The Broncos have signed 25-year old DE Baraka Atkins to a reserve/future contract.  He has played in 21 games (0 starts) in his three years in the NFL and he has made 29 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he has 2 sacks.  Atkins is worth taking a chance on for the Broncos.

Who would have ever thought that 27-year old QB Kyle Orton would outplay the guy he was traded for (Jay Cutler)?  Certainly not me but he did.  Orton played in all 16 games for the Broncos and he completed 336 of 541 passes (62.1%) for 3,802 yards with 21 TD passes and 12 INTs (86.8 QB Rating).  Orton also carried the ball 24 times for 71 yards (3.0 ypc) this year.  Orton has now played in 49 games in his NFL career and he has completed 841 of 1,454 passes (57.8%) for 9,121 yards with 51 TD passes and 39 INTs (76.9 QB Rating).  Orton has also carried the ball 77 times for 163 yards (2.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  Orton was awful in the last game of the year when the Broncos really needed him to step up but he played hurt for at least half of the season which evens that out quite a bit.

29-year old Chris Simms is one of the worst QBs I have ever seen.  If his daddy wasn’t Phil Simms he would have been out of this league a long, long time ago.  Simms played in 3 games for the Broncos this season and he completed 5 of 17 passes (29.4%) for 23 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (15.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for -4 yards (-1.3 ypc) this year.  Simms has now played in 23 games in his NFL 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 33 times for 48 yards (1.5 ypc) with 1 TD run in his career.  The Broncos need to cut Simms and bring in a legit veteran back-up to Orton.

After starting 6-0, the Denver Broncos (8-8) looked like they were headed for a number one or two seed come playoff time.  Things sure did change for the Broncos, and a loss to the dismal Kansas City Chiefs (4-12) on Sunday summed up the second half of their season perfectly.  The Broncos needed to win this game to make the playoffs, and it should have been easy against a Chiefs team that was bad all season.  They may have been missing some key receivers, but that is no excuse to lose by 20 points to a bad team in such a key game.  The Broncos really let their fans down in this game and the whole second half of the 2009 season.

Kyle Orton got a ton of passing yards, but he turned the ball over too much and that was a key reason they lost.  Orton went 32/56 for 431 yards and 1 touchdown, but he also threw 3 interceptions with 2 of them returned for touchdowns.  Both of those interception returns were 45+ yards and both were by the Chiefs’ linebacker Derrick Johnson.  The Broncos have been a run first team all season, but not in this game.  They only got 84 rushing yards and were outscored 17-0 in the 4th quarter after having a close game through the first three.  A very disappointing end to the Broncos 2009 season.

The Denver Broncos are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs (3-12) Sunday, and it is a must-win game for the Broncos (8-7).  Their playoff hopes are still alive, barely.  After losing their third straight game last week against the Eagles, the Broncos playoff chances almost disappeared.  To still make it, the Broncos obviously have to win this game but they also need the Jets, Ravens, and Steelers to lose.  The first part should be easy, as the Chiefs give up 380 yards per game including 161 on the ground.  Josh McDaniels is benching Brandon Marshall, but the Broncos don’t need much out of their passing game since the Chiefs cannot stop the run.  The Broncos have a very strong running game and average 116 rushing yards per game.  They may rush for close to 200 in this one, with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter splitting the carries.

On defense, the Broncos need to shut down Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles.  Charles is averaging 132 rushing yards per game in the Chiefs last three contests, and if the Broncos can shut him down it makes things even harder for the Chiefs’ struggling passing game.  If Chiefs’ quarterback Matt Cassel gets no run-support, he will have to pass more increasing the odds of an interception.  He has thrown 15 picks this season, so the Broncos secondary should be ready to make some plays.  The Broncos have more incentive to win this game and are the better team, so they should not have a problem with the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  Denver Broncos 28, Kansas City Chiefs 10

The Broncos have decided to deactivate Brandon Marshall for tomorrow’s pivotal game against the Chiefs.  Coach Josh McDaniels decided to bench Marshall after a MRI showed no signs of an injury to Marshall’s hamstring which he claims happened in practice this week.  Marshall will be impossible to replace as he has caught 101 passes for 1,120 yards (11.1 avg) with 10 TD grabs so far this year.  With Eddie Royal (37 rec, 345 yards) injured and TE Tony Scheffler (31 rec, 416 yards, 2 TDs) demoted to second team the Broncos are in serious trouble tomorrow as far as the passing game goes.  If will be up to Jabar Gaffney (40 rec, 519 yards, 2 TDs), Brandon Stokley (14 rec, 284 yards, 3 TDs) and Daniel Graham (24 rec, 260 yards, 1 TD) to carry the Broncos passing game tomorrow.  I don’t like the fact that Josh McDaniels is willing to bench the best offensive player on the team in the Broncos biggest game of the year because MRIs don’t show everything.