I did not get to watch all of this game, and based on what I did see, I'm actually glad. Two weeks ago when we lost to KC, it was easy to see what killed us, and none was all that shocking.
We had to start Boller, and we all knew a heavy load of Run-DMC was gonna be the plan. Then he went down early. Bush and TJ looked good, but as we fell behind the need to rely on Boller really was the end, no matter how much I may have fought that emotion at the time. Then at the half we put it to Carson, and all I wanted to see was him getting some reps. And in my most honest assessment, he didn't look as bad as his stat line would indicate. His first pick was horrible, no argument there. But his second one was off the hands of the WR, and the third was a desperation play in garbage time. I also saw 3-4 horrific drops made by our receiving corps. All in all, he didn't look amazing, but having only been active for 3 days and only knowing 15 plays...I thought he looked good.
Fast forward through the bye week and we have Denver and Tebow coming into the black hole. My expectations coming in were really high, even with McFadden out. So what happened?
I first have to put a part of this on Palmer. After two weeks, I don't expect a Peyton level of knowledge of the offense, but I do expect better than a three INT performance...particularly in a close game. Erasing those picks and I think we win this game.
Second, I have to point out how horrible we have been with giving up big plays. I counted 7 (8 if you count the punt return) plays of greater than 20 yards. I could almost excuse a couple big pass plays, but 4 runs over 20? That is an embarassment. I've heard a LOT of good stuff from the media about our defensive front, but this problem has been systemic from what I've seen. We've done a good job of pressuring the QB this year, but our run defense has struggled, and our secondary has been bad.
Finally, and it can't be overstated. Fifteen penalties. Fifteen?!?! WTF Hue. I mean, I know we're perenially contenders for the most yellow thrown, but this is ridiculous. In the old days, I always felt like the bulk of our penalties were of the aggressive, over the top variety. Now it's one stupid penalty after the other. Whether it's the delay of game and then the next play a 12 men penalty. Or Taiwan with two consecutive FG penalties that gave Denver a first down. We WILL NOT become a competitive football team until Hue gets a hold on this.
So here we are 4-4, tied at the top (sort of) with a crack at SD on Thursday to keep ourselves there. But will we? I doubt it. The bolts didn't look great today, but they went toe to toe against the only undefeated team left in the league and despite another sketchy performance by Rivers were in it right up to the end. Here's the number that scares me. 7-141-3. That's V-Jax line with the likes of Charles Woodson on the defense. Or maybe the 8-96-1 that Gates put up. If we can't stop Tebow-Royal, how can we match up on these two. I don't like to be defeatist, but Denver's scheme is painfully obvious and we struggled to defend it. My hope here is that Hue starts to focus on the basics, and starts to make an impact on the penalty front.
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