Broncos Fail the Smell Test

[Omaha]

Paige: Broncos fail the smell test
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 10/14/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT58 COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 15 HOURS AGO




Indeed, they beat the Jags for their 17th consecutive regular-season victory, and won by 16 points. Yes, they scored more than 30 points for the 10th consecutive game and allowed fewer than 20 for the first time this season.

Certainly, the Broncos are one of only two teams with a 6-0 record — the other is our friend in Kansas City — and their odds of making the playoffs are close to 100 percent. They possess the most Peyton-proficient offense in the NFL, and finished again with more than 400 net yards Sunday.

What's not to like?

All must be right in the Broncos' and the Orange Manniacs' world.

Not quite.

It didn't smell right.

The Broncos stunk like chitlins — fried pig intestines — against the most hapless, helpless, hopeless team in pro football. The Broncos failed the nose test.
It wouldn't matter, except you expect, every time, Monet to paint a masterpiece, Tchaikovsky to produce a brilliant concerto, Stradivarius to craft a beautiful violin.

Monet doing water balloons instead of water lilies? No.

Peyton his own self Manning was involved in three turnovers — an interception and two lost fumbles. Receivers and running backs dropped seven passes. The Broncos played lethargic on offense and lackadaisical on defense. Injuries to important players continue to happen. Now the Broncos are without both starting offensive tackles.

And Manning spent much of the day shaking his head in disgust.

It was a Sunday to be watching the aspens turn in the mountains rather than watching the Broncos twist and turn at the stadium.

Last week the Cowboys and the Broncos played one of the most epic regular-season games in NFL history — 99 points of pure excitement and exhilaration and "No D in Big D."

This week the thrill level was more "Storage Wars."

In many seasons, the Broncos would climb Mount Elbert to get a 35-19 victory.
But this season is special. And this victory was not.

"Sometimes you score a lot of points and people take it for granted, even in your own building. It's not easy to win football games," Manning said afterward. He seemed exasperated with some questions.

As did coach John Fox when he was asked if the Broncos were dissatisfied with the 16-point victory. "I just think it's noise on the outside. I think all of these games are hard. I've heard people tell me it looks easy. There's nothing about it that's easy.

"There is resistance out there; it's called the other team. At the end of the day, we're very, very, very pleased with the victory."

The crowd of 76,862 wasn't so satisfied when the Broncos— one of the biggest betting favorites in NFL history for this game — led 14-12 at halftime. There was booing.
Wide receiver Wes Welker said the players "understand that they (zanies in orange) have high expectations for us, and we feel the same way. I'm sure there are a lot of us that want to boo ourselves. ... I almost appreciate it, and (the reaction) kind of gets our butts into gear."

Chris Harris said he was somewhat shocked "because I've never heard boos here, but I guess we weren't playing up to our standards or their standards too."

The overall performance was the Broncos' worst in 2013, given the opponent. With high achievement comes high anxiety.

The Broncos were tested enough that Fox couldn't light up his Brock Osweiler.

"The most important thing," tight end Julius Thomas said, "was we were able to get the victory. It wasn't clean. It wasn't how we would've liked it to go. We made mistakes that we'll learn from, and we'll clean up. We have to play better."

Therein is the point. The Broncos fully understand they were too erratic.

They can't play that way in Indianapolis next weekend, or they will be beaten by a solid team. Champ wasn't the savior Sunday, and Von won't be the redeemer next Sunday.

With a loss to the Colts, the Broncos could fall to second place in the division. Peyton wasn't ready to talk about his homecoming, but Harris said: "It's definitely a great challenge going against Andrew Luck, and we definitely want to get this win for Peyton."

The Broncos will have to smell good.



http://www.denverpost.com/paige/ci_2...questid=812813