By Joe Nelson
Posted 10/21/2009 at 05:41 PM

The initial BCS rankings offered no real surprises and there will be a pretty clear cut scenario for most teams. Florida and Alabama are the top two teams but as we all know one of those teams would have to lose in a SEC championship rematch from last year. There could be some interesting wrinkles however as if both are undefeated, the loser could conceivably still end up as the #2 team in the BCS rankings assuming the other teams in the mix from major conferences would have losses. Should one of the teams get upset in the regular season but then go on to win the SEC championship game against the other that is still undefeated then the rematch title game would still also be a possibility. It will all depend how far the voters penalize the losing team and if there are worthy teams to move up.

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By Joe Nelson
Posted 10/15/2009 at 01:02 PM

The Denver Broncos are one of five undefeated teams remaining the NFL yet for the third straight week the Broncos will play as underdogs. Certainly Denver has been a surprise as the off-season was filled with bad news and a young new coach seemed to find himself in all sorts of trouble. At a certain point the product on the field has to overtake the preseason projections and Denver and in the opposite case Tennessee, need to be valued for what they have done this season on the field rather than what most people expected them to do or based on last season.

Denver has the top ranked scoring defense in the NFL allowing just over eight points per game while allowing only 253 yards per game. Denver was awful against the run last season but has been outstanding this season while also featuring an excellent secondary and an overall strong tackling team. On offense Denver has scored just under 20 points per game but they are one of the top rushing teams in the league and have averaged 377 yards per game. Kyle Orton has not been flashy but he has been very effective and he thoroughly out-played Tom Brady last week. Orton has seven touchdowns and just one interception while completing 63 percent of his passes. 

Denver has played a weak schedule you say? Well Denver’s opponents have combined to go 12-13. Denver has won twice on the road including giving Cincinnati its only loss as well as beating playoff contenders Dallas and New England the last two weeks. For comparisons sake, the undefeated Saints have played just four games, beating opponents that are a combined 8-10. The Colts have beat five teams that are a combined 7-16, the Vikings have beaten teams that are a combined 7-17, and the Giants have beaten teams that are a combined 6-19. So on a purely record standpoint the Broncos schedule has not really been as weak as most assume. The Broncos have not picked up the style points that some of the other teams have with lopsided wins but it doesn’t mean they haven’t been just as good.

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