| Travis Heath. 26th September, 2005 - 6:20 pm
 - Rod Smith has been the best player on Denver’s struggling offensive unit by far this season. For a guy that many in the Denver media say is washed up, Smith is performing pretty darn well. Consider this, if Smith continues at his current pace he will catch 120 balls, which would surpass even his amazing season of 2001 in which he made 113 catches.
- Denver resigned running back Quentin Griffin this week to help bolster their running attack. Griffin was originally cut from the team before the regular season opener. This may not sound like a big deal, but remember that Griffin had a huge game in last season’s opener against Monday night’s opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Running back Ron Dayne looked brilliant in the final offensive series last week, and it was that series of course that led to a game winning Jason Elam field goal. Mike Shanahan insists that Mike Anderson will still be the starter next week, and I believe him. I also believe that when all is said and done Monday night, Dayne will have more carries than Anderson.
- Denver has struggled to run the ball against their first two opponents this year. However, the Chargers and the Dolphins have two of the better defensive units in the league. Don’t be surprised to see Denver’s running game bust out against the still mediocre Kansas City defense.
- Rookie cornerback Darrent Williams looks like he has the potential to be a star. In the preseason I told all of you that he has Dante Hall like return skills. He showed that last week returning a punt for a touchdown, which was of course called back as a result of the now infamous, “too many men on the field call.”
- Speaking of that call, Shanahan was fined again for criticizing the referees. This time it cost him 20K. I have no problem with Shanahan getting fined for his criticism, but I do have one question. Do the referees ever get fined for being completely inept?
- Jason Elam struggled last week missing a pair of field goals that were well within his range. However, he once again stepped up in the clutch to win the game with a late field goal, as he has time and time again now for 13 seasons.
- Champ Bailey has without question been the team’s MVP thus far, as I wrote in my last column.
- Defensive tackle Gerard Warren has not put up stellar numbers in Denver’s first two games, but he has clearly caused havoc for opposing offensive lines with his ability to get penetration into the backfield.
- Defensive end Courtney Brown made his debut last week, and it was a quite impressive debut at that. Brown tallied a sack in the third quarter, and he later recovered a fumble.
- Jake Plummer has struggled so far this season with a quarterback rating of just 59.9. Not that all the blame should be placed on Plummer, but he has got to perform at a higher level if Denver hopes to get over the proverbial hump this season.
- Punter Todd Sauerbrun was supposed to be a real weapon for Denver this year on special teams. While he hasn’t been horrible, he has also not been as good as advertised either.
- Expect the Chief’s potent offense to really test the Denver defense. Another good performance by the defense, could add more credibility to Shanahan’s claim that the Broncos defense is as good as any defense in the league.
- Rumors surfaced that Denver defensive players had become frustrated by defensive coordinator Larry Coyer’s conservative play calling. It was pointed out that defensive captain Al Wilson was changing plays in the huddle. Shanahan quickly dismissed this, saying that plays are often changed in the huddle, and that the whole ordeal was being blown out of proportion. I believe that as long as the season progresses in a positive fashion this shouldn’t be a problem, but if things go bad, this could be a controversy that flares up by mid-season -- and it could ultimately cost Coyer his job.
- I’m sure Denver fan’s are just devastated by the Oakland Raiders 0-3 start, considering that many in Denver take as much joy in Oakland losing as they do the Broncos winning.
Thanks for reading, and until next time -- I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is Broncos Notes . . . and maybe a win Monday night against the Chiefs.
Travis can be reached at travismheath@msn.com |
