That’s what happened to the Denver Broncos last night and the crowd just happened to the entire nation. The Broncos were beaten, battered, and humiliated in a New England town and they now sport a Scarlet MC on their chest. 

Matt Cassel simply showed the country just how fragile the Broncos defense is. In 4 of 7 games this season, the Broncos have allowed 30+ points. Last night, they allowed 41 points and 404 total net yards. Injuries took the Bailey brothers out of the game in the first half which didn’t help things, and the Broncos safeties might as well be roaming the field in wheelchairs because they are the most inefficient bunch I’ve seen in a while. Marquand Manuel, Marlon McCree, and now Calvin Lowry have done nothing this season but miss tackles and hide in the shadows. They have 0 interceptions and no defended passes. These guys were constantly pushed back on runs, and I think they bought a piece of property in Vermont since they were obviously not in Foxbourough, MA anymore. Why did we let Hamza Abdullah go again? Denver’s defense did have 6 sacks (5 in the first half), but pressuring the QB last night was not enough as they let New England convert on big downs and had enough penalties to keep MC on the field.

The offense (or lack thereof) can also be blamed for the Broncos collapse. In 3 losses, they have a combined 12 TURNOVERS. Against New England, they combined for 5 turnovers. Andre Hall had 2 carries for -7 yards and 2 fumbles. Needless to say, Mike Shanahan would not let him touch the ball again. That’s how things went. I’m sick of seeing Brandon Marshall run backwards after a catch in order to elude defenders for more yardage. I’m all for tough running, but do it up the field, man! It was good to see Eddie Royal back and he helped the Broncos a ton if you can get over the 7 points left on the scoreboard. You can tell that Jay Cutler misses tight end Tony Scheffler, but that doesn’t explain his interceptions.

I can guarantee that the Broncos won’t lose next week only because they’re not playing. The bye will help them recover from injury and analyze their team identity. They seem to have lost it underneath the first 3 wins of the season.

Now, here are some quotes from Broncos players after the Monday night loss:

“The bye is going to play a big part as far as mentally. It will give us time to heal and give us time to decide what kind of team we want to be. We can be good or we can be sorry, as we’ve seen tonight” (Brandon Marshall).

On what can be done to prevent turnovers:

“I don’t know, you tell me. They seem to be happening a lot” (Jay Cutler).

“I’ve always got a nasty attitude. That’s just the way I play, but it’s not rubbing off on some people, and I don’t like it. It’s getting very frustrating” (Champ Bailey).  

“I embarrassed the team” (Andre Hall).

 

On whether or not the Broncos were ready to play:

“I felt like we were. But, obviously when you go out there and play like that? Apparently, you weren’t…You can’t just go out there and be a body. You’ve got to play, and play hard. We’ve got to get that across to the whole team. Because we just can’t get it done with some of the effort we had today” (Champ Bailey).

 “We got our butt kicked, from the first play to the last” (Dre Bly).

“For the past 100 years, the NFL hasn’t changed. If you can’t stop the run and you have turnovers, you’re going to lose the game” (Ebenezer Ekuban). 

 

- Center Tom Nalen was placed on the injured reserve list ending his season with the Broncos. After 15 years in the league that could be the end of his career too. The team also waived safety Hamza Abdullah and signed Vernon Fox.

- What theme song do you think best represents the Broncos season so far? The Angry T thinks it’s John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High. They came up with songs for all 32 teams and I must say…they’re very accurate.  

-Jason Elam is still a Denver fan. Kicker Matt Prater sent Elam a text message before he kicked for the first time in Oakland to ask for advice.  

- Shannon Sharpe believes the 96′-98′ offense can take the 08′ offense. 

- The Broncos are 32nd in the league in pass defense. How does that happen with Champ Bailey and Dre Bly?

- I’m convinced that Brandon Marshall will eventually be the best receiver in the league. Call him Baby T.O., call him a Freak of Nature, but don’t take him away from Mike Shanahan right now.

- Adam over at Arrowhead addict posed this question to his readers:  ”Which current or former Bronco [player or personnel] do you hate the most?” A lot of votes for Shannon Sharpe and Mike Shanahan over there. My answer would be Travis Henry because he was only there for the money and that’s it. Doesn’t have any understanding as to what it means to be a professional athlete. Anyway, P.O. readers, I’m going to flip the question and ask you:

Which current or former Chief do you hate the most??? 

Abdullah said this about Lynch: “He’s the best safety I’ve ever played with, but he’s also going down as one of the best safeties in league history. When I came off the field, he’s always the first one to talk to me. ‘Hamza, you did this right, you did this wrong.’ He grades me hard. His standards for me are almost as high as I put on myself. For a guy to invest that much in me, I love that about John.”

Lynch was the heart and soul of this defense and he was selected to the Pro Bowl 9 times, but his character off the field reflects more than anything. He was a true humanitarian developing community programs to build leadership skills in young kids, providing financial assistance to student-athletes, and making Christmas wishes come true for underprivileged children. The list goes on and on as does the number of service awards that he has been honored with.  

I don’t know if another team wants a 37 year-old safety in their starting lineup even if it is John Lynch. Regardless, P.O. wishes him the best for the future.