East Rutherford, N.J. – These little-town notes are melting away. …
Trying to figure out these Broncos? Here are the only numbers you need: They have scored virtually twice as many points – 123-63 – as their opponents in the first three quarters. In the fourth, they’ve been outscored 68-29. …
“We’ve got to stop that,” Al Wilson said. “We have to have that seek-and-destroy mentality. We’ve got to have some dog about us. When we’ve got a team down, instead of kicking them, we’ve got to put them through the dirt, and we didn’t get it done.” …
Sunday’s loss came on the heels of a 28-20 W over New England, in which the Broncos jumped out to a 28-3 lead, then held off the Patriots at the 11th hour.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Champ Bailey said. “We’ve flirted with it the last couple of weeks, and it caught up with us. We’ve got to learn how to finish.” …
By the numbers: The last-minute comeback was the second of Eli Manning‘s career, leaving him a mere 45 behind John Elway in the fourth-quarter game-saving drive department. …
The second-most significant stat of the day, behind 24-23? That would be Denver, zero sacks. Said Ian Gold: “I don’t know how you get as much pressure as we got on that kid and we didn’t sack him once. It baffles me.” …
Actually, there was nothing baffling about it. The Broncos were quietly seething over the officials’ refusal to make several blatant holding calls against the Giants. And frankly, they had a right to. For the record,
Antonio Pierce led the G-Men with 13 tackles. Unofficially, some of their offensive linemen may have had more. Gerard Warren might as well have been wearing a George McFly “‘Hold Me” sign on his jersey. …
Said Warren: “I can’t officiate. All I can do is play. Some of those were blatant holdings, but you can’t complain about what didn’t happen. We know what did: We lost the game, and we’ve got to rebound next week against Philadelphia.” …
Random thought of the day: Good thing the Broncos haven’t been in the World Series the past few years. Sunday’s loss marked the third straight year in which they had lost Game 7 to fall to 5-2. …
How much confidence does defensive coordinator Larry Coyer have in his defensive line? There were times when Trevor Pryce, Courtney Brown and Warren were on the sideline simultaneously watching their defensive teammates chase Manning around the Meadowlands. …
Seven weeks into things, the Broncos have a two-game lead on the Chargers and a half-game lead on the Chiefs. Nothing unusual there. Denver also led the division last season after seven weeks, one game ahead of San Diego. The Broncos finished two games out. …
Just wondering: When is the last time, if ever, the Broncos came within 9 yards rushing of hitting the 200 mark, and lost? …
The Broncos’ assistant coaches don’t attract much attention, what with Mike Shanahan doing most of the talking for the organization, but these guys are getting it done. You have to wonder if rookie cornerbacks Darrent Williams and Domonique Foxworth would have come along so quickly if new secondary coach Bob Slowik wasn’t working with them. …
They’re running on low-octane, but you’ve got to admit, they’re getting a lot of miles per gallon: A fullback, Kyle Johnson, leading the Broncos with three touchdown catches, followed by Dwayne Carswell, an offensive lineman. …
The game started rather dubiously for the Broncos when Willie Ponder returned the opening kickoff 36 yards, the longest return allowed this season by the Denver special teams. …
Only in the Big Apple. As he reviewed replays of challenged calls, referee Jeff Triplette was serenaded with Tom Petty singing “‘The wai … ai … ting is the hardest part.” …
The bottom line, courtesy of Wilson: “What kind of choice do we have?” he said, when asked how the Broncos would bounce back from such a bitter loss. “We’ve got to go out and fight. Philadelphia doesn’t (care) about us losing on the last play of the game. They’re not going to feel sorry for us.”
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
