This is horrible news, but safety John Lynch is leaving the Denver Broncos (I almost swallowed my own tongue when I read this the first time)! You can read the full article in the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. All I can say is that he will be sorely missed…and that this is another veteran player I wish was staying around (ala Jason Elam).

I understand the move on both sides. For Lynch, he wasn’t likely to start and I’m guessing he will end up somewhere else (and I wish him all the best as long as it is outside of the AFC West). Lynch is a class act!

For the Broncos, they have a lot of talent at the safety position and enough class to recognize this early and they are letting a class act look for the best opportunity for him (not all organizations would do that). I hope this move doesn’t come back to bite them at some point during the year, but it will certainly provide plenty of talk-show fodder.

It’s an odd year for my beloved Broncos!
Good luck John…you will be missed!

Denver Broncos Training Camp 2008 officially start today!! I heard yesterday that this is the last weekend of the year without a broadcast football game (I know, it’s preseason, but it’s something!).  I love this time of year because the season is full of just one thing…PROMISE. I plan on making it to at least one training camp session this year and am excited about the Bronco’s possibilities. Am I expecting the Super Bowl? Uh…no. Am I expecting the playoffs? Yes. I am also expecting a lot of young players to start making some contributions on both sides of the ball. I am expecting Mr. Cutler to make some significant strides in his game. My biggest question mark…the defensive line of course?!?!? Win or lose…the season is upon us!

BTW, my preseason prediction? 10-6

In addition to training camp starting, fantasy football is coming too! Our draft starts on August 16th and I am looking forward to a much better year than last year (3-10! ). We have some new teams in the league which is always fun and we expanded it from 10 to 12 players. We are also turning it into a Keeper League which should add a little more interest.

Sigh…football is here…all seems right with the world!

P.S.: Heading to Jackson Lake for the weekend with family and friends so no posts for the next couple of days (sorry Nick). Will have pics and stories to share when I get back. Peace out!

Yesterday was the end of an era for the Denver Broncos as Jason Elam ended his 15 year career with the Donkeys and moved to the Atlanta Falcons. It was a sad day for the Orange and Blue.

I have only the fondest of memories of Jason’s tenure with the Broncos. It just won’t be the same without him. I remember the Rich Karlis days and sweating every time he stepped on the field. Not so with Mr. Elam…or “Mr. Reliable”. I remember Elam lining up for the 63 yard kick and watching it sail through the uprights. I remember his countless game winning kicks and having absolutely no doubt that he would make each and every one of them. He is a class act both on and off the field.

This just shows how cash strapped the Broncos are this year (or at least how strapped they feel). I didn’t think this one was going to get away from them; I figured they would find a way to keep Elam, but it just wasn’t meant to be. It’s going to be a strange year for my beloved team. I’m not sure what to make of all their moves so far and it doesn’t give me a “warm and fuzzy” heading in to the draft either.

Losing Elam sucks for the Broncos and their fans, but I can’t say I fully understand Elam’s reasoning either. I mean come on…the Falcons?? Sure it’s your hometown. The Falcons? Really? I mean, really?? At least he didn’t go the Javon Walker route and move to Oakland. Jason has more class and brains than that.

I wish him the best and say once again that it just won’t be the same without him. I wish he could have finished out his career here and broken a few more records along the way. This is the way of the NFL…bummer!

ON THIS NOTE: I found a great fan blog for the Denver Broncos called BroncoTalk. Check it out if you’re a fan.

Atthe very beginning of the year I predicted the Broncos would go 10-6…OK, so I missed that one but in my defense that was before they had played a single game. A few games in and I changed my call to 7-9 and stuck with it until the end, when they finished…

7 wins - 9 losses

Where do the Broncos begin to fix things? I have no idea because there is so much wrong with them right now. In fact, it’s hard to find something that IS right with them. Only 4 come to mind: Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Brandon Stockley and Jason Elam> OK, I’ll throw in the Run Blocking Scheme, but that one hardly counts.

I’m not paid to fix them so I won’t even pretend I have the solution. I bleed Orange and Blue and just hope Shanahan finds the fix for what has to be the most abysmal season of his career (and I thought that was last year’s season!).

My own fantasy football team did no better…only winning 3 games all year. So I say for myself and for the Broncos: There’s always next year!

I’m not sure what that was last night with the Donkeys (aside from an embarrassment) but I’m getting tired of watching it! I couldn’t even finish the 4th quarter and I’m a die-hard, bleed orange-and-blue guy. It’s frustrating not knowing which Broncos team is going to show up from week to week.

Yes, they had a short week. But come on! This was the Houston Texans we’re talking about here. I like Gary Kubiak and hope him all the best–except when we’re playing him. And once again this Broncos team showed up and forgot how to play football.

What’s the problem? Wish I knew. I only know 2 things:

1) My 7-9 season prediction is close to coming true
2) I wish we played Kansas City every week!

Can we beat San Diego next? We shouldn’t–but who knows with this team. I wouldn’t be surprised with a 50-3 beating, a 7-6 win, or anything in between. I will admit that I’m starting to wish they’d tank the rest of the way just to get a better draft position. Blasphemy!

All I can say about that fiasco of a game yesterday is that it was U.G.L.Y.!! I absolutely HATE losing to the Oakland Raiders so I must be careful to restrain my commentary this morning. Here’s a quick look at how my prediction for the year stands:

Opponent     Prediction/Actual
at Buffalo            W/W
Oakland              W/W
Jacksonville        W/L
at Indianapolis    L/L
San Diego           W/L
BYE 
Pittsburgh          L/W
Green_Bay         W/L
at Detroit            L/L
at Kansas City   L/W
Tennessee          W/W
at Chicago          L/L
at Oakland         W/L
Kansas City      W
at Houston        W
at San Diego     L
Minnesota          W

Latest Season Prediction: 7 and 9

I’m still only shooting about 50% which is pretty good with this group! I do not think the Donkeys will make the playoffs–not that anyone can beat the Patriots this year anyway.

I won’t be the last guy to talk about it this week, but the Bronco’s “Special Teams” are anything but! Here’s the math:

Devon Hester x 2 + Blocked Punt = 21 Points and a Loss

Will somebody please explain to me why you EVER kick the football to Hester? Are these guys not watching the same highlight reels the rest of us are forced to watch week after week about this guy? Did they really think they were good enough to stop him (apparently so after reading this in the Denver Post-click here)? And even if they did to start the game shouldn’t that first run back have given them a clue?

I’m sticking by my prediction for the year: 7-9 and no playoffs this year. I hope they pull it out, but they certainly haven’t earned it this year.

OK, so I was WAY too optimistic with my W-L predictions for the Broncos (I had them going 11-6 on Sept 16th). Here is my updated prediction…  and I can’t believe that Denver has a shot at first place in the division this week! I have realistic expectations for this year (meaning I’m looking to next year for the real turn around):

   Opponent     Prediction/Actual
at Buffalo            W/W
Oakland              W/W
Jacksonville        W/L
at Indianapolis    L/L
San Diego           W/L
BYE 
Pittsburgh          W/L
Green_Bay         W/L
at Detroit            L/L
at Kansas City   L
Tennessee          W
at Chicago           L
at Oakland         W
Kansas City      W
at Houston        W
at San Diego     L
Minnesota          W

Season Prediction: 7 and 9

Note that I m currently 50% on my predictions for the year so far…not great, not bad.

OK, so I was WAY too optimistic with my W-L predictions for the Broncos (I had them going 11-6 on Sept 16th). Here is my updated prediction (I’m afraid even this might be a reach unless the Defense make significant strides)…  

   Opponent     Prediction
at Buffalo            W
Oakland              W
Jacksonville        L
at Indianapolis    L
San_Diego           L
BYE 
Pittsburgh          L
Green_Bay         W
at Detroit            L
at Kansas City   L
Tennessee          W
at Chicago           L
at Oakland         L
Kansas_City      W
at Houston        W
at San_Diego     L
Minnesota          W

Season Prediction: 7 and 9