) Buffalo (7-9)
4) NY Jets (6-10)

AFC North
1) Pittsburgh (11-5)
2) Baltimore (10-6)*Wild Card
3) Cleveland (8-8)
4) Cincinnati (5-11)

AFC South
1) Houston (10-6)
2) Indianapolis (9-7)*Wild Card
3) Tennessee (8-8)
4) Jacksonville (2-14)

AFC West
1) Kansas City (12-4)
2) Denver (9-7)*Wild Card
3) LA Chargers (7-9)
4) Las Vegas Raiders (5-11)

 NFC East
1) Dallas Cowboys (11-5)
2) Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)*Wild Card
3) NY Giants (8-8)
4) Washington (4-12)

NFC North
1) Minnesota (11-5)
2) Green Bay (9-7)
3) Chicago (8-8)
4) Detroit (4-12)

 NFC South
1) New Orleans (10-6)
2) Atlanta (9-7)*Wild Card
3) Tampa Bay (9-7)*Wild Card
4) Carolina (3-13)

NFC West
1) Seattle (11-5)
2) San Francisco (9-7)
3) LA Rams (8-8)
4) Arizona Cardinals (5-11)

 AFC Playoff Seeds
1) Kansas City (12-4)
2) Pittsburgh (11-5)
3) Houston (10-6)
4) New England (10-6)
5) Baltimore (10-6)
6) Indianapolis (9-7)
7) Denver (9-7)

 NFC Playoff Seeds
1) Seattle (11-5)
2) Dallas (11-5)
3) Minnesota (11-5)
4) New Orleans (10-6)
5) Philadelphia (10-6)
6) Atlanta (9-7)
7) Tampa Bay (9-7)

 WILD CARD WEEKEND
AFC:
2-Pittsburgh over 7-Denver
3- Houston over 6- Indy
5-Baltimore over 4-New England

 NFC:
2-Dallas over 7- Tampa Bay
 6- Atlanta over 3- Minnesota
4- New Orleans over 5-Philly 

DIVISIONAL ROUND
AFC: 1- Kansas City over 5-Baltimore
3-Houston over 2-Pittsburgh

 NFC: 1-Seattle over 6-Atlanta
 4-New Orleans over 2-Dallas

 AFC Championship: 1-Kansas City over 3-Houston
 NFC Championship: 4-New Orleans over 1-Seattle

 Super Bowl: Kansas City over New Orleans

Your 2020 Denver Broncos

The Broncos unveiled their 53 man roster on Saturday as they prepare for their Week 1 game against the Titans. Here are your 2020 Denver Broncos…
 QB: Drew Lock and Jeff Driskel

 RB: Philip Lindsay, Melvin Gordon, and Royce Freeman

 WR: Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, Daesean Hamilton, Tim Patrick, Diontae Spencer, and Tyrie Cleveland

 TE: Noah Fant, Andrew Beck, Jake Butt, Albert Okwuegbunam, and Nick Vannett

 OL: Garrett Bolles, Dalton Risner, Lloyd Cushenberry, Graham Glasgow, Elijah Wilkinson, Demar Dotson, Austin Schlottman, Netane Muti, and Calvin Anderson

 DL: Jurrell Casey, Mike Purcell, Shelby Harris, Dre’mont Jones, McTelvin Agim, and DeMarcus Walker

 ILB: Alexander Johnson, Josey Jewell, Mark Barron, Joe Jones, and Austin Calitro

 OLB: Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Malik Reed, and Jeremiah Attaochu

 CB: Bryce Callahan, A.J. Bouye, Davontae Harris, Michael Ojemudia, Duke Dawson, and Essang Bassey

 S: Justin Simmons, Trey Marshall, and Kareem Jackson

 K: Brandon McManus

 P: Sam Martin

 LS: Jacob Bobenmoyer

The State of the NFL, the Broncos, and the sports world as Training Camp opens up around the league

I haven’t posted much since the Covid-19 pandemic rocked the world in mid-March. As the entire sports world was shut down, the NFL had the luxury of being in its’ offseason. A new collective bargaining agreement was agreed to, free agency started on time in March, and the 2020 Draft followed in April-this time in a virtual format. OTAs and all team activities were scrapped, and the NFL had to renegotiate the CBA to fit in the new protocols for the start of the 2020 season during a pandemic. Preseason games were cancelled, and the teams focused on coming back to the facilities in late July and participate in a different form of training camp as they prepare for the season to open on time in September. It was hard to get excited about training camp because of all the sobering news that was going on all around us all over the world. Instead of getting ready to watch preseason games and see who is going to make the final 53 man roster, we are watching to see which players test positive for Covid and how that will affect the team and the league. 

 

I’m happy that the NFL is forging ahead with the season, but I’m also skeptical that they will be able to pull off a full season.There will be no fans in the stands and that in itself will play a huge role in the results week to week of all the games. College football is on the verge of getting cancelled now that the Big 10 and PAC 12 have postponed the fall season. The virus continues to surge in certain parts of the country and there is no “cure” in sight. The NBA and NHL have come back to stage their playoffs, but they are in a bubble format. The NFL will not operate in a bubble. MLB came back and they were immediately dealing with issues related to the Marlins, the Cardinals and scheduling due to the virus. It is a shitshow. You just hope that the NFL can somehow put together a full season filled with competitive balance and no pauses or breaks in it due to Covid. 

 

Instead of doing a typical training camp preview like I normally do, I’ll just give an overview of where the Broncos stand at this point in the summer. Honestly, I haven’t spent too much time dissecting the league and where the Broncos fit in. I will put out a predictions column in September and cover the Broncos season like I normally would, but it just won’t feel or be the same. Maybe my mindset will be different once the season starts, but I’m not sure. It just isn’t the same. With that said, here is where the Broncos stand as their 2020 training camp gets going….

 

The Broncos were applauded for a lot of the moves they made this offseason. They head into camp with Drew Lock firmly entrenched as the starting QB. Already armed with WR Courtland Sutton, TE Noah Fant, and RB Philip Lindsay, the Broncos added RB Melvin Gordon in free agency, and they drafted WR Jerry Jeudy in the 1st round and WR KJ Hamler in the 2nd round. The offensive firepower could be there this season. Juwan James opted out of the season due to Covid 19 concerns, and the Broncos signed RT Demar Dotson to compete with Elijah Wilkinson for that spot. Graham Glasgow was a big free agent signing to sure up one of the Guard spots, and look for draft pick Lloyd Cushenberry out of LSU to win the starting Center job.

 

On defense, the Broncos traded for CB AJ Bouye from the Jaguars, and they are hoping they can get him to play at the level he played two years ago. Bryce Callahan is back from a foot injury that sidelined him for all of 2019. Justin Simmons was Franchised tagged this season and will play 2020 on a one-year deal, and the Broncos will focus on signing him long term. The Broncos made a great trade early in the offseason when they traded a 7th round pick to Tennessee for Jurrell Casey. That could have a huge impact on the defensive line. Bradley Chubb comes back from tearing his ACL last year, and the Broncos surprisingly re-signed Shelby Harris. Von Miller looks as motivated as ever as well. 

 

The key for the Broncos is going to be health. They need to have a healthy training camp going against each other in practice, and they need to be healthy in terms of avoiding getting Covid. If they can be disciplined enough to do everything in their power to not get the virus, then they will help them along the way as training camp ends and the regular season begins. Training Camp 2020 folks!!!

 

Denver Broncos 2020 Schedule

Here it is! The 2020 Denver Broncos schedule.....
(All times are EST)

Week 1-Monday September 14th: vs Tennessee (10:10pm)  ESPN

Week 2-Sunday September 20th: @Pittsburgh (1:00pm) CBS

Week 3-Sunday September 27th: vs Tampa Bay (4:25pm) FOX

Week 4-Thursday October 1st: at NY Jets (8:20pm) NFL Network

Week 5-Sunday October 11th: at New England (1:00pm) CBS

Week 6-Sunday October 18th: vs Miami (4:05pm) CBS

Week 7-Sunday October 25th: vs Kansas City (4:25pm) CBS

Week 8-BYE WEEK

Week 9-Sunday November 8th: at Atlanta (1:00pm) CBS

Week 10-Sunday November 15th: at Las Vegas (4:05pm) CBS

Week 11-Sunday November 22nd: vs LA Chargers (4:05pm) CBS

Week 12-Sunday November 29th: vs New Orleans (4:05pm) FOX

Week 13-Sunday December 6th: at Kansas City (8:20pm) NBC

Week 14-Sunday December 13th: at Carolina (1:00pm) CBS

Week 15-Sunday December 20th: vs Buffalo (4:05pm/TBD)* CBS or NFL Network

Week 16-Sunday December 27th: at LA Chargers (4:05pm/TBD)*CBS or NFL Network

Week 17-Sunday January 3rd: vs Las Vegas (4:25pm) CBS

*Weeks 15 and 16 include flex games to Saturday on NFL Network. The NFL will choose between a few games each of those weeks to flex over to Saturday 12/19 and 12/26. The league will determine during the season which games get moved. The Broncos are candidates to have their games moved to Saturday both weeks.

Analysis:

-For the third time in four years, the Broncos get the back end of the MNF doubleheader. I'm starting to get sick of this game. At least it is at home and it is against the Titans instead of the usual AFC West opponent. It just sucks waiting all weekend and then late Monday night for the first Broncos game of the year.

-The first 5 games are tricky. The Titans were in the AFC Championship Game last year, Ben Roethlisberger will be back for the Steelers in Week 2, Tom Brady and the Bucs come to Denver in Week 3, then the Broncos have to head to New York to take on the Jets on a short week on a Thursday night game, and then they are back to East coast for a game at the Patriots in Week 5. I don't know what to expect from Big Ben and the Steelers. I don't know what to expect from Brady and the Bucs. We get absolutely screwed going all the way to NY to play the Jets on a short week. That is bullshit actually, and then we have no idea what to expect from the Pats in Week 5. The Broncos make three East trips in the first five weeks. That is going to be tricky.

-I like the back-to-back home games with Miami and KC in Weeks 6 and 7 and then the bye during Week 8. That means that Denver won't travel to an away game from Sunday 10/11 (Week 5 at NE) to Sunday 11/8 (Week 9 at ATL). That is about a month of being home.

-Getting the Saints and Chiefs in back-to-back weeks in Weeks 12 and 13 is going to be rough. I know we have the Saints at home but that is a rough two games in a row. Arrowhead on Sunday Night Football is not going to be fun.

-I like our last four to finish out the year: at Carolina, Buffalo, at Chargers, and Raiders. I always like finishing at home and I think those four games are all in our favor.

-I hope at least one of those games in Weeks 15 and 16 get moved to Saturday. I love Saturday games late in the season.

-We have three sets of back-to-back road games and two sets of back-to-back home games. We don't have to go on any three game road trips either.

-Here are the QBs we are facing this year: Pat Mahomes (twice), Justin Herbert/Tyrod Taylor (twice), Derek Carr (twice), Ryan Tannehill, Ben Roethlisberger, Tom Brady, Sam Darnold, Tua Tagovailoa/Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater,  and Josh Allen. Not too terrible there.