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One of the unsung heroes in Denver's 34-30 win, in my opinion, was wide receiver Brandon Stokley. Watch the replay. After Brandon Marshall catches a touchdown pass with 77 seconds left, he starts to pull something out of his pants -- some kind of note, apparently. If you watch the replay from the side angle, you can see that he pulls something out of his pants.
Probably some kind of sign or message he wanted to wave in front of the camera -- kind of a T.O. junior move.
But Stokley apparently figures out what's going on. He runs over and gets Marshall in kind of a hug and doesn't let go. Tony Scheffler joins in, and he also stays with Marshall far longer than you might expect. I think they were talking Marshall out of getting a 15-yard penalty. And with 77 second left, that was a smart move.
Ryan Torain and Selvin Young both left this game with injuries. Not sure how serious either is. But it left the Broncos playing with fullback Peyton Hillis as their tailback for most of the second half. To me, Torain didn't look like anything special. I don't think the Broncos are a playoff team.
Quinn looked just OK. He's a lot more mobile than Derek Anderson, and that helps the offense some. And it looks like he'll throw a lot more short balls -- good for Kellen Winslow, not so good for Braylon Edwards.
—Ian Allan
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Posted by ANDY RICHARDSON | Nov. 07 at 04:12 AM
I agree with your take on Torain (who's reportedly done for the year), but it's a real shame he got hurt. Special or not, he would probably have been featured the rest of the way, which would have been nice to see given the crowded committee this team has used lately. Instead we're almost certainly going to get an ugly three-player combo of fullbacks and deep practice squad types. I guess P.J. Pope might be the guy to pick up; he was with Chicago and Green Bay briefly the past couple of years. Two hopeless defenses out there last night, with the Broncos (thanks in part to recent injuries) one of the worst I've ever seen.
Posted by Brian Grzybowski | Nov. 07 at 06:22 AM
Couldn't agree more. A battle of hapless defenses. The topper to me is that Cutler looked like he was just throwing the ball in the general direction of his receivers in many cases. I think a majority of defenses would have come away with more picks. Eddie Royal looks good- I think you might be wrong about which Bronco's receiver leads the league in receptions.
Posted by BRYAN BERTSCH | Nov. 07 at 06:31 AM
Marshall was pulling out a pair of gloves - one white and one black to celebrate Obama's presidency. A noble gesture in the grand scheme, but it would've cost the Broncos 15 yards nonetheless and given the Browns a much better shot at the winning TD. You're exactly right, Stokely came rushing in and covered Marshall's gloves with both hands and Scheffler helped out. They were huddled very close and what's funny is the ref was trying real hard to peak in and see if he had anything in his hand, but Stokely kept it hidden well.
Posted by Paul Owers | Nov. 07 at 09:46 AM
Stokley's move was indeed smart, but you also have to credit Hillis' fourth-down conversion that kept the Bronocs' winning drive alive. He was tackled in the backfield but muscled forward just enough to get the first down. What a money play.
Posted by Travis George | Nov. 09 at 12:17 PM
You don't really have to go back and watch the replay, they showed it a thousand times and talked about it a lot when it was happening.