McNabb’s 27 yard Scramble Dooms Broncos
The Broncos, who were down 17 in the 3rd quarter, staged a furious comeback in Philadelphia to tie the score at 27 to 27 in the fourth quarter. The key to the comeback was the Broncos defense who shut down big play receiver DeSean Jackson and harassed Donovan McNabb. However, with the Eagles backed-up, under the shadow of their own field goal and facing a third and 25, the Broncos D had a mental lapse and failed to account for McNabb who reeled off a 27 yard run to convert the first down. (Though, McNabb has not run as much in the last few years due to injuries, he is still one of the NFL’s all time most agile QBs). The drive did not lead to points for the Eagles, however it flipped the field position for the Broncos and gave them the ball back on the 8 yard line. After a three and out, the Eagles easily drove into field goal range (with a great catch by Jeremy Maclin) and kicked the game winning field goal with 3 seconds left.
The Broncos 2-7 record since starting 6-0 has been highlighted by mental lapses, penalties (the Broncos had a season high 9 for 95 yards), and little mistakes. The difference between the elite teams in the NFL - Indy, New Orleans, and Minnesota - is that these teams do not make these crucial mistakes that are the difference in a game. JMcD had a great honeymoon in Denver, however its over now. If he wants to be a coach who is going to stick around for awhile he needs to have a better disciplined team (highest yardage in penalties since 2004) that is capable of making plays in crunch time to win games (the Broncos were out-gained 394 yards to 241 yards and were unable to move the ball in the 4th quarter).
The Broncos no longer control their own destiny for the playoffs. There are a number of scenarios that can happen for the Broncos to get in, but first and foremost the Broncos need to beat KC next week and reestablish some of that early season MoJo.
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7 Responses
Woody December 28th at 11:06 am
Sigh. This has been a roller coaster season. Clearly we have potential, but that doesn’t mean much if we finish a pathetic 9-7 (at best) after starting 6-0.
I don’t think all the blame falls on anyone one player, position, or coach. We’ve been able to lose due to poor play calling, poor performance at QB, poor run defense, poor pass defense, and poor running game.
And we’ve won due to great special teams, great running, great defense, etc.
David December 28th at 7:06 pm
Woody let’s be honest with each other… The play calling is not that dynamic because we may have the worste athlete playing quarterback in the league. Brett Favre could beat Kyle Orton in a foot race and he’s 40… Hell John Elway could probably beat Kyle Orton in a foot race… I mean it’s 3rd and 2 and Kyle Orton could have rolled for a first down instead he doesn’t set his feet and he throws an awful pass behind Brandon Lloyd… Then we watched as McNabb dashed our hopes with a 27 yard run on 3rd and 25 because his Wide Outs were covered… On that play Kyle Orton would have gained 3 yards and would have been caught from behind by a 350 LB nose tackle. We need an athlete at the QB position…. I gave Kyle a chance but he’s just a journey man quarterback. That’s it.
David December 28th at 8:24 pm
The only salvation I have in this situation is Jay Cutler was also not the guy to take us to the promise land.
Rhys Williams December 29th at 4:27 am
David, I agree. We need a playmaker at QB. Sam Bradford may be in range in next years draft. In addition we don’t know how good Tom Brandstater is. We need a QB who can stretch the field with his arm and with his legs!
David December 29th at 11:06 am
Rhys I do agree we don’t know what Brandstater can do. I do worry about the mobility and durability of Sam Bradford. I think Bradford has the arm but and mobility is not neccessarily a must. If you look at Peyton Manning he is not mobile but he is enough of an athlete to slide step in the pocket to give himself an extra moment to make a play where Orton will just flop on the field like a dying fish. I also do worry about Bradford’s shoulder… I know Drew Breese had a similar injury and well…. Look at Drew Breese but I would like to see him throw at the combine and private workouts in the Spring. Bradford also has to bulk up a bit.
David December 29th at 11:20 am
I personally like a guy named Ryan Mallet out of Arkanasas. His numbers are not great but his ability is. He played with an awful offensive line in the SEC this year…. and if he comes out he is fairly mobile, he is 6′7 238 pounds (JMAC likes them big) and he will have the biggest arm in the draft. If you look at his numbers they are not great but he has been sacked 16 times this year and hurried over 30 times. Watch out for Ryan Mallet… If he gets in a good situation like Denver I think he could be successful…. Just throwing it out there.
Rhys Williams December 29th at 1:20 pm
David, I like the Ryan Mallet call. Being a Bama and an SEC fan I watched him a few times and he is good. The other name I want to throw in the mix, who people keep forgetting about, is Colt McCoy. He is 6′3″ can run and has a good arm. Also Tony Pike out of Cincy is a tall big arm guy who is similar to Mallet.