Mile High Mania - Got a Question For You...
 

We went at it pretty much during the offseason about the Portis - Bailey trade. Wondering who you think got the better end of the deal now? IMO, the early returns favor Washington as Bailey didn't exactly do what he was brought to Denver to do, especially in the playoffs against the Colts. Also, IMO, your defense is NOT better with him, but there are many factors that went into that so that argument is a push.

However, IF Tatum Bell ever amounts to anything, you might indeed get the last laugh. Right now though, I have to laugh at Bailey as he really was tourched a lot over the 2nd half of the season and especially since he got put on his A$$ today by a Colt's "soft" WR. Classic! ROFL

It was a great trade for Washington, and imagine if they get a average line for him to run behind.. he could get 2000 easy.. thats a big if though...

bailey was above average at best, sure he got to the probowl.. but he is not the shut down corner as advertised.. tatum as long as he can stay healthy will be a good back..

it is kinda a push for both teams.. if anything washington got a better deal but only by 51/52-------------49/48%...

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if you go by taco's standards when they got him, it was a miserable failure.. taco said they would have the top defense in the nfl up from their 3rd ranking a year ago.. and they could shut down indy and other teams that have top tier WR's.. in that since bailey was a failure because he got abused a good 4-8 times this year depending on who you talk too...

remember taco told us he would make everybody else better...

LOL! ROFL Yep I remember all that TAco BS! That's why I addressed this question to MHM as he makes sense sometimes.

I feel as you do regarding the trade in that based on the early returns, Washington got the better end of the deal. I told MHM that I'd wait until the season ended for my final opinion on the subject this year and it hasn't changed since day one of the trade.

ROFL Did he say "Bank on it"?

that's ok, the bank has lost its burst... :p :p :p

:clap: ROFL Course Taco will say that he was right cause Priest did lose his burst this season after he was injured...

TEX... at the end of the season where was Denver and where was Washington? Portis is a game breaking back, but you'll notice that Droughns and Portis finished side by side in the RB standings essentially.

Also, look where Denver as a team ranked rushing this season. Yes, Portis is a game breaker, but Denver still had one of the top rushing games.

Bailey got burned a couple of times and aside from "the block", he took Harrison out of the game. It's just too bad for Denver that Indy has 27 other offensive weapons.

Denver's defense had one issue - the pass rush. They had some guys step up, but the pass rush took a hit with Pryce. Late in the season, the secondary lost a few players, hence the reason why a rookie was getting burned all day yesterday.

Denver received Bailey and Bell for Portis. Denver still had a top running game and Bailey did improve the defense, despite what yesterday looked like.

Right now I'd say Denver came out pretty well. I wasn't convinced that they could plug any back in there and still be as explosive as they were with Portis. They are OK with Droughns but Bell sure seems like the real deal to me. Time will tell, though.

Bailey improved their secondary. Walls going down was a big loss for them. without him, it didn't matter that Bailey was on the field, they would just throw away from him (see latest Bronco game).

Pryce's injury hurt as well. Any Chief fan should know that a secondary won't do squat without a pass rush. While pryce wasn't necessarily a dominat rusher, he certainly commanded double-teaming at times.

I'd say Denver came out ahead. Nest year it will be more glaring I think.

donkhater... you're the first KC fan to type something so well written. :thumb:

Seriously though, neither team reached their desired results. Portis played on a team with no o-line, an old QB and issues at TE and receiver - for a coach trying to find his way again.

Denver... I dunno, everyone likes to point at Plummer, but it's still the defense to me that is most worrisome. They have some nice players. They always seem to have nice players, but I like this group better than most they've thrown out there since 1999. Yet, I see guys like O'Neal and James go other places and finally produce. It really boggles my mind that O'Neal did well in Cincy.

Denver's defense hasn't produced turnovers since the GRob error... that perplexes me. I think they've patchworked the D-line the last few years, focusing heavily this year on LB and secondary. They need some young, big forces on the D-Line.

I'm fine with the offense... aside from TE.

Bring back Jake. Sign a FA TE like Randy McMichael... keep the cheating oline in tact and focus on the Dline. And, draft any playmaker from Miami or USC.

I thought Denver got the better of the deal. Although, I think they overpaid for Champ.

Lots of teams overpay for players ... but, I would like for Bailey to donate half of his 2004 salary to the Tsunami relief effort. Getting beat up once or twice is acceptable, hell Deion had that happen to him. But, as much as I dislike Deion... I don't recall a year where I could point to 3-4 receivers that made him look silly.

I think David Gibbs had a bunch to do with it...turnover went up some after he left...including int's.

Denver needs to focus on the pass rush and TE, in my opinion. Jake had a fine season and knows the offense well. It appears the players like him and I think there's a lot to be said about that.

Last year, Sharpe was his main target. Lelie was slowly getting his grips on the offense with his new QB.

This year, Rod and Lelie had fine seasons. Luke and Watts show great potential as other weapons... Putzier has looked good at times, but he's not consistent enough, nor the game breaking TE that I'd like to see in this offense.

Take it as excuses if you like, but those are the two areas of concern to me.

I don't know if the players like him or not, the way that Sharpe has been dogging on him most of the season believes me to think otherwise. It could be the same like that the players had for Grbac, they tell you that they do, but really, they don't.

There's no hiding Sharpe's feelings, and as for the team, I can only go by what I've read. Bottom line is, Jake is not the sole reason the team underachieved.