Merry Christmas to all and to all a good note. …
Kenard Lang could almost feel some of the hits. Good thing. Because almost feeling a John Lynch hit beats the heck out of actually feeling one.
“He hit people, knocked them out,” Lang said. “He gave them some season’s greetings. Lynch always does that. He set the tone. I was right beside him. I’m like, ‘Man, I know that hurt.’ I was slapping my hands, saying, ‘Good job, John.”‘ …
When the Broncos needed him most, Lynch delivered in Sunday’s 24-23 victory over Cincinnati. He made several bone-crunching hits in the early going, then forced a Rudi Johnson fumble in the fourth quarter with the Bengals driving for a potentially game-tying score. Lynch’s best game of the season?
“I’d say, this year, it probably was,” Lynch said. “I felt like I was 28 out there again.” …
Darrent Williams, on Lynch: “John was just flying around knocking people down. I told John I hurt my neck a little bit when I hit Rudi in the fourth quarter. I was trying to hit him up high, hit him like John. I’m like, ‘John, I’m trying to be like you, and I hurt my neck.’ ” …
Here we go again. Jay Cutler in the same paragraph as John Elway. Cutler has thrown eight touchdown passes in four games. For the record, Elway threw seven in his entire rookie season. …
The Broncos were 5-for-13 on third-down conversions in the game. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Their inability to move the chains on third down was the biggest factor of all in Jake Plummer losing his starting gig. Plummer was 29th in the league in third-down passing, with a 49.0 completion percentage, when Mike Shanahan came with the hook. …
Chad Johnson, who rolled into town leading the league in receiving yards, had three catches for 32 yards, at least one key drop and a fumble. You don’t suppose Champ Bailey had anything to do with that, do you? Nah, didn’t think so.
“I think he had something to do with it,” said Broncos “D” coordinator Larry Coyer. “He (Johnson) knew he was in for a war. That has to affect you. It ain’t going to be out there running around, prancing around. Run around, prance around, you ain’t going to do that. You’re going to have to go dig it out. I think it affects everybody when you know that. It will not be easy. I give the credit to Champeroo.” …
Champeroo? Hey, I just report the stuff, folks. …
Coyer, when asked if Bailey would make a great wide receiver: “He’s a lousy receiver, OK? He’s going to stay right where he is.” …
Bailey, by the way, has 17 interceptions in 2005-06, tying Ring of Famer Goose Gonsoulin for the most in franchise history over a two-year span. Gonsoulin had 17 in 1960-61, the first two years of the franchise. …
Not to snow on the parade, but if the Bengals make that extra point, it would have marked the fourth straight home game in which the Broncos blew a second-half lead. Said Lynch: “We’ve got to find a way to put those away. If we want to go where we set out to go this year, we’ve got to be able to close leads.” …
Bottom line on the game? The Broncos may well have lost if Carson Palmer hadn’t had an off day. Which brings us to Palmer’s first interception, when he had T.J. Houshmandzadeh wide open in the end zone, only to overthrow him and have Williams come away with the pick. Said Williams: “It came right to me. We were in zone. I was just covering space. I guess I was in the right space.” …
If you’ve lost your scorecard, that’s four catches of 25-plus yards for Tony Scheffler since Cutler took over. …
The Broncos since 1995 are 19-3 in December at home, trailing only Kansas City at 20-2. …
Brandon Marshall, when asked if he felt fortunate not to have his 36-yard catch to open the second quarter overturned by referee Walt Coleman: “No, man, I wasn’t fortunate. It was all skill.” …
And finally, Coyer on his Pro Bowl free safety: “Lynch is a pounder. You know what you’re going to get from him. It’s going to come. When he gets a chance to crack you, here comes the leather. I think it pumps everybody up.”
Jim Armstrong can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
