Archive for January, 2011

Last week I wrote about Jay Cutler and his injury in the NFC Conference Championship game. Well, Broncos right tackle Ryan Harris has come to Cutler’s defense. “I know him [Cutler] from my experience with him, and my experience was that he was always tough and always focused on the game,” Harris said of Cutler, who suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the MCL in his left knee that kept him from continuing in the NFC title game. “I’m sure it was tough for him to come out of that game, especially with how hard the Bears played as a team all year [...]

The Broncos running game - It gives more headaches than cheap Tequila. The Broncos finished the 2010 season 26th in the rushing department averaging 96.5 yards per game and they were 3rd in fumbles lost. Because the team couldn’t establish the run game, they were faced with a lot of third and longs, and an inability to turn red zone appearances into touchdowns. In the final three games of the season, Tim Tebow was the rushing star for the team. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, the Broncos would have finished the season ranked much lower than 26th. In the games that Tebow [...]

In this week’s article over on NFL.com, I talk about the Broncos needing to get settled in with a defensive coordinator. Dennis Allen is the sixth defensive coordinator in six years, and hopefully he can get the Broncos back to their Orange Crush days. Go here to read the article.  Make sure to follow Predominantly Orange on Facebook.

   By Chris Krier When the NFL Hall of Fame released its list of 2011 finalists earlier this month, one name in particular was missing once again. For the fifth time, Terrell Davis failed to advance beyond the semi-finalist stage of Hall of Fame consideration. There are many deserving men who have yet to hear their name called for enshrinement, but the buzz around the league for the inclusion of Terrell Davis does not seem to be nearly loud enough. The California native who became a Broncos legend in the late-1990’s accomplished just about everything an NFL player could hope [...]

We’re just ten days away from knowing who the 2010 NFL Champion is. Last week, I looked at the final four teams from the defensive standpoint. Despite the Jets and the Bears no longer being in contention for the NFL title, I still want to include them in today’s offensive analysis. Unlike the defensive commonalities that I found last week among the four remaining teams, it’s interesting to report that the offensive similarities aren’t so striking. In fact, by looking at the offensive production of the Steelers, Packers, Jets, and Bears, it would be easy to conclude that a strong [...]

Congratulations to Champ Bailey for making his 10th Pro Bowl appearance. Bailey will join Brandon Lloyd in Hawaii for Sunday’s All-Star game. Bailey was the first alternate selection at cornerback and got the nod to participate today after hearing that Raiders’ corner Nnamdi Asomugha could not take part due to injury. Bailey’s participation in the game sets an NFL record for most Pro Bowl appearances by a cornerback. Don’t think that Bailey has been lounging on his coach since the season ended on January 2. The corner has been working out with the hope that he would be able to participate in the [...]

The popping of shoulder pads, the roar of a crowd, the “hut-hut,” the helmet to helmet hit - although illegal - makes NFL football one of the most beautiful symphonies you’ll ever hear. Throughout the season, one of my favorite morning rituals after game day was heading over to NFL.com to catch their Mic’d Up video. The league wired select players throughout the season to let the fans listen to the sounds of professional football at its best. The league mic’d up Tim Tebow when he led the Broncos to a win over the Houston Texans. They’ve also been wiring players and coaches during [...]

This is a fun look at the most exciting teams in the NFL this season. The research was put together by a statistics company (Thuuz), and factored in things such as pace, parity, and novelty. It turns out that the teams that had a tendency for excitement didn’t fare as well in performance. The top three teams are: 1. Houston Texans 2. Washington Redskins 3. Dallas Cowboys Here’s the entire list. Make sure to follow Predominantly Orange on Facebook.

Ding, ding, ding. Round one is over. The Broncos have completed their coaching staff. Considering the team had many vacancies to fill including that of the head coaching spot, the Broncos got things done in a hurry. It took less than one month for them to wipe away most of the staff that started the 2010 season and replace them with “Elway’s guys.” John Elway has been the face of the franchise for the past three decades, and going forward, things won’t change. He was hired as VP of Football Operations on January 5th, just three days after the Broncos [...]

The dust has settled on Championship Sunday; so what have we learned? Well, what we already knew…defense wins championships. I hope Broncos brass are taking notes. And no, I don’t mean that they are grasping this vague concept. What I am hoping that they saw on Sunday, especially in the Steelers 24-19 win over the Jets, is that a dominant front seven can make up for a lot of deficiencies in the secondary. Aside from Troy Polamalu, the Steelers’ secondary is average at best. They look so much better because of the pressure that the front seven put on the [...]