Are You Really Surprised?

The worst thing about any Broncos loss is that the Tebow talk will increase exponentially the following week. As if it's even possible - that might be a quandry for the mathematics field.

Denver could have won their game Sunday v. the Tennesse Titans. They could have won if only they had managed to score on one of the four consecutive plays they ran from inside the Tennessee 2-yard line. They could have won if the defense hadn't surrendered the 58-yard pass to the tight end to set up the Titans' go-ahead touchdown. They could have won if Kyle Orton's pass hadn't been batted in the air and intercepted when the Broncos were driving with less than two minutes to go.

On the other hand, they also could have lost by more points than they did - if Kenny Britt hadn't suffered a season-ending injury and fumbled the ball away to the Broncos on the same play or if the Denver defense hadn't been so successful slowing down Chris Johnson. Some things go your way and others don't. If you play the game ten times, you'd probably get a similar result six times.

A lot of talk has focused on the Broncos' failure to punch the ball in the end zone in four tries, and whether it was the right call to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking the field goal. Some people think the situation called for a "Tebow package" because the chances of Tim Tebow scoring in that situation are roughly 98.2 percent. John Fox didn't bring in Tebow in that situation, maybe because it's a little like feeding the bears, aka Tebowmania.

They didn't score because the offensive line isn't very good. This can still be blamed on Josh McDaniels - he spent first round picks on Knowshon Moreno, Demaryius Thomas, and Tim Tebow (none of whom played against the Titans, BTW) rather than a lineman such as Steelers Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey (who was available for the Broncos to take in the first round in 2010 when they had no centers on their roster at the time BTW).

While I'm in favor of Kyle Orton being the starter at QB over Tebow, I'm not sure how much longer excuses can be made for him. One of the knocks against Orton is that he isn't able to lead the Broncos to victory when they are behind in the fourth quarter. He's had two chances so far this year, and has not come through either time. Sure, it wasn't necessarily his fault on Sunday that the Titans lineman got his hand up in order to deflect the pass. But it's still true that K.O. didn't come through in crunch time.

The Broncos have the Packers and the Chargers, and some folks are saying that should they lose both, Tebow will become the starter after the October 16th bye week. I feel that's a little bit wishful thinking, and they probably won't give up on Orton that soon.

A lot of fans are already getting on John Fox and his "conservative approach". Guys, it's going to take time to fix everything. Let's practice a little patience and not fire everyone after this season. Besides, wasn't Broncomania built on good defense? I know, it's a different era, and unless you're putting up 30 points a game, something must be really wrong.

The Broncos aren't going to the playoffs this year. We already knew that. In fact, I'm looking at their schedule the rest of the season and kind of feeling like my 6-10 prediction might be kind of optimistic.

@ Packers - defending Super Bowl champs
Chargers - have dominated Broncos the past few years
@ Dolphins - seems like a win, but it is a road game
Lions - might be one of the NFL elite
@ Raiders - Broncos already lost to Oakland at home
@ Chiefs - Broncos usually don't play well in KC
Jets - might be one of the NFL elite
@ Chargers - SD probably will be in the playoff hunt
@ Vikings - potential win, but is on the road
Bears - Jay Cutler looking for revenge
Patriots - they do still have the immortal Tom Brady
@ Bills - doesn't look so much like a win anymore
Chiefs - Maybe a win

The Dolphins, Vikings, and the two Chiefs games appear the most winnable at this point. I'd expect the Broncos to win a couple that they shouldn't - the Jets or Bears, for example, but they'll probably also drop one or two that they shouldn't.

So I'm kind of sticking with 6-10.