The way the breaks have been going the way of the Denver Broncos, you have to wonder if good karma is smiling on them all the way to (dare we say it) Super Bowl 44?
The Broncos went into San Diego and beat the Chargers, 34-23 behind two kick returns for touchdowns by Eddie Royal, one was a 93-yard kickoff return and he later returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown to lead the way for the unbeaten Broncos, who continue to amaze the entire NFL with their turnaround after last season's collapse.
The Broncos defense recorded five sacks and the offense, with balance between running and passing, scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half to pace the win.
At this point, just go right ahead and pencil the Broncos in as AFC West champions and a playoff spot.
That's right!
It is only mid-October and we are crowning the Denver Broncos with the first division championship of 2009 and a playoff spot.
There is no way they will blow this kind of lead this season after losing three of four down the stretch last year in December to blow the AFC West to the Chargers.
This team has been getting breaks (yeah, good teams make the breaks for themselves) all season and it started in Week One when Brandon Stokely hauled in that deflected pass on a "Hail Mary" from quarterback Kyle Orton and raced for the winning TD against Cincinnati with just seconds remaining.
That set the tone and the Broncos and their revamped defense with free agents and veterans (Brian Dawkins, Andra Davis, Andre Goodman, Vonnie Holliday, etc.) thought to be washed up have served notice they want back in the post-season after a three-year absence.
Book It!
Denver is (un)officially in as of right now.
This team is the story of the NFL so far in 2009... not taking anything away from Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints or Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings, but come on man (to quote the guys on ESPN) NOBODY AND I DO MEAN NOBODY saw this coming at all.
This team is comparable to the 2008 Tennessee Titans, who came from nowhere a year ago and bolted out to a 10-0 start before eventually losing in their first playoff game to a solid Baltimore Ravens team.
Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniel (pictured upper right along with Broncos' QB Kyle Orton) is hands down NFL Coach of the Year for 2009, so just skip the formalities and give him the award right now.
See you in January in the Mile High City.
Meanwhile, back in Chicago, ex-Bronco QB Jay Cutler and the Bears are sitting at 3-2 after losing 21-14 to the Atlanta Falcons (4-1) Sunday night... The Saints (5-0) smashed the Giants 48-27 behind four TD passes from Drew Brees... New England demolished Tennessee, 59-0 as Tom Brady threw for six touchdowns, including five in the second quarter alone against the winless Titans... Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings (6-0) held off a furious rally by Baltimore to win 33-31. The Ravens stormed back from a 17-point deficit to take a 31-30 lead before Favre rallied the Vikings by leading the drive that set up Ryan Longwell's game-winning 31-yard field goal. The Ravens (3-3), which lost their third straight game, had a chance to win it but kicker Steve Hauschka hooked a 44-yard field goal wide left as time expired.
Green Bay shut out Detroit 26-0 to improve to 3-2 as Aaron Rodgers passed for 358 yards and two touchdowns... The Kansas City Chiefs earned their first win of the year with a 14-6 win at Washington, where the Jim Zorn "watch" has begun as a result of the Redskins Head Coach getting a "demotion" of sorts when it was announced he will no longer be calling the offensive plays... Oakland pulled the shocker of the day with a 13-9 win at home against the Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) as beleagured Raiders' QB JaMarcus Russell threw a 86-yard TD pass to Zach Miller for the only touchdown of the game. The Raiders defense sacked Eagles' QB Donovan McNabb six times in the win... Jacksonville (3-3) beat the St. Louis Rams 23-20 in OT as Maurice Jones-Drew scored three TDs and rushed for 133 yards... The Pittsburgh Steelers, behind 417 yards and two TD passes by Ben Roethlisberger, beat Cleveland, 27-14 to improve to 4-2 and a first-place tie with Cincinnati, which lost 28-17 to the visiting Houston Texans (3-3) as QB Matt Schaub threw four TD passes and had 392 yards in the win.
The Carolina Panthers (2-3) topped the winless Tampa Bay Bucs, 28-21 behind a pair of touchdown runs and 152 yards rushing from DeAngelo Williams... Arizona cruised past the Seattle Seahawks, 27-3 as QB Kurt Warner hit the 30,000 yard mark passing for his career... Buffalo (2-4) handed the host New York Jets their third straight loss, 16-13 in OT as Jets' rookie QB Mark Sanchez was intercepted five times in the loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment