Jking's thoughts:
Overall I'm pretty happy with how we played. I know that is terrible to say, but honestly, I can't be disappointed. Peyton isn't Peyton of old, but the Broncos are still undefeated, and we took them to OT. With that said, I have a few criticisms, and a lot are pretty repetitive.
Good:
1) Receivers. I keep saying this every week, but Barnidge, Benjamin, and even Duke are doing a great job spreading the field. I wish we had more than two or three guys that can easily get open, but I'm still not disappointed.
2) Duke Johnson and Robert Turbin. Neither ran the ball particularly well, however, they did exactly what was needed. Turbin got the necessary three or four yards on first down. He had a few bad runs but I thought that was the fault of the offensive line. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, Duke keeps improving every week. I would not be surprised to see him taking the majority of snaps by the end of the year. He reminds me a lot of prime Reggie Bush, and I hope he can attain that level of success, because it bodes well for us.
3) Defense. I know this sounds crazy, it probably is, especially considering they really didn't play that well. But I was impressed with the gameplan and positioning of our linebackers and secondary. I think we got tired towards the end, but, I hope this play is a sign of good things to come and not just Peyton Manning's shit arm. Though, the run D leaves a lot to be desired.
Bad:
1) Offensive playcalling. Flip has had one good game (Baltimore). Every other one is the same shit on a different day. We run way too many RB draw plays. The receivers routes are too simple and designed for a QB with a strong arm. Finally, it is too predictable. We run a short yardage play every first down. Part of this is that the running game is not good enough to set up the play action, however, something still needs to change. Run plays that put your players in a position to succeed.
2) Going for two. Enough said here, but, I think Pettine should've made the Broncos go for two.
3) Run Defense. Ronnie Hillman hasn't had one good running game in nearly one year. He wasn't even the starter. He destroyed us. This leads the defense to tire out before the end of the game. Not acceptable.
4) Josh McCown. Let me be clear, I still think he is a better QB than Johnny and deserves to be QB. I also think he arguably outplayed Peyton Manning. But he really struggled to make meaningful passes. He also does not lead the receivers to a position where only they can catch the ball. He never has, and only the best do it consistently, but I'm always left disappointed with the location of his passes. I think that, ultimately, he is a high-end backup QB who is far and away the best on our roster. I'm glad we have him for three years, as there is clearly a reason he is in the NFL, but he did not play well enough to win the game today.
Overall, I think Pettine has us playing at a level beyond our talent. And that's really nice to see. But I still don't think we have the talent to do better than 4-5 wins this season. If 12/16 games are close and competitive, though, I won't be too upset with how bad our season is. Now, isn't that a sad commentary?