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Let's start with the schedule.
14 out of 16 games are decided long ago.
You play your 6 games against your division 3 home 3 away.
You play all four teams in another division on your conference and one division in your other conference, this year the NFC east.

So you drew the Pats and the Colts as the 2 games undecided, tough teams to beat, but you want to win the superbowl, you need to beat tough teams.

Look at the bright side, everyone else in your division has the same schedule.
AND
your 1st 2 games are Cinn. & Cleveland.

I think that this team has some tricks up it's sleeves. I was the first one to bash McDaniels for aggrivating Cutler, however, his philosophy is right - it's not about one player, it's about the team. Now with all of the weapons we have on offense, combined with a new McDaniels offensive spread system, our offense may be more respectable than you think. If we can hit the ground running and limit the mistakes by Orton, we will be golden.

You have to remember two things about his days in Chicago:

1) They had a weak offensive line

and

2) They had recievers that dropped more balls than anyone.

Now he's coming to Denver where we have a STELLAR offensive line and an abundance of talented recievers that will fight to make the quarterback look better. THIS will be Orton's breakout season, simply because of the talent that surrounds him.

Defensively, the Broncos are another story. We have talent, however the 3-4 switch and the lack of a nose tackle is a big problem. Hopefully with Mike Nolan and the leadership of Dawkins and Bailey things will come together rather quickly. I see our defense getting better as the season progresses.

Regarding the schedule, I would rather we have a difficult schedule and have no illusions about our place in the NFL, that have an easy schedule and get creamed in the playoffs like we did a few years back when we had to face Indy first round.

This season will be a true test for everyone on the team. I can only hope the coaches have something up their sleeve, and our owner isn't as big of an idiot as he's been made to be in the offseason.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 11:23 AM ET  05.28 by Hammered_everynight

Look at the bright side, everyone else in your division has the same schedule.

AND your 1st 2 games are Cinn. & Cleveland.

The Boncos 3rd game is against Oakland, they should be 3-0 to start the season.

I am now a Broncos fan for bumping a TL thread off the first page of posts. Please don't bring those back up.

The broncos will do as well as they can do. It doesn't mean that they will be 4-12 like I read on another site because I think that the NE system suites Kyle well (highly controlled). It does not require a "gunslinger" mentality, but rather an ability to be smart with the football and execute the system. Everyone starts in the same boat at the beginning of the season with no one knowing as to how they may end up. The broncos can be in the mix at the end of the year just like anybody else. The "team concept" has to be above the "star player" philosophy because that is the only way for any team to succeed. I wouldn't be surprised if you went to the playoffs-after all, analysts have already decided that you're supposed to be bad. Please disappoint them!

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 01:19 AM ET  06.02 by Vee#1

The broncos will do as well as they can do. It doesn't mean that they will be 4-12 like I read on another site because I think that the NE system suites Kyle well (highly controlled). It does not require a "gunslinger" mentality, but rather an ability to be smart with the football and execute the system.

There's the rub. Orton is a career 58% completion QB going back to his days in Purdue. That's only 1% higher than Vince Young's. It's certainly possible that with coaching, a great line, a solid running attack, and terrific receivers that his % will climb but that is a tall order to ask of anyone. I just get the impression that if Simms wasn't a lefty, he'd be running away with the QB job right now.

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 02:30 PM ET  05.28 by shawno85

I think that this team has some tricks up it's sleeves. I was the first one to bash McDaniels for aggrivating Cutler, however, his philosophy is right - it's not about one player, it's about the team. Now with all of the weapons we have on offense, combined with a new McDaniels offensive spread system, our offense may be more respectable than you think. If we can hit the ground running and limit the mistakes by Orton, we will be golden. You have to remember two things about his days in Chicago:1) They had a weak offensive lineand2) They had recievers that dropped more balls than anyone.Now he's coming to Denver where we have a STELLAR offensive line and an abundance of talented recievers that will fight to make the quarterback look better. THIS will be Orton's breakout season, simply because of the talent that surrounds him.Defensively, the Broncos are another story. We have talent, however the 3-4 switch and the lack of a nose tackle is a big problem. Hopefully with Mike Nolan and the leadership of Dawkins and Bailey things will come together rather quickly. I see our defense getting better as the season progresses.Regarding the schedule, I would rather we have a difficult schedule and have no illusions about our place in the NFL, that have an easy schedule and get creamed in the playoffs like we did a few years back when we had to face Indy first round.This season will be a true test for everyone on the team. I can only hope the coaches have something up their sleeve, and our owner isn't as big of an idiot as he's been made to be in the offseason.

It might not be about one player, but when that player is your pro-bowl quarterback, maybe there's a better way to handle him than telling the guy to get bent. Now with Marshall holding out / skipping voluntary workouts, which means less time for him to learn McD's ultra-complicated offense AND get in sync with both Orton and Simms since McD doesn't know yet which of these mediocre QBs is going to be his "team-first" guy... all of that drama on top of the schedule which is as tough as it gets... well, let's just say I don't see the Broncos being in the mix at the end of the year. Sorry.

And yeah, things just got a lot worse. The Broncos were by no means a two man team in 08. But Marshal and Cutler were definitely were the two BEST on that team. Knowshon's work load just got a lot bigger.

OK, the outlook for 09', hmm... We are going to blow, no doubt about it. To many changes, "another" new defense to learn, isn't that like the 3rd in 4 years? Offense will be good, not like last year, the field has shortened, the back half on a roll out to the right does not have to be covered anymore, which means another defender in the middle. But this is the beginning, we will see improvement by year end on defense.
And we will not be acquiring Bradford from OK, we traded our highest pick for next year in the first round in the draft. Unless you believe Chicago is going to tank, which wouldn't be common sense talking, just anger.

Prediction: 5-11 My heart says 6-10, my mind says 4-12, taking the middle.

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs.

Prediction for next season, pain. Orton leading the offense and no change to the defensive line. 4 if we're lucky.

Okay, we do not have Cutler, but look at stats. Last year we had the 2nd best offense in terms of yards, BUT ranked 16th in scoring. Offensively there were problems. Cutler has an arm like no other, but he took chances that led to interceptions. Shanahan encouraged him to take chances. McDaniels would have had problems with that and chose Orton; he wants Orton to be the QB for his system. As long as the WRs and TBs stay healthy, hopefully Denver will score more points. Defensively, how could Denver not improve? I will wait to see how the team does in pre-season games to gauge our potential. I believe Denver could be 9-7 this year, even with their schedule. Let's be honest, every team is difficult, and there are NO EASY games.* I am very excited for this season - change is good.

*If Denver played Detroit last year, I bet Denver would have lost to them, they did in '07.

They were 16th in scoring because all of the rb's were injured. Hard to score in close yardage situations with no consistent rb. Cutler, Marshal and the offensive line had to carry the team last year. 9!? wow talk about optimistic.

Denver will not contend for the playoffs, nor will they be the worst team in the league as many predict. They will flirt with going .500.

Last year the defense was awful, but so was the running game. Hillis and Pitman had moments, but injuries ended both of their season's just as each began to assert their role on the team. Orton plus a consistent running game is a better offensive option than Cutler without one. Denver will be able to run the ball more effectively which will lead to fewer turn-overs and a better time of possession, both of which will help the defense. Orton will be a solid leader and game manager, but will not be able to over-come the difficult schedule and the awful defense.

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 03:51 PM ET  08.02 by trekbeatswars

They were 16th in scoring because all of the rb's were injured. Hard to score in close yardage situations with no consistent rb. Cutler, Marshal and the offensive line had to carry the team last year. 9!? wow talk about optimistic.

Injured RB's kept Denver from scoring? It contributed for sure, but it was not the lack of RB's. I saw too many mental errors (poor pass selection, dropping the ball, poor play selection. . .etc). I believe it was the mental errors on the players and coaches that contributed more heavily to the lack of scoring than the lack of RB's.

Shanahan was a great coach for the Broncos, but it was time to move on; even Bowlen saw that. The only team in NFL history to blow a 3 game lead with three games left in the season. Cannot blame the RB's on that stat!

As for winning 9 games, you bet I am an optimist. I can see the potential for that. I like what McDaniels is doing as a head coach, I like the changes to defense, a solid franchise running back, the best O-line in the business and a steady crew of playmakers on both sides of the ball. My only reservation is the D-line and its ability to rush the passer and stop the run. I will make my own assessment after I see a couple of pre-season games.

This could be a great year for Broncos fans and we honestly need to support McDaniels and the team. Give them a chance to see if the changes work. At 9-7, Denver could win the division. SD has retained Norv Turner as a head coach for another season?

If Shanahan was still there, how much of a change would there be? Shanahan's last three seasons consistently have the team starting strong but finish weak. If a team could keep pace with Denver's offense they knew they could pull ahead in the 4th quarter.

"My only reservation is the D-line and its ability to rush the passer and stop the run. I will make my own assessment after I see a couple of pre-season games."

Thats by far the biggest reason why we went 8-8 last year!! When you have one of the worst defenses in the league and a 3rd ranked offense who do you tear apart and restructure? Everyone but Mcdaniels says the defense. Keep in mind that moreno is a rookie, there is no gurantee that he'll translate into a better running game or even stay healthy. Assuming the offense will be as good as it was last year, there was still not enough change on the defensive side of the ball to say we'll do better than last year especially with this year's schedule.

A lot of fans like to bring up the secondary as being improved, but they're all over thirty with dawkins at 35 or something close to that. Thinking that they'll stay healthy long enough to be improved is pretty far fetched to me.

I have no beef with Denver, never have. However, this is probably going to be a tough year for Bronco's fans. 5-11.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 08:07 PM ET  08.16 by LetsGoDuke

I have no beef with Denver, never have. However, this is probably going to be a tough year for Bronco's fans. 5-11.

We def got your 5.