vs Miami Dolphins (L 17-26)
There were several sad and disheartening factors of the Donkeys' latest weekend festivities. It was sad that the running game couldn't total more than 14 yards. It was disheartening that Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall acted like pouting teenagers. It was sad that Michael Pittman, Andre Hall and DJ Williams came out of the game with serious injuries. It was sad that Calvin Lowry was still in the game. It disheartetning that Dolphins' TE Greg Camarillo racked up over 100 yards.

But the saddest fact of all is that this loss wasn't surprising.

After spending almost two weeks spouting cliches of how they're ready for the second half and putting everything behind them, the Broncos went out and continued their disturbing nosedive of the past six weeks. Facing a less-than-stellar Miami Dolphins team, the Donkey offense was almost non-existent. Their biggest play was a penalty-nullified catch-and-run for a TD to Brandon Marshall that was called back on an extremely questionable pass interference flag. Fullback Peyton Hillis came out of obscurity to catch 7 passes for over 100 yards. While that's an impressive and unheard of feat for any fullback, it shows how stymied the Broncos offense was. They were unable to move the ball any other way, so they almost had to go with Hillis.

According to Dolphins LB Joey Porter, they were able to get into the heads of both Cutler and Marshall. Cutler seemed to force his throws on Sunday, including his third INT of the game, when he lost his cool and was trying to do too much after that negated TD. He was visibly shaken and upset throughout the game. Marshall seemed to be moping as well and you have to wonder if there isn't more to this story. Marshall went into the bye week fully healthy... but strangely found himself on the injury report before Sunday's game. Even KOA's Dave Logan noted that, judging by body language, the Broncos seemed dead and listless in the first quarter.

Eddie Royal entered the Donkey record books by returning a kickoff for 95 yards in the first quarter. It was officially the longest non-scoring return in franchise history. Royal finished the job by catching a TD pass three plays later. While it was a momentary spark for the Donkeys, it was gone by halftime.

The running game also entered the recod books, as the 14 net yards gained was officially the lowest output of Mike Shanahan's regime and the second-lowest in franchise history. Not the type of record the Broncos want to flirt with. Michael Pittman was apparently less than 100%, as he was stuffed frequently. New rookie Ryan Torain entered, but seemed too green for immediate NFL insertion.

The Dolphins' famed "Wildcat" formation was apparently the only film clip the Broncos had watched during their bye. The Dolphins gained maybe 5 yards, total, in the Wildcat, but coach Tony Sparano didn't seem to mind. Along with his coaching staff of Big Pussy Banpansiero, Christopher Multisanti, Silvio Donte and Paulie Goltieri, they essentially whacked the Broncos in other ways. The Broncos tried to cover receiver Ted Ginn, Jr, but that left TE Greg Camarillo open, consistently. Chad Pennington, Ronnie Brown and even Ricky Williams (back from his sojourn abroad to smoke dope and eat Royales With Cheese) kept gaining firstdowns and eating up clock. Denver thought they had a chance, but before they knew it, the screen went black in the middle of a Journey song and they were left wondering what the hell had just happened. After impressing the masses with their early season performance, the Broncos woke up this morning and found all the love had gone.

After another demoralizing loss, the Broncos have a short week and no proven RB at the moment. They''ll will be leaning heavily on Cutler on Thursday night in Cleveland. Unless he's given tremendous amounts of Prozac, I don't think he and his sub-.500 career record can carry a team at this point. They're going to be throwing like crazy, which will not produce good results. Brandon Marshall has seemed rather docile since the Chiefs game, so the duo needs to to get their nuts and bolts tightened, ASAP. If that doesn't happen, the Broncos will find themselves facing their Season Finale this Thursday.

Chop Blocks

..||..So much for karma. Hopped down to Parker on Saturday to see Michael Pittman at one of those freebie in-store autograph thingies. Less than 24 hours later, he was injured and eventually placed on injured reserve.

..||.. The KC Chiefs are now 1-7. Wow, they must've beat a really shitty team to get that "1".

..||.. Barack Obama and John McCain on MNF? Dammit, why couldn't they let them call the entire game and give ESPN's Moronic Trio the night off?!

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