Passing Judgment: Broncos 17 - Chiefs 10

Runningback Knowshon Moreno
hurdling Brandon Flowers
before tearing his ACL (Denver Broncos)

Bad news: the Broncos placed third-year runningback Knowshon Moreno on Injured Reserve, ending his season.

Moreno, who usually has his best games against the Chiefs (also at the Chiefs), was well on his way to another one with 52 yards on four carries before going down with with what turned out to be a torn ACL.

Such has been the theme for Moreno in his three seasons with the Broncos. Oft-injured and unable to make the most of his opportunities, Moreno will have surgery to repair the torn ligament.

As a Georgia student (soon to be alumnus), I hope this isn't the end of Moreno's time as a Bronco. I hope he has a swift and successful recovery. Perhaps Willis McGahee can give him some advice and hope as far as recovering from a season ending, career threatening injury.

On to the good news.

Passing Judgement: Good Guys 38 - Raiders 24

Who says the NFL is a passing league?

The Broncos went into O.co Coliseum the Black Hole Sunday and beat the Raiders at their game, by pounding the rock.

Pounding may not be  the right word, trickeration might be. The Broncos did most of their damage with a heavy dose of read-option, an offensive scheme more commonly found in college football. Pro offenses generally stay away from all forms of option offense because it leaves the team's most important position—quarterback—at risk.

Denver finished the game with 299 yards rushing. With some offensive creativity, the Broncos have figured out a run game, led by 30-year-old Willis McGahee. McGahee has 623 yards rushing on the season, averaging 5.1 yards a carry.

Finally! The Broncos can run again.

Running wild, the Denver Tebows have struggled passing the ball. Tebow is 45 of 97 passing for 536 yards and 6 touchdowns, with only 1 interception. That said, Tebow has shown some improvement from his erratic start against Miami. Only 6 of 16 passing through the first half of Sundays game, Tebow was 4 of 5 in the third quarter and didn't attempt a pass in the final quarter.

It's fair to say the Broncos caught the Raiders by surprise with the read-option attack. This weekend's game against the Cheifs and future weeks will show whether the Broncos can sustain an offense based on the read-option.

Personally, I like it. I'm glad the coaching staff is letting Tebow get comfortable in running an offense similar to what he ran at some podunk college that won't be named on this blog. I hope they can sustain it long enough to help Tebow progress and be comfortable running an NFL offense.

Throwing the ball, Tebow did show—I thought—some improvement. Both of his touchdown passes were accurately, well-timed throws. The pass to Eddie Royal was my favorite. Tebow did a good job of moving in the pocket, setting his feet and finding a wide open receiver with a nice pass (compared to some of his frantic wobblers).

I hope passes like these are the trend going forward. Maybe it's starting to click for Tebow, maybe not. Stay tuned to find out. He has to continue to be accurate in order to have a chance to remain the starter beyond this season.

Passing Judgement: Broncos 18 - Miami 15

Wow.

The first 55 minutes of the game was the worst Broncos performance I have ever seen. The last 5 minutes and overtime? Ridiculously magnificent is probably the best way to describe it.

By now you've probably heard that the Broncos became the first team to overcome a 15 point deficit with only 3 minutes remaining. Quarterback Tim Tebow looked absolutely awful for the vast majority of the game. He must just live to be down two touchdowns with only a few minutes left.

Lloyd Traded to St. Louis

The Broncos brass pulled the trigger on the recently rumored trade of pro-bowl wideout Brandon Lloyd. This afternoon Lloyd was dealt to St. Louis for what will be a 5th round pick in the 2012 draft. Officially, it's a conditional 6th round pick, but will be a 5th as long as Lloyd catches 30 or more passes the rest of the season.

Although I was surprised when it was rumored and then confirmed that the Broncos were shopping Lloyd, I think it's a good move for the future which is all Denver is playing for at this point. A free agent at the end of the year, Lloyd would have entered free agency due to the youth Denver has at the position, so I like the move to get value for a player that would have left the team anyway.

San Francisco and Carolina were the teams supposedly interested in Lloyd along with St. Louis but the Rams got the deal done with, I imagine, immense begging support from Rams offensive coordinator and former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, who was responsible for bringing Lloyd to Denver. Lloyd lead the league in receiving yards last season while earning a pro-bowl appearance in McDaniels' offensive system.

Call it wishful thinking, but maybe the Lloyd trade speaks to the coaches beliefs about Demaryius Thomas' health. Today was only his third practice since last season, but the former first round pick has elite size and speed. IF he can stay healthy, Denver's offense won't miss a beat at the receiver position and Thomas could be the best deep-threat, red-zone target Tim Tebow could hope for.

Tebow, Thomas, and wideout Eric Decker were all drafted last season to be, what Denver fans hope will be, the offensive nucleus for the foreseeable future. With Lloyd now in St. Louis, the future is now. We'll learn a lot about Thomas and Tebow. If they can't get it done it won't be because they didn't work at it. Decker has already solidified himself in the starting lineup and shown he can play this game.

We'll also learn a lot about Josh McDaniels. Will Lloyd help his league-worst (scoring) offense? More importantly (to me), did he draft some talent at the skill positions or are these guys the latest additions to the laundry list of mistakes McDaniels made as head coach of the Broncos?

Passing Judgement: Starting Tim Tebow Edition

John Fox informed the team this morning that Tim Tebow will start the Broncos' next game against the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 23.

I'm pretty sure fans in Denver would have burnt the city to the ground if Fox instead informed the team this morning that Orton was still his quarterback or gives them the best chance to win. Tebow, however ugly his statistics are to this point, puts the team in a position to win.

In my last post, I outlined why Fox needed to stick with Tebow going forward. Because this is the Fox administration's first year in Denver, nobody will hold him accountable for what Tebow does on the field. The current regime inherited Tebow, and the Broncos are in a state of flux/rebuilding anyway.

If Tebow makes the most of this opportunity and gets at least a few wins under his belt while gaining the game experience he needs, the team could have its quarterback. If not, Denver will be in position to draft Andrew Luck, Landry Jones, or one of the other signal callers entering the draft in April.

Starting Tebow is the right move. He's the only quarterback the Broncos are scheduled to pay next year, and he's mostly an unknown commodity at the NFL level. Give him a chance to learn and get better. If it doesn't pay off, move on with someone else next year.

As for me, I think it'll work out.

Adjust your clocks to Tebow Standard Time

I didn't think John Fox had it in him. Lo, and behold! Tim Tebow cometh.

In maybe his worst half of football since coming to Denver, Kyle Orton went 6 for 13 passing for 34 yards and a pick (his signature move this season) and was benched after halftime in favor of Tebow. 

I thought that Fox's stubbornness confidence in Orton meant that Tebow wouldn't see any playing time unless Orton got hurt at some point this season. That was the only way he got playing time last season. Truth is, Kyle Orton is not the same guy without Josh McDaniels. Fine by me, but not helping Orton's case for that long term deal he thinks he's entitled to when he hits the free agent market this upcoming offseason.

Orton has eight turnovers in just four and a half games. Most of these turnovers have come at the worst possible time (as you can read in previous blogs). With a 6-22 record in his last 28 starts, I was under the impression that Orton would have to sustain some type of injury in order for someone else to get a shot. Why else would a quarterback with that record continue to play?

Stats are for Losers

Kyle Orton did throw for over 300 yards Monday night. See what I mean?

Denver fans have grown accustomed to seeing Orton put up respectable numbers in losses. Now 11-18 as Denver's starting quarterback, I'm not impressed with any numbers Orton puts up.

I must be alone. In the limited analysis of the Broncos Raiders game from Monday, which Denver lost 23-20, commentators are very quick to jump on the fact that Orton did in fact throw for more than 300 yards. It's also well documented that he was on pace to throw for almost 5000 yards last season before slowing down and then sitting the last 3 games. Oh, and he was 3-10.