Beat the Hawks or bust for Denver.

Read any Denver columnist this week or this morning. Civic pride, personal pride, SB 48 banner flying in the rafters, Must play physical, even if Denver loses it needs to be close...these are just a few of the things Denver players and coaches are hearing as ambient noise in the Denver market this week. Seattle may be treating this as another championship week, but Denver is treating this like a playoff game.

In my life, I have never seen a team be purpose built in the off season to try and beat another team...in a different conference. Ward and Talib and Ware were acquired through some kind of cap voodoo so that Denver could "toughen up" the D. "35" was the Bronco mantra for the offseason, fer chrissake. A few Denver players have been cautioning that this is just another game, but how can they really feel that way when they have been using last season's game as the motivation to improve?

How will that affect the game? I expect Percy better keep his head on a swivel. I expect Denver to target the jet sweep like crazy. At least early in the game, I expect Denver to do a good job of swarming to the ball. Hopefully we have a good plan to take advantage of the aggressiveness. I think we will.

43-8. And Seattle left points on the field. Good luck Denver, you're gonna need it.

I agree Scotte. I think we will fake that jet sweep a couple times and RW will make them pay.

They are putting a lot of pressure on themselves at 2-0. The pressure is on us in my opinion and I fully expect a closer game this go-around. However, I also thought that back on Feb. 2nd.

I still think the pressure is more on us.

Most expect Denver to lose regardless of their offseason reconstruction. Yes, they are 2-0. But no one will be surprised when a great QB loses at the Clink. Its what we do. If we win, it will be par for the course. The only bright side will be, you wont hear "If it was at a neutral site," because well, we saw that happen.

However, if Seattle loses, they go 1-2. They suffer a home loss which will make the news just for that alone. Denver will become the consensus Superbowl favorite. And at that point, no one would blame anyone for saying that.

Yes, Denver is taking this game extremely serious. But I would hope we take it the same way as well. We have more to lose here then they do.

If they are, then they've already lost. Manning adapts poorly to game circumstances in the playoffs.

If the roles were reversed, we'd be thinking the same way, and we'd expect the team to conduct themselves in the same way.

I love football.

Largent80":20m6zhjl said:

I agree Scotte. I think we will fake that jet sweep a couple times and RW will make them pay.....

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I think Beast will make them pay on a quick handoff straight up the gut while their entire D goes for the fake jet sweep to Percy. This is gonna make Pot Roast look more like Shredded Beef.

Agree with Scotte.

It's interesting: on the point of their team being built to beat our team...it makes sense. They blew through the AFC last year, there wasn't a lot of games that were even close. The Broncos aren't too worried about the AFC. But it doesn't to any good when you get to the end of the road, and this Hawks team is waiting for you to rip you apart again.

I think more pressure is on them. I don't think our players feel much pressure at home, to be honest. When you play a team and say things like "at the very least, we have to keep it compeititive" then in a part of your mind, you've already lost. You're already planning contingencies for adversity and setting secondary goals.

The key for us is going to be containing their pass rush on the edge. At the very least, Okung needs to neutralize his man without help, allowing us to help Britt if needed. That's going to be the biggest difference from the last time we played them. Our interior OL played very well against GB, decent against SD (other than a few pass pro gaffes), but I don't know enough about Denver's interior OL to know whether or not we can own them up the middle. We had problems with that in the SB.

Denver got stung with the jet sweep in the SB, and I feel we overplayed it at SD, so I want to say Bevell will use that in a variety of fakes. I would honestly like to see Richardson run a jet sweep and see how that works. I do feel we can get some outside zone reads against Miller and Ware.

I don't think Denver's secondary is good enough to hang with our WRs. I see Kearse and Baldwin having big games, unless Wilson zones in on Harvin (I don't see him using that crutch).

I think Welker abuses Burley a bit. I look to see Sherman shutting his guy down out of pride. If Maxwell and Chancellor have good games, I think the LOB dominates again. D. Thomas had a good game against us in the SB, but we've proven than one guy can have a good game and not beat us. Welker will get numbers, but it won't be a huge impact.

I'm still calling it 27-24, but I wouldn't be surprised if we win it by 2 TD. As long as we win the t/o battle (or it's even), things can go wrong and we'll still win a close game. If a bunch of things go right, it won't be close again.

Any word on Tharold Simon? I knew SD would go after Burley with Gates and the slot receivers but they don't have the speed and depth there that Denver does.

That's our weakness and its a scary one. I can see Denver keeping us on the field way too long.

I think, in the end, the pressure will get to Manning. Our boys are gonna be hyped out of their minds. So I'm not too worried.

Trenchbroom":x572cekf said:

If the roles were reversed, we'd be thinking the same way, and we'd expect the team to conduct themselves in the same way.

I love football.

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I can't agree with this as it conflicts with Pete's approach. Every game is a championship game.

Not all Broncos fans think that way. There is an 11 page thread on Broncos Country about how this game isn't that important, and most of the posters on that thread agree with the premise.

BlueTalon":2q26opfy said:

Not all Broncos fans think that way. There is an 11 page thread on Broncos Country about how this game isn't that important, and most of the posters on that thread agree with the premise.

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Well of course. They are setting up the excuse train early. Knowing the game wont be easy, they can claim it doesnt matter early and move on from it.

Hmmm. Bust.

I live in Denver. many fans here expected to lose this game.

in your house it went to overtime, so who knows what happens if this game in Denver. Hats off, Seattle played a hech of a game. Wilson only threw for 258 and 2 TDs, which isn't all that impressive compared to other QB performances today, but boy oh boy is he smart and makes great plays when his team needs him. nice scrambles there in OT for the win.

Again, being that the game was in Seattle, many Broncos fans did not expect to win this game. Don't look at a few Broncos forums and assume that millions of Broncos fans thought they'd win this game. I did not think Denver would win this one.

Is Russell Wilson a game manager? Absolutely not. Does Russell Wilson benefit greatly from having literally the best defense in the NFL since the 1985 Bears? Absolutely he does.

Great game, good luck, and maybe see you in February!

youngchew":38anb43r said:

I live in Denver. many fans here expected to lose this game.

in your house it went to overtime, so who knows what happens if this game in Denver. Hats off, Seattle played a hech of a game. Wilson only threw for 258 and 2 TDs, which isn't all that impressive compared to other QB performances today, but boy oh boy is he smart and makes great plays when his team needs him. nice scrambles there in OT for the win.

Again, being that the game was in Seattle, many Broncos fans did not expect to win this game. Don't look at a few Broncos forums and assume that millions of Broncos fans thought they'd win this game. I did not think Denver would win this one.

Is Russell Wilson a game manager? Absolutely not. Does Russell Wilson benefit greatly from having literally the best defense in the NFL since the 1985 Bears? Absolutely he does.

Great game, good luck, and maybe see you in February!

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So you talked to a million fans? Because you say we cant assume the fanbase based on a few from the forums. But you talk about the people you talked too in Denver. How many different fans did you converse with? Close to a million i assume.

youngchew":uni81hqi said:

I live in Denver. many fans here expected to lose this game.

in your house it went to overtime, so who knows what happens if this game in Denver. Hats off, Seattle played a hech of a game. Wilson only threw for 258 and 2 TDs, which isn't all that impressive compared to other QB performances today, but boy oh boy is he smart and makes great plays when his team needs him. nice scrambles there in OT for the win.

Again, being that the game was in Seattle, many Broncos fans did not expect to win this game. Don't look at a few Broncos forums and assume that millions of Broncos fans thought they'd win this game. I did not think Denver would win this one.

Is Russell Wilson a game manager? Absolutely not. Does Russell Wilson benefit greatly from having literally the best defense in the NFL since the 1985 Bears? Absolutely he does.

Great game, good luck, and maybe see you in February!

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Does the defense, who gave up a TD which sent the game to OT, benefit from having Russell Wilson bail them out in OT?

Absolutely they do. He saved them from embarrassment.

BlueTalon":1965h0rr said:

Not all Broncos fans think that way. There is an 11 page thread on Broncos Country about how this game isn't that important, and most of the posters on that thread agree with the premise.

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This game really wasn't the most important for either team given the non-conference aspect and it being early in the season. It's important in the way that every win is important, but it certainly doesn't set them up badly for the rest of the season or have a large potential to change playoff tiebreakers.

Cartire":13a1oswm said:

So you talked to a million fans? Because you say we cant assume the fanbase based on a few from the forums. But you talk about the people you talked too in Denver. How many different fans did you converse with? Close to a million i assume.

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a million? nah. 10-15 maybe...LOL

but most Bronco radio stations anticipated/predicted a loss. and lose we did.

Denver played a good game. Nothing else to be said.

youngchew":39n5i9bz said:

I live in Denver. many fans here expected to lose this game.

in your house it went to overtime, so who knows what happens if this game in Denver. Hats off, Seattle played a hech of a game. Wilson only threw for 258 and 2 TDs, which isn't all that impressive compared to other QB performances today, but boy oh boy is he smart and makes great plays when his team needs him. nice scrambles there in OT for the win.

Again, being that the game was in Seattle, many Broncos fans did not expect to win this game. Don't look at a few Broncos forums and assume that millions of Broncos fans thought they'd win this game. I did not think Denver would win this one.

Is Russell Wilson a game manager? Absolutely not. Does Russell Wilson benefit greatly from having literally the best defense in the NFL since the 1985 Bears? Absolutely he does.

Great game, good luck, and maybe see you in February!

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Your return game still sucks and your running game is a joke, just like Indianapolis. Defense is better with your starters in but not good enough.

And of course you expected Denver to win, you're a Broncos fan and therefore you don't get enough oxygen to your brain, being a mile high and all. Add to that the pot and it makes a semi-wacky fan base completely delusional.

Trot on home donkey.

If you're wondering where all the vitriol comes from, it's watching the original horse-toothed jackass, Elway, light us up all thse years and the enduring smugness of the Broncos fan. Making up for lost time...

:th2thumbs: