They’ve done it! Josh McDaniels’ Broncos are now 2-0 and appear to be an unstoppable force. All right, they’ve beaten two bad teams, but the defense, which needed seven tons of improvements after last season, has only given up thirteen points in two games. (We’d give that many up every 27 minutes and 52 seconds of game time last year.) Also, and I had thought I brought this up before, but I love Elvis Dumervil, maybe the last great defensive pick of the Mike Shanahan era. I still don’t get how a guy with twenty sacks in one year at a big-time program falls to the fourth round, but it’s okay with me that he did.
The twin rushing attack of the skin-softening Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno looked pretty good, too. I’ve always liked Buckhalter’s toughness and style. Moreno, though, ran exactly like a Shanahan-era back today. He didn’t do anything too special—it was only his second game—but the way he hit the hole and ran with balance and shifted his weight on his moves looked very familiar. Perhaps Bobby Turner can coach a little after all. I don’t know if Moreno was worth a first-round pick yet, but he fits in on a running scheme that doesn’t appear to have changed much yet from previous years.
The Ocho threw too many passes at his receivers’ feet in the first half, even though he was occasionally making the right call and just getting rid of the ball. He got hot in the second half, though, and perhaps I should stop ripping the guy every chance I get.
The other key takeaway today was Shannon Sharpe’s entrance into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame. Sharpe, the former tight end, was equal parts hilarious, ripped, and outstanding in his career. He played with Denver for ten years before spending two as a Raven, then finished his career with two more years in Denver. Shanahan let him go from Denver rather than give him a nice new contract; Sharpe’s deal with the Ravens was (if my brief Googling is correct) for four years and $13 or $14 million, which is kind of a funny price not to pay for one of the best pass-catchers at the position in history. (I’d say the best: I’ll take Shannon over anyone.) For a guy who supposedly couldn’t block, he played on teams with some outstanding running games, but he also caught over 10,000 yards of passes and won three Super Bowl rings. His retirement after the 2003 season left a void in the Broncos lineup that has yet to be filled.
My favorite catch of Sharpe’s career came late in the 1998 AFC Championship Game in Pittsburgh. The Steelers were down three (24-21) with a few minutes left, but kicked the ball deep rather than go for the onside. They forced a quick third-and-six. Sharpe didn’t hear the play call in the huddle, and upon asking John Elway what to do on the way to lining up was told to just get open. Elway’s pass drilled him in the chest, but Sharpe hauled it in and picked up enough for the first down to keep the clock moving. Just one of a million little things you have to do right to win a championship. I’d have to call his game-winner against Kansas City the following year a close second. But that’s not all we loved him for…
Comments
Why didn't Marshall play in the second quarter? Actually, even when he was playing, it didn't look like he was giving 100% effort. What do you think the Broncos will end up doing with him?
But I still am not sure I like this team: the Browns are horrible, the Ocho looked like Ryan Leaf on the closing drive of the first half, the kicking game would have cost us in a close contest, and for some inexplicable reason Marshall was on the sidelines to close out the first half. So it remains to be seen how this team will do, although they already look better than I expected.