Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige posts Woody’s Mailbag on Thursdays.
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How do you like our chances in the NLDS and beyond, assuming we win the wild card? Do you think the Rockies have enough pitching and bats to compete with St. Louis, Philly and L.A.? Assuming our three main guys in the rotation are Ubaldo Jimenez, Jason Marquis and Jorge De La Rosa, which two pitchers do you see taking those final spots for the postseason and why? Finally, will we keep Marquis after this year?
— Matt, Denver
Matt: Assuming, as you say, the Rockies are in the wild card (which they may be by the time you read this), I actually like them against the Dodgers, who are no longer the team they were early in the season (and the Rockies are not as they were early in the season). But I don’t like the Rockies to get that far to play them in the NLCS. They would face Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright in St. Louis, and Carpenter in a fifth game, if there is one, back in St. Louis. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. I don’t see the Rockies beating them with a struggling Marquis and an Aaron Cook who can’t be stretched to 100 pitches.
I don’t like the Rockies at all against Philly. These are the Phillies of two years ago. Cliff Lee, J.A. Happ, Cole Hamels. Sorry. The Rockies struggle against left-handers. Dexter Fowler moves over to his better side. But Carlos Gonzalez, Brad Hawpe, Ian Stewart and Todd Helton against a steady stream of great left-handers? You want to see either Lee or Hamels twice? I don’t think so. But it’s OK even if they don’t win. It’s been the kind of season most of us would love to see on a regular basis.
Woodrow — Do Broncos fans really believe the new defense has “arrived” just because the Broncs are now Ohio state champs? Have they looked at the schedule? OK, we’re 3-0 after the Raiders game, but the Bengals, Browns and Raiders aren’t the Patriots, Cowboys or Steelers …
— Randy Swanson, Yukon, Okla.
Randy: The Browns and the Raiders are Dumpster Dogs. The Cincinnati Bengals have played well the past two weeks. They were awful the first week. Was that because of the Broncos defense or Carson Palmer’s problems after he got hurt before the first game and didn’t play in the last three exhibitions? I think that not only did Cincy get better, but that Immaculate Reflection upset and inspired them so much they did get better.
I’m being ORDERED to apologize for picking the Broncos 4-12 before the season. I don’t think the Broncos have gotten to five victories yet. Maybe my math is off. And I expected the Broncos to be 1-2 at this point, so I’m wrong and off by two. I didn’t realize they would get a miracle catch in Cincinnati — hard to predict those things — or be playing against the worst team in the history of the world in the third game. Raiders head coach Tom Cable has basically been ORDERED to play JaMarcus Russell even when he couldn’t hit an elephant with a paint gun from three feet.
If I were predicting now, and maybe we all should wait until after the third game of the season, I would say the Broncos can win 6,7 or 8 games, because of the defense and because McDaniels is doing the same thing the Bears did when Orton was their quarterback: Run the ball, throw it short or throw it out of bounds. I want to see the Broncos when they get behind. Oh, that’s right. The Broncos were behind in Cincinnati. One pass was intercepted, just out of bounds, and the other pass was five yards short, and we know what happened.
I want to see, as you and everybody else does, what happens in this stretch. I will say this for McDaniels. He said to me you can’t go on the basis of last year’s teams in the NFL. Oakland and Kansas City are as bad as last year, maybe worse. As long as Norv Turner is in San Diego, Broncos fans should rejoice. All of the games against those three division rivals are winnable. Dallas is not as good as most thought they would be. The Redskins are terrible. Pittsburgh is struggling. Frankly, New England, with a weaker defense and a Tom Brady who is not 100 percent, can be beat.
So, the Broncos could beat Dallas, New England, Pittsburgh, Kansas City in both games, Oakland, of course, in the game in Denver, Washington and both games against San Diego. But the Broncos are not going to beat the Giants, the Colts, the Ravens or the Eagles. They did start 3-0 and 4-1 last year. I would guess (now) they’ll lose against the four teams I mentioned and win four of the games against the others. I think the Broncos finished 8-8 last year.
If someone were to hit ‘McDaniels in the chest with a board and knocks a lot of that Belichick attitude out of him’ (as you said in last week’s mailbag) would that be considered an upper or lower extremity injury? But seriously, what would it take to knock the Belichick out of McDaniels?
— Chad Emery, Richmond, Va.
Chad: How’s Jeremy? (Sorry, real old-school British rock invasion reference). It’s coming somewhat. He dumped the hoodie, which proves he can be his own man. No longer with the upper and lower extremity silliness. The NFL demands more exactness in the regular season. Who was he trying to fool, anyway?
I think as McDaniels spends more time in Denver, he’ll realize this isn’t New England, and people here won’t accept the “Belichick Style.” McDaniels has told me the people have been nice to him and his family, and he understands this is a different world. When you’re 3-0, you can wear your undershorts on the sideline. I think Josh is getting it.
Woody: I’m a big fan of your work and personality. Now that the Broncos are 3-0 with A) Brandon Marshall not being a major contributor, and B) McD seeming genuine in his pledge to rotate receivers and get everyone PT, does that mean that the Broncos should’ve gone ahead and traded Marshall to see some value, even if not a first-round draft pick?
— Chris, Chicago
Chris: Chicago, huh? Any place you wanted Marshall to go? Jay Cutler could use him. In the Cutler situation, it was messed up to the point of Cutler going. Marshall is not Cutler, and McDaniels refused to give into his demands. Because of the way it has been handled, Marshall is just another player now and will continue to be so because the Broncos will rotate (and only dress, as they did the past two weeks) four receivers — Marshall, Eddie Royal, Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Stokley.
It reminds me of the novel/movie “Clockwork Orange”. (Oh, here I go again, but hang with me on this one.) The main character, Alex, was a stupid young punk. He went to prison. They used a fresh idea on Alex. They pried his eyes open for weeks and made him watch war films and porn. He was turned into a turnip. Here’s line from the movie:
Alex: “I’ve learned me lesson, sir. I’ve seen now what I’ve never seen before. I’m cured! Praise god!”
Dr. Brodsky: “You’re not cured yet, boy.”
If I remember correctly, Jumpy Geathers played defensive tackle for Denver in the 90’s and had a move called the forklift that seemed unstoppable. Is this technique ever taught these days or was this something that only he could execute?
— John Hansen, Chicago
John: I know of no one in the NFL using the technique. Not even his son Jeremy, who plays defensive line for the Saints, or his nephew Robert, who plays defensive line for the Bengals. The Geathers “Forklift,” for those who didn’t follow his career of 13 seasons (which ended with the Broncos in 1996), had Geathers, who was about 6-7 and 280 or so, putting his hands under an offensive lineman’s shoulder pads, lifting him into the air and pushing him back into the quarterback.
I honestly don’t think it would work now. Offensive linemen are bigger and stronger. I can’t picture a defensive tackle lifting a 340-pound lineman and driving him five yards. Assignments are different; defenses are different; gaps are different. The head slap was banned by the NFL. The Forklift went the way of the Thunderbird. Again, you’d think Jumpy would have taught his son and his nephew if it could be applied today.
I’ve noticed that Champ Bailey is the only one that will line up at cornerback but will face the QB at a 45-degree angle. I saw Andre Goodman do this once during the Browns game. Is this something new? Why is Champ the only one who does this? It seems like a great technique to watch the QBs eyes instead of the receiver.
— John Nguyen, Santa Ana, Calif.
John: I’ve seen it about 5,000 times in the NFL, or maybe 300. Deion Sanders did it. Louis Wright did it. Champ is not the first. If you have quickness and good ball reaction, and people don’t generally throw at you, you can get away with it. If you are that fast and good, you’d better line up at an angle on the wide receiver, or you’ll be beat while you’re staring into a QB’s baby blues instead of staring at the receiver’s moves. What is with the technique talk? Here is the technique of the Broncos’ defensive backs, according to Josh McDaniels when we talked: “Don’t get beat over your head, and don’t miss the tackle if a player gets to you.” He didn’t mention angles or angels.
Dan Hawkins and Clint Hurdle were BFF’s, and it’s obvious by the way that both struggled to win and then attacked the media and fanbases afterwards. I’d like to hear your thoughts on what Dan Hawkins could learn from Jim Tracy in terms of leadership and showing respect to the media and fan base. Thanks.
— Jamie, Glenwood Springs
Jamie: Truth is, and I’ll take grief for this, Hawkins just can’t handle the pressure any more. The pressure on him to win, the pressure on his son and his family, the pressure from the alumni and boosters, and even the pressure from bloggers who nobody reads (except him). Hawkins is a changed man this year. Maybe it was the off-season surgical removal of kidney stones, maybe the fact that the administration will not cut him a break on borderline players, especially from junior college, maybe because he hasn’t had a winning season, maybe because he is fed up of all the talk about him and his son, and probably a combination.
At Media Day, weeks before the first two losses, I could tell he wasn’t the same with the press (as if it matters) by the way he answered some questions in a chippy way. I wrote in my notebook “Hawkins new attitude?” I think, and I’m sure I’ve said it before; he was treated so well in Boise by the fans and the media because it’s a small city, and not a negative one, and because he won. He has won, what, two road games here? What might one expect? Hawkins is not going to listen to Tracy, Bill McCartney (who went through this and came out the other side) and certainly not to this mailbag.
Woody Paige first joined The Denver Post in 1981 as a sports columnist. , or .
