Mile High Magazine - For All Your Broncos News

[Ron_Codpiece]

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Mile High Magazine, where we talk all things Broncos in The Deuce. With preseason winding to a close, your Broncos have finished with a 3-1 record. After an embarrassing week one effort, the Broncos finished strong with three straight wins to close out the preseason. Strong defense and efficient passing were the keys to the wins. Those elements will need to continue as Denver has a very tough schedule.

Preseason Roster Moves:
Outside of making owners more money, the preseason is of course where the 32 front offices fine tune their roster and get their 53 man squad set for the regular season. The Broncos said goodbye to a lot of fan favorites, and welcomed some new players they hope can shore up some weaknesses the preseason might have exposed.

QB Logan Thomas
The Broncos quickly realized that 2nd year player Trevor Siemien was not going to work out as the teams backup QB. The plan all along has been to throw rookie Paxton Lynch to the wolves and let him take his rookie lumps, but there needed to be an acceptable backup in case something bad happened. Enter Logan Thomas, the former fourth round pick from Virginia Tech. Regarded as "the next Cam Newton", Thomas has never lived up to that hype. He does, however, possess a rare set of skills at the QB position. He has immense size, good speed,and a powerful arm. He slides right into the #2 QB spot, with Mark "Butt Fumble" Sanchez bringing up the rear, pun fully intended. "To be honest, if the penalties weren't so high, we'd cut Mark" head coach Gary Kubiak said. Ouch.

RG Ryan Wendell
Don't be fooled by the creepy porn stache, Wendell is a capable player. Spoiler alert: The Broncos offensive line is young. Which is a nice way of saying it stinks. It's going to take years of development and roster moves to make it serviceable. Signing him in week three of the preseason was a step in the right direction.

MLB Deion Jones
Denver got a big injury blow in the third preseason game as second year player Shaq Barrett went down with an injury and has been placed on season-ending IR. The Broncos were desperate to fill a spot at LB, and found what they think is an absolute gem off of a practice squad. Enter Deion Jones, the Falcons 2nd round pick from this years draft. They cut him, the Saints signed him and placed him on their practice squad, Denver picked him up. He has top tier speed at the LB position, and even as a rookie already has top notch cover skills. With work on his awareness, play recognition, and block shedding, the coaching staff thinks he can be yet another young freakish good athletic LB for the team.


Projected Week One Depth Chart:

Offense:
QB - Paxton Lynch 74 OVR
RB - CJ Anderson 84 OVR
WR - Demaryius "Optimus Prime" Thomas 88 OVR
WR - "He Man-uel" Sanders 87 OVR
WR - Cody Latimer 68 OVR
TE - Virgil Green 82 OVR
LT - Russell Okung 80 OVR
LG - Max Garcia 73 OVR
C - Matt Paradis 74 OVR
RG - Ryan Wendell 77 OVR
RT - Connor McGovern 69 OVR

Lynch won the starting job with ease in preseason, though it might have had more to do with the other options being Siemien or Butt Fumble than his actual play. Rookie Devontae Booker beat out Ronald Hillman for the #2 HB spot. Cody Latimer will finally get a chance to show whether he was worth a 2nd round pick as he starts the season as the #3 WR. The line is a mess of young, raw players and older veterans. The front office is just hoping they can play decent enough.


Defense:
LE - Von Miller 99 OVR
DT - Derek "Meth" Wolfe 87 OVR
DT - Sylvester Williams 77 OVR
RE - DeMarcus Ware - 87 OVR
LOLB - Deion Jones 76 OVR
MLB - Brandon Marshall 90 OVR
ROLB - Shane Ray 76 OVR
CB - Chris Harris Jr 93 OVR
CB - Aquib Talib 89 OVR
FS - Darian Stewart 87 OVR
SS - TJ Ward 85 OVR

The Broncos will mix in some 4-3 with their usual 3-4 scheme. Lots of players will shuffle in and out of the front seven. The secondary is loaded with Harris, Talib, Roby, Webster, Stewart, and Ward. Two young safeties in Ryan Murphy and Justin Simmons should contribute as well.


Special Teams:
K - Brandon Mcm Anus 79 OVR
P - Riley Dixon 68 OVR

Broncos fans went crazy with celebration this preseason when Denver cut overpaid and long under-performing P Britton Colquitt. They will rely on rookie Riley Dixon. We'll see how it turns out. The team will be punting a lot.

The team opens up welcoming the vaunted Carolina Panthers to town in week one of the season where two highly talented defenses will try to outdo one another. Tune in later in the week for issue two of your Mile High Magazine.

 

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STRONG DEFENSE, GREAT PASSING ATTACK
LEADS BRONCOS OVER COLTS, 44-7

After a tough sim loss in week one the Broncos rebounded in week two with a strong effort against a loaded Colts offense. The offense was balanced, with 200 yards rushing and over 200 yards passing. Rookie Paxton Lynch was extremely efficient, completing 14 of 17 passes with three touchdowns. A tipped interception on the goalline late in the first half was his only blemish.

The defense played lights out with the exception of one streak hurled into double coverage that the Colts caught and took to the house. They allowed less than 20 yards rushing, picked Luck off three times and recovered three fumbles, returning one to the house.

A major issue popping up in the game is special teams, as Brandon McM Anus missed two extra points early, which lead to the team passing on points inside the 10 later in the game and failing a 4th and short conversion. He has to improve mightily if the team hopes the compete in a very tough division.

Denver moves to 1-1 and goes to Cincinnati this week to face the Bengals, who are also 1-1. The Colts drop to 0-2.

 

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Broncos defeat Chargers 40-12 to move to 5-1. Last couple of weeks though have seen some big injuries hit the team as they lost TE Virgil Green for 5 weeks in their week five game, and in tonight's game in San Diego, WR "He-Man-uel" Sanders left the game with a hip injury and will not be back until the last few weeks of the regular season. Demaryius Thomas stepped up in Sanders' absence with a two touchdown game.

The Broncos head to Houston to face the 2-3 Texans next week.

 

[Ron_Codpiece]

Broncos Rally Late Over Chargers For 10-7 Win


The Broncos beat the Chargers for the second time in three weeks, though this one was by a much closer margin. The Chargers found success on the ground in the first half and thanks to a Gordon TD run, took a 7-0 lead. This lead would hold for the entire first half as the Broncos offense, per usual, got nothing at all going on the ground, and rookie QB Paxton Lynch throwing two bad interceptions. They also had a failed fourth down conversion where Lynch missed a wide open Demaryius Thomas, and a missed FG that bounced off the upright.

Luckily for the Broncos though, Rivers was also having a bad day. It seemed like any pass that wasn't caught by one of his guys was caught by a Bronco. At one point he was 7/11 with three picks. Denver would eventually drive inside the 5 but get held out of the endzone and would settle for the short FG. After forcing a Charger punt they got a good return and on third and goal would finally punch it in as Lynch found TE Heuerman alone in the endzone to go up 10-7.

San Diego would drive and get into what looked like could be game tying FG range, but faced a 4th and 11. The Chargers opted to go instead of kicking a long FG and the Broncos normally ferocious pass rush that had been so quiet all game, finally showed up as Demarcus Ware and Von Miller converged on Rivers for a delicious QB sandwich, turning the ball over on downs and allowing Denver to run out the clock and escape with the win.

Broncos TE Virgil Green was cleared to play before the game but Denver held him out to make sure he would not re-injure his hamstring. There was concern the defense might come out deflated after the Broncos informed Demarcus Ware that they would not resign him this offseason, but the defense came to play today. After the game GM John Albert Elway Jr. confirmed the same thing for DT Sylvester Williams, who had a lot of hype coming out of the 2013 NFL Draft after the Broncos took him in the first round but he never quite lived up to that hype and hasn't made an impact this season. The Broncos did however resign their starting center this week and will likely extend his backup next week.

 

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BRONCOS SUFFER HUGE INJURY, SQUEAK OUT WIN IN OAKLAND

The Broncos and Raiders met up today in the latest installment of one of the NFL's most heated rivalries. Oakland would receive the opening kickoff and it only took two plays for them to score as Carr hit Crabtree on a deep out route and none of the Broncos defenders seemed to want to tackle him as he broke one tackle and then three more players bounced off and he ran it in for a touchdown. Broncos QB Paxton Lynch began to drive his team down for an answer, but he was hit while throwing an incompletion and did not get up. He walked off the field and straight to the Broncos locker room.

Enter Logan Thomas. The Broncos had enough faith in him to have him as the backup over Mark Sanchez, but this would be his first meaningful game action. On 3rd and 25 the Broncos should have played it conservative but they sent Baybay deep and Thomas was picked off at the goalline. Carr would throw a pick of his own and give the ball right back. This time Denver would drive inside the 5 and run it in with Anderson for the 7-7 tie. They would add another ground TD later after an Oakland punt, this time rookie HB Booker would plow into the endzone, 14-7. The Broncos were moving the ball well and tried to add another FG before the half but it was blocked.

The second half was a shootout as neither defense seemed to have much success trying to stop the opposing offense. The smothering pressure of the Raiders defense that we saw in the first half vanished. And the Broncos blanketing coverage that gave Carr little to work with was suddenly being picked apart. The Raiders tied it at 14, and forced a Broncos punt. But Carr tried to hit a receiver on a long drag route but Shane Ray read it and made a leaping pick and returned it for the TD. Denver forced a punt and looked to extend to a two possession lead, but Booker would fumble the ball back to Oakland. They took advantage and tied.

The Broncos would later answer on a deep pass to Demaryius Thomas. The Raiders would drive, but have to settle for a long FG with about 4 minutes left to make it 28-24 Broncos. Denver would drive inside the redzone but with Oakland out of time outs, looked to play it safe and run some clock. It worked, and they added a chip shot FG with about 1:10 left. Oakland would need to drive about 75 yards for a touchdown with no time outs left. Sounded like a tough task against a top ten passing defense in the league, but they made it look easy. A sideline route to Crabtree resulted in a 40+ yard gain and eventually in no huddle Carr would hit the TE out of the backfield on a PA pass to tie it up at 31 with less than 30 seconds left.

Denver contemplated playing it safe and going to OT, but they figured they hadn't stopped Oakland much in the second half, and if Oakland had just drove 75 yards in about 40 seconds with no time outs, maybe Denver could drive about 40 yards with all three time outs. They figured the Raiders would go back to a deep cover 4 zone so they called a WR screen. It worked to perfection. Both receivers beside Cody Latimer made their blocks, and Russell Okung made a key block downfield that sprung Latimer for a huge gain. Should have been a touchdown, but for some reason he could not avoid the sideline, and eventually start tippy-toeing the boundary, allowing the Raiders defenders to catch him at the 27. Denver ran once and kicked the game winning FG as time expired, 34-31. The Broncos move to 8-1 after a week one sim loss to Carolina and head to New Orleans next week, while the Raiders move to 6-3 and will face the Texans.

After the game, the Broncos front office confirmed QB Paxton Lynch suffered a broken collarbone aka "a Romo" and will have surgery tomorrow. At the very best, he might be back for the Broncos first playoff game should they make the postseason.

The team also confirmed they'd signed another QB to help provide depth and competition for Logan Thomas in rookie QB Jacoby Brisset, who they signed off the Cowboys practice squad. The Broncos like his powerful arm, and he possesses good accuracy ratings at all three levels compared to the other QB options in free agency. The team will announce closer to next week who will start against the Saints.

 

[Ron_Codpiece]

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
Broncos Win Thriller In New Orleans, But Lose Another Key Player to Injury

The Broncos just cannot shake the injury bug. Fresh off a last second win against division rival Oakland where they saw their MVP candidate QB go down, Denver found themselves in another dogfight, this time against the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans would jump out to an early lead as normally reliable in coverage LB Brandon Marshall took a dreadfully poor angle covering TE Coby Fleener on a wheel route and left him wide open for a long TD on the second play of the game. It would be the first of a few bad plays by the defense that resulted in Saints points. The Saints missed the XP, and Denver would drive and settle for a FG, 6-3.

The Broncos started rookie QB Jacoby Brissett, who they got off of a practice squad. He would give Denver the lead after hitting RB Ronnie Hillman out of the backfield and Ronnie would make a couple guys miss and scamper for a 30+ yard TD, 10-6 Broncos. Later in the third, Denver would add another FG as the Saints defense was doing a great job stopping the Broncos offense once they got into scoring range, 13-6.

Mcm Anus would miss a long FG but later make another as the team again failed to put the ball into the endzone, 16-6 Broncos. After forcing a punt, Brissett would fumble the ball, it was picked up by a Broncos lineman, he then fumbled the ball, and the Saints recovered. They took advantage of the Broncos mistake with a 30+ yard PA bomb into the endzone as FS Stewart failed to get over in time and Aquib Talib could not recover. At 16-13, Denver needed another score and got one but missed the XP, making it 22-13. Now in desperation mode, Garoppolo would heave a ball deep into double coverage and connect, as his WR Thomas outran the corner and safety to the ball and scored a long TD to make it 22-20. With only one time out and 2 minutes left the Saints needed the onside kick but Denver recovered. They then picked up a first down to seal the win, 22-20. Denver moves to 9-1 on the season.

After the game head coach Kubiak confirmed to media that WR Demaryius Thomas, who had a great game, suffered a hip injury and would miss significant time. The team is already without fellow starting WR Emannuel Sanders, so the team will look to their very young WR depth to provide whatever offense they can for the rest of the regular season. The team will lick their wounds this week as they rest on the bye and prepare to welcome their hated rivals from Kansas City in week 12.

 

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BRONCOS LOSE DEFENSIVE BATTLE IN FLORIDA, MORE PLAYERS

The 9-2 Broncos met up with the 8-3 Jaguars today in what might be a playoff preview as both teams look poised to win their respective divisions and make the postseason. The Broncos came in off a sim loss the previous week where more injuries piled up, losing yet another receiver and the best lineman on their weak offensive line. They did get Emannuel Sanders back though.

Jacksonville would drive to open the game but settle for a FG. Denver would punt after Brisett just barely missed Sanders deep on a go route and he had a step on his defender. The Jags would drive and on 1st down in FG range would hit Julius Thomas on play action wide open for the TD in busted man coverage as no one followed the former Bronco TE down the field and it was easy pickings for Bortles to put his team up 10-0.

Denver would finally score with 20 seconds left in the half on 4th and goal from inside the 1 via an Anderson TD run. Denver would drive into scoring range to open the 2nd half but a bad throw by Brissett right to a Jags LB would kill their drive. Jacksonville would drive and add a FG to make it 13-7. Brissett had a bad game but the banged up line had a worse game as the new tackle was getting manhandled all game and on the Broncos ensuing drive Brissett would get hit right as he finished dropping back, fumbling the ball, and the Jags recovered on the 3 yard line. The defense would stand tall though and force a short FG, 16-7.

Denver would drive and convert a 4th and inches right at the end of the third. They'd then get 1st and goal inside the 5 before Brissett would be picked off a third time. This time he tried to test the Jags user coverage and Skuta was up to the task making a nice pick on the goalline. After a punt the Broncos would fail on a 4th and long but eventually settle for a FG inside the 10 yard line with about 2 minutes remaining, knowing they'd need a TD and FG anyway. Jags would recover the onside kick though, and pick up a first on the ground to seal the win 16-10. During the game the Broncos had another devastating injury as rookie LB Deion Jones will miss significant time with an injury. The Broncos cut a LB before the game and Shaq Barrett is still on IR (even though he somehow came into this game and recorded 4 tackles), so this leaves Denver scrambling for help at the LB position. They should get Demaryius Thomas back in a week or two.

The Broncos stay on the road next week to face the Tennessee Titans. The Jags have another home contest as they welcome the Minnesota Vikings.

 

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BRONCOS WIN SECOND STRAIGHT GAME
On Verge of AFC West Title

After a disappointing close loss to the Jaguars in week 13, the Broncos have rebounded nicely with two straight wins and entering week 16 find themselves almost guaranteed a playoff spot at worst, and more likely the AFC West title. Their first win was a user game in Tennessee against the Titans. After an extremely pass happy attack did them in versus the Jaguars with numerous turnovers, the Broncos had a perfectly balanced 22 run, 22 pass offense until kneel downs at the end of the game. The offense did not need to play that well though, because the Broncos pass rush just could not be slowed in this game, constantly pressuring and sacking Mariota.

The second win came against the AFC East leading CPU Patriots. The Broncos lined up with about 30 seconds left in the half for a FG to make it 6-3 Pats entering half time, but of course the CPU blocked the FG, and of course they returned it for a TD. But Emannuel Sanders would answer with a 97 yard KR TD to make it 13-7 at the half. The second half would be dominated by the Broncos defense, sacking Brady multiple times, forcing a couple fumbles, and snatching three interceptions. Von Miller would finish with 3 sacks and a forced fumble, giving him 18.5 sacks before being benched for most of the 4th quarter. Offensively the Broncos finally got Demaryius Thomas back and he answered with back to back 70+ yard TD catches, the first coming on a PA bomb from the 7 yard line where he smoked Malcolm Butler easily. The second came just outside the 20 on a corner route where the Pats had zero safety help deep and Thomas beat Butler again then turned up field and was gone. The Broncos also made it through both games with no injuries, a much welcome change of pace from before where it seemed every week they'd get one player back and lose another.

Denver finishes the season against the Chiefs and Raiders. At 8-6 KC can no longer win the division. The Raiders may have an outside chance if they win out and Denver loses out.

 

[Ron_Codpiece]

BRONCOS DEFENSE STIFLES DOLPHINS, DENVER TO HOST AFC CHAMPIONSHIP

The Broncos kicked off their postseason today, welcoming the 9-7 Miami Dolphins to town. Miami was fresh off a wild card round upset of the AFC East champion Patriots. These teams did not meet in the regular season.

Broncos won the toss and kicked. Miami would drive a bit but would eventually punt. Their punter had a ridiculous day, three times pinning Denver's offense inside their own 10. This first punt would die on the 1 yard line. The Broncos came out looking simply to create some space for the offense, and dialed up a quick slant. Demaryius Thomas was wide open and caught it and saw no one ahead of him. He easily outran his defender and raced 99 yards for a touchdown, 7-0. Miami would answer with a strong drive, utilizing play action. They avoided disaster in the red zone as Matt Moore dropped back in PA but was sacked by Ware, which would have made it third and long and probably out of FG range as the wind was bad in Denver today. But Ware touched the facemask during the sack, instead giving Miami a first down. They'd capitalize on the Broncos mistake with a Daniel Thomas TD run, 7-7.

The Dolphins would then make a mistake of their own, as the ensuing kickoff sailed out of bounds. Denver got the ball on the 40 and decided to use some PA of their own. After a couple first downs, Lynch hit TE Virgil Green on a post. In a play sure to show up on NFL Network's Football Follies in the future, a Miami corner and safety down the field ran into one another and both fell to the ground, leaving Green open to run it in, 14-7. Miami drove well again on their next drive, and also converted a 4th and 2, and would eventually settle for a FG, 14-10.

In the third Denver took the ball on offense and drove a bit. In the red zone, it was their turn for a beneficial penalty, as Lynch fired a corner route to Thomas in man coverage but the coverage was too good and Miami was flagged for PI, setting the ball up on the 1. To their credit, the Dolphins defense was a brick wall, stuffing Denver on three straight running plays. 4th and goal on the 1, Denver played aggressive and ran it a fourth time, and this time Anderson plunged in to make it 21-10. Miami would drive a bit but punt, another beauty. The Broncos would pick up a couple first downs, and then come out to pass on 2nd and long. Lynch noticed no safety deep on Sanders side of the field, and gave him an audible to run deep. Sanders was able to beat his man, and the safety in cover 3 could not make it over in time, and the Broncos had another long passing TD, but missed the XP. 27-10.

In the 4th Miami got another drive going good but faced a 4th down and tried to run but it was stuffed. Denver picked up a couple first downs and then Ronnie Hillman took a toss and went in from 40+ untouched, 34-10. Miami would fail another 4th down conversion later and Denver would run out the clock, 34-10. GG.

The Broncos were without Von Miller who is serving a suspension for performance enhancing drugs. The defense did not need him though, racking up 6.5 sacks in the game, lead by Ware with 2.5. It wasn't all good news on defense though as rookie OLB Deion Jones had his second significant injury this season, leaving in the 2nd half with a torn muscle in his shoulder. With Miller's suspension and Shaq Barrett already on IR, Denver will now scramble for depth before they host the AFC Championship game, where they will face the winner of the upcoming Ravens @ Jaguars game.