And just like that, in a flip of a switch, Denver went from owning the bottom of the AFC West to now standing on top thanks to another exciting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat TEAM win & with the Raiders letting the Miami Dolphins kick their little butts, bahaha way too funny!Denver is tied with Oakland in win-losses at 7-5 but our 5 game win streak among other things shoved us to the top spot in the always unpredictable AFC West. Funny enough, San Diego now claims the bottom spot, which I find hysterical considering that they have done nothing but dominate our division and its nice to see them falter for once. So long Norv Turner....... :p
What can I say about this team that will do them justice?? Frankly, I don't know because they have been so wildly unpredictable in the 2nd half of their last 5 games but I am lovin' every second of it. The first half is nothing to remember and the way the offense plays there makes you wonder what's wrong with them.
But the 2nd half, its pure Mile High Magic coming to life.
The way all 3 aspects of the team comes together to get the win, its just unbelievable. The Broncos' playoff dreams & hopes have just gotten a little closer and I'm on the verge of getting ahead of myself with all the excitement of how this team is playing. I think my season prediction of 10-6 is very, very realistic at this point. I would love nothing more than to beat the Pats in our house, that would be HUGE for Denver. And right now, as crazy as it may sound, we have a real shot of pulling it off.
2-3 months ago, I would've said its a giv
en loss for us. Now there's a glimmer of hope. The way this team has come together, I'm almost in shock. Its such a relief to see Denver play like this once again. I haven't been this giddy about my team since Elway was here... that says a lot about our current players, young & seasoned.... they got the fire & passion in them to make it into the playoffs for the first time in 6 long agonizing years.So without further adieu, here is the breakdown of Denver 5th consecutive second-half team rally to win a game against the Minnesota Vikings....
Offense:
You guys make me smile... you make me nervous.
Very sloppy start to the game, which isn't unusual as of late in our recent games. It drives me crazy that we start off so sloppy, so unorganized, crappy playcalling (same play over & over & over... stop running it up the middle!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!)
But there's something about that 2nd half that lights a fire under them to actually play like a team with the will to win. I can't honestly say it doesn't matter how we get the job done, cause it does matter. We played a 2-9 team... we should have buried them all in their own turf with points. We should have run them into the ground.
For whatever the reason, bottom line is we fought like the crazy Bronco team we are the entire second half and walked away with another close one.Only 7 points scored in the first half vs. 28 in the second. That's nuts.
As for Tim Tebow, he played much better in the 2nd half... more like a quarterback should. He completed more than half of his attempted throws and when it came down to this offense keeping up with Minnesota who seemed to be controlling the 2nd half offensively, Tebow led the offense on 4 scoring drives to keep up and not let the game get out of hand.
Tebow made sure this offense stayed in check and they fought till they got the job done.
He completed 10 out of 15 attempts for 202 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. And of course he still managed to get himself on the rushing stats with 4 carries for 13 yards.
It's very clear though that he is becoming more comfortable in the pocket & making passes. It will be a slower journey for him to get there but fact is, he WILL get there. He will do whatever it takes to become a better, more accurate passer. His determination will server him well in doing so.
Willis McGahee continues to be the running back this team has so long needed, earning his 6th 100+ rushing yard game, taking 20 carries for 111 yards and 1 touchdown. Lance Ball also got some game time with 7 carries for 25 yards.Really nice to see this team with a solid RB like McGahee and not as many injuries in that area as we've had in the past. Amazing what you can do when your players stay healthy, hmmm.......
Well the ghost has come to life... welcome back to football Demaryius Thomas.... where in the world have you been boy???
The first-round pick, also known as Bay-Bay, finally got back into a game and with style I may add. Thomas had 4 receptions for 144 yards & 2 TDs. Was nice to see Tebow get him more involved and really nice to see him get not 1 but 2 amazing TDs out of it.
This offense is slowly but surely getting back on its feet.
Defense:
The men of Denver's defense continues to carry this team on their shoulders. Granted they allowed 32 points but in the end, they won this game. And a hard fought game it was for our defense.
In the first half they harassed rookie QB Christian Ponder, at one point I thought Ponder would leave the game with all the hard hits he was taking.
Even without the standout rookie, Von Miller, his replacement for the game in Mario Haggan was as good of a replacement could get. Haggan even led the team in tackles with 7 and 5 assists and an INT returned for a touchdown in the first quarter.I remember watching the game and they were showing Miller on the sidelines jumping & going crazy for his teammate. That's real sportsmanship right there, cheering them on instead of grumbling about how 'that should've been me'. Don't worry, it will be Miller Time again next week against Chicago. lol
Andre Goodman came in second on tackles with 5 and 2 assists along with the game-winning INT. Funny it worked out that way because I noticed that most of the game, Goodman was playing off so far from his receiver giving them plenty of room & yards to make a catch and do something with it. And then in the end he's the one who wins the ball back for Denver to avoid going into OT. Well done in making up for lack of good coverage.Next on the list is THE Weapon X with his 26th career sack and a forced fumble to go with it. The almost 40-year old safety still has a little something left in him.
Doom & Ryan McBean also got a piece of the rookie QB with a sack each, making a total of 3 sacks on Ponder.
Injury Update:
On a punt return, Eddie Royal was prepared to catch the ball but his own teammate Matthew Willis ran into him and took Royal out for the rest of the game. It is now confirmed he sustained a concussion on the play. To top this off, he's also battling an ankle & toe injuries as well.
Interesting notes:
While we did win this game, we also fell back into getting penalties that cost us some big yards & big plays, with the addition of 2 turnovers & 2 sacks. This is a very, very young Oline and I guess you could call all this 'growing pains' for the offense but you got a very talented player with experience in Ryan Clady and he's been off his game all season long. I would hope he would be guiding these other guys but in the end its up to each individual to know what they are doing and to do it right.I must say the line has gotten much better at protecting Tebow, they give him all day to make a pass which is great. But 1 sack is 1 too many, granted though it is better than 7 in one game.
As for the penalties, that's on all sides of the ball. The holding calls that we've been getting are getting really old. I know its a fact of every football game, there's bound to be several holding calls but its so annoying!! We need to back off on the penalty craze, we can't afford it.
Videos:
Broncos-Vikings Highlights
Bay-Bay Talks About His QB
Tebow Talks About Win #5
Mario Haggan’s Pick-Six – 16 yard TD
Dawkins Sack & Forced Fumble for 24 yard loss & Denver’s Jason Hunter Recovers at the 50
Dumervil’s 4-yard sack
Ryan McBean gets 1-yard sack
Andre Goodman gets game-changing INT
Quan Cosby takes punt return for 63-yard ride
17-yard run by McGahee
Tebow to Thomas for 21-yard TD
Tebow to Thomas for 42-yard pass
Tebow to Thomas for 41-yard TD
Tebow to Thomas for 40-yard pass
24-yard TD run by McGahee
Tebow runs ball in for 2-point conversion to tie the game
Prater makes 46-yard FG
Prater’s game-winning 23-yard FG
Whew!! Lots of highlights but good stuff. The 41-yard TD by Thomas - man, I could watch that play over & over all day. No one can bring him down. Arguably my favorite play of the game. Enjoy!
Also, Denver is up again for the GMC Never Say Never Moment of the Week after overcoming another first-half slump vs. Minnesota and to come out fighting the entire 2nd half. Be sure to VOTE!!!!Next up for Denver are the Bears, too bad Cutler won't be playing. I would love nothing more than to see our Defense destroy him. I've been waiting all season for this game just to see the reaction of the fans and now he won't even play, grrrr. Will be a good game & exciting for sure.
Go get 'em boys! ;)
