Broncos keep winning ugly, Chiefs just playing ugly

Article by Mark Brown

 

Denver Broncos 26 – 23 Cleveland Browns

 

Manning on the decline? – The Defense shines

 

I know last week I said I could only see a Super Bowl berth for my beloved Broncos and my heart tells me that that hasn’t changed but crikey they made me sweat this week and I let out a huge sign of relief when the game finished.  How long the Broncos can keep relying on the fantastic defense to keep edging past opponents it hard to say  but I am starting to get the feeling that the end is nigh!!

 

Peyton Manning is all over the place at the moment, one week ok, one week average and one week bad.  This week he was the latter.  There are rumblings by certain experts that just maybe his arm is on the wane and that maybe he can see retirement staring him squaring in the face.  I’m not sure how true that is – haven’t we been here before with a certain Mr. Brady (who by the way at the same age as Manning is having a season Manning can only wish for at the moment)?

 

Manning threw three interceptions in this one, had two consecutive sacks and at times relied too heavily on his defense to bail him out.  Some would say “Hey it’s a team game after all – we relied on Peyton last year now its his turn”  He manages 26 of 48 for 290 yards, not a bad average but lets be honest we are talking about the great Peyton Manning here, one of the all time greats.  On the plus side he did manage a sublime 75 yarder to Emmanuel Sanders for Denver’s only touchdown of the game.  As is becoming the norm with Denver this season this was another tight one just as the scoring ratio suggests.

 

Browns Quarterback Josh McCown managed 20 of 39 for 213 yards and two touchdowns but just as the Browns looked like taking the win he threw a cross field ball that was picked off by Denver’s Safety David Burton Jr and that’s what ultimately turned the game in favour of Denver.  The game went in to overtime and when Manning led the Bronco’s from their own 12 yard line to the Cleveland 16 up stepped Brandon McManus with a game winning 34 yard field goal.

 

Whether Manning is finished is still open to debate, personally I think he is allowed one off season in what has been an illustrious career so far but what isn’t up for debate is that Denver can’t keep relying on their Defense to bail them out and certainly not with the Packers up next (another 6-0 team).  Let’s hope Manning uses his bye week productively and gets rid of whatever demons are troubling him in time to meet Green Bay in the next game.

 

Next up for the Broncos the Green Bay Packers Monday 2^nd November

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Diego Chargers 20 – 27 Green Bay Packers

 

Heartbreak as injuries cost the Chargers dearly in this one

 

Another Chargers loss I hear you say? And yes you would be right but it was the manner of this defeat that will heat Rivers and co as they consider life on 2-4 for the season.  This was sheer heartbreak for San Diego as it came right in the dying seconds.  This was about as close as anyone has come to spoiling Green Bay’s perfect start to the season so far.

 

The Chargers worked hard all game and held up well without three starting defense men and you could tell how much the win meant to Green Bay’s quarterback Rodgers afterwards  “That was tough – we don’t have to win pretty every week although we would like to”

 

Chargers quarterback Rivers was even more distraught afterwards telling waiting reporters “Gosh, I don’t know.  You’ve got to laugh to keep from crying – Another one that’s tough – we should have scored 40 but we didn’t and that’s what’s frustrating because our defense played their tail off” The old saying goes that you make your own luck in football but I don’t fall in with that way of thinking, great players usually make the difference but on this occasion as with the Broncos v Browns, Green Bay rode their luck and eventually pulled it off.  Had the Chargers had a fully fit roster and played like that I think the Packers might just have been on 5-1 this week.

 

Next up for the Chargers is the Raiders on 25^th October

 

 

 

Kansas City Chiefs 10 – 16 Minnesota Vikings

 

Another tight one as the Vikings hold out to beat the Chiefs.

 

Alex Smith’s 42 yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson pulled the Chiefs to within three points of the Vikings mid way through the fourth quarter but honestly, Minnesota had done enough, just about, in the early stages of the game to earn the win.

 

Look at how the scoring went and that will tell you all you need to know.  You can’t go three quarters in the NFL without putting points on the board and hope to get a victory.  By the time Smith made that pass the Vikings were looking ragged and you can only but wonder about what might have been if the Chiefs had scored early on.

 

As late as the fourth the Chiefs had started to find their rhythm with five interceptions for 88 yards by Tight End Travis Kelce and had Jamaal Charles’ replacement Charcandrick West not been stopped on fourth and one midway through the fourth who knows what might have happened.  The Chiefs will argue that West’s knee didn’t touch the ground and therefore the play should have stood, however it didn’t.  Shortly after that though, West lost the ball on the Minnesota 38^th with only 4.32 on the clock and that was the catalyst.

“We were confident then but the fumbled killed it for us” He was right because the Vikings were then able to ride it out.

 

Personally I feel the Chiefs should consider themselves unlucky to be were they are this season and they are certainly better than 1-5 suggests because they have played well in some of their games only to come away with nothing and this one was no exception.  However with the Steelers coming up next week they will be mighty lucky not to go 1-6 for the season so far.

 

Next up the Steelers on 25th October.