Well, you saw the game, now relive it through the ears of some drunken podcasters. We pretty much signed off on the Broncos season at one point only to document the greatest comeback in Broncos history by way of the podcast. Stick with us, we have a drunken girl grab the mic as well as a twitter follower who just happened to be at Boone's where we recorded probably the greatest documentation of a Broncos victory ever dedicated to hard drive space. It’s one for the ages.

Oh, boy. This is a big game for the Broncos. They're heading into Qualcomm Stadium for a Monday Night Football clash with the lead in the AFC West on the line. What do I think will happen? Glad you asked.

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San Diego Union Tribute fan boy columnist, Kevin Acee penned a column that ran in his paper yesterday boasting about the Chargers' dominance over Peyton Manning over the years.

It was written in reaction to Manning's comments during a requisite conference call with the SD media.

"I’m used to ignoring NFL types trying to insult my intelligence. But Manning is offensive.", Acee wrote.

His beef? That Manning is willing to blow off his history against the Chargers because he was with the Colts when those games were played. He's a Bronco now, and the Chargers are now a division rival. Things have changed.

"I guess he wasn’t trying in those non-division games against the Chargers.", Acee responds.

The column is fact-filled, yet bitter and whiny from the headline ("Peyton Manning doesn't give Bolts respect") down. Acee comes off as writer from a fan blog more than he does a beat writer for a major newspaper. I certainly can't recall Denver's Lindsay Jones ever publishing anything as biased. Of course, that's one reason that Jones was hired by USA Today and Acee wasn't.

He has a point. The Chargers definitely had the Colts' number. However, Acee fails to recognize that the Broncos will match up to the Chargers differently. Peyton Manning is only one piece of the puzzle for Denver just as he was in Indianapolis. The fact that San Diego has a 5-1 record against Manning the Colt since 2005 (they've picked him 15 times) simply does not translate to an advantage against Peyton the Bronco.

"We all convinced ourselves Manning is the man for the job. But has he regretted his decision to come to Denver as the window on his career rapidly starts to shut? Let’s take a look."

Our prognosticators, Colin Daniels, John Reidy, Producer Scott Stafford and our buddy, Snyder are back for more in our annual NFL Pickoff VS the Spread.

It's been tough sledding so far.

Only Colin has managed a .500 record through five weeks. He's 37-37-2 on the year. Reidy and Snyder are 34-40-2 and Scott trails with a record of 33-41-2.

This week they welcome guest picker Kevin Goff of the Burgundy Brigade (@BrgBrigadeKevin)

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Wow. What a week in the NFL. It was full of surprises. The determined Colts beat the favored Packers, the Eagles lost (but covered) versus the Steelers and the Ravens barely held on to beat K.C. by three.

Week five was another tough week for picking games versus the spread in the NFL.

As our annual NFL pickoff versus the spread rolls along our pickers have found it tough to keep theor heads above water. Colin Daniels, John Reidy, Scott Stafford, Our Buddy Snyder and our guest pickers have all struggles to stay above .500 on the season.

.500 is exactly where Colin Daniels finds himself. After a week where he went 9-5 against the spread, he was able to pull his record up by its pink (for breast cancer awareness) boot straps.

The others did not fare so well.

Bringing up the rear was guest picker, Zach Fogg (@zachfoggsports), who one would think would have the inside track, since he works for MIle High Sports Radio. His anemic 4-10 on the week represented guest pickers poorly.

Scott Stafford and Our Buddy, Snyder each went 7-7 on the week (.500), while John Reidy went 6-8.

For the year, Colin Daniels leads with a record of 37-37-2. John Reidy and Snyder are tied at 34-40-2 and Stafford is scraping bottom at 33-41-2.

You knew it was going to happen, didn't you, Broncos fan? Come on, now. Let's get real. The Broncos lost to the Patriots at Gilette Stadium the very day the 2012 schedule came out. Nothing to see here, folks.

In fact, their losing by only ten points should give everyone a reason to be optimistic. The same Patriots team is capable of blowing any team in the NFL out on any given Sunday. They are the class of the AFC and will continue to be until it's proven that they're not.

The Broncos don't have to be good enough to beat the Patriots - at least not yet. They do, however, need to be good enough to beat the Chargers. We will find out next week if they are. And, if they lose to San Diego, we can sound the alarm. Meanwhile, it's acceptable to focus on the positives.

The Broncos have lost to the Falcons (who are undefeated), the Texans (who are also undefeated, and will remain so after mowing down the Jets tonight) and the Patriots (who are the Patriots).

Are there three better losses in the NFL this year?

They haven't been blown out once. In fact, Peyton Manning is, if nothing else, better than advertised. We can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that our quarterback  is capable of making every throw and of getting it done late in games.

Was Manning not the biggest X-factor entering this season?

The AFC West is one of the only divisions in the NFL in which a team can develop on the fly and not get left behind. Be thankful for that. For all we know, the Broncos will get better with each passing week and, by the time the playoffs roll around, be ready for prime time.

As it stands, they have some work to do. It all starts with ... better starts. The Broncos must stop playing from behind. That means Demaryius Thomas needs to not fumble away opening drive scores, as he has the past two weeks. That means that the defense needs to stop teams on third and long. That means that the special teams has to start making some magic happen. Hopefully those things will come together.

Meanwhile, the Broncos are right on schedule. 2-3 is the record they should have. If they win next week they will be 3-3 with a half-game lead on San Diego in division and a much, much softer schedule ahead.

The Loss to the Patriots was predictable. It's acceptable. There's no need for concern in Broncos Country.

All of the hype leading up to this weeks clash between the Broncos and the Patriots has surrounded the quarterbacks. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are buddies, but they're rivals, and it's been awhile since they went head-to-head.

Still, the Broncos will try their best to take the QBs out of the equation early. Look for Mike McCoy to call a conservative game and try to keep possession of the ball in the first half.

Also look for McCoy's approach to fail miserably.

The Patriots will score quickly and easily, jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

McCoy will be forced to turn the game over to Manning. He will bring the Broncos back into the game almost as quickly as McCoy took them out of it. They'll trail 21-14 at the half.

After the Broncos first second-half posession, the score will be 21-21. The rest of the game will be a slugfest.

Each team will turn the ball over at least once. The energy and the drama will be high. This will be the best game of the week in the NFL.

Ultimately, the Patriots will have too much for the Broncos, who will lose - but with their heads held high.

Final score: Broncos 31, Patriots 38.

The Broncos don't need to beat the Patriots - and that's what worries me.

I'm not ready for my game prediction yet. That'll come tomorrow. But I am a bit concerned that John Fox has it in the back of his mind that fans see this as a "wouldn't it be nice" game. If John Fox sees it that way, even sub-consciously, it's likely that his coaches and his players do too.

The Broncos need to want this game.

It's not a "must win. It's a "If you win it you are for real" game.

If the Broncos go in and beat the Patriots the world will be talking Broncos like never before. Peyton Manning will be Peyton Manning again. Jason Whitlock will choke on a Twinkie.

But, if they lose 54-to-whatever to Brady and Co. the egg will be back all over their faces and the Oakland win will be just a memory.

Everybody will be talking about the schedule while the Chargers go into New Orleans and probably beat the Saints. Two back in the AFC West.

Worse, Josh McDaniels can walk away smiling. We want to see him throw shit.

@ New England isn't a must-win game. It's a game the Broncos need to win, though. They owe it to the fans.

Heading into week five of the NFL season the real Broncos are 2-2. Not bad. Not good.

Heading into week five of the Fantasy season, the Broncos' record jives with the individual performances of their players.

I took a look at where our hometown hereos stand in terms of fantasy rankings in the South Stands Denver Fantasy Football League .

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