25-year old DE Elvis Dumervil is still playing at a very high level for the Broncos.  He has played in 11 games for the Broncos this season and he has 37 tackles, 14 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and he defensed 3 passes.  Dumervil has now played in 56 games in his 4 years with the Broncos and he has 117 tackles, 8 passes defensed, 1 interception, 9 forced fumbles and he has 40 sacks.  The Broncos need Dumervil to finish strong and help them make the playoffs which are in reach.

The Broncos sure proved me wrong by beating up on the Giants last night.  Kyle Orton must have got a magic shot in his ankle because he looked good last night completing 18 of 28 passes for 245 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  Rookie RB Knowshon Moreno got back on track with 19 carries for 88 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg) in his game.  Correll Buckhalter pitched in with 51 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.6 ypc) yesterday.  Brandon Marshall led the way in the passing game for the Broncos last night as he snatched up 6 passes for 86 yards (14.3 avg).  TE Tony Scheffler pitched in with 4 catches for 53 yards (13.3 avg) last night.  The Broncos finished up with 373 total yards on offense (138 rushing, 235 passing) in this game.

The defense was outstanding for the Broncos last night.  Safety Brian Dawkins led the way for the Broncos last night with 8 tackles, 2 passes defensed, a fumble recovery and a QB hit.  CB Andre’ Goodman was also solid with 4 tackles, 3 passes defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 INT.  The Giants finished up with only 267 total yards on offense (57 rushing, 210 passing) in this game.  The Broncos are now 7-4 on the year.

The Giants had to fight hard to get back on track last week with a hard fought O.T. win over the Falcons.  The Broncos on the other hand have lost four games in a row by a combined score of 117-37!  The last two home games the Broncos have played they lost by a combined 60-13 score.  The Giants will likely try to impose their will on the ground in this game with Brandon Jacobs and Danny Ware against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 115.3 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry.  If the Giants’ O-Line can keep Elvis Dumervil (12 sacks) away from Eli Manning he should be able to have some success throwing the ball.  But if the Broncos get a good rush on Manning he might make a big mistake or two against Champ Bailey and his veteran buddies in the Denver secondary.

The Broncos would like to be more balanced on offense against the Giants with Kyle Orton still a little bit gimpy.  That means that Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter will have to hold onto the ball against a Giants’ D that is allowing 104.8 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  The Giants can be passed on but they like to blitz a lot which could cause problems for the Broncos due to Orton’s ankle as he will be a sitting duck a lot of the time. 

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 27, BRONCOS 17

What’s the point for keeping a player that you never, and I mean NEVER, want to use in a game?  They would be better off going with rookie Tom Brandstater a 6th round pick last April out of Fresno State as the backup to Kyle Orton.  The only things that the 29-year old Chris Simms has in common with his famous daddy is the fact that they both play QB and have blond hair.  That is where the comparisons end.  Chris Simms has played in 2 games for the Broncos this season and he has completed 5 of 17 passes (29.4%) for 23 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (15.1 QB Rating).  He has now played in 22 games in his career and he has completed 297 of 511 passes (58.1%) for 3,117 yards with 12 TD passes and 18 INTs (69.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 30 times for 52 yards (1.7 ypc) with 1 TD run in his career.

Chris’ daddy Phil played in 164 games (159 starts) in his NFL career.  He led the Giants to a 95-64 (59.7%) record as a starting QB including 1 Super Bowl win.  The elder Simms completed 2,576 of 4,647 passes (55.4%) for 33,462 yards with 199 TD passes and 157 INTs (78.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 349 times for 1,252 yards (3.6 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  Maybe Chris should have been paying more attention when his daddy played so he could have learned something.  Like I said before, the Broncos should just cut Simms and go with the rookie as the backup or sign Jeff Garcia.

The Denver Broncos (6-4) were in trouble before this game even started against the San Diego Chargers (7-3).  Kyle Orton did not take one snap all week of practice due to a sprained ankle, so Chris Simms got the start.  Simms looked overwhelmed out there and did not last very long.  He was sacked twice and lost a fumble, so it was obvious from the beginning that Simms was not going to be able to do anything well for the Broncos.  They decided to put in Orton, even though he was a gimp.  Orton was not able to get anything going either, and the Broncos offense was only able to put up 3 points in the entire game.  Orton ended up passing for 179 yards and an interception, while going 15/29.  They were able to get 115 yards combined out of Moreno and Buckhalter, but the ankle injury definitely affected Orton’s game and the Chargers were too good.

Philip Rivers and the Chargers offense were able to build a big lead and cruise to the victory.  Rivers did not pass for a lot of yards (only 145 yards), but he was smart with the ball and completed 17/22 passes and had a touchdown.  He also had a strong running game to rely on, as LaDainian Tomlinson had 73 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries and Mike Tolbert added 58 yards and a touchdown on only 7 carries.  The Broncos were not a full strength, but this is now their fourth straight loss and some major adjustments need to made as teams are figuring out how to defend them.