In a press realease today at 1:00 pm, it was announced that the Broncos cut Punter Todd Sauerbrun.  The cut came after Sauerbrun was cited for assault in an incident that involved a cab driver earlier this month.

Sauerbrun joined the Broncos in 2005 as the punter.  In 2006, Sauerbrun received a 4-game suspension for using a banned weight supplement, and was cut from the team shortly afterward.  He was brought back to Denver with a $1.4 million, 1-year contract for 2007 on the condition that he stay out of troble and keep his image clean.

The general consensus is that the Broncos may re-sign punter Paul Ernster, who was beaten out of the position by Sauerbrun during the Broncos’ training camp over the summer.  So Denver may be welcoming Ernster back; the team expects to make the announcement later today.

The Broncos played against the Houston Texans in the Thursday Night Football game last week.  It was the first time Head Coach Mike Shannahan would be up against Head Coah Gary Kubiak.  Kubiak had worked under Shanahan for 11 seasons as the defensive coordinator before departing to take over as Head Coach for the Texans last year.  Not surprisingly, the Texans seemed to be able to predict many of the Broncos plays and knew exactly where to be on the field.  The 31-13 loss was a vast difference from the exciting game against Kansas City the prior week, and a frustrating game that kicked the Brocnos out of the running for the playoffs.   Shanahan gave kudos to Kubiak for his win, remarking that Kubiak simply outcoached and outplayed Denver.

The most used word to describe Denver’s season is “inconsistency”.  Inconsistency has become common when referring to the Broncos because of their lack at winning more than two games in a row, and because of their roller-coaster performance from week-to-week.  Although mathmetically out of the playoffs, and although the players are frustrated, it’s easy to see why Denver shouldn’t go to the playoffs.  There’s really no excuses when you look back on the season.    The team’s goal now is to be able to pull off quality games for the last two of the season.

After a disappointing loss to the Bears, a game which Denver could have won easily, the Broncos pull out another win against Kansas City.  This makes their record 2-0 against the Chiefs this season, an unexpected and welcomed occurence in the season of ups and downs. 

The week prior to the game, hundreds of tickets were re-released to the public for the game at Invesco.  It seemed as if the franchise saw the Chiefs’ loss coming on Sunday.  The game started off in the Bronocs’ favor, with a touchdown within the first two minutes of play.  The game continued to become a blowout with a final score of 41-7.  The Broncos finally showed themselves to be the condenders we’ve all been waiting to see revealed throughout their rocky season.

The game had some career-high performances for Denver players; Cutler completed a career-high 4 touchdown passes, Young rushed for a career-high 156 yards in 17 carries, and Dumervil racked up 3 sacks and forced a fumble, all contributing to their biggest blow-out game in the past 7 seasons.  Denver outplayed Kansas City 453 yards to 129, in a game that, although very entertaining for Denver fans, could end up meaning little as they remain 2 games behind San Diego in the AFC West.

However, Travis Henry will not be suspended after successfully challenging the positive drug test and we do welcome Brandon Stokely back for another 3 years.  Brandon Marshall completed 2 touchdown grabs, earning him over 1,000 yards for the season (despite the 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after his first touchdown for throwing snow into the air).  Kudos to Selvin Young, who became the 6th rookie in the league’s history to rack up over rushing yards.  Another Broncos player who accomplished the feat was Mike Bell, last season.

The Broncos come into this game beat up not just physically but mentally. After the Bears posted a comeback in the last 5 minutes of regulation, they completed to win in OT. Why we kept kicking it straight to devon hester i’m not sure. lets hope we pull one out against to lowly raiders.

Due to some huge plays last night, the Broncos came out of Monday Night Football with a winning score of 34-20 and a tie for the AFC West.  John Lynch had commented before the game that he knew they were going to win In Kansas City and he felt really good about the game against the Titans.  Turns out he was right, both times.

In the first half, the Broncos only had possession of the ball for a little over 10 minutes, but had outscored the Titans 27-10.  There were some last second time-out calls that ended up backfiring on the Broncos; one resulting in a field goal and one resulting ina touchdown.  Denver set a franchise record last night by completing 4 touchdowns that were longer than 40 yards.  And despite his team losing, Vince Young threw a career-high 305 yards against the Broncos.  Little known players Martinez and Hall came up with some huge plays, along with Marshall, Lynch, Stokely, and Gold.

Next game’s match-up is against the Chicago Bears, look for Hall to start if Young is still out due to a knee injury and Henry is still awaiting the league’s ruling over his drug test results.  

I know it’s a little late in the week, but I still wanted to comment on the Broncos-Chiefs game on Sunday.

As you know, KC is one of Denver’s biggest rivals; or at least, in my opinion.  My best friend and roommate from college grew up in Kansas City and I in Colorado.  She was (and still is) a die-hard Chiefs fan (although she was the one I got to like the Tampa Bay Bucs and John Lynch) and I am, of course, a life-long Broncos fan.  Since I went to college in Missouri (GO MIZZOU!!  Hell of a season we’re having!), I was far outnumbered by Chiefs and Rams fans but never wavered on my team loyalty.   The first Broncos-Chiefs game we watched together we were almost at each other’s throats during the game; yelling at the t.v. (because that always affects the game), yelling at each other, making jokes about the other’s team, defending our own teams, etc.  In fact, or male friends were quite amused at our 3-hour rivalry because immediately after the game we were once again best friends.  It’s amazing that someone who is my best friend and rommate became an arch-rival for about three hours simply because of our team loyalties.  Of course, when it was all over, the Brocncos came out on top and I had gloating rights until the next match-up.  Since that first game, our tradition was to always watch Broncos-Chiefs games together, and each time it’s the same deal; yelling at the t.v, yelling at each other, taking shots at the other’s team, making bets (friendly of course), etc.

Now that I am back in Colorado and she is still in Missouri, we don’t watch the games together, but we can still call each other and text about the game.  And, once again, my team came out on top 27-11.  I was actually saddened to see so many empty red seats in Arrowhead Stadium towards the end of the game, I think you should still show support for your team even if they do lose a game.  By the fourth quarter the noise had transitioned from cheering for the Chiefs to mainly hearing Broncos fans.

Broncos-Chiefs games are some of my favorite match-ups; always have been and always will be.  (And, of course, it’s so much better when we win!)  I do have respect for the Chiefs (as well as respect for other teams) because I do recognize athleticism and talent, even if it’s not on my team (I still remember Priest Holmes’ 93-yard return).  There are amazing athletes out there who perform week after week, and I do give them props.  So  although I may not support or even like your team, I will respect them.

I look forward to the next Broncos-Chiefs match-up on December 9th, this time back in the Mile High City.  The next game, against the Tennessee Titans is also in Denver for Monday Night Football on Monday.  I hope to see our boys pull out another win!

There was such a buzz about the World Series that I didn’t even hear much about the Broncos’ Monday Night Football game against the Packers.  It was amazing to see that tickets that would normally cost $4 to watch the Rockies were over $4,000; thanks, but I’ll watch the game at home!

Back to the football game though.  We went into the game with a great attitude that the Broncs would pull out the win against the Packers.  I work Downtown and I actually saw more yellow and green in Denver than I saw blue and orange on Monday.  I’ll admit, the game was pretty good, the Broncos started off with some great defensive moves.

There was a lot of buzz about how much Farve was going to test the Broncos’ d on Monday, and he sure did test how well Denver could stop a run despite being criticized for his performance against Washington the week prior.  The Packers went into the game with the worst in the league for rushing  but were able to find their game against the NFL’s worst run defense inthe Broncos.

After Lynch was sidelined in the first half, the defense just seemed weaker.  Elam tied the game 13-13 in the final few seconds of the regulation game, giving us hope that we could squeak by in overtime again.  Denver went into overtime with a drive that began at their own 7-yard line.  With Lynch out, the Broncos seemed to lose their rhythm and didn’t completely recover, allowing Farve an 82-yard touchdown pass and also allowing the game to end for the Packers with another win making their record this season 6-1 compared to Denver’s 3-4.

I’m sure everyone has noticed the numbers 27 and 29 on the Broncos’ helmets this season as a memory of their two teammates whose careers ended ubruptly and tragically in the off season.  This Sunday Night the Broncos did a heartfelt tribute to fallen teammates  Darrent Williams and Damien Nash before the kick-off.  It was an an emotional start to Sunday Night Football for teammates and fans alike.  “It was really emotional, to be honest with you,” Shanahan said. “You kind of have to fight back your tears.”

Both players were featured on the game program.  The tribute, in montage format, highlighted the players’ short but impactful careers.  Williams’ mother, Rosalind, and Nash’s wife, Judy were both present at midfield for the cointoss along with both teams’ captains.

But this event wasn’t given much coverage.  In fact, what I read was that Marshall had been arrested for a possible DUI early Monday morning and his past indescretions.  It’s a shame the media decided to concentrate on something bad and overshadow something good that meant a lot to fans, family, friends, and teammates.  In fact, it’s sad in general that we hear and see so much negativity in the media about these athletes.

The media seems to catch every mistake, big or small, that athletes make and concentrate on those mistakes.  How much coverage is the Michael Vick trial getting?  How often do you hear about John Lynch and his charities, scholarships, or his foundation to develop leadership values in student-athletes?  How often do you hear that Domonique Foxworth as a spokesman for continuing education and graduating college?

Although people like to hear about celebrities and what goes on in a celebrity’s life, it’s just a downer to hear bad things a majority of the time.  We know every player’s injury and career statistics, but we hardly hear about community service, charities, and psoitive accomplishments of our athletes.  It’s interesting to hear stuff about our heroes and idols, but the bad news seems to outweigh the good news in media coverage, but the good news is why we look up to these people.  Yes, they have amazing talent on the field, but they also accomplish many positive things off the field that make them great people and not just great athletes.

First and foremost, I am very, very glad the Broncos won against the Steelers!!  It was disappointing to hear that Bailey and Walker would sit out this game, but the boys managed to barely squeak by with a win, again.  I would like to point out that all the announcers had said that it was Bailey and Lynch that would sit out the game in the moments before it started.  This was clearly not true, and immediately after it was said, I saw Lynch (in uniform) talking to Bailey on the sidelines, who was there to support his team.  I just wanted to point out that not one of the announcers corrected their mistaken player flub on air (although how anyone would mistake Lynch for Walker is beyond me).

In the first 5 minutes the Steelers had moved the ball down the field and scored.  I was disappointed that they had scored so fast, I mean, coming off a bye week, you’d think the Broncos would have gotten their acts together.  Their main goal is to stop the run, but in the first few minutes it seemed the Broncos gained nothing but an extra week’s rest.  Then, the Broncs came back to score again and again, breaking for halftime up on the Steelers, much to their fan’s delight.

In the third quarter that fear that the Broncos would drop the ball and let their opponents catch up (as they are famed for doing) crept over me as I watched the Steelers score.  When the game came even, it was one of those moments when you’re not quite sure what to expect.  But, by this time it had turned into a more captivating game with back-and forth plays.

Down to 28-28 and in the final moments of the game… another nailbiter, sitting on the edge of your seat ending, but thankfully the Bronc had possesion.  Cheers to Elam, who won the game yet again with no time left on the scoreboard.  I tell you, Elam has won 3 out of 3 where the last play was down to him - and he handles the pressure extremely well.  Kudos to Cutler and Elam for sharing game MVP for their performances on Sunday night.

Kind of crazy to think where this team, especially this season, would be without Elam to step up (pun possibly intended) and make that final, crucial, game-winning play.  Elam, you are tuely earning your paycheck this season!

When your team hits a bye week during their schedule, it usually couldn’t have come at a better time. This year, the Broncos wish it wouldn’t end. Javon Walker is now supposed to “miss weeks” due to surgery he is having on the 19th, according to Mike Shanahan. That leaves the clutch Brandon Marshall, the newbie Glenn Martinez, and the inconsistent Brandon Stokley. The tight end position has been a concern all season, the rush defense is last in the league, and Jay Cutler is now reminding us of our past interception woes with Jake Plummer. The only bright spots on the team is Travis Henry and the 1st ranked pass defense. But even that is in limbo as Henry’s suspension looms and Champ Baily hasn’t practiced in 2 days.

To make matters worse, we invite the best overall defense in the league as Pittsburgh comes to town. They have Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and Troy Palomalu coming back after missing time with injuries. It’s always nice when the Broncos are winning, but we’re in a slump and the end isn’t in sight as we face Green Bay next week. There is, however, a chance the Broncos make a stand this week. The key will be to run the ball down Pittsburgh’s throat early. Get them tired. Then take some shots at Brandon Marshall deep or hit Dan Graham near the sideline. We won’t be able to go across the middle agaist those linebackers. I think it will be alot closer than the San Diego game.

Pittsburgh 31

Denver 24

Oh yeah…I am still in a state of shock after the Rockies win…..are you kidding me??? From last to first in one season?!?! I will never quite know how this happened but I’m going with it!! Go Rockies!!!