Could trading Eddie Royal bring the Broncos some defensive help? (Justin Edmonds/Getty)

The Broncos are facing a big decision in the head coach position in the following weeks.  The interviewing process has begun and the path for the Broncos’ future is beginning to take shape.  However, the road ahead will still be clouded by uncertainty regardless of who the Broncos hire to prowl the sidelines during game day.  With all this ambiguity comes the speculation of personnel decisions we have become so accustomed to during the McDaniels era.  Who is staying and who is going?

With this question of, “Who stays and who goes,” comes an even bigger question: just how exactly will some players be shown the door?  There are four ways to be removed from a team;

1. Contract Expiration
2. Retirement/Quit/Death
3. Cut or Let go
4. Traded

The first three that are mentioned don’t necessarily make the team better and the team gets nothing in return except possibly freed up salary cap.  But the idea of trading is to get equal value for that of which you are losing in the form of a team’s need.  To sum up what it was Josh McDaniels had said during the Jay Cutler fiasco, “No one is exempt from being traded.”  So do the Broncos trade?  And if so, who do they release? (more…)

• First serving two years on active duty with the Air Force, then a Denver Bronco?
• Tim Tebow isn’t the only star in the family. His mom captures an audience too.
• Ronald Fields has a court appearance on Friday. Has he never heard of Plaxico Burress?
• It appears that Brady Quinn is here to stay for a long time.
• Based on their draft board, the Cowboys thought Tebow was a reach in the first round along with another notable player.
• See, every new NFL coach has player issues to deal with. There’s no exception for Mike Shanahan.

AFC West:

• Got to love a Chiefs site that comes up with new nicknames for the Raiders.  
• Ryan Leaf vs. JaMarcus Russell. Who is the biggest draft bust of all time?
• Rookie Ryan Mathews looks to be the focal point of the chargers running game already.

Random:

• I’m pretty sure mom wasn’t in the house for this one.
• A great collection of sports look-alikes.
• This week’s MLB power rankings.
• Actors do what they do best and impersonate eachother.
• The classic spoon prank can keep everyone entertained.

After a few three and outs, Brett Kern booted a 57 yard punt forcing the Bears to start at the 3 yard line. This is the approximate time that Cutler stared death in the face as he was almost sacked in the endzone by Elvis Dumervil. He saw the light, walked towards it a little, and then realized he had some football to play. Had we sacked him in the endzone at that time, his head may have not been in the right place to perform the way he did. And we all know that he can be a “head case.” Instead he went 15 for 21 with 144 yards and a touchdown. By comparison, Kyle Orton went 12 for 16 for 96 yards before his premature departure to the locker room with a bleeding index finger. Orton was almost picked off by Brian Urlacher after Correll Buckhalter didn’t sit down in his route.  I thought the argument went: Cutler + No Receivers = Fail, and Orton + Good Receivers = Success. This equation was wrong on Sunday night as Orton threw a pass longer than 10 yards only once , while we all saw the Cutler show take center stage. 

Some notable observations for preseason game #3:

- Eddie Royal is cool as a cucumber. If Royal played in the NBA, he’d look like Tim Duncan.

- Tom Brandstater had glimpses of success, but then threw an interception and lost a fumble. I didn’t think I would miss Chris Simms this much.

- The rushing game was a huge disappointment. Averaging 2.6 yards per carry in the first half isn’t going to get the job done. I thought going up against a poor rush defense would’ve jump started this aspect of our game.

- Everyone knows that Devin Hester is dangerous on punt returns, but did the guys on special teams get the memo? His 54 yard return set the Bears up nicely for their first TD of the game.

- The defense is absolutely better than last year. Brian Dawkins brings the intensity, Elvis Dumervil gets to the QB, and Ronald Fields clogs the middle. I like what I’m seeing from Mike Nolan’s squad and I think it will only get better.

-  I’d like to see Coach McD take more shots downfield. Because our run game in the first half was horrible, I thought he should’ve tested the Bears secondary.

- Should the Broncos go 0-4 in the preseason, this will be the first year since 1960 (their inaugural year) that they’ve gone winless prior to the regular season.

Overall, I’m disappointed right now. I know McD needs some time to get this team firing on all cylinders, but I expected more success early on from the former Patriots coach. There’s only one more preseason game left, so we’re lucky that the first three games we play are winnable. After that, it’s going to be a  bumpy road if we can’t get something going. Damn, this losing hangover is a bad one, and it’s not even the regular season.