Sanders knew exactly where and what he was headed for in Mile High

I dance not 2 show up opponents but 2 celebrate the findings of the end zone! Can't wait 2 find it again soon. Love! pic.twitter.com/iwI6OtvOYW
— Emmanuel Sanders (@ESanders_10) February 2, 2014

Maybe +Emmanuel Sanders decided that a dance was not quite befitting and "Striking a Pose" was far more appropriate. +Denver Broncos +BRONCOS CR3W - Quite the intuition Sanders had when signing with Denver last week.

Photo Courtesy: +The Associated Press +Denver Broncos +NFL 

MANNING, SANDERS HOOK UP FOR 3 TDS TO LIFT BRONCOS OVER CHARGERS

+The Associated Press 

Associated Press (DenverBroncos.com)

With this much speed and acceleration, it's no surprise Emmanuel Sanders is so adept at catching up.

Sanders waited six long weeks to join the list of players who have caught a touchdown pass from Peyton Manning. Now, he has four in less than a week.

Manning and Sanders connected for a trio of touchdowns Thursday night in the +Denver Broncos' 35-21 victory over the San Diego Chargers .

"We understand in this offense, it can be anyone's night at any moment," said Sanders, who didn't catch his first TD pass for Denver until Sunday night, when Manning set the career record. "I'm just happy tonight was my night."

Sanders caught all nine passes Manning threw his way and gained 120 yards Thursday night.

He needs just 106 more yards to top his best season he ever had in four years in Pittsburgh. That's all in a night's work for Sanders, who has four career 100-yard receiving games, all this season.

"I'm enjoying playing with him," Manning said. "He's got a great work ethic. He really loves football and he brings that energy to practice every day and also to the playing field. ... He was pretty special tonight."

With the Chargers' banged-up secondary double-teaming red-hot receiver Demaryius Thomas, Sanders caught TD throws of 2, 31 and 3 yards. The last one followed Chris Harris Jr.'s interception of a flustered Philip Rivers.

Shots of the Game: #Broncos-#Chargers #SDvsDEN14 #NFL #BroncosCR3W http://t.co/NN5WE0l9AN pic.twitter.com/RWIgKIPWKJ
— Broncos CR3W (@BRONCOSCR3W) October 28, 2014

Rookie running back Juwan Thompson added two TD runs as the Broncos (6-1) tightened their grip on the AFC West division in the +NFL over the Chargers (5-3), who lost their second straight game.

"It's an accomplishment for the room," said Ronnie Hillman, who carried 20 times for 109 yards. "It's a touchdown for the room. He's taking them, but that's all right. He earns them. That's a tough 2 yards to get. I'm just playing my role getting him down there."

Manning finished 25 of 35 for 286 yards with three TDs and no interceptions or sacks five nights after breaking Brett Favre's career touchdown mark.

Sanders' speed, combined with Hillman's second gear, is the juice GM John Elway had in mind when he said the Broncos could be better this year than they were last season.

"John Elway and his staff went out and wanted to increase our team speed in all phases of the game and I think we've done that," coach John Fox said.

+BRONCOS CR3W - http://bit.ly/1wbzK6s

Sanders called Denver "wide receivers' heaven" when he joined the Broncos in the spring. He spent his first five games in a Broncos uniform piling up the yards -- 473 of them -- but wistfully wishing to become the 45th player to catch a touchdown pass from Manning.

The only blemish in Sanders' breakout night was his fumble in the fourth quarter that +Wes Welker recovered.

His teammates teased him that he'll be carrying around the football with the green beanie as punishment next week.

"But it's not big deal," Sanders said. "It's only going to make me better."

Each time Thompson scored, Rivers and the Chargers responded with 80-yard drives that ended with touchdown catches by tight end Antonio Gates. His first score was a 4-yard grab on fourth down, his second a 10-yard catch with 9 1/2 minutes left that made it 35-21.

Rivers finished 30 of 41 for 252 yards with three TDs and two interceptions.

Brandon McManus missed a 53-yard field goal with six minutes remaining, giving the Chargers great field position, but safety Rahim Moore intercepted Rivers' pass to Malcolm Floyd at the Denver 4 and the Broncos grounded it out from there.

With Sanders having a big day, Demaryius Thomas quietly topped 100 yards himself for the fourth straight week, finishing with 105 yards on eight catches, a team record.

Manning broke another of Favre's records on this night, albeit a much more obscure one: he now has 16 seasons with 20 or more touchdown passes, one more than Favre. And he's approaching another of Favre's marks: with his 157th career multiple TD game, Manning is two shy of Favre's mark in that category.

After losing at home to the Chargers on a Thursday night in December -- Denver's only home loss last season -- the Broncos changed their work week. They practiced without pads and helmets.

But their first two drives led to punts as defensive coordinator John Pagano again found ways to thwart Manning even with a banged-up secondary that was missing cornerbacks Brandon Flowers (concussion) and Steve Williams (groin).

Then, Sanders starting finding the end zone.

+Denver Broncos : Photo Courtesy (AP) +NFL +CBS Sports +Chargers 

"They're better than us right now," San Diego safety Eric Weddle said. "That's the reality of it. It's a long season. When we meet them again, however many more times, we'll be better."

Even Manning found something he didn't like on his and Sanders' big night.

He didn't like it when the scoreboard operator fired up the crowd when the Broncos were trying to chew up the clock.

"I'm not sure what he's doing, he's playing music and showing players dancing and getting the crowd fired up when we have the ball," Manning complained. "I don't think we should be doing that. I don't think we should be showing their quarterback on the sideline. I thought that was disrespectful.

"Our fans are great. Our fans are loud. Our scoreboard operator, it wasn't his best night."

Notes: Gates became the Chargers' career leader in yards receiving with 9,610, breaking the mark set by Hall of Fame WR Lance Alworth (9,584). ... Broncos LB Lamin Barrow sustained a concussion.

San Francisco play the Broncos in first preseason (game) ever at new Levi's Stadium

Seahawks - Broncos to rematch in Broncos first NFL preseason game (despite slated in regular season as well)

Nate Irving (#56 of Denver) breaks up pass intended for J. Kearse (#15 of Seattle) in 1st quarter of Super Bowl.
They'll rematch in the 2014 regular season as well. Photo Courtesy +Denver Broncos (AP)

The Five Most Intriguing Games On The 2014 NFL Preseason Schedule

Are you ready for some (pre-season) football? With the release of the NFL Preseason schedule earlier today, football-starved fans across the Internet finally have something concrete to look forward to, and talk about. While the games will be meaningless come December, there will be position battles to be won and lost and, of course, the longer extra point experiment. For the first two weeks of the preseason, the ball will be spotted at the 20-yard line for extra point kicks, which will turn extra points from 20-yard chip shots into something slightly more interesting. Last year, close to 99% of extra points were converted, which created little incentive for fans to stay in front of their televisions after the first six points. With that in mind, we've broken down the five most interesting preseason games, starting with the Chargers opener against the Cowboys.

Week 1: Cowboys at Chargers: Last season Chargers PK Nick Novak had the worst success rate for kicks between 30-39 yards, going 13-16, or 81%. At the equivalent of a 38-yard field goal, the extended extra point could be an adventure for Novak. The game may also be as expensive some of the games on the Chargers schedule for the regular season, as the Cowboys almost always drive up prices on the road, even for their preseason games.

Week 4: Jets at Eagles: Week 4 is typically the week when starters take a seat. If Geno Smith beats out Michael Vick for the Jets starting job, this game could be a match-up of Michael Vick vs.Mark Sanchez, two once-franchise QBs. While not exactly the return of Andy Reid last year, it will be the most interesting pre-season game on Eagles schedule for reasons that have nothing to do with football. Vick spent five years in Philadelphia and he has the franchise to thank for giving him a second chance and a deal worth $100 million. In return, he delivered two wild-card playoff losses, and it will be interesting to see how the ever-honest fans at Lincoln Financial Field greet Vick in his return.

Week 2: Broncos at 49ers: If not for Richard Sherman, this could have been a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. It will be the second year in a row the Broncos Schedule sets up a pre-season visit to San Francisco. While last year was Peyton’s final visit to Candlestick Park, this year will be his first to Levis Field. It will also be the first football game played in the $1.2 billion stadium, aka, the Field of Jeans. Given that novelty element, it will likely be sold out or close to sold out. Levis has a capacity of 68,500, which makes it on the small side for a football stadium. As a point of reference, the first ever game at Metlife Stadium brought in 67,511 fans for a game against the Jets and the Giants. The game was technically a home game on the Jets schedule, which may have been part of the reason almost 20,000 seats went unfilled.

August 3rd, Hall Of Fame Game: Giants Vs. Bills: While this would have been a potential Super-Bowl Matchup in the early 90s, in 2014, it’s a match-up of two teams just looking to compete. It is, however, the first snap of the football, and therefore, exciting.


Week 1: Seahawks at Broncos: While the preseason is often meaningless, this rematch of Super Bowl XLVIII should have a lot of meaning for the +Denver Broncos. After getting demolished by the Seahawks in the SuperBowl, a win in the rematch could allow the Broncos to shake some of the nightmares that they’ve surely lived with since February. For Broncos fans, a close game will give them a chance to imagine what could have been. A win would likely give them confidence about success for the Broncos schedule that’s ahead. Another blowout loss could lead to some serious soul searching, even if Peyton manning only takes a quarter of the snaps. (This statement should put any sports, football casual journalist on suspension for its miraculous attempt at making keyboard millennial trolls jump all over this and ride it for what it is worth, nothing) Something we see on +Bleacher Report and others horrifying articulation of pointless things. Sports CR3W would like to hope that we admit when we are following the lead of such a fuss on anything and will delineate what is worth keeping up in the brain for future use, reference. 

We say, "In what way is this even feasible?? Soul searching from ONE quarter in the "bleep,,, bleeping,, bleeeping" PREASEASON!! You're 'bleeeeep!ng' joking, right?"

+SPORTS CR3W will have to disagree with this statement or any other 'pundit' and/or 'analysis / insight' about a PRESEASON match whether it is a rematch or not. The same will be said of the +Seattle Seahawks and Broncos regular season matchup in Seattle that has all sorts of variables in it that weigh no significance regarding the Super Bowl debacle. 

To say and buy into ANY hype of a preseason game and its results is just plain misleading, ignorant, and naive. Sorry to all those expert journalists that will make so much of this matchup and the writers that are actually qualified to vote on matter of Hall of Fame inductees to MVP awards, etc. If qualifications pass for them on the latter matter's mentioned, they should know better than to say the result of this preseason game merits a single ioda towards a possible meeting about 5 months from then. Sorry preseason, John Fox and the Broncos use base defense, do not gameplan on offense and the point of the preseason is to give fringe players (especially the 1st and 2nd preseason games) a look at how they mesh or play with starters and players that are deeper on the depth chart. Mainly to see if they can make the cut or not, of course.

Especially, in special teams analysis of who could/should make the team for defense/special teams and hone their other skills at the perspective position. Simply said, do not give a damn about the result here, it has no relevance as to how the regular season will unfold for either club. Broncos will be using a lot of new faces on defense as well as old that were not on the team's Super Bowl roster. A reminder to all those that forget. 8 turnovers, the Broncos would have lost to the Canadian Football League champs to put it lightly. Suffice it to say, the Seahawks did not beat the Broncos "A" team as we've written before.
h/t +Forbes

Broncos' free agent Phillips signs with Titans

Matt Boyer, KUSA

(Photo: Ron Chenoy Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)

After only one year with the Denver Broncos, free agent Shaun Phillips is headed east to sign with the Tennessee Titans. Phillips joins a defensive line that was ranked in the bottom-half of most significant statistical categories in 2013.

ESPN.com's +Adam Schefter first reported the story, with the 2 -year deal being worth an estimated $6 million dollars. The Broncos hinted that Phillips may have become expendable after they signed former Cowboys DE DeMarcus Ware to a 3-year, $30 million dollar deal.
Phillips recorded 35 tackles, 10 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles over the course of the regular season. Prior to his only season with Denver, Phillips spent nine seasons with the San Diego Chargers, recording 69.5 sacks and 473 combined tackles during his time in Southern California.

----

Photo Courtesy: Denver Broncos (AP)

+Tennessee Titans also have signed former +Denver Broncos LB, Wesley Woodyard. The Titans are starting with a new coaching staff and head coach in the former +Chargers Offensive Coordinator, +Arizona Cardinals Head Coach, Ken Wisenhunt. Phillips lead the Broncos in sacks last season and probably would have been signed on if not for the big splash of DeMarcus Ware being signed as mentioned.

High Octane Broncos Offense can Grind it out too

SUPER BOWL 

Who: Broncos (15-3) vs. Seahawks (15-3)
When: Sunday, Feb. 2, 6:30 p.m.
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
Line: Broncos by 2
TV: Fox



ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — After hurrying Denver’s quick-strike, high-octane offense through a record-shattering regular season, Peyton Manning has turned the Broncos into a slow-grinding, clock-eating machine in the playoffs.

Denver’s three most time-consuming drives of the season have all come in the last two weeks, helping to render opposing passers short-tempered sideline spectators.

In dispatching the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots, Manning 'dinked and dunked' his way downfield.

“To keep Tom Brady on the sideline is a good thing,” Manning said after directing two epic drives in Denver’s 26-16 win in the AFC Championship.

Denver’s downshift, some of it by design, some due to circumstance, has thrown a new wrinkle into an already formidable test that Seattle’s stingy defense will have to prepare for in the Super Bowl.

After averaging seven plays, 65 yards and just over 3 minutes, 10 seconds on their 71 touchdown drives during the season, the Broncos have doubled the time to 6:23 in the postseason and the touchdown drives have averaged 12 plays and 79.4 yards.

With a wealth of receivers in Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, +Wes Welker and Julius Thomas and a rejuvenated running back in Knowshon Moreno, the Broncos are the first team in NFL history to sport five players who each caught 60 or more passes. Each member of this quintet also reached the end zone 10 or more times, something that’s never been done before.

Offensive coordinator Adam Gase capitalized on all that firepower, Denver’s altitude and Manning’s deciphering of defenses at the line of scrimmage to ramp up the Broncos to breakneck speed with a no-huddle offense that created mismatches in 2013 after taking over from the more conservative Mike McCoy following last year’s playoff upset.

The +Denver Broncos scored an NFL-record 606 points. Their 37.9-point average was the highest of the Super Bowl era and second only to the 1950 Los Angeles Rams, who averaged 38.8 points.

The Broncos could have beaten that mark, too, had Manning not sat out the second half at +Oakland Raiders in Week 17 after guiding Denver to a 31-0 halftime lead.

Taking away the three field goals backup Brock Osweiler led the Broncos to this season and Denver’s five return touchdowns, Manning’s offense accounted for 565 points in just over 453 minutes on the field.

AP Photo: Peyton Manning, Knowshon Moreno

Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno has carried

the ball 479 consecutive times, without a fumble

 That’s 1.25 points per minute. 

Scoring doesn’t come as easily in the playoffs, however.

The most prolific team before this season was the 2007 Patriots, who scored 589 points, an average of 36.8, in the regular season and then averaged just 22 in the postseason, losing the Super Bowl 17-14 to the New York Giants.

While the Broncos have scored on 10 of their 14 drives this postseason, not counting the two possessions that ended in victory formation, half of those have been field goals by Matt Prater after promising drives stalled at their opponents’ 27, 9, 17, 2 and 35.

In the regular season, they had 71 touchdown drives and 25 field goals.

That accounts for a lot of their dip to a 25-point scoring average in the playoffs.

Yet, they’re in greater control and their defense is better than it’s been all season, yielding just 17 and 16 points after allowing 24.93 points per game in the regular season.

Credit Manning for keeping the Broncos on the field for an average of 35 minutes, 35 seconds to his opponents’ 24:25.

Philip Rivers, whose +Chargers led the league in time of possession and had controlled the clock for more than 38 minutes in both of their regular-season matchups against Denver, watched helplessly as Manning converted 9 of 13 third downs in their divisional playoff game.

Manning had a tone-setting, 14-play, 86-yard touchdown drive that took 7:01 to start the scoring, then staved off San Diego’s furious fourth-quarter rally by converting two key third down passes to Julius Thomas to chew up the final four minutes.

“If we got it one more time, I believe deep down that we would’ve tied that thing up,” Rivers said after San Diego’s 24-17 loss. “Those are all a bunch of what ifs.”

Against +New England Patriots, Manning directed drives that lasted 7:01 and 7:08, covering 93 and 80 yards in 15 and 13 plays, respectively.

It was quite a change for the Broncos, who kicked off the NFL season against +Baltimore Ravens with a 24-yard touchdown that took all of 5 seconds, one of Manning’s record-tying seven that night.

Demaryius Thomas’ third-quarter TD Sunday capped a drive that took almost as long as those seven TD drives in the opener combined.

“Usually we score fast,” he said. “But we had a 13-play drive and I got to the sideline, that’s all everybody was talking about. I didn’t know. I just knew we scored.”
___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org
___

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Manning, Broncos Advance to AFC Title Game After Beating Chargers

Recap | GameTrax | Box Score | Play-by-Play | Drive Chart | Depth Chart

17

24

Chargers (10-8)

Broncos (14-3)

	1	2	3	4	Tot
Chargers	0	0	0	17	17
Broncos	7	7	3	7	24

Manning, Broncos advance to AFC title game after beating Chargers

The Broncos avoided a playoff letdown against the Chargers.

UPDATED JAN 12, 2014 10:33 PM ET

DENVER (AP)

Peyton Manning took a knee again, just as he had at the end of regulation exactly a year earlier..

Only this time, he trotted off to cheers, high-fives and smiles.

Manning welcomed Wes Welker back into the lineup with a touchdown toss Sunday and the Denver Broncosnarrowly avoided a repeat of their playoff slip from last year, advancing to the AFC championship game with a 24-17 win over the San Diego Chargers.

The Broncos (14-3) took a 17-0 lead into the fourth quarter before Chargers quarterback Philip Riverscapitalized on an injury to cornerback Chris Harris Jr. to stage a comeback reminiscent of Baltimore's shocking win 38-35 win in double overtime at Denver.

On that night, Jacoby Jones hauled in a 70-yard pass from Joe Flacco to tie it and Denver coach John Fox had Manning take a knee so the Broncos could regroup in overtime.

This time, Manning rescued the Broncos from the brink of another crushing collapse and sent them into the title game for the first time in eight seasons.

They'll host the New England Patriots (13-4) on Sunday.

Get ready for Brady vs. Manning once more.

In the most recent matchup of QBs with Hall of Fame credentials, Tom Brady and the Patriots rallied past Manning and the visiting Broncos 34-31 in overtime on Nov. 24.

"That's two of the greats," Eric Decker said. "It's going to be talked about a lot throughout the week."

"It's the Broncos versus the Patriots and certainly Tom and I have played against each other a lot," Manning said. "But when you get to the AFC championship, it's about two good teams that have been through a lot to get there."

The Chargers regretted not trying another onside kick after Manning converted a 20-yard pass to Julius Thomas on third-and-17 from his 20-yard line, the first of three third-down conversions on Denver's final possession.

In their playoff loss last year, they couldn't salt away a fourth-quarter lead, in no small part because of curious calls and inexact execution.

"I felt like that game last year forced us to address those types of situations all season long," Manning said. "We've worked on it in training camp, we've worked on it in the season. ... It was nice that all that hard work paid off for us."

Manning also hit Thomas on third-and-6 from his 45, then the Broncos iced it on Knowshon Moreno's 5-yard burst on third-and-1 with 1:12 left.

"When they got that first down I was jumping up and down," Broncos defensive lineman Malik Jackson said. "It was delightful."

San Diego coach Mike McCoy, who was Denver's offensive coordinator a year ago, was downcast in Denver once again, and so was Rivers, who had led his team to five straight do-or-die wins.

"If we got it one more time, I believe deep down we would've tied that thing up," Rivers said. "But we didn't. Those are all a bunch of what-ifs."

Manning ended a personal three-game postseason skid in winning for the first time since leading Indianapolis over the Jets 30-17 in the AFC championship game on Jan. 24, 2010.

Manning completed 25 of 36 passes for 230 yards and two TDs, numbers that weren't quite up to the standards he set during a record-breaking regular season when he established new benchmarks with 55 TD passes and 5,447 yards.

But it was windy and the Broncos were intent on establishing the run and controlling the clock, and they converted 9 of 13 third downs while holding the ball for 35 minutes.

After gaining just 18 yards on the ground against San Diego last month, the Broncos ran for 133 yards, including 82 by Moreno, whose 3-yard TD run put them ahead 24-7 with 8:12 left.

After that, things got interesting.

Keenan Allen hauled in a 49-yard catch with Quentin Jammer in coverage on fourth-and-5 from the San Diego 25 with seven minutes left. That led to his second TD -- both from 16 yards -- that pulled the Chargers to 24-14 with 5:43 left.

"We got those two touchdowns in the second half, but it's unfortunate we didn't get started earlier," said Allen, who finished with 142 yards on six catches.

Decker then made his third big blunder of the day, flubbing the onside kick, which San Diego recovered, leading to Nick Novak's 30-yard field goal with 3:53 remaining that pulled the Chargers (10-8) to within a touchdown.

Novak followed with a pooch kick, and Trindon Holliday secured the ball at the Denver 27 with 3:51 left.

Manning's third-down brilliance kept the Chargers' offense on the sideline.

"Third-and-17, I was thinking we were definitely going to get the ball back," Allen said. "And we were feeling good on the offensive side, having the momentum. It was just unfortunate we didn't get it."

Notes: In the first half, Decker tripped at the San Diego 30-yard line after a 47-yard punt return. "I guess it was that invisible fence that got me." said Decker, who then let Manning's pass in the end zone bounce off his chest and into the arms of linebacker Donald Butler -- Manning's first red zone interception of the season. ... Welker wore an oversized safety helmet. ... Manti Te'o and Marcus Gilchrist sustained concussions. ... Denver did not punt for the first time in its playoff history and just the eighth time in NFL postseason history -- three of those came with Manning under center.

BTV Daily: Round 3

Baybay (Demaryius) Thomas (left)
and Eric Decker (right)
Photo Courtesy: The Denver Post (AP)

SDvsDENIII (Chargers at Broncos: Part III) - AFC Divisonal Round. Chargers (6) at Broncos (1) - BroncosTV Daily touches upon San Diego coming into town to face the Broncos for right to play in the AFC Championship game. Go Orange! Go Broncos! Mile High Magic!

* Link available on (linked text above) *

Vote Peyton Manning for FedEx Air Player of the Year

Vote for Peyton Manning on +NFL.com. Click on this link to get your vote out for the +Denver Broncos QB, NFL Record Setter, Peyton Manning:

Vote for FedEx Air & Ground Players of the year

Bigtime Acknowledgment due for Del Rio: "Helluva Job"

Del Rio was the Coach of the last Month in our opinion across +NFL. A position where he will only get noticed if things do not continue as expected. But if JDR handles things and the outcome is similar, the casual observer may not even have a "Double Take" about it. To a job well done! 

Jack Del Rio was 3 -1 and truly as bad as of a lucky bounce can be from going undefeated, whether it was a tie or win at +New England Patriots in week 12. Not taking away from the Patriots. With all the players that had dropped during that game and Rahim Moore, the stretch of games he had on his hands, specifically the two game stretch in week 12, at Foxborough, and at Arrowhead in week 13. They are as difficult of stadiums to play back to back. Are very few other stadiums regarded as tough, but no one can convince us that a different pair of stadiums would be tougher than Foxborough and Arrowhead back to back. Despite the heart crushing loss and all the bad breaks in Foxborough, Del Rio got them to rally for OT in that game was impressive we felt, and to get his club back in focus, even after going down 21-7 early, they dug from that hole and are now sitting in control of destiny. In many respects, if Del Rio was not there when the lowest point of the season came upon the Broncos, they may be looking up at the Chiefs in many respects right now.

This is a tribute to the job Del Rio did in the temporary period of handling the reigns to the Broncos. +Denver Broncos fans, +BRONCOS CR3W members can ascertain of the appreciation for what Del Rio did and handled the task at hand. To emphasize and not dismiss, three big interdivisional wins and one interconference loss: @+Chargers (win), vs +Kansas City Chiefs (win), @+New England Patriots (OT loss), @+Kansas City Chiefs (win).

. 

EVP of Football Ops @johnelway gave a game ball to Jack Del Rio after tonight's #Broncos win: http://t.co/M4Nybt9g0m pic.twitter.com/iTiRuAxakE

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 2, 2013

Pro Football Focus Ranking Numbers Reveal No Insight

Peyton nor Demaryius not listed as top performers for Week 10

Had to post some remarks about this article write up and these pointless rankings/numbers that they attach to players that reveal nothing about how a team played in a team game and the caliber of competition they played, let alone a solid win or loss from the week. Look at some of the teams these players are on and their results from week 10. They have some great aspects to how they get to these numbers and analyze and player by every single play they have, but on the flipside, they are not insightful when it relates to the broad spectrum of how the league's teams, and its players are executing as a whole. Particularly, in relation, to wins and losses for a team game.

We are not really saying that we or anyone should not be a big fan of +Pro Football Focus (PFF) articles that are based on these ratings. In fact, PFF has some very insightful stuff on their site that we love to read. Their ratings system though, we are not buying. For one, how do they come to give a rating and in reality, we feel it is just to put a number on each position just for the sake of it. Instead of doing the old school way of describing a player's caliber of play as extremely great, good, so-so, not so good, and/or pretty bad. 

Plenty aware that a lot of work goes behind reaching these numbers and that they are probably pretty solid. The performance of others in football relies on the 10 other guys next to you. We prefer to look at the teams wins & losses and regular stats with a bit of modernization of some of the stats. Like yards per play, for example. With the up-tempo teams that are featured nowadays, coaches often look at how much yards per play they are giving up in comparison to total yards allowed. One week, for example the +Denver Broncos face the +Chargers, who average these amount of plays per game. The next week, just for arguments sake, they face the Patriots who average plays/game. Based on getting off that many more plays per game, the Patriots should obviously average more yards of offense per game and more than likely more yards given up on defense since they are more plays overall in their games. 

It is very similar to +ESPN constant attempt to change the QB ratings/stats to TotalQBR, but that is flawed right off the bat when looking into it because they give a higher rating to QBs that are able to come back from a deficit. The Broncos, don't often have a deficit, so Peyton Manning most likely would not get a higher Total QBR then he really should over other QB's. In the event a QB leads the whole game despite stellar performance and maintaining that lead to a win, it counts as a negative in comparison to a QB that comes back from behind and gets a win. That is significantly flawed. A QB that jumps out to a big lead each and every week is not rated as high because they are that good that a deficit is not common place. Factoring in numbers of opponents players is contingent on them, etc. All in all, its just for computer rankings sake, instead of just looking at the original statistics and above all, point differential, takeaway margin, field position, 3rd down efficiency on both sides, and redzone efficiency on both sides means more to us than a number that some algorithm crunched insides of multiple other algorithms is not as significant to Broncos CR3W. In interviews that we have listened to several +Pac-12 Conference coaches agree, the +University of Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham looks at avg./yards per play that his consistently solid defenses give up, and if it is 5 yards or less then they did their job. Many of these coaches have had NFL experience as well. PFF needs to look at numbers like this and above all, factor in wins and losses, and ding teams that have to come from behind and got a deficit to begin with. As well as teams they maintain and hold leads consistently. That said, we don't really plan on using PFF's numbers as a point of reference very often.

Aside from that, these ratings appear to be much more based on how badly the guy on one side plays against another or in layman terms, how bad the opponent is. RGIII is Honorable Mention? He lost at Minnesota, Peyton Manning through for over 300 yards and 4 TDs with a better completion percentage. What is beyond understanding as well, is how is Julius Thomas not above either listed and Demaryius Thomas above any WR from week 10? Brandon Marshall had a great game, but he lost to +Detroit Lions at home and did not have a Demaryius caliber game and many would concur. Beybey Thomas is only an honorable mention?! Our point is, maybe in future don't take PFF's ratings into a discussion as the only piece of evidence or pudding. Their numbers, in the human brain, do not add up sensibly. The Denver Broncos linebackers were really good against San Diego Chargers. We really felt Chris Harris Jr. and Rahim Moore (especially Moore) were exceptional as well as key situations. 3rd & 16 with just around 4 minutes remaining in the game with a pass deflected and forcing the +Chargers to punt the ball away. Look at the clip below. Example after example. A +Oakland Raiders center against the +New York Giants. Raiders lost the game by the way. +Buffalo Bills got trounced at +Pittsburgh Steelers. We find it odd that many so-called pundits and experts use PFF for references in regards to quality of play. The +Carolina Panthers defensive line against the +San Francisco 49ers are not acknowledged or 'honorable mention(ed).' Very skewed numbers overall. Great to see Von Miller in there. Still, we find another example, Terrance Knighton is playing light out, where is he? Offensive lineman can't get a good score on pass protection? So a run oriented team is likely to get acclaim by PFF over a pass oriented team for offensive line play.

Screenshot of PFF Week 10 NFL
Team based on their (PFF) Analysis Numbers

Perhaps in the world of wizards and Mr. Harry Potter, but this is the world of Muggles. Apologies PFF, not quidditch here. Happy to wager Terrance Knighton's level of play as of late along with Chris Harris Jr. and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (DRC) against the players' performances, listed. +Baltimore Ravens DB's obviously faced Andy Dalton, the bad version, which influenced their rating more than anything else. Somehow, take into account what the opposing player did in comparison to what he should have done and rate his expected caliber of play into that factor. How about Hammer (Wesley) Woodyard and Danny Trevathan combining for 22 tackles against the ball control, deliberate +Chargers run game? Teams like +Tennessee Titans who dropped a loss to winless +Jacksonville Jaguars. Our interpretation is the team that plays a QB with a low pass completion rate, QB that plays well in a deficit, an O-Line is rewarded for a good running game over a good passing game. Not too mention they listed a +Dallas Cowboys player, they got manhandled by the +New Orleans Saints.