Jaguars Coach Jack Del Rio mentioned that the cold weather might have been a break for his guys, but more likely it was the Bronco defense that provided a reprieve. Two questionable penalty flags were thrown; one on Dre Bly when he was blocked to the ground by WR Reggie Williams and a second on the M&M Misconnection involving a phantom interference call in the fourth quarter. This is either the Karmic Gods of Football paying back the Broncos for the Ed Hochuli/Chargers incident...or else it's two convenient excuses for a team that seemed mired in neutral after the second quarter.

Consider that Selvin Young, Tony Scheffler and Eddie Royal were all out with injuries. Then consider that Brandon Stokley went out with a concussion, during the game. But the Broncos have been telling us all about their "talent", so it shouldn't have been an issue. Young wasn't missed, as Michael Pittman started and recorded the first 100 yard performance by a Donkey this season. Brandon Marshall and his athletically-taped arms were still on hand and, at the game's outset, it looked like it might be business as usual.

In the second quarter, Marshall-- as he's known to do-- caught a pass and began scampering for his "run after catch" (RAC) yards. Marshall's the best in the league in that category, but for the second time in three weeks, he fumbled the ball away. Fighting for additional yards is usually acceptable, but since Marshall was inside the red zone, a little discretion should've been used. Fall down and the worst thing that could happen is you end up kicking a field goal. Keep spinning and the worst thing that could happen is you fumble and your team loses momentum. Marshall has vowed to change his game and simply get upfield without all the weaving and bobbing. Again, he just needs to understand that should only be the case inside the redzone.

Momentum was one thing, but David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew were two others. Garrard completed roughly 81 percent of his passes and Jones-Drew looked like Barry Sanders, v. 1991. "MJD", as he's now known, took a simple handoff up the middle and proceeded to run 50-some yards to paydirt. Fred Taylor actually started the game at RB, but was knocked out by Nate Webster's full frontal hit to the grill. MJD usually gets a handful of handoffs anyways, but Taylor exiting might have been the best thing for the Jags and the worst thing for the Donkeys. Maybe MJD's smaller frame (5'9") gave the Donkey D trouble? After all, they're used to arm-tackling guys who stand a few inches higher.

The Broncos still had their chances and were within striking distance in the 4th. Unfortunately, that's when the aforementioned phantom interference call was flagged on Marquand Manuel and Marlon McCree. No contact was made, so it was more than questionable. The ref who threw the flag was actually behind Jacksonville TE Greg Estandia and only saw McCree reaching into Estandia's area. The old adage has always been: "if the ref didn't see it, it didn't happen". But in this case it was "the ref didn't see it, and it did happen". I suppose that's what is to be expected, when NFL refs spend their weekdays filling the lettuce trays at Subway.

For all the bellyaching over the two phantom calls, they're not the culprits. Nobody was thanking the refs for throwing a flag on a big 65 yard pass from David Garrard to Troy Williamson that was called back due to holding. Jacksonville simply gameplanned well and executed that plan to perfection. Aside from the first quarter, things didn't go the Broncos' way. Once again, their defense had all the effect of a pillow trying to swat a bowling ball. When a team begins clawing back, they have to find a way to deliver the killing blow and put them away. They had the Chargers and Saints on the ropes and both came back to bloody the Broncos. While the Broncos seem to set up opponents well in the early rounds, they're forgetting to put them away in the late rounds. They'll have a chance next Monday night, when they'll be tested against another well-rounded team in the Patriots.

Chop Blocks
..||.. Saw that the Chiefs' Larry Johnson was charged with an assualt charge this week. I was surprised that the charge wasn't filed by the Broncos' defense.

..||.. I'm sorry, with Boss Bailey's injury problems and less-than-stellar play, I'm thinking we should reduce his name to simply "Employee Bailey".

..||.. Along those lines, I wonder what the rest of the Bailey boys are named? They have "Champ" and "Boss", so I'm sure the others have other complimentary names as well, like "Chief", "Hot Rod", "Ace" and "Stud".

..||.. Went to "Jay Cutler Live" again this week and finally got his autograph. Uber-fans will be happy to note that I handed him a football to autograph and, despite the crowd, he did NOT fumble it away.

..||.. I thought my logo designer's eye was right...and I was. The NFL did indeed modify their standard shield in the off-season. They reduced the numbers of stars in the top stripe, modified the "NFL" font a little bit and widened the shield just a scooch. You're welcome.

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