Detroit @ Denver

[Starbroncs]

This one should be a no brainer win, and if it's not, then heads do need to roll.

Really glad Detroit got the win-monkey off its back though before playing us. Reduces trap chances.

I know there was some hope of winning this last week, but I'm also pretty sure that most of us being real with ourselves also knew we wouldn't pull it off. Ask me in any offseason how I feel about our chances of going into KC in December after their bye, and I'm sure you know the answer.

The difference between 7-5 and 6-6 is pretty surprisingly large though, but the biggest lost opportunity was the one for a statement. Again though, we didn't lose to the 3-4 Chiefs, we lost to the 8-4 Chiefs.

We have 5 games left, and the book isn't closed on this season. The door to the playoffs gets smaller, and my hopes are middling, but I still want to manage at least a winning season, and it's still well within our reach.

I don't have a whole lot of thoughts on this game in particular. Play our game, and the win should come.

I did not think we would win at all. However if you told me that we would hold the chiefs offense to less than 20, pick off mahomes giving him his worst game of his career, and also have our running back go for over 100 yards then I would like our chances of winning. I put this loss 100% on teddy. He was hot garbage, he could have just been a game manager and put up a few plays throughout the game and I think we would have won.

That quarterback position is making me awfully nervous for 2022. We better have a plan.

[sra84]

Things actually aligned for the Broncos to have a really good year.

The first 3 games....couldn't ask for an easier start.

Ravens....ok, a good team and not surprised we lost but the way we lost was concerning, but, whatever, it's one game.

Steelers...a team that's not as good as years past with a quarterback on the decline and a struggling run game. They had their way with us early, but we made a comeback until our quarterback, who got the starting job because he protects the ball, threw a bad interception at the end.

Raiders....just went through the Jon Gruden mess and were ripe for the picking, come into our place and pretty much dominate us.

Browns....short week but Browns had their back up quarterback, 3rd string running back and a myriad of injuries themselves. Again, a chance to steal a win in the conference. Yet, we lose.

Beat Washington....ok, good.

Beat Dallas, convincingly......hmm, could the Broncos be turning the corner?

Eagles...embarrassed us in our own house. No excuse losing that game to a bad team.

Chargers....ok, nice win coming off the bye.

Chiefs....Mahomes has his worst game against us and we pound the ball. Our best chance to beat the Chiefs in years.......and we still lose by 13.

This year offered us a golden opportunity with opponents not having as good a season, injuries, in-house turmoil, etc. If we were any good we'd have 3 or 4 more wins. Simple as that.

Beating Detroit means absolutley nothing. Not for this team that has blown so many golden opportunities this year.

This team stinks. They aren't going to make the playoffs. And they shouldn't. They don't deserve it. The only reason they are in it is because the league added an extra playoff spot.

[Ear2dastreets]

Things actually aligned for the Broncos to have a really good year.

The first 3 games....couldn't ask for an easier start.

Ravens....ok, a good team and not surprised we lost but the way we lost was concerning, but, whatever, it's one game.

Steelers...a team that's not as good as years past with a quarterback on the decline and a struggling run game. They had their way with us early, but we made a comeback until our quarterback, who got the starting job because he protects the ball, threw a bad interception at the end.

Raiders....just went through the Jon Gruden mess and were ripe for the picking, come into our place and pretty much dominate us.

Browns....short week but Browns had their back up quarterback, 3rd string running back and a myriad of injuries themselves. Again, a chance to steal a win in the conference. Yet, we lose.

Beat Washington....ok, good.

Beat Dallas, convincingly......hmm, could the Broncos be turning the corner?

Eagles...embarrassed us in our own house. No excuse losing that game to a bad team.

Chargers....ok, nice win coming off the bye.

Chiefs....Mahomes has his worst game against us and we pound the ball. Our best chance to beat the Chiefs in years.......and we still lose by 13.

This year offered us a golden opportunity with opponents not having as good a season, injuries, in-house turmoil, etc. If we were any good we'd have 3 or 4 more wins. Simple as that.

Beating Detroit means absolutley nothing. Not for this team that has blown so many golden opportunities this year.

This team stinks. They aren't going to make the playoffs. And they shouldn't. They don't deserve it. The only reason they are in it is because the league added an extra playoff spot.

I agree....not gonna get excited about anything this year. I know how this story will end.

[lvbronx]

I agree....not gonna get excited about anything this year. I know how this story will end.

Then move along. There is nothing here for you in this forum other than for you to continue trolling. It isn't good enough for you trolls to be miserable, you insist on telling me why I should be miserable. Sorry I don't respect quitters and anyone declaring anything is over before it is mathematically over is a quitter. You quit. You gave up. Quitter.

[jmz313]

Denver ain't losing to Detroit unless Lock has to play. We aren't the trash team some fans want to think we are. We are average as hell but with good D. It might not be the flashy (Dallas) win people consider fine. It probably will be the Sloppy Win (WFT) pessimists treat like a loss. But it will be a W.

[Hadez]

Normally I'd say this game is a cake walk match....however....after coming off an emotional win, I think Detroit could be a trap game for Denver. I don't think they are as easy a win as we think they'll be.

The good thing about having a no turnover offense that is not very effective and a good defense is we are usually in the game for as long as possible.

The flip side of that is it also means the opposing team is in the game as long as possible. As long as we have the lead then really the only thing I worry about is a defensive mistake, a fumble or a bad ST play. Yea I know some of those have happened this year and some more often than they should.

The problem lies when we are behind and the offense HAS to make a number of plays. Teddy has shown constantly this year and in the recent past that more often than not he will fail in those situations. It was probably the biggest question I had about Teddy week 1 and he has shown his limitations. Fangio knows this which is why he goes for it on 4th down so much. He knows the offense needs it in order to even have a chance.

[LordTrychon]

Things actually aligned for the Broncos to have a really good year.

The first 3 games....couldn't ask for an easier start.

Ravens....ok, a good team and not surprised we lost but the way we lost was concerning, but, whatever, it's one game.

Steelers...a team that's not as good as years past with a quarterback on the decline and a struggling run game. They had their way with us early, but we made a comeback until our quarterback, who got the starting job because he protects the ball, threw a bad interception at the end.

Raiders....just went through the Jon Gruden mess and were ripe for the picking, come into our place and pretty much dominate us.

Browns....short week but Browns had their back up quarterback, 3rd string running back and a myriad of injuries themselves. Again, a chance to steal a win in the conference. Yet, we lose.

Beat Washington....ok, good.

Beat Dallas, convincingly......hmm, could the Broncos be turning the corner?

Eagles...embarrassed us in our own house. No excuse losing that game to a bad team.

Chargers....ok, nice win coming off the bye.

Chiefs....Mahomes has his worst game against us and we pound the ball. Our best chance to beat the Chiefs in years.......and we still lose by 13.

This year offered us a golden opportunity with opponents not having as good a season, injuries, in-house turmoil, etc. If we were any good we'd have 3 or 4 more wins. Simple as that.

Beating Detroit means absolutley nothing. Not for this team that has blown so many golden opportunities this year.

This team stinks. They aren't going to make the playoffs. And they shouldn't. They don't deserve it. The only reason they are in it is because the league added an extra playoff spot.

I get where you're coming from, and your point is well made.

But at the same time 'If this team were any good, we'd have 3 or 4 more wins'.... that seems like an unrealistic standard. This team isn't any good unless we have more wins than everyone else in the AFC, save for maybe one team?

Counterpoint... if this team stunk to the level you're making it sound, they wouldn't have beaten the Chargers or the Cowboys or WFT. Heck, they probably drop one of those easy games too.

All of the losses you're complaining about... they're all fair points. But every single one of them is to teams with 6 or more wins. Should we have won some of them? Sure. Yeah, absolutely.

Are we 'in the playoff hunt' only because they added a 7th team to the playoffs? Sure. But that's the new state of the league, like it or not. There's going to be 7 playoff teams next year as well. And the year after that. We're also only in the hunt partially because of the absurd parity in the league and the AFC in particular this year. On one hand, there's only three teams with fewer wins in the AFC. On the other, there's only 8 with more wins in the AFC. In the NFC, we'd be in a playoff slot or losing out only by tiebreaker.

This team is squarely mediocre/average. That stinks by the standards of where I'd like us to be. It doesn't stink relative to the standards the team has put out in recent years.

We still have 5 more games. Win 3 or more of them, and this season is a rousing success relative to anything we've had in the past few years. It's a winning season. I miss those.

We've had double digit losses 3 out of the past 4 seasons. We would have to go 1-4 in our final 5 to be in that spot despite the extra game. I like that.

The fact that we still even have a shot at a winning season in December... and an outside shot at sliding into the playoffs.... I'll still take it.

[CanDB]

I agree....not gonna get excited about anything this year. I know how this story will end.

Then move along. There is nothing here for you in this forum other than for you to continue trolling. It isn't good enough for you trolls to be miserable, you insist on telling me why I should be miserable. Sorry I don't respect quitters and anyone declaring anything is over before it is mathematically over is a quitter. You quit. You gave up. Quitter.

I did not quote sra's post, but I will refer to it.

lv......you summarize my feelings completely. There's a fine line between being disappointed and "trying" to make us miserable too. I bet if we got 100 of us in a room, most of us would state that we were unsure about this year coming in, enjoyed lots of what happened, but expect more. And that includes some changes postseason. OK, not exactly like that, but in the ballpark.

But as you suggest, if it hurts so bad, do what you do in life....go the doc, the dentist, the therapist (could be a good muscle massage), a councilor. Whatever you need to relieve what is bothering you. That's cool. But if I have a bad toothache for example, and my wife says make an appointment, well, if I don't, then I have no business whining about my tooth constantly afterward.

As for sra's post....6 wins and I can barely find positives.

Anyway...for those of us who are still enjoying aspects of this year's journey, lets dang well enjoy it. Because if I assess this specific group of fans correctly, they are optimistic about the future. Hope and optimism have a strangely strong effect on us humanoids.

[CanDB]

The Lions have just one victory and it took all season to get it, but I have a strong hunch that they will be up for another victory this week. AS WILL THEIR FANS, to a high degree.

[mark222b]

I agree....not gonna get excited about anything this year. I know how this story will end.

You say you know how this story will end ... Care to make a prediction ?

Okay ... This may be brave or fool hearty, I know not which, but I will make several predictions ...
... not based on anything but optimism and the old football adage " on any given sunday any team can beat any other team"
So, here's my prediction :
... going into wk 18

Den = 10 - 6 (4/0 over the next 4 weeks) 4 straight wins
KC = 9 - 7 (1/3 over the next 4 weeks) W vs raiders
SD = 8 - 8 (2/2 over the next 4 weeks) W vs chiefs and texans
LV = 6 - 10 (0/4 over the next 4 weeks) 4 straight losses

[Ear2dastreets]

Then move along. There is nothing here for you in this forum other than for you to continue trolling. It isn't good enough for you trolls to be miserable, you insist on telling me why I should be miserable. Sorry I don't respect quitters and anyone declaring anything is over before it is mathematically over is a quitter. You quit. You gave up. Quitter.

You still here lol. You funny. You go around jumping in when no one speaks your name. Barking orders like you own this forum. It's cool. You one of my fans. Lol I'm flattered. Keep it up.

[Ear2dastreets]

You say you know how this story will end ... Care to make a prediction ?

Okay ... This may be brave or fool hearty, I know not which, but I will make several predictions ...
... not based on anything but optimism and the old football adage " on any given sunday any team can beat any other team"
So, here's my prediction :
... going into wk 18

Den = 10 - 6 (4/0 over the next 4 weeks) 4 straight wins
KC = 9 - 7 (1/3 over the next 4 weeks) W vs raiders
SD = 8 - 8 (2/2 over the next 4 weeks) W vs chiefs and texans
LV = 6 - 10 (0/4 over the next 4 weeks) 4 straight losses

We miss the playoffs end of story. Yall acting like I'm the only one that don't feel this way about this season. Sorry I'm not on the hype train...and since I'm not I can't speak how I feel. 5 or 6 st8 losing seasons can get you there.

[CanDB]

We miss the playoffs end of story. Yall acting like I'm the only one that don't feel this way about this season. Sorry I'm not on the hype train...and since I'm not I can't speak how I feel. 5 or 6 st8 losing seasons can get you there.

You and the others' negative predictions may be right.. But you know what they say about those broken clocks and squirrels with poor eyesight.

[mark222b]

We miss the playoffs end of story. Yall acting like I'm the only one that don't feel this way about this season. Sorry I'm not on the hype train...and since I'm not I can't speak how I feel. 5 or 6 st8 losing seasons can get you there.

Hey ... no apologies needed ... I understand.
Then again ... wouldn't it be great if my predictions came to pass ?

[Ear2dastreets]

Hey ... no apologies needed ... I understand.
Then again ... wouldn't it be great if my predictions came to pass ?

It would be great no doubt....but I just can't get there.
I say it once I say it again. When we don't score 1st we seem to play like crap. We can't come from behind and win crap. We have all the pieces except the most important one and that's a QB.