Denver Post sports writer Mike Klis posts his Broncos Mailbag on Tuesdays during the 2009 NFL season.
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All I can see is that I am a Bears fan. Kyle has been on some Bears teams without much offensive talent. And if the Bears defense hadn’t given away a couple of games last year and made the playoffs, you or somebody else would have Jay Cutler.
— John Poncher, Valparaiso, Ind.
Did you realize Tom Brady, who operates the same offense in New England as Orton does in Denver, ranks 26th in the NFL with a mere 5.94 yards per pass attempt, while Orton is eighth at 7.79 yards? Cutler, by the way, is 17th at 6.93 per pass attempt.
As for Orton’s record, which is now 23-12 overall, he was 9-6 last year and he should have been 10-5 after he threw a go-ahead TD pass with 11 seconds remaining to give the Bears a 20-19 lead against Atlanta. But one poor squib kick, one long pass completion by Matt Ryan, and one long field goal by Jason Elam as time expired wound up costing the Bears a playoff spot and eventually led them into the Cutler sweepstakes.
Cutler is good but I don’t think he and a draft pick that turned out to be Jonny Knox are good enough to offset a decent Orton, and draft picks that turned out to be Robert Ayers, Richard Quinn and a first-rounder in 2010.
Hey, Mike. Some of us have been screaming for the 3-4 defense in Denver for years. Mike Shanahan wouldn’t listen. Were we right after all?
— Jim M., Denver
Shanahan listened. He went with the 3-4 last year. The problem was he didn’t make the change until the days prior to the New Orleans game in week 3. Not during the minicamps in the offseason. Not during training camp or the preseason. Week 3 of the regular season.
The decision to go with the 3-4 in Week 3 probably cost the Broncos the Chiefs’ game in Week 4. The Broncos wound up dumping the 3-4 experiment after the Monday Night Nightmare in New England.
But at least Shanahan saw the value in the 3-4. He well understands that the beauty of the 3-4 is not knowing where the fourth pass rusher will come from. As it stands now, Shanahan is seriously considering going to a 3-4 defense when he gets his next head coaching job.
Let’s be careful about knocking Shanahan’s acumen as a head coach just because the Broncos have played terrific defense through the first two weeks of their first season without him. Shanahan was no slouch. In fact, I say he’s one more Super Bowl appearance away from clinching a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Just because those people screaming for the 3-4 were right, doesn’t mean those same people are smarter than Shanahan.
Can you tell me why, if Josh McDaniels got a lot of Patriot players, McDaniels didn’t go for Richard Seymour? I think Bronco fans would think a little more highly of McDaniels had he taken Seymour.
— Manuel, Artesia, N.M.
Shortly after the Broncos acquired rotational defensive end Le Kevin Smith and swing offensive lineman Russ Hochstein from New England for essentially a fifth-round draft pick, the Patriots traded Seymour to the Raiders for a first-round pick. So the Broncos were aware Seymour was available.
However, it’s likely the Broncos quickly dismissed the idea not because they don’t think Seymour is a good player, because they do. It’s just that the Broncos didn’t want to a) surrender a first-round draft pick and b) deal with another player unhappy with his contract that has one year and $3.7 million remaining.
A first-round draft choice and minimum five-year, $55 million contract is a steep price for one player.
Mike, if the Immaculate Deflection would have happened in Denver, could we have called it the Mile High Miracle?
— Leonard Humes, San Diego
I like it, although I would merge your idea with The Denver Post’s headline writer who came up with McMiracle. So the Brandon Stokley catch and run, and run along the 1-yard-line, would have been known as the Mile High McMiracle. Which would have featured greater originality than “Immaculate Deflection.”
Mike, I think I saw Sunday the reason why Brady Quinn dropped below expectations in the draft. Thoughts?
— Mark, Denver
I always thought Quinn had a chance to be real good NFL quarterback — providing he had the right coaching and played in a specific system. There aren’t too many John Elways and Peyton Mannings, quarterbacks who can play well regardless of coaching and system. I question whether Joe Montana or Tom Brady would have become great quarterbacks if they played for the Detroit Lions. Elway and Manning carried so-so teams throughout their careers.
No doubt, Quinn’s performance was disappointing Sunday. I thought he was better than that. I was talking to Tony Grossi, the iconic Browns beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, following the game. We were talking about how Quinn might even be in a stage of regression. I was very impressed with how Quinn performed here in his NFL preseason debut as a rookie in 2007, and I thought he played well against the Broncos last November in Cleveland.
But to me, he seemed to be overthinking as he stood in the pocket Sunday against the Broncos. He had one big pass down the middle that clanked off Steve Heiden’s hands. Catch that ball and Quinn’s day might have been different. But Quinn also missed Mohamed Massaquoi on a post pattern in the third quarter that should have been a touchdown.
After the game, it sounded as if Browns’ coach Eric Mangini wasn’t pleased with Quinn’s performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Derek Anderson warms up early this week at Baltimore.
Can you tell us why Rick Upchurch has been snubbed from the Broncos’ Ring of Fame? He was one of the Broncos’ all-time greats.
— Wade Pruter, Asheville, N.C.
You’re talking to the preacher of the Upchurch choir. By omitting Upchurch, the four-man Ring of Fame committee is sending the message that special teams really aren’t important, that it’s all about offense and defense, and all that “three phases” stuff is just lip service. Granted, Upchurch was not worthy of the Ring of Fame as a receiver; only as a returner. But the best returner in franchise history deserves to be honored.
To be fair to Pat Bowlen, who heads the committee, he didn’t become the Broncos owner until 1984 and Upchurch’s last season was in 1983. But the other three members of the Ring of Fame committee — Joe Collier, John Beake and Larry Zimmer — were all around when Upchurch was performing his magic, which included six touchdown punt returns from 1976-78, and two more punt return scores in 1982.
I once asked Collier and Zimmer about Upchurch and all they told me was they wouldn’t comment about candidates or the voting process. Upchurch didn’t do much in his other seasons here and maybe the committee doesn’t believe is worthy of Ring induction. I respectfully disagree.
Mike Klis has covered the Denver Broncos since 2005 after previously covering the Colorado Rockies and Major League Baseball for 15 years. for the Broncos Mailbag.
