TotalBroncos

The Kansas City Chiefs’ search for normalcy may go on for much longer than the remaining NFL schedule.

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Chiefs-Browns Preview (The Associated Press)

When the 1-2 Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 37-6 , on September 30, it was the first time all season that Peyton Manning and the Denver offense really got into sync. Since then, Manning’s team lost a game to the New England Patriots, and responded to that setback by rolling off seven straight wins. Now, the 9-3 Broncos have clinched the AFC West, and they’re as dangerous as any team in the NFL. Manning is playing as well as he ever has, and a resurgent defense is surprising all opponents. But it was that first win over the Raiders that got the ball rolling. Denver didn’t punt once, and Manning completed 78 percent of his passes against a Raaiders defense that was supposed to be much better than it’s been all season — under the supervision of current head coach and former Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. “My plan was to play fast,” Manning said after that game. “We went no-huddle predominately the whole game. In the second quarter, we kept getting some penalties, and anytime you have penalties or incompletions, it sort of takes away the rhythm of playing fast. The referees have to spot the ball, you have to walk the yardage back. So we were kind of hurting ourselves. I know I talked about last week finding a week for the offense, defense and special teams to be all playing well at the same time and feeding off of each other. We certainly did that.” They certainly did. All Allen could do was to step back and admire the team that had just waxed his new squad. “They outcoached us, they outplayed us, they beat us in every phase of the game, so there’s not a lot of positive you can take from it,” Allen said. “We’ve got to go back and go to work. We’ve got the bye week coming up so we’re going to evaluate what we’re doing schematically, what we’re doing personnel-wise and we’ve got to come up with a way to play better.” So far, no good. The Raiders have fallen as far as the Broncos have ascended since then. They’ve lost their last five games, and at 3-9, there are a great many questioned to be answered regarding the franchise’s future. Things get even more complicated when the two teams meet up for a rematch at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum, Allen will be dealing with the fact that his father passed away on Tuesday in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Allen left the team, but will be on the sidelines Thursday night. “[Offensive coordinator Greg] Knapp stepped in and filled in and did a phenomenal job and took charge of meetings the way D.A. does and handled practice the same way D.A. does,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “It’s a challenge. We understand he needs some time away and a chance to be with his family.” Broncos head coach John Fox, who knows Allen from their work together in Denver last season, certainly sympathized. “I just want to pass on our condolences to Dennis Allen and his family on the passing of his father, Grady,” Fox said on Tuesday. “Dennis was a good friend, was on the staff here a year ago. Most everybody here got a chance to meet his dad and so our well wishes and thoughts and prayers are with the Allen family.” Fox also said that the Broncos organization will be involved in the memorial services, bringing a human touch to one of the NFL’s most bitter rivalries. On the field, Denver seems to have all the advantages.

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TNF Preview: Broncos put seven-game winning streak on the line against declining Raiders (Shutdown Corner)

DENVER (CBS4/AP) – Former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Denver Bronco John Lynch called last week’s game and really came away impressed with how the Broncos have improved since the beginning of the season. “The Broncos lost to the three teams I have in front of them right now, but are a much better team now and I would like their chances versus all of them,” Lynch wrote after the game. Lynch, who had a neck surgery during his NFL career, said he thinks it’s pretty remarkable Peyton Manning is playing so well coming off of four neck surgeries. “I don’t think he’s getting enough credit for that part of it because doctors these days have a funny way of saying it’s a simple, easy surgery. There’s no simple, easy surgery; particularly when it’s up there,” Lynch said. “I know what he went through, it’s a waiting game for those nerves and things to heal up.” Lynch said the good thing about Manning is that he continues to feel better each week. “I remember going through that my first year back. Each week you felt a little bit better, and with that grows confidence,” he said. “I look at his numbers, and just numbers-wise they’re very comparable to his MVP seasons, which he’s had four of them. So it’s extremely impressive, what he’s doing.” Lynch is also impressed with the Broncos’ defense. “They’ve got some special players, first and foremost,” he said. “Watching Von Miller, I was amazed with him last year. He’s taken a big leap this year. You’re talking about one of the great players in this league … he makes an impact on each and every game that he plays in.” He said everyone wants to focus on Champ Bailey and the step that he’s lost. Lynch doesn’t see it that way. “I’d take Champ Bailey, where he’s at now, over 99 percent of the corners and defensive players in this league … he’s in that category.” Here are a few other comments about the Broncos from members of the national media: Chris Berman (ESPN, 5) – Peyton Manning wins another division title, just a different division. Clifton Brown (Sporting News, 3) – Peyton Manning’s first season as a Bronco is going just fine. Rich Gannon (CBS Sports/SiriusXM NFL Radio, 3) – A top 3 defense and a QB who’s having an MVP-type season – not a bad combination. Bob Glauber (Newsday, 4) – Broncos clinch the division behind the second-most popular quarterback in team history, the one brought in by the most popular. Congratulations to Peyton Manning and John Elway. Well earned. Rick Gosselin (Dallas Morning News, 3) – The two most balanced teams in the NFL are the Texans and Broncos. They are the only teams that rank in the top 10 in both offense and defense. Clark Judge (CBSSports.com, 3) – They can run. They can play defense. They have Peyton Manning. And they can’t lose. Yeah, I’d say the Broncos are complete. Ira Kaufman (Tampa Tribune, 4) – Peyton Manning: As good as he ever was, maybe as good as there’s ever been. Pat Kirwan (SiriusXM NFL Radio/CBSSports.com, 4) – They may be the most complete team if Knowshon Moreno can keep getting better as a runner. The pass rush is a problem for any team in the NFL. Alex Marvez (Foxsports.com, 3) – Yeah, that Peyton Manning signing worked out all right. The Broncos have already clinched the AFC West. Dan Pompei (Chicago Tribune, 2) – As if having Peyton Manning doesn’t give them enough of an offensive advantage, now they have Mitch Unrein, too. (TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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John Lynch Impressed With Manning, Denver Defense

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are preparing for their toughest opponent in a season in which seven of their nine wins have come against teams with losing records.

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Patriots prepare for Texans, toughest foe of year (The Associated Press)

Even before he became an NFL player in 2011, Carolina Panther quarterback Cam Newton seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way. In many of his pre-draft scouting reports, Newton was taken to task for what some felt was an overall attitude of entitlement. That’s unusual, because such reports generally focus on what players do on the field unless there are clear red flags. Despite those concerns, the Panthers took him with the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, and Newton went on to set several rookie records in one of the more impressive first-year performances by any NFL quarterback. That season got him to the Pro Bowl, and according to a report by CBS’s Pete Prisco , there were some players on the AFC side who wished Newton had stayed home. As Prisco writes, it’s highly unusual for a quarterback to feel a constant pass rush in a Pro Bowl game — everybody understands that it’s an exhibition, and the focus is on making sure nobody gets hurt. But many AFC defenders, including Houston Texans defensive end Antonio Smith and Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller, went out of their way to give Newton some serious hazing in the pocket. And as Prisco now reveals, the source of that pressure was the fact that the AFC players were seriously underwhelmed with Newton’s demeanor. “He was a total [expletive],” one AFC player told Prisco. “Who did he think he was? He acted like the big [expletive]. Here he was at his first game and he acted like he was the star. Guys didn’t like that.” Various players told Prisco that Newton refused one player’s request for an autograph and a picture for his children at a pregame function, and that at one point, Newton somehow “dissed” Ray Lewis. Lewis denied that happened, but others told Prisco that it did. This just in: “Dissing” Ray Lewis is a very bad idea for any offensive player. “That’s the godfather there,” one player told Prisco. “Can you believe he did that?”

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Cam Newton’s attitude didn’t win him any friends at the Pro Bowl (Shutdown Corner)