Bears at Broncos
By Brian Edwards
For a preseason game, the atmosphere at Invesco Field should be testy Sunday night in the Mile High City. That’s because the Broncos’ former quarterback Jay Cutler, who recently rated Denver as a “six” for an NFL city, will return as the starting QB of the Chicago Bears after he forced a trade during the offseason.
By now, everyone knows the story. After Denver fell apart down the stretch last season to miss the playoffs, owner Pat Bowlen sensed that it was time for a change and fired long-time head coach and two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan. He replaced Shanahan with 33-year-old Josh McDaniels, who had served as the offensive coordinator for New England under legendary coach Bill Belichick.
The McDaniels-Cutler saga began when word came out that the new coach was trying to acquire quarterback Matt Cassel, who enjoyed a breakout year for the Pats in 2008. From there, Cutler cut off all communication with McDaniels and didn’t even return phone calls from Bowlen.
Therefore, the Broncos granted Cutler his wish and traded him to Chicago, receiving draft picks and veteran QB Kyle Orton in return. And that’s another subplot in this game, as Orton will be facing his former teammates for the first time and making his debut at Invesco, where he was booed after struggling during a scrimmage open to the public three weeks ago.
Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened Denver as a 1 ½-point favorite with a total of 37 ½. As of early Saturday night, most books had the Broncos as 2 1/2-point ‘chalk’ with the total adjusted to 38. The Bears are plus-125 on the money line (risk $100 to win $125).
"From a motivational standpoint, the Broncos have a big edge," Bryan Leonard told VI. "Imagine how you would feel if your starting quarterback demanded a trade and it possibly cost you any chance for the postseason. From a fans' perspective, the home crowd should be fired up being on national television and adding in Cutler's remarks about the city of Denver."
Not only is Cutler expecting to hear it from the sure-to-be-unruly crowd, but he also expects the Broncos to come after him. And those defensive players will be glad to punish him if given the opportunity.
“In practice, you never really got to hit him," Denver defensive end Kenny Peterson told the Associated Press. "But now you've actually got a chance, if you can get to him, to lay your body on him a little bit."
LB Mario Haggan added, “It definitely would be nice to get Jay on the ground, give the fans something to cheer about and something to look forward to."
Denver will be without Pro-Bowl WR Brandon Marshall, who was suspended for the rest of the preseason for insubordination after showing his ass at practice earlier this week. In addition, second-string QB Chris Simms is “out” and rookie RB Knowshon Moreno is “doubtful.” WR Brandon Lloyd is “questionable.”
The Broncos have lost their first two preseason games, although they did cover the number in a 17-16 loss at San Francisco as 1 ½-point road underdogs. Seattle beat up on Denver by a 27-13 count last week as a three-point home favorite.
Orton was awful against the 49ers, completing 9-of-16 passes for 89 yards with three interceptions. He improved last week, guiding the Broncos to 10 points in the first quarter. Orton finished the night with 18 completions on 26 attempts for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
With Simms sidelined, gamblers should expect Denver rookie QB Tom Brandstater from out of Fresno St. to get most of the snaps at crunch time. Another key player for the Broncos could be rookie WR Kenny McKinley, the all-time leader in receiving yards at the University of South Carolina, who has five receptions for 90 yards and one TD in preseason play.
Chicago lost its preseason opener 27-20 at Buffalo as a thee-point underdog. Cutler was somewhat shaky in that outing, connecting on 5-of-10 passes for 64 yards with an interception.
He was much more effective last week, hitting on 8-of-13 attempts for 121 yards with one touchdown and no picks. Cutler led the Bears to a 17-3 home win over the Giants as three-point ‘chalk.’
Caleb Hanie will get most of the reps at QB when Cutler leaves the game. Hanie is a second-year QB from out of Colorado St. Chicago will be without starting defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek after he was lost for the season with a knee injury this week.
NBC will provide television coverage at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
--When I’m working, I almost always have the television on some sporting event. On Thursday, I had the Eagles-Jags game going because I wanted to see Michael Vick’s debut. Unfortunately for me, I was on the Jags’ network with their announcers, including former OT Tony Boselli. We all know Boselli was a sensational offensive lineman for the Jags and after listening to him for way too long the other night, I also know he’s the worst analyst I’ve EVER heard on television. I would rather have my toenails slowly removed than listen to him again. Are they serious with keeping this guy in the booth? Listening to him is unbearable and painful.
--Tampa Bay has named Byron Leftwich as its starting quarterback, so don’t be surprised if Luke McCown gets traded in the next 48-72 hours.
--Atlanta backup QB Chris Redman looked sharp Saturday in rallying the Falcons to a last-second comeback victory over San Diego. Redman, who didn’t take a snap in 2008, found Eric Weems for a five-yard TD pass with nine second left to lift his team to a 27-24 victory. The comeback drive began with 2:07 remaining and allowed Atlanta backers to garner a push (as a three-point favorite) after trailing virtually the entire game.
--Mike Smith has to be extremely concerned about his secondary. Atlanta CB Chris Houston was beaten for first downs on third-down situations of 13 yards or more three separate times.
--Andy Iskoe said this about the Cowboys: “They have the talent to win it all and the coaching
