Orange Colored Glasses: Irsay got it right
“Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth praised the Indy secondary for clamping down on Denver’s receivers, but they were only being deferent. Manning’s passes were lumpy.”
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The Kansas City Chiefs, who squeaked out a win today at home versus Case Keenum and the Houston Texans, 17-16, are ensconced in first place in the AFC West at a comfortable 7-0. That’s the real bummer about the way things played out today in Broncos Country.
The Orange and Blue are seated second at 6-1 after suffering their first loss – on national TV – to Andrew Luck and the now 5-2 Indianapolis Colts in a game that Denver could have taken over in the fourth quarter and didn’t.
But, as badly as it felt to see the Broncos make dozens in mistakes that killed their own momentum, it felt even worse knowing that Jim Irsay got it right. He turned up the intensity on an otherwise typical regular season tilt by at once placing the burden of history on Peyton Manning’s performance and motivating Andrew Luck to usher in an era of his own in Indianapolis.
Manning got hot late in the second half, but for three periods he looked lost. Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth praised the Indy secondary for clamping down on Denver’s receivers, but they were only being deferent. Manning’s passes were lumpy. If anything the Broncos were lucky that number eighteen didn’t cause more turnovers than he did. Every time Colquitt trotted on the field to punt Manning shook his head on the sidelines, Manninfaced. Mark Kiszla said on Twitter “Even Peyton feels self doubt.”
Doubt was planted, whether by Jim Irsay or by the Indy defense, and the Broncos started slowly. Early in the second half they shot themselves in the foot with a series of personal conduct penalties and it began to feel as thought the game was over. The score was 33-17 heading onto the final period.
A third quarter team shouldn’t wait until the fourth quarter to make its move. The Broncos tried, but they could not complete the late come back despite back-to-back touchdowns, bringing them to within six points of the Colts, who had been dominant all evening.
A Ronnie Hillman fumble – which may or may have been actually a fumble – basically ended Denver’s night, but Manning still had a turnover left in him, too. And there was an onside kick and so on and so on.
The bottom line: the Broncos lost. Final score: Colts 39, Broncos 33. The Broncos live to fight another day. We fans will just have to move forward knowing that what the Chiefs are doing is unsustainable and that the Broncos remain the top team in the AFC despite this setback.
Every team not from Kansas City has had its weaknesses exposed. Every team but the Chiefs has had a loss. Broncos included.
They prepare for Washington, who comes into Denver hot next Sunday, looking to keep pace with Dallas and Philadelphia with a resurgent RGIII at the helm. The Broncos are no lock to win the last game before their bye, but they had better. Kansas City is hosting Cleveland.
Yeah.
