Two Weeks In

I almost got hit by a car today. Remember those old "Must Be Football Season" ads? Like the one where office workers celebrated by slapping each other on the butt, or the one where a shopper drops fruit on the floor at the grocery store and everyone dives to try to recover the fumble? Great ads, especially since I can't remember who was running them. (I'm thinking maybe Southwest Airlines, but what does football have to do with flying?) Well, my morning was like that.

I work at a university, so I just walk out onto the crosswalk assuming everyone will stop. When I'm driving I hate this, which is why I don't drive on campus. I knew a car was coming, but surely they'd see me. Soon I realized that the car to my left was a Jeep-and not a Wrangler, but a big SUV-and the driver not only wasn't slowing down, he or she was probably speeding up. So I burst forward and instinctively stuck out my left arm, as though I was going to stiff-arm a Jeep. Luckily, for the car's sake, homeboy hit the brakes and swerved and it didn't come to that. It was-well, maybe you had to be there. Moving on to the Broncos:

Offensive struggles: The Broncos can't score this year. Last season the offense got off to a horrific start but the team, changing strategies after a particularly insightful HPS post, turned things around quickly.

Last year the problem was easy to solve. Plummer was playing terribly, but the real issue was that the Broncos had completely abandoned their run game. Once they resumed rushing forward and breaking knees backwards, the season was back on track.

This time, it's not that simple. Statistically, the Broncos' running game is great, ranking fourth in the league with 153 yards per game and picking up five yards per rush. (Tatum Bell, not Mike, is leading the way.)

But the aerial game is terrifyingly bad. Jake Plummer has a rating of 38.6, which is actually a point lower than his rating would be had he thrown solely incompletions. Now, obviously, if the Broncos didn't complete a single pass they would have lost both games. In other words, passer ratings are useless. That said, the Snake has thrown four picks (and no touchdowns) after throwing seven picks all of last season.

In any event, the team is averaging 9.5 points per game. Good for a stopgap point guard, bad for an NFL team. So what can the Broncos do? Is it time for Jay Cutler to get some PT? Of course not. Right now the NFL's top three rated passers are Rex Grossman, David Carr, and Philip Rivers-or, in other words, it's still really early. That said, just because the Broncos recovered from a slow start last year, that doesn't guarantee they will this time. I hope Plummer's not feeling sorry for himself, because the team will need him to play better.

Defensive success: It's a good thing the defense has held it down for the most part. The pass defense has been its typical fantastic regular-season self. The team has given up a lot of rushing yards, but they've faced Stephen Jackson and Larry Johnson the first two weeks. Best of all, they haven't given up a touchdown. I don't really know why though, since I've barely watched, but I just thought you should know.

Javon Walker: I'm surprised how much it bugs me to see someone wearing No. 84. I know it's not retired, but for a split second I think it's Shannon Sharpe and when I remember it's not, I cry.

That said, the trade for Walker is shaping up to be quite the steal after his performance in crunch time Sunday. He had back-to-back catches on the game-tying possession in the fourth-quarter, and then made a sweet adjustment to catch that 24-yard pass on the overtime drive.

It was especially heartwarming to see since Rod Smith was on the sideline with a concussion (The Denver Post reports that he should be probable for Sunday's road game against the Patriots). The last pass-catcher we had who could step up in Smith's absence wore No. 84, too.