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While Leinart sits looking for more money, Jay Cutler, who some believe is better, makes a fine start for Denver.
Cutler impressive, but Lions edge Broncos
NFL wire reports
DETROIT (Aug. 11, 2006) -- Rod Marinelli remembers scurrying along the sideline before The Star-Spangled Banner, making sure the Lions were standing and holding their helmets properly.
Before Marinelli knew it, his debut as a head coach at any level was over.
Each of the Lions' quarterbacks -- Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky and Josh McCown -- led scoring drives and Detroit's defense caused three turnovers in a 20-13 victory against the Denver Broncos.
"I love to win," said Marinelli, a former defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "If we're playing marbles, I'm going to get you."
Third-string quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt drove Denver deep into Detroit territory in the final minute, but on a fourth-and-goal at the 9 his pass behind David Kircus was dropped.
"You couldn't have a better way to finish," Marinelli said. "I like pressure."
Kircus, a former Lions receiver competing for a spot on Denver's roster, had six catches for 76 yards and a score. But he only lamented his final opportunity.
"Any time you get a chance for the ball, have it touch your hand in the end zone on the last play of the game, it's heartbreaking when you don't bring it in," he said.
Even though his team lost, Broncos safety John Lynch was happy to see one of his former coaches get a chance to lead a team.
"This opportunity has been long overdue," Lynch said. "He was a defensive line coach with the Bucs, but he was more than that to guys on both sides of the ball. He's a special coach, and a great guy."
Damian Gregory (93) and Claude Harriott gang up on Denver's Bradlee Van Pelt.
The Lions led 10-0 early in the second quarter and, after losing the lead, went back ahead 17-13 midway through the third. Artose Pinner's 2-yard run was the go-ahead score, set up by Mike Williams' 24-yard catch from McCown. After Denver's third turnover, Matt Prater's field goal early in the fourth quarter gave Detroit a 20-13 lead.
Jay Cutler had a solid debut for the Broncos. The 11th pick in the draft was 16-for-22 for 192 yards and a touchdown.
"He played well, executed the offense," Denver coach Mike Shanahan said. "Both teams were very vanilla in their approach, so you don't get too excited. But a guy's got to go out there and perform, and I thought he showed a lot of poise."
Both starting quarterbacks, Kitna and Denver's Jake Plummer, played only one series and each moved the ball about 60 yards.
Kitna, signed as a free agent to replace Joey Harrington, converted consecutive third downs with an 18-yard pass to Roy Williams and a 10-yard run to set up Jason Hanson's 36-yard field goal.
Plummer got the Broncos past midfield with a 16-yard pass to Darius Watts, then Mike Bell fumbled two plays later -- less than a week after the undrafted rookie moved past Tatum Bell and Ron Dayne to become the No. 1 running back.
"We didn't like the fumble, but that's typical of young guys in the NFL," Shanahan said. "It's similar to what Clinton Portis went through as a rookie. That's why you play those guys in these situations."
Marinelli said earlier in the week McCown would be the second quarterback to play, but Orlovsky took snaps after the coaching staff decided to change plans. The second-year pro made a 24-yard pass to Corey Bradford on his first play and ended his first possession with a good read and accurate toss to running back Arlen Harris for a 20-yard TD and a 10-0 lead.
Cutler took advantage of a turnover by threading a pass through a zone to Tony Scheffler for a 15-yard gain, which set up Jason Elam's 36-yard kick. With 44 seconds left in the half, Cutler threw three passes for 27 yards and Tatum Bell had a 15-yard run before Elam made another field goal to make it 10-6 at halftime.
Tatum Bell finished with 26 yards on five carries and Mike Bell had 20 yards on seven rushes.
Denver went ahead 13-10 early in the third quarter. Cutler looked right and threw left to a wide-open Kircus.
The Lions had 16 players inactive, including five starters on defense and two first-string linemen on offense.
Denver had seven inactives, including receivers Javon Walker (knee) and Rod Smith (hamstring), cornerback Champ Bailey -- coming off a season slowed by shoulder and hamstring injuries -- and defensive end Courtney Brown, whose latest knee surgery was Aug. 9.
GAME NOTES:
After an impressive training camp and one reception for 9 yards, Broncos rookie WR Brandon Marshall left the game in the first half with a strained right knee. Shanahan said he didn't think the injury was serious.
Detroit TE Casey FitzSimmons, who had moved past Marcus Pollard on the depth chart, might be out for two weeks with an injured left wrist.
Meh.
That's pretty much all I can really say this year - I've been reading way too much; I bought two magazines - two more then I usually do - and I've worked on this for much too long, something like two weeks.
And still, I don't think I'm anymore sure about any of these then I was in August. Or in May. Hell, I don't think I'm any more sure then I was the minute after Super Bowl XL ended.
But here it all is - typed lovingly by division by a college student with less time free then he has to sleep.
AFC
AFC East: The Patriots
This division was the one that was the toughest of them all for me to choose: I like the Dolphins this year - more on that later - but I can't help but to choose the Pats, once again. They haven't lost any key players other then their kicker and a linebacker... And if that was all it takes to kill this team it's a bad sign for Brady's Hall of Fame chances.
The Dolphins improved by signing a QB and it'll be a good race - although I'm not quite sold on the Dolphins defense. The Bills will tank fast while the Jets will pull a Barbaro and break a leg out of the gate.
I'm going to say the order will be like this:
- New England Patriots
- Miami Dolphins
- Buffalo Bills
- New York Jets
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers haven't done much other then cutting the fat in the offseason: they lost Tommy Maddox and Randel El - which means that their WR passing stats will go in the toilet. And hurt or not, Big Ben keeps getting better and better. If this team wins less then 11 games it's time for a new coach.
Otherwise, the Bengals are still good - but, thanks to the new rules on touchdown celebrations, a lot less fun to watch. Baltimore's gotten worse during the offseason (Brain St. Pierre? Mike Anderson?) and Cleveland is, well, bad. Really bad.
- Pittsburgh
- Cincinnati
- Baltimore
- Cleveland
ARC South: Indianapolis Colts
Er, when you have ha;f your games against teams like Houston, Tennessee and Jacksonville and you're one of the best teams in the NFL's recent history, you're going to win the division, no matter who your running back is.
Other then them, Jacksonville is a decent team who hasn't convinced me that they're better then either Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Denver or Miami; Tennessee made a few changes but I don't see them getting ahead of either of the previous teams in the standings and Houston... Well, if nothing else, there's always next year's draft - maybe then the Texans can draft a running back.
- Indianapolis
- Jacksonville
- Tennessee
- Houston
AFC West: Denver Broncos
Why not? They have a revolutionary two-tier running back system (trust me, this is like when they introduced the Relief Pitcher), a solid QB in Plummer, a good defense and they added a few good parts (Javon Walker, Mike Bell) to replace what they lost (Mike Anderson). They're a lock to win their division.
And, again, why not? Kansas City still doesn't play defense; Oakland's still a coach away from being a contender and San Deigo's QB situation looks worse then it did last year. It's not going to be a breeze, but it's not too much to ask for the Broncos.
- Denver
- San Diego
- Kansas City
- Oakland
NFC:
NFC East: New York Giants
Sure, the Giants fell apart in the playoffs last year - but they added bulk to their defense with LaVar Harrington and kept some of their big playmakers with Plaxico Burress and Eli Manning. And sure, Tiki Barber is getting old - but he's still doing a lot better then most running backs that are his age. It'll be close, but I think the Giants have what it takes to win this division this year.
Philadelphia's Eagles look good - last year they were marred by injury and locker-room disputes - but I'm not sold on their offence; will McNabb rebound? Did TO truly carry the team like he thought he did? It's too many questions for me. Dallas will self-implode over TO, Parcells and Bledsoe before week five (I would be surprised as hell if both TO and Bledsoe can successfully work together over the course of the season; it'd be like Larry the Cable guy successfully co-hosting The Daily Show for half a year) and Washington will have a tough go at it - they have a great running back with Clinton Portis, two solid receiving backs... But their offense is still led by Mark "Bledsoe Jr." Brunell.
- New York Giants
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Washington Redskins
- Dallas
NFC North : Chicago Bears
Remember the Bears of the mid 1980s? They had a killer running back in Walter Payton, sure, but who else? Jim McMahon? Willie Gault? No - they won because of their defense, which is exactly what the 06 Bears are planning - and will - do. Thanks to their powerful defense, the Bears can get away with just having a couple weapons - they have a solid running game - in a seriously weak division.
Otherwise, the Packers should continue their general decline down towards irrelevance - you can thank their aging QB for that - while Minnesota enters a rebuilding stage, thanks to the recent losses of their major offensive stars (Culpepper, Moss, et al). And Detroit... Well, the Tigers are doing pretty well this year.
NFC South: Carolina Panthers
The Panthers are a real threat this year - nobody seemed to notice that they had a great defense and that there was more to the team then just Steve Smith. Not that it really matters; Smith is fantastic and, if healthy, carry almost any team. The Panthers will make easy work of everybody.
On the other side of the NFC South coin, the Atlanta Falcons will have a decent season - nothing special, I'm afraid - while the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have fun at the bottom. Sure, both of them have some great running backs - but neither of them have what it takes to get past Carolina.
NFC West: Seattle Seahawks
I hate myself for this - no Super Bowl loser has repeated in ages and the Seahawks have a tough schedule and Sean Alexander is a ACL Tear waiting to happen. But still - they play in a division against the St. Louis Rams, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. You can pretty much chalk up 6, maybe 7 wins right there.
Speaking of the Cards, I'm not buying this "They're a sleeper" nonsense. They have Kurt Warner, a QB who's too green to be a starter right now and a great running back who I suspect will be bad with the Cards line in front of him. St. Louis will surprise people, but to do that they'd need to do what, win six games? And the 49ers... Well, they're rebuilding. Still.
Playoffs:
First a lesson: I've always enjoyed playing games on both computers and on consoles - but my experience is pretty much limited to sports games or RTS games. So tonight, when I got invited to a Halo party, I assumed that I could just switch from one to the other. After all, how different can it be?
Turns out it's a lot different.
The point here is that some things don't transfer over too well - and sometimes what cuts it in one place doesn't in another. That said, here's the playoffs (But first, a quick recap):
NFC
East: New York
North: Chicago
South: Carolina
West: Seattle
Wild Cards: Philadelphia, Atlanta
AFC
East: New England
North: Pittsburgh
South: Indianapolis
West: Denver
Wild Cards: Cincinnati, Miami
Championship games: New England over Indy; Carolina over Chicago
Super Bowl XLI: Chicago over New England
Denver Broncos Schedule
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