It isn’t that this loss was more disappointing than the one against the 49ers...it wasn’t. The 49ers are a very injured White Derek Wolfe Jersey , low talent NFL team as it stands today. You can’t say that about the Cleveland Browns of 2018. They aren’t quite an above average team, but they are young, proud, and aggressive on both sides of the ball.I knew we could easily lose this game.But I was really bugged by the outcome of this one. I mean, completely bent. I was ranting to the rest of the fine writers here at MHR about the decision to kick the field goal. I was fighting with Pete about Von and his effort (Pete was right for the record).I was mad...far more than I usually am when my beloved Broncos team loses a close game.I ranted to the wife about it.I ranted to some co-workers as well.So as I prepared to write this tonight, I thought, “What’s bugging you, dude? You aren’t being your normal self. Your inner dude is not abiding at all.”RevelationThis isn’t a big revelation by any means, but the crux of all my emotions about this game comes from understanding with absolute clarity that Vance Joseph is not an NFL head coach. Many of you have known this for well over a year.I probably could have guessed this a year or more ago...but as a person, I’m a forgiver...I’m a believer in chances, and I want to see evidence for myself, not just supposition based off of irrelevant assumptions. Most head coaches need a few really great abilities or talents to be able to hack it at the NFL level.Things like game management, game planning, charisma, motivational vocality, player development, or extreme proficiency at designing either the offense or defense of your team.Vance Joseph has none of those tools at anything close to what I would call “great”.He has some at average level...and a bunch at far below average level.His career in Denver is over and my No Bull take on him is that his career as a NFL head coach is over as well. I’m not even sure he is a competent defensive coordinator at this point.I thought we couldn’t get a worse situation than Josh McDaniels at the head coach position. I honestly think I’d take McDinglewhompus over this joke of a coach at this point.DefenseThe injuries at cornerback were not nearly as devastating as they could have been. Joe Woods used everything he could to keep the defense functioning, and I honestly think as a whole they did a pretty spectacular job.A couple big plays really hurt us, but that’s nothing new and the fact that we didn’t see more big plays to the outside against our safeties playing corner and our 5th and 6th stringers is quite an accomplishment.Front 7Did anyone else notice Von Miller mostly playing passive this game?Sure he did pass rush in obvious situations http://www.authenticsdenverbroncos.com/cheap-garett-bolles-jersey , but he sure didn’t look like a guy giving his everything every play to get to the ball. I’m not going to fault him though...I’d do that too if my boss threw me under a bus to the whole universe in a press conference for something that should have been handled in the locker and meeting rooms. Congrats on the record, Von. We love you and are thankful you are a Bronco!Adam Gotsis is turning into a damned beast up front. The guy was dominating at the line of scrimmage and could have had the game-turning play if only we had an offense / quarterback that was capable.I liked what I saw from Brandon Marshall on the field. I’m one of the guy’s biggest critics, but he was flying around everywhere and was supremely good in pass coverage most of the game.SecondaryLosing Bradley Roby for a cut sucked.Losing Brandon Langley to a concussion sucked too.Getting our new corner who we brought in directly because we were light handed because he couldn’t keep himself from shoving some dude in the helmet was a disgrace. I applaud the effort of the back-end defenders for making it work being so short handed...especially Justin Simmons. I’m not saying he was awesome because he wasn’t...he kinda sucked at times to be honest. But the guy was a champ playing slot corner and gave it his all and that’s all I can ask for from any Bronco.I also really liked what I saw from Will Parks. I think his game has quietly taken a step forward this year. He’s really starting to read the field better and is definitely getting better at timing his play whether he’s crashing down on a runner or defending a pass.What happened to Darian Stewart? The guy’s game has taken a very big step back. He sadly looks like a guy that is running in molasses this year. As a safety, that is a very bad thing in today’s NFL.OffenseI’m not sure how you don’t have your team ready for a Gregg Williams defense. He coaches them aggressive, blitzes often, and loads the box on obvious running situations.Hot routes, play action, and quick timing routes are the order of the day...this is football 101 level stuff for an offensive coordinator.Well, the last play of the game was about everything you need to know about the ability of Bill Musgrave to have his guys ready for the moment. In an obvious blitz situation, with a blitz look, and a blitz on 3rd down right before there was no hot read at any point on the field, the Browns were in essentially cover-0 and Keenum had nowhere to go with the ball.QuarterbacksI feel bad for Case Keenum honestly...he has to realize that this was it. He’s made his big money with us on a two-year contract and now the world knows he’s not even a mediocre NFL QB...at least not with this kind of scheme and personnel.The glaring problem with Keenum over the past couple of weeks has been his inability to get more out of the young players than he has. He seemed even more hesitant than normal to throw the ball against the 49ers, then when his coach put him on blast, he came out and threw a couple of bad picks (and yes, both were bad decisions).He’s just not the guy. He is an NFL quarterback, but not one you want to be your starting option going into a season. He’ll of course be back next year and I’ll cheer for him as our team figures out what they are doing...but I don’t have hope in this guy making things happen.LineThe problems we had last week continued...not to the same level of awful, but the blocking just couldn’t hold up just the same. It isn’t necessarily that they blocked poorly though...many times there were more people coming than the line could block. But what was missing was some really well-blocked plays that allowed some big runs to happen up the middle.At the end of the day, the Broncos ran for a whopping 1.6 ypc. That’s pathetic. That’s on your line or your coaches, depending on the box count.Running BacksMeh and blargh. I love the talent of both our top two rushers in Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman. I believe that both can be special. But they didn’t show much special in this game...not enough to win it anyhow.I will give Davontae Booker some props though. He looked like the best NFL player of the 3 of them with blitz pick-ups and a couple of really nice receptions in the passing game.ReceiversWe got to see more of the young guns in DaeSean Hamilton (led team in targets and receptions) http://www.authenticsdenverbroncos.com/cheap-adam-gotsis-jersey , Tim Patrick (wow...this kid is legit...just needs polishing), Courtland Sutton, and Matt LaCosse. I thought they did a pretty spectacular job outside of a couple of bad drops. I wish the QB could have gotten more out of them though. All of them should feel like 16 points isn’t enough for the effort they put into the game.Special TeamsBooker had what I thought was a pretty darn good return. It is worth a shout-out for sure, but I didn’t see anything there that makes me think he’s a future returner for the team that is going to pop.Final ThoughtsSadly, by this time we all know the Broncos have been eliminated. In the No Bull world I chose to live in, that makes this season a failure. I don’t care if we win two more games or not. I don’t care that it sounds petulant. This is the Denver Broncos and the team we love and cheer for is about success. That means playoff football.I know I’ll still be cheering hard for the players in the next two weeks, but it is a bummer to not have anything to play for other than pride. Still..,screw the faders and the sparklers. I hope we put a 40-burger on both of those teams.Go Broncos.Broncos at Redskins: The No Bull Review The most significant game of the preseason is in the books and Broncos Country was treated to some pretty darn good football from top to bottom.As we inch closer to regular season action, the clouds are starting to part quite a bit about what our team is going to look like and where the problem areas are on the roster. Given that, I’m going to focus this review a little more closely on what I see as the teams strengths and weaknesses.DefenseAgain in this game we saw a weakness in run defense. You wouldn’t know it based on the post-game interviews as the coaches and players all talked like it was a pretty stout outing from the defense, but my eyes told me a very different story.That being said, it is always important to keep in mind the nature of preseason football: vanilla schemes, mix-and-match personnel, and experiments from the coaching staff are the order of the day.So while I point out the flaw, let me say that I’m by no means saying it is a glaring issue.Front 7The best showing of the game from the front 7 belonged to Adam Gotsis. He did it all: 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 QB hit, and a partridge in a pear tree. Honestly, I’m very comfortable with him taking a lot of early snaps or stepping in for Wolfe if there’s an injury. He’s got a ton of game.Domata Peko again stood out to me for his play early on. He’s a beast of a man and on two different plays I saw him occupy and move 2 blockers on the line. It is the kind of thing that oftentimes goes unnoticed Youth Jared Veldheer Jersey , but is the very key to a great pass rush or run stop.Another guy that stood out to me as a guy many in Broncos Country probably aren’t noticing is Demarcus Walker. He had two hits on the QB and was a disruptive force on the interior. He’s shaping into the kind of player many of us thought he would become when we drafted him last yearBradley Chubb got a lot more work in this game. He was in on 陆 a sack, had a couple of QB hits himself, and was mostly up with one down play I noticed against the run. What I’m seeing mostly here is the coaching staff feeding him as much action as possible to get him coached up as quickly as possible to the NFL level. The rotational guy worth talking about is Josey Jewel. Once he joined the fray, it was kind of a showcase of how well he plays the run. He was in on everything when Washington tried to run.Shane Ray did himself a very good favor with a sack and a TFL with the 2s...though I honestly about fell out of my chair with the big time celebration. C’mon son. This is the preseason and you are out there owning backups at best. Let’s not get carried away.SecondaryDymonte Thomas was eye-popping good coming in as a safety. He was in on 5 tackles and had a really impressive pass defense. He’s the young guy out of the safety group that I think is likely to make the team assuming the numbers work out.At this point we know the Broncos have made a move to get Adam Jones to strengthen the cornerback position. It is a darn good thing they are honestly. While the team has some guys that look like they may be able to develop like Isaac Yiadom, none of them has stood out to me as actually being ready to play week 1. Yiadom is by far the best of the bunch behind our starters and while he’s shown excellent technique and being in the right position, he’s made no plays that have been there to make.Brendan Langley hasn’t had a good showing so far in 2017. He looks like a guy I try to stash on the practice squad as I honestly don’t see how another team would look at his film and think he’s worth going after on the waiver wire.OffenseI thought the offense looked all the way around pretty darn solid. The run game worked (as long as talent was carrying the ball), the pass game flashed, and for the 1st and 2nd teams, things looked to be clicking fairly well. What I liked most about the offensive performance was that in the only game in the preseason where the team had any kind of game plan, the offense looked well prepared and ready to play. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been able to say that about this offensive team.QuarterbacksCase Keenum looked like the solid QB we all hoped we were getting. He was highly accurate with the ball and didn’t throw a pick. While I’m just a little concerned about the lack of passing TDs, the team kept getting close and then winning with the run game.Chad Kelly looked like a guy that sealed the deal on being the Broncos backup QB to start the season. No picks, looked super comfortable as the leader of the offense, and had some really impressive read progressions.Paxton Lynch again showed us that he doesn’t have what it takes to make it in the NFL. Sure he didn’t throw any picks, but he also looked mostly lost / ineffective.LineHonestly I was most impressed with the play of our offensive line moreso than any of the other position groups. It looks very much like the Broncos have a line that is going to be able to win up front and open some lanes for the run game and hold their ground against the pass rush.One guy I’m going to point out specifically is Max Garcia. He was a monster at both run blocking and pass blocking. I was blown away with how good he looked in this game. While I’m still solidly behind starting Ron Leary and Connor McGovern at guard, I’m honestly very comfortable going into the season with Garcia being our backup G/C.Running BacksRoyce Freeman is the truth, ladies and gentlemen. He runs the best of any of the running backs and looks like a #1 RB out of the backfield. He belongs as our #1 back and should start the season as such in my opinion.Davontae Booker on the other hand is JAG. He has always been JAG. He will always be JAG. Sure it was only 3 carries, but he still only averaged 3 ypc. He just doesn’t have any kind of upside you want to see in your backfield. He’ll likely make the team because the coaching staff doesn’t have the stones to cut him, but I’m honestly more comfortable with Freeman, Henderson White Von Miller Jersey , Lindsay, and Janovich than I am making room for Booker.Finally, we need to give it up for Phillip Lindsay. That kid is busting his ass and it is paying off big time. I can’t see any way that the team doesn’t take him on the roster heading into the season. He looks like a serious speed weapon a la Christian McCaffrey. ReceiversEmmanuel Sanders is going to have a career year by the looks of it. He’s looking so quick and fast and excited to play football with a guy who can get him the ball in space. Look for him on that end around a few times this season...I bet he’s likely to have similar results to what we saw in this game if the team blocks for him like they did.Courtland Sutton also really jumped out to me as a guy who’s got the stuff to play big time football in the NFL. He looks honestly like a young Demaryius Thomas and is likely going to get some big time rookie success with us this year.Really the team looks to be in very good shape with Wide Reciever talent. We have threats for every level of the field and guys with talent galore as possession receivers (Thomas, Sanders), deep threats (Sanders, Sutton), quick route runners (Sanders, Hamilton), and jump ball specialists (Thomas, Sutton, Patrick).The only worry I have at all in the passing game is our tight ends. They didn’t get much work in this game. While I liked what I’ve seen especially from Jeff Heuerman this preseason, there just hasn’t been the volume that has me feeling confident in what they’ll be able to do in the regular season.Special TeamsI honestly think Isaiah McKenzie isn’t long for the team (and I had that noted before the signing of Adam Jones for the record). He had the one really awesome return in week 1, but he just hasn’t shown much more and hasn’t found a niche to help the team outside of Special Teams. Holding a roster spot just for a guy who’s track record says is an iffy returner just doesn’t make sense to me.But enough downer stuff...let’s talk about Brandon McManus. My goodness, what a friggin’ machine he was in this game. The dude hit 2 really big time 50+ yard kicks and was 5 for 5 on field goals with 2 for 2 on extra points.Final ThoughtsWhile this week’s game won’t be terribly interesting in all honesty, it has been a pretty promising preseason for the team. We have two QBs who look like they can play, an offense that appears to be dynamic and solid in both areas, and a strong defense with a ton of talent.Hit me up in the comments and let me know what you thought of the team. Who is your dark horse guy that is going to be a big surprise to make it on the final roster?Who’s your surprise cut?