Brownfan80 said:
Meanwhile, in the same stretch we get the Broncos and the Bengals. I'll be interested to see what that Week 5 matchup gets billed as after the next two weeks.
While the Bengals are one thing, I'm not all that impressed with the Broncos. Aside from their offensive floundering to date, the key to whatever success they've had, if you can call it that, has rested with their defense.
Sure, on paper the D looks good, but they've done what they've done against (1) St Louis, which wouldn't know an offensive touchdown if it bit them in the a s s, and (2) a KC team with it's main engine, Trent Dilfer, out. With all due respect to Damon Huard, we are not talking about the 2nd coming of Johnny U. And Larry Johnson got what? - 127 yards? Yeah, that's real good!
The Denver press is ambivalent about Jake Plummer, but it's doubtful Cutler will get to see any action any time soon. And certainly not against the Pats, where Belichick absolutely devours young rookie QBs.
They're still trying that "running back by committee" thing, and while it has produced some results, overall you'd have to say that those results have been mixed.
It is really a good thing for Denver that this game was scheduled when it was, because if it had been during, say, week 10, I'd be positively giddy at the prospects.
It's interesting to consider Denver's thought processes on the season. They look at last year's 13-3 season, and the fact that they were in the AFC championship games, and figure all they need in one more game, one more win, that this is simply a continuation of last season and they're picking up where they left off.
I always felt that last season, for them, was played largely on emotion and adreneline, what with all those cast-offs from Cleveland and what not. I thought a lot of those guys had career years, all at the same time, and I don't look for a repeat performance.
Additionally, the prime reason they lost to a rather mediocre Pittsburgh team was that they faced the Pats the week before. Go back over the last several years, and check how teams fared the week following a game wit the Patriots, and you'll see what I mean. Actually, the Steelers did to the Broncos what the Pats should have done to them.
But most fundamentally, this is a brand new season. Rarely, if ever, is there a "carry-over" effect that the Broncos supporters are looking for.
The Broncos are a good team, but they're not playing this one in the friendly environs of Invesco Field.
I really like our chances here.
