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Broncos players living in fantasy land

By Brad Wells

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For whatever reason, the Broncos just don't seem to get it. How else can you explain their responses after getting their butts kicked AGAIN by the Colts. Gregg Doyel, a senior writer over at CBS Sportsline, wrote a nice article on how the Broncos players seemed stunned that the Colts took yet another dump on them in the RCA Dome:

Denver's Mike Shanahan, the genius coach, thought special teams made the difference.

"We lost a lot of field position today," he said, twice, in his short postgame comments.

Denver's Champ Bailey, the Pro Bowl cornerback, thought it was the Colts' running backs.

"It wasn't like (Manning) was doing anything spectacular," Bailey said. "Their running game was killing us."

Denver's Dre' Bly, the other Pro Bowl cornerback, thought it was the Colts' offensive coordinator. Whoever that guy is.

"You can't give (Manning) all the credit," Bly said. "He doesn't call the plays. He doesn't make the adjustments. He's not the offensive coordinator."

There you have it. Indianapolis beat Denver 38-20 on Sunday because of superior special teams, a solid ground game and a smart offensive coordinator. That's the perspective straight from the Denver locker room.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth ...

I think this give further credence to my theory that Dre Bly is just a complete dumb ass. His intelligence aside, I don't think he could cover Gertrude Schindel if she ran a route, let alone Reggie Wayne. Newsflash for Dre, Peyton Manning DOES call the plays. Pretty much everyone who knows the NFL knows Manning is sent three plays, and he picks which one to use. Then, at the line, if he sees something he can audible to anything. Thanks for playing, Dre. You still suck.
Gertrude Shindel, the oldest living Colts fan at 110 years of age, could shake Dre Bly.
Photo: Indianapolis Star

And while I have tremendous respect for Champ Bailey, his comments here are retarded. Champ, when your QB throws 3 TDs and completes 74% of his passes I'm sure you'd shout from the mountain tops as to how awesome he is. Heck, if ANY QB does that, he looks great. However, if it's Manning, a guy who owns Champ Bailey more than any other QB, for Champ it "wasn't like (Manning) was doing anything spectacular." Whatever. I don't want this to sound like I'm bashing the Broncos, but this sounds an awful lot like whining to me and to Gregg Doyel.

No wonder Shanahan was so uninsightful after the game. He was in denial, or maybe in shock. In the offseason Shanahan had traded two significant offensive pieces -- 1,000-yard rusher Tatum Bell and stalwart tackle George Foster -- plus a draft pick to the Detroit Lions for Bly. Shanahan had made that trade for this very day. The Colts have owned the Broncos in recent years, including playoff victories in the 2003 and '05 seasons in which the Colts averaged 45 points per game. With Bailey locked onto Harrison, the Colts' main weapon against the Broncos had been Wayne. Shanahan thought he solved that by trading for Bly.
Against Bly and Bailey, the Colts simply shifted Reggie Wayne into the slot, and used Dallas Clark on the outside. Clark caught several key first down passes with Bailey covering him, and Wayne caught the TD that break Denver's back for good. I agree with Doyel. The Broncos are in denial. They spent all this money, changed their entire defensive scheme, and brought in Dre Bly to stop the Indy offense. The results were exactly the same as they've always been. Then, after the game, Denver players are essentially standing around dumbfounded, making up lame excuses as to why they got their butts kicked again.

I'm willing to let this go though. Their comments are stupid, but I don't think they are necessarily disrespecting the Colts. I think the Denver players' comments are more out of frustration, which is understandable. Shanahan's comments are more out of stupidity, but that's another issue. The Broncos have re-tooled their entire roster twice in an effort to beat teams like Indy, and very little progress has been shown. I personally think Denver players are frustrated that all this change, and all these dumb schemes, have provided few positive results.

I don't want this to seem like a swipe at Denver fans, btw. I just agree with Doyel: The Broncos are in denial about the Colts kicking their collective asses yesterday.

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