The Broncos have acquired DT Dewayne Robertson from the New York Jets for a late round conditional pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.  The pick can escalate to as high as a 2nd rounder based on Robertson’s performance for the Broncos in 2008.  Robertson played in all 16 games (15 starts) for the Jets last season and he made 57 tackles and had 4 sacks.  Robertson has now played in 77 games (75 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 256 tackles, has 14.5 sacks and he has defensed 1 pass.  This was a good move for the Broncos who needed some size to help defend the run.

The Broncos have signed WR Edell Shepherd.  He didn’t play at all last season in the NFL.  He has now played in 25 games in his NFL career and he has caught 13 passes for 163 yards (12.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Shepherd has also returned 3 punts for 24 yards (8.0 avg) and 37 kickoffs for 809 yards (21.9 avg).  Shepherd will be a long shot to make the Broncos but it helps his cause that he is a good special teams player.

The Broncos have signed linebacker Boss Bailey to a 5-year, $17.5 million dollar contract.  Bailey is CB Champ’s brother which is a nice thing.  Bailey played in 15 games for the Lions last season and he made 51 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 3.5 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  Bailey has now played in 58 games in his NFL career and he has made 265 tackles, 13 passes defensed, 7 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 2 interceptions including one returned for a TD.  This was a good move for the Broncos who needed help at linebacker.

Both of these teams have dim hopes of making the playoffs if they win there last three games of the season.  It also will pit the master (Mike Shanahan) against his student (Gary Kubiak) which will make for some good looks on the coaches faces during the game.

Look for the Broncos to attack the Texans with their running game at the start of the season.  Travis Henry (653 yards rushing) and Selvin Young (569 yards rushing) will likely split the carries against a Texans’ defense that is allowing 118.2 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  As soon as the Broncos establish the running game Jay Cutler will throw the ball deep off of play action.  The Broncos offensive line has been really good this season but they need to keep DE Mario Williams (9.5 sacks) away from Jay Cutler if they are going to have success throwing the football.  Brandon Marshall is having a career year (75 rec, 1,029 yards, 6 TDs) and the Texans are having problems in the secondary as they are allowing 217.2 yards passing per game.

The Texans will probably come out passing the ball to attempt to entice the Broncos to abandon the running game early.  The Broncos cornerbacks and safeties are overrated so Sage Rosenfels should attack them deep with Andre Johnson and short with Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels.  If the Texans build a lead they should be able to grind the game out on the ground with Darius Walker against a defense that is allowing 138.8 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.

PREDICTION:  DENVER BRONCOS 24,  HOUSTON TEXANS 21

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