Shut Her Down - We Failed

It doesn't matter if your defense is #1 when they repeatedly fail late in the game. Denver's defense looked great against San Diego for two quarters. It looked miserable for one quarter. And then the fourth quarter started and Denver become 100% average. When Jake Plummer is your starter, your defense cannot be average in the fourth quarter. You don't win games that way. You don't win the division that way. And you certainly don't win the Super Bowl that way.

John Madden says a lot of ridiculous things, but he said one thing during the game that was dead-on. Late in the fourth when the Broncos were trailing and had a choice to punt or go for it on fourth down, John Madden said that you only go for it if you don't trust your defense. The Broncos went for it. Mistake Jake threw an interception that essentially ended the game. The Broncos lost the game on that call, and, what's worse, the Broncos basically ended the season on that call. Their QB is obviously incapable of being an accurate passer with good decision-making skills. But the defense, supposedly the pride of the orange and blue, appears to be incapable of stopping teams late in the game. And if you're trying to ride your D to the Super Bowl, you might as well call it quits right now and go back to the drawing board.

The season is more than half-way finished and Denver is vulnerable. After tonight's game, everyone will know how to beat Denver's vaunted D - mix the pass and the run late in the game and the Broncos will fall apart. Some might say that Peyton Manning was responsible for the last Broncos loss, but Indy won because the Broncos couldn't stop the run on 2nd or 3rd and 4. San Diego just copied Indy. Sure LT had a great game, but Phillip Rivers was the guy who won it. He just made a few passes when the defense slowed down LT. The Chargers moved the ball effortlessly, both on the ground and in the air. Denver was helpless to stop them. The defense didn't do it.

Jake sucks - it's a given. The running game is effective, but certainly not dominant as in years past. Elam's on his last legs and Ernster is mediocre. So this was supposed to be the year of defense. Shanahan has been preaching scoring defense for the last three seasons. Tonight was the proving ground. Test failed. When you can't trust your defense, you might as well go home.