The story of this game was Jay Cutler’s return to Denver and he played very well completing 15 of 21 passes for 144 yards with a TD.  Too bad the Broncos’ QBs couldn’t come close to matching his performance.  Kyle Orton started this game and he completed 12 of 16 passes for 96 yards before leaving with a finger injury.  Rookie Tim Brandstater finished up the game by completing 8 of 12 passes for 110 yards with a interception.  He also lost a fumble.  Darius Walker led the way on the ground in this game with 38 yards rushing on 10 carries (3.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Correll Buckhalter was also solid carrying the ball 9 times for 37 yards (4.1 ypc).  Peyton Hillis was busy with 7 carries for 24 yards (3.4 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 21 yards (10.5 avg) in this game.  WR Kenny McKinley led the Broncos in the passing game with 75 yards on 4 catches (18.8 avg).  Eddie Royal was also busy with 5 grabs for 44 yards (8.8 avg).  The Broncos finished up with 297 total yards in this game (93 rushing, 204 passing).

Linebacker D.J. Williams led the way for the Broncos on defense with 7 tackles.  The Bears finished up with 357 total yards in this game (114 rushing, 243 passing).

The Broncos just couldn’t put points on the board in this game despite the fact that they held the ball for 35:07!  Kyle Orton looked much better in this game for the Broncos completing 18 of 26 passes for 182 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Chris Simms was o.k. in limited duty completing 5 of 7 passes for 44 yards.  Rookie Tim Brandstater finished up this game by completing 2 of 4 passes for 1 yard.  Darius Walker led the way for the Broncos on the ground in this game with 48 yards rushing on 11 carries (4.4 ypc).  WRs Jabar Gaffney (5 rec, 55 yards) and Eddie Royal (4 rec, 44 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Broncos.  The Broncos finished up with 282 total yards (81 rushing, 201 passing) in this game and that’s just not good enough.

LB D.J. Williams led the way for the Broncos’ defense with 6 tackles and a sack.  LB Spencer Larsen and CB Champ Bailey pitched in with six tackles apiece in this game.  The Seahawks only finished with 248 total yards in this game (72 rushing, 176 passing) but Matt Hasselbeck did scald them when he was in the game.

The Broncos have suspended 25-year old WR Brandon Marshall for the rest of the pre-season due to conduct detrimental to the team.  His suspension will cost him a whopping $1,832 bucks because it comes before the regular season starts.  Marshall played in 15 games (all starts) for the Broncos last season and he caught 104 passes for 1,265 yards (12.2 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  In three years with the Broncos, Marshall has played in 46 games (32 starts) in which he has caught 226 passes for 2,899 yards (12.8 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  The Broncos better figure out what to do with Marshall soon so that he doesn’t cause problems all year long.  There is no doubt that he’s probably the best skill player on offense that the Broncos have, but that didn’t stop them from moving Jay Cutler and it won’t likely stop them from moving Marshall either.

The Broncos have claimed 26-year old CB Antwain Spann off waivers from the Bills.  Spann played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last season making 5 tackles.  He has now played in 19 games in his three years in the NFL and has 13 tackles.  Another Patriots’ reject has found a home in Denver.

The Broncos have acquired 31-year old C/G Ross Hochstein from the Patriots for a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.  Hochstein played in 15 games (2 starts) for the Patriots last season.  He has now played in 92 games (20 starts) in his 8 year NFL career.  This will probably turn out to be a good trade for both teams.

The Broncos have acquired 27-year old DT LeKevin Smith and a 7th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft from the Patriots for a fifth round pick in the 2010 Draft.  Smith played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last season and he had 14 tackles.  He has now played three seasons in the NFL appearing in 41 games (0 starts) and making 18 tackles.  Despite his size (6’3″, 308 pounds), Smith is not much of a football player.  This trade just shows how desperate the Broncos are along the D-Line.

The Broncos just didn’t play a good game last Friday against the Niners.  Kyle Orton was pathetic completing 9 of 16 passes for 89 yards with 3 pickoffs!  As bad as Orton was, Chris Simms was the opposite.  Simms completed 11 of 17 passes for 142 yards with 2 TD passes.  He almost brought the Broncos all the way back to win the game but he fell just short.  Peyton Hillis led the Broncos on the ground in this game with 49 yards rushing on 10 carries (4.9 ypc).  WR Kenny McKinley led the Broncos with 71 yards receiving on 3 catches (23.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Eddie Royal also had a solid game with 4 receptions for 46 yards (11.5 avg).  The Broncos need to protect the football as they mostly wasted the 341 yards of total offense they put up.

Converted fullback turned linebacker Spencer Larsen led the way on defense for the Broncos in this game with six tackles.  The Niners only had 278 yards in this game but they rushed for 4.5 yards per carry and they completed 77.8% of their passes.  The Broncos have a lot to work on before the regular season starts.

The Broncos have waived 23-year old running back Ryan Torain who has a strained PCL in his right knee.  Torain just couldn’t stay healthy in his time with the Broncos.  He played in 2 games last season carrying the ball 15 times for 69 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  The Broncos’ improved depth at running back allowed them to get rid of the injury prone Torain.