1988 Week 16 - New England at Denver

[Music] special teams makes the hit john hellway an off-season for him he's going to have surgery in a couple of days on the elbow tony door set has been a disappointment sami weiner consistent again mark jackson brilliant the last three games fans johnson having his best season clearance cave tied in the offensive line reads stuttered the rookie perry brian joriga and lanier rumble 29 at tailback and johnson in motion [Music] [Applause] underneath almost intercepted on the ricochet as mobley could not wrap it up and it bounded into the midst of that defense of new england and johnny remember close to picking it off and it has been a great defensive effort the last time game seven won by new england brent williams tim goad the rookie from north carolina on the nose and garen varus back from injury andre tippett again in the pro bowl ed reynolds johnny rimbert they thought he should have made the pro bowl lawrence mcgrew of the linebackers ronnie lopette fred marion roland james and raymond claiborne 100 interceptions from those four men in the deep secondary elway wants to get deep early wouldn't surprise me to see him going after them right here [Music] for the sidelines that overshoots names johnson the coverage too good raymond claiborne was there the pass thrown right into the denver bench the mental attitude of this denver team such that i would believe the term the tempo of this game and perhaps even the outcome of this game determined in the first half of the first quarter of this game and this is not a very auspicious start for elway and the offense over this season they have not shown the ability to come back they did in their two super bowl seasons but if they're any down by any more than seven points at the half they simply don't bounce back dick season will end today or have ended tend to play very well if they get ahead early but if they fall behind there's no emotional backdrop for them to support hit by raymond claiborne the first down out at the 42-yard line 13-yard for jackson who has 41 catches but what he's done in the last three weeks has been quite remarkable talking to him yesterday he said you know any other year people would be excited about what i'm doing right now they don't care well you have to care when he comes up and makes that kind of big play for you he got up off the ground by the way and talked to the official said hey are you going to allow them to bump me around like that downfield he's looking for his fourth consecutive 100 yard receiving game that would be a denver record you have to go back to the great lionel taylor to find anyone who's uh done it three straight times steve sewell gets the carry after the 44 where ed reynolds from virginia makes the tackle a couple of yards it'll be second down and eight and there's an injured patriot it's the noseman tim goad and with it a time out 13 41 remaining in the opening period just under way think of his ankle here trying to keep him out of the play comes right down on the ankle and goat goes down immediately was helped off the field and he is a rookie who has had a marvelous season has produced as a starter through most of the year at that nose tackle position has been replaced by toby williams on the nose second down and eight for the broncos at their 44. [Music] and it's complete at the 45-yard line of the patriots layburn with the tackle that pass looked like it got away from elway and not the traditional zipper that he throws his violent throwing action reminiscent of a baseball fastball pitcher but this ball fluttering all the way and yet it is still complete johnson really forcing clay burn deep and then coming back to meet the ball and the 11 yard gain might have been tipped there it could have been but you see that ball shaking as it comes out of the over the line of scrimmage down to the 42-yard line maybe the 41. of course the word on door said and the interest in the dallas cowboy camp on their former running star is the fact that he was traded here to denver for a number five choice unless dorset gained 750 yards in that case it would be a number three pick so dallas rooting for dorset they have a big day one thing that really would concern me if i were dan reeves they asked tony dorsett about his future here in denver he said i'm not worried about my future here i really don't care well my thought very simply with that attitude you probably don't have a future here second down seven just underway first round of the game and mowgli drops in second ed reynolds was the closest patriot here's big mobley who lists at 6'5 and 256 he's probably closer to 270. 265 the last time we got a chance to look at him on a scale but that's down 15 pounds from the weight he carried in 1987. he has been much more of a factor in the passing game during this season he's also a pretty ferocious blocker an extra [Music] four wide receivers and he's going deep [Applause] [Music] johnson couldn't get around him i had a look at the pattern of this season for these teams offensively the nfl average is 62 percent past 38 rush for all teams the broncos pass it much more than that 69 but not as much as mourinho and miami they're in the 70s now you can look for them to pass the running game has not been effective just the opposite for new england we'll show you that when they have the ball stanley morgan who has not returned punts since 1981 replaces irving fryer who's not in uniform that one's gonna line well into the end zone is mike buran who's made the pro bowl the only denver bronco in the pro bowl duran the punter and that's the first time he's kicked the ball in the end zone all season long the first touchback new england has it when we return appropriately realistically a very quiet denver crowd here's the patriot starters eason with stevens the brilliant rookie paramount a good blocker morgan the veteran all-time pass catcher for new england cedric jones with injured fire and russ francis the tight end they gave you the offensive line after this first play as pearlman goes in motion and stevens who runs with both hands wrapped around that precious pumpkin as a couple and uh even his teammates have marveled at the rookie stevens the fact that he has a thousand yards and he doesn't run with that ball swinging out there and using balance he's a north south runner and he runs behind five outstanding blockers danny villa sean farrell mike babb ron wooten and bruce armstrong armstrong from louisville a very young tackle at 23 in fact he was the youngest starter in the league last year 22 is developing into one of the top talents at that position in the league [Applause] [Music] stevens again and the broncos spearheaded by carl mecklenburg and greg franklin craven 71 the nose tackle who leads denver in tackles and tim crumria cincinnati for that rare possibility of leading a team from that position here's the defensive line of boyer craiger and reagan and townsend think about changes for denver defensively some might come at that position simon fletcher karl mecklenburg rick dennison michael brooks starts today second year man from lsu steve wilson and jeremiah castillo a couple of soft corners dennis smith and mike hart in the safety smith is tough at that safety spot eason underneath to morgan he doesn't get the first down he stopped at the 29 by tyrone braxton so new england will have to punt the ball [Applause] the key for this denver team today and it has been on the season emotion when they have come out and established themselves early in the ball game they've been able to go on and win their share of games when they have come out slow and had problems they have not been able to bounce back and keep things going a good start for the defense here today bagels to kick to ricky natiel who's back at the denver 32 strength of fiegel's game the height of his punk uh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] line of scrimmage and i would guess because that is not a very strong punt that if it's an ineligible man downfield too quickly that denver might refuse the penalty and put their offense on the field illegal motion a 35-yard punt by feigl illegal motion offense number 41 hindley his decline first and 10 denver we should point out merlin olsen while we will uh when we return the home field advantage how that really has been effective for denver and new england has not scored a touchdown on grass this year tim goad his left ankle wrapped in ice a sprained ankle back for x-rays for new england you know at this time of the year the one expression especially the teams that have no future after this weekend as we're playing for pride that's a given aren't they playing for pride all season long they're playing for pride i think more realistically with a team like denver where they know the changes are in the wind and particularly on defense they're playing for job security and that's something that's got to be the paycheck and the wallet are definitely involved here today that's motivation [Applause] denver in this scoreless first quarter sammy winder to the 44-yard line and a pickup of six yards one of the things that we did not get a chance to chat with uh in our interview with patrick boland was about mike shanahan and he has some feelings about that he said that while the offense has been okay the loss of shanahan at the last hour and especially to the raiders uh was another part of the disappointment of this season said al davis timing didn't exactly help us and he took a good man away from us the timing being that it was at the last hour where no other nfl assistants could be hired then by denver to replace him [Music] almost untouched to register a three-yard loss they'll move tip it around he'll usually play on the left-hand side but he frequently moves to the right and he's stunning here behind garen varus and you see how very quickly he moves around the blockers they're talking to the offensive lineman for the broncos they were talking about well we hope that tippec moves around nobody should have to have to block that guy all day by themselves that's the kind of respect that he has from the bronco team and intercepted by the veteran raymond claiborne at the 45-50 and down to the 41 of denver goes claiborne with his fourth interception of the season mark jackson the intended receiver made the tackle raymond claiborne a 33 year old cornerback for 10 years he was in the top 10 of cornerbacks in the nfl an absolute marble at what has to be the toughest physical position in the nfl to play and he still has great anticipation lost a little bit of speed because of a knee injury last year but still not a guy you want to mess with see how closely he's covering up vance johnson and how well he responded to that football actually johnson behind him had elway floated it high then claiborne was in trouble but he read it down to the 31-yard line and close to a first down that makes 101 claire burn with 35 career interceptions roland james 27 fred marion 21 marion by the way leading the team in tackles this year this group has been together deck since 1984 and the kind of cohesiveness that that provides to have that kind of longevity they literally think with each other a tremendous advantage for a defensive secondary manny lopete who may be the best of the lot has 18 interceptions that's rick dennison closing in on perimen and mecklenburg is at it with 62 sean pharrell sean farrell and flags go down midway through the opening quarter no score new england close to a first down at the 30-yard line and it's going to be one of those negating double fouls one nullifying the other and they will now measure for the first down i hate that i know that sometimes it can't be avoided but i've always always wanted to see somebody singled out and if you can do that you can kind of put a stop to that when you wave offsetting fouls it doesn't really say anything to anybody and it's enough for a new england first down at the 30-yard line the patriots in their last nine games have won seven and their two losses were by three points to buffalo and three points to indianapolis games that raymond berry's team might well have won so he is really rallying them after making some 77 denver first down conscious changes in the offensive structure not passing the ball he said he just after 19 interceptions in the first six games we're going to run it and play defense take our chances and the formula has [Applause] worked [Music] down at the 24-yard line six more for the rookie from northwestern state louisiana now the offense nfl average as we told you 62 past 38 rush and for the patriots who run the ball more than any team 50 50. and i'm sure if you just looked at the last eight or nine games that that number would drive up much higher on the rushing side because they were pretty well balanced early in the year only one pass for east and that was that short one to morgan that's paramount who played at michigan they drive down to the 23 but is hit hard by townsend and crane for short yardage it'll bring up third down coming into this ball game over the last six or seven games new england running a very high percentage of plays to the right and yet here today against this network defense they're going back to the left-hand side anticipating i'm sure that joe collier will be stacking the defense and slanting to his defensive left or to try and shut off that run to the right side stevens trying to get outside gets a great block and he's on his way for a touchdown [Applause] come on back get out of those mowers and things we need you back here on the field a fine run keyed by an outstanding block on the outside that was the longest run of the season for stevens who's piled up a thousand yards with as long as 22 yards until now a 23-yard touchdown run to give the pets the early lead [Applause] jason and new england looking for a wild card has the early lead seven nothing and then northwestern louisiana state john stevens will start in the pro bowl as a rookie with his idol eric dickerson has been productive already 7-0 the kickoff down to bell at the 5-yard line and the former boston college runner is out to the 26. let's go back to the touchdown play and that tremendous block on the corner [Music] [Applause] of yesteryear gorset's longest run of the year tony dorsett has lost some of the leg strength but he has not lost a great deal of speed you give him an alley to run and he can still motor you see it there run down from behind by number 38 roland james but his largest run of the year and puts them down in new england territory officially 26 yards as long as previous round 21 and nothing much there for sammy weiner who is down to the 45 of new england doors set with just one carry last week and it's obvious they're going to give him a chance to be more a part of the game plan here today 15 carries the last four games for dorsett who is number two all time to the great walter payton in front of jim brown franco harris and john riggins jackson left johnson right away from the shotgun and that's incomplete ernest gibson on the coverage of jackson and elway too tall steve sewell andre tippett is one of the most physical linebackers in football in fact he and lawrence taylor the prototypes of the combo linebacker a combo linebacker one that can rush the passer one that can play down at the point of attack and then the kind of a linebacker that can also drop back into coverage tip but certainly with all three of those skills boy i'll tell you he is tough to stop when he gets up ahead of steam acres had to rise and tip it he was a bargain as the 41st player picked all america in iowa offsides and those man kobe williams elway with a free down and he can't find ricky nation raymond claiborne on the coverage they moved brent williams into the inside and i believe dick that it was brent williams rather than toby that got offside on that last play and they will have had to scramble because of the injury to goad offside defense number sign 96 five yard penalty repeat the down third down brett williams it was so third down again for denver but they get five yards down to the 40-yard line that'll bring up third down and a long two those receivers down near the end zone on the far side will be staring right back into the seventh sun we're looking for jackson that goes underneath the door set and he has a first down at the 31-yard line now jackson cleared out and dorsett underneath ironic to see dorset catch that pass early in the season they wanted tony dorsett to be more involved with the passing game they had trouble throwing that pass elway has trouble with that with that finesse kind of flare pass to the outside dorset that's exactly the kind of pass that he can handle most effectively from his position as a tailback seven-nothing new england leads and a 23-yard touchdown run by rookie john stevens four minutes left first quarter here in denver [Music] and he has good yardage inside the 25 of new england about seven behind the block of orson mobley fred marion made the stop winder who had been the top rusher for denver the last six years but will relinquish that unless he has a sensational day today to tornado gorset gorset with about 140 yard lead on him coming into this final game [Applause] reynolds filling the hole the linebacker from virginia [Music] the broncos often use mobley and you sign coming across your spring their screen there number 89 has a lead blocker an extra blocker in that situation in that situation it was keith carts number 72 missing the linebacker who was filling inside out and they picked him up there would have been a little room but boy you don't want to you don't want to do that it's a rude hello for your running back when you give those linebackers a free shot no gain on the play so it's third and four and the broncos from the shotgun will yield four wide receivers and there [Applause] jackson whose college quarterback was jim everett who's had a sensational year for the rams as he matures right hand side of your screen and lapette is not more than a step away and with an ordinary quarterback you can close that kind of gap le pet with good closing speed but elway's arm strength doesn't give defensive backs much time to respond you give your man a step a step and a half and elway will get in the football jackson with two of those four catches [Applause] along with ed reynolds varus's return from injury has been a key to new england's hopes down the stretch they regard him as their top lineman he played at stanford missed five games due to a knee injury came back sooner than they had expected and he said he's 100 i talked to him yesterday he said that knee feels strong he said i feel like i'm back to 100 speed and he is important with tipping on the left side the good pressure he can bring and varus back in the lineup those are the two best patch rushers on this team and with both of them missing a lot of time this year made it right on him [Applause] and then he pitches the door set and he's out of bounds at the 11 maybe the 12 yard line a little wrinkle there for denver here in this final home game of the year the option as uh nateel had a choice of staying with it or tossing back to dorset well you don't want your quarterback to run this option but why not let ricky the teal run it here that's exactly what they do in this situation optioning number 38 roland james who did a fine job of reacting to that play to keep gorset from gaining more yardage he did play it very well did james dick that's the kind of thing with with no pressure on this denver offense you're going to see some strange wrinkles here today they trail seven nothing they're deep in new england territory on third and four and there's vance johnson with a first down at the six yard line in front of ronnie lepet an excellent read by john elway new england blitzing roddy lepet the quarterback from the outside and elway read it quickly just simply turned and got that football off put it in the air quickly enough to avoid the blitz roland james had to come over to cover on the play with lepet on the corner blitz and elway picked the right man and a first and goal of the six then an impressive drive that was ignited on dorset's run winder gets about three tim jordan and company make the tackle the word on tim goad sirius sprained ankle not expected to return today one of the things that john elway does not want to do today is to fall on that right elbow it's a burst of problem with that elbow and it's an ugly thing to look at but he said i don't have any trouble with it unless i fall down on it now there's another another man who knows about injury not in uniform today irving fryer with a hamstring pull right hamstring exploded on a crucial catch in overtime his second of that overtime drive that allowed new england to win last week against tampa bay a minute to go in the quarter first quarter and denver trying to tie it up on second and goal and we have to throw it away cannon's key was open but always ran out of time elway got up saying i just needed another second pressure coming from the right-hand side lawrence mcgrew number 50 gets enough of a hand on elway to to put him down and elway's legs have taken a beating during this season he missed a ball game earlier with an ankle injury after a hit and atlanta ball game and our cumulative hits over the season have taken their toll on him he's lost some of that brilliant speed he came in with but the one thing he has that is amazing is leg strength talking to their strength coordinator he said elway's legs are as strong as our offensive and defensive lineman he said not great upper body strength but powerful legs so the penalty against new england with the automatic first down in elway given four downs from the two and it's through the hands of clarence k a certain touchdown [Applause] play before no announcement made by the referee apparently holding against new england and the automatic first down here's k all by himself and elway with that rocket arm right through the hands of his tight end most teams with a first down right down inside the two yard line are going to run that football denver broncos do not have that power back that power lead back or a power back to give the football to they have to be creative down inside that five yard line four shots from the one so it must have been interference in the end zone because they took the penalty for the one there's weingarte for the touchdown [Applause] that was quite a drive by dan reeves broncos 13 plays after the touchdown by stevens of new england and the elway led drive brings back the tying answer if carlos can kick the extra point bad snap and oh a good job by kubiak to be able to scramble and get that ball teed up for carlos the game is even at seven [Applause] 74 yards in 13 plays for the denver broncos we talked about orson mobley coming in motion as a lead blocker i watch winder running right up in behind him as he opens up the can here that's the kind of creative blocking you see it's a trap block by mobley and a good reaction by johnny rembert but not able to hold him down fighting and inside getting that ball across the goal line now the patriots defense unable to stop denver on that determined drive and with 41 seconds remaining in the first quarter it's a seven all tie [Music] brilliant running back doesn't have the great speed but solid he has been you can just underline that when you talk about his talent you never have to question whether he's going to give you a hundred percent i can tell you that and he is great at traffic he's great at wiggling and winding and swinging his way through those tight little crevices and that's what exactly what he had to do on that particular play carlos to kick it off [Music] [Applause] sandy martin comes up to get it at the 80s return one for a touchdown this year this week from lsu and he's to the 29-yard line he has terrific speed does martin michael brooks made the tackle and new england with time running out here in the first quarter comes on the field eason with just the one throw four yards to morgan stayed on the ground and stevens the primary ball carrier there's never been any question about tony easton's athletic ability a fine athlete not only in football but other sports as well it was his competitive desire that people questioned he seems to have come back from this injury much more competitively much more emotionally it's really emotional in the win against tampa bay last week underneath the stevens and the rookie shows he can receive it as well has a first down at the 43 rick dennison the tackler some players come into this league with maturity john stevens has never really been a rookie he came in like a veteran has played like a veteran and so many rookies have trouble toward the end of the year they simply cannot stand up to the long season i'm sure it's worn on him in fact it's taken about 15 to 20 pounds off his frame during the season but it has not stopped him from being effective into the first quarter at mile high stadium the patriots looking for a wild card and the broncos are tied busier on the ground than anyone in the nfl keeping that up today as they describe it in new england they sometimes run off guard sometimes they run off tackle sometimes they run between guard and tackle and when you're running as many times as this team is running you've got to have tough running backs and they're really blessed that way and paramount and stevens in fact stevens was an offensive lineman in high school and his high school coaches told raymond barry we'd like to see how he could do on defense and paramount was recruited by penn state they wanted him as a linebacker so you're talking about a couple of real tough ball carriers and a tough blocker ball carrier in both cases as well stevens will sit this play out and it's uh perriman with elgin davis in the backfield behind eason the fullback gets the call out to the 47-yard line craig and made the tackle mecklenburg was there as well kevin guidry has replaced jeremiah castille at the corner now for denver greg craig on this is by all odds the kind of guy that should not be in a denver uniform after the season last year and their loss in the super bowl they said we've got to get bigger and stronger inside they did not find anyone to replace him they drafted ted gregory number one gregory was a bust and greg craig at number 71 has had an outstanding year quick agile and smart again and he's to the 50 and plows to the 49 of denver he'll be shy of a first down by about two dick the word finesse is one that is used often to describe not only this denver defense but the denver offense as well they want to fool you both offensively and defensively they want to shift they want to stun offensively they want to fool you with formations and motion the problem with playing that kind of finesse football on both sides of the line of scrimmage is that you lose a lot of your aggressiveness and i think in the process you lose a lot of the physical nature that you need when you match up against power teams when we're talking power we're talking about a number of teams in the nfc in particular when you look at those last super bowl matchups in particular those are the first symptoms of the disease here in denver eason floats one out to mossy to tupu the veteran from southern california and appears to be enough for a first down jim ryan on the coverage addition know exactly where that marker was made by inches mostly to tupu slowing down a little bit after so many great years but on my all-time underrated team this is the fullback right here has just had an incredible career in new england never missed a football game how do you think about that think about that for a second special team one of the all-time great special teamers here comes the rookie stevens after setting out the last series pearman getting the call at stevens blasting for five denison and wilson collaborate on the tackle stevens whose body fat is seven percent as you said he lost weight he was listed at 220 at the start of the year he's down around 205 now and some were worried that uh that might reflect the problem but not so trainer's not worried about that he had built himself up through a lot of weightlifting and it's hard to sustain that during the season even though this new england team lifting twice a week during the season under raymond berry and working on their strength constantly but it's hard to hold that kind of bulk when you're playing as hard as stevens has been playing second and five stevens again trying to get outside and has the speed to turn the corner inside the 40 he'll be short of the first down hardin and guidry with the tackle very often when you see a play like this you look up ahead at the block watch 34 paramount right there on 56 brooks making it possible for that little bounce out to the outside there's no question about how badly he wants that yardage he'll do whatever it takes to to get it he is especially dangerous by the way when he can bounce outside well the patriots have run left six middle three right two that's usually just the other way around they've run to the right side so they're trying to mix it up today against denver that's a short two for the first down and it's perryman who's going to be close mecklenburg submarining in with craigan to make it difficult i don't think he's going to get it in fact the official is saying fourth down and you see there what an important cog mecklenburg is to this defense and of course his missing six games and playing with one hand for two really put a damper into the not only the physical nature of this defense but the emotional nature as well that's mecklenburg at the bottom of that stack who was able to just get his hands on the legs there and trip up the ball carrier keep him from getting that first down now the ball at the 37 of denver and fourth and about a yard raymond berry is not going to gamble ricky nathiel waiting for jeff fiegel's punk [Applause] and a flag is down again offense number six taking their time and that'll give the eagles a little more time you've heard referee hentai say that you don't have to take the penalty well a lot of times a team wants that yardage because that's an awkward distance to kick from the kicker has to pull back a little bit and he he has trouble controlling the football beagles who didn't always get a lot of opportunity to kick for the miami hurricane because they think they've been to fall back into punt formation very often they have to dust him off when they needed him it's a little bit tough back there for these receivers although shade is covering now a good section of the field sun right behind this kicker too far that's the thing they worry about they try and kick the soft one and it's like hitting a golf ball all the way it goes so figgles nails it into the end zone it'll be the touch back for denver they'll take over at the 20 we're in the second quarter here at mile high stadium and the patriots and the broncos are still even gold the rookie nose man for new england has returned to the sidelines earlier reports that he wouldn't play today but he looks like he might be ready to go he's strapping that helmet on elway out of the backfield the winder and winder game six before johnny rembert can drag him down sammy winder from southern mississippi and here comes goad back on the field so he did recover in a hurry go back on the field dick one of the changes that this new england team has made in their defense they were at the beginning of the year playing two gap defense but as they got into the season they realized they were going to have to start playing well go ahead and turn that one loose fellas we'll have to get back to the line to see where they are in the gaps but they have gone to gap type defenses to get away from the holy winder on second and four slashes to a first down and more before fred marion can make the open field tackle at the 33. broncos are running the ball well and that's been a key to the last drive and maybe this one surprisingly well this is not a strength of this this is not a strength of denver's offense in fact not able to really generate a running game so very often during the year has forced them to rely so heavily on the pass and so heavily on elway that they have become just an absolutely one-dimensional team and the run game important to them here today and like a young pony out to the 39-yard line williams gets him from behind in earlier games during a time when dorset was not being affected we had watched him hesitate very frequently at the line and i think that maybe go down again redwater williams down number 96 williams who had missed this entire week because of his mother's death is slow to get up here today so we have a timeout at the 8 51 mark denver running the ball effectively in this first half against new england it's tied at seven eight minutes and 46 seconds left in the opening half and denver's second down and four at their 40. a long three then [Music] yeah he's visited the fountain of youth this week he's running like the door set of old behind the block of the 300 pound rookie from southern gerald perry perry who had his off the field troubles early this week has started a number of ball games a very physical and athletic 300 pounder plus and dorset in this ballgame dick we'd earlier seen him hesitate so often as he came to the line and be tentative in his cuts very positive and aggressive here today [Music] now the lone setback behind elway and pulling off behind the scrimmage was ken lanier if you're wondering why lanier got up early you look across the line and you see andre tippett now typical number 76 five-yard penalty that lanier knows that he's got to get back watch 76 bottom of your screen and his total concentration is on number 56 and he lost his concentration unfortunately on the cow on the count he is one of the fact i think the most underrated tackle in football and if he can short set even a great pass rusher that's the battle is virtually over the battle between those two today is a classic one ben williams who left the field is okay and has now returned elway gets out of the pocket and johnny rimbard watches the slide at the 45 as elway ducks down after a two yard gain despite the the battle with the legs and the hits for elway he has rushed for 225 yards this year and is the first quarterback in nfl history to put a consecutive string together as you'll see it tippets russia on elway except obviously blocked on that play but has a chance at elway here on that slide a wise one for elway who does not want to get himself hurt here in this final game of the season there it is the first to have four consecutive seasons 300 yards passing and 200 yards rushing second and 13 and he throws it away clarence k was within 20 yards of the ball so always that's man i was looking for two linebackers coming on that play an elway with nowhere to go right hand side of your screen 52 remembered and 50 mcgrew there they go actually the group in the left-hand side outside on the right rimbert's had a fine year given the opportunity to step in because of an injury to ed williams and raymond berry pulled him aside and said you're going to have a chance to have a pro bowl season but you've got to get serious you've got to get in there and go to work and remember responded to that has kept his weight down which has been a problem in the past and has come through with an excellent football season good time for elway and there's a man open mark jackson he's at the 30 and out of bounds at the 23. a flag is down in the secondary 31 yards if for mark jackson and that one's going to count well let's see it could conceivably be an offensive interference call and if it's not then it will count well he signaled defensive holding no then it's going to count you had the advantage on me so mark jackson looking for another 100-yard day defense number 42 hitler's decline first down and so his third catch of this first half and he now has unofficially 51 yards so he's halfway there he has replaced vance johnson as the big play man on this roster and johnson who had that status for several years has been injured a good part of the year playing with a bad foot and jackson really has stepped forward to take charge and the three of me goes to well they really haven't been three full-fledged amigos this year it's been jackson more often than that to come up with the big plays certainly in the last four games the fake draw to winder then he throws to winder [Applause] good play and a game down to the 15-yard line fake to winder and new england saw the fake let weiner slip through the line of scrimmage and then elway just dumped it off to him in an eight-yard gain oh and a seven-all-tie here in the second quarter denver threatening to take the lead working to use the versatility of this offense of course elway the perfect trigger man able to get back get good vision on the field and a very quick delivery so hard for a defense to react to second in short for elway underneath and the first and goal at the five yard line rembert and tippett the tacklers but denver moving the ball well tim jordan in on the play clarence k had a neck injury in the opening game against seattle and that injury kept him out of a couple of ball games but it did something else to him but made him a little less aggressive he was a great blocker early in his career he is not as willing to stick his head in there today and i don't blame him for that but he is compensated by improving as a receiver for the touchdown untouched [Applause] and fans here in denver must be wondering where was doris said when we needed him in some of those losing games he has really run well today first touchdown in 12 weeks stick and it couldn't come at a better time for denver igniting these fans giving them an opportunity to sustain some emotion and keep that first half flare alive and going we mentioned how important that is to this denver team carlos adds the extra point in tony gorset's 91st career touchdown has given the broncos the lead 14-7 fiesta bowl for the collegiate championship everywhere with miami they still think they're number one and rightfully so jim davis who flags down is finally pushed out of bounds by the kicker carlos flags are dropped back at the 20-yard line and it is against the patriots so a 44-yard return is nullified and raymond berry's patriots with a win simply would be a wild card team but denver trying to be nasty hosts there was the penalty right there on the tight end as he hit from the backside steve johnson trying to do a job but got on the back of the shoulder illegal block on return number 85 penalized 10 yards first down chance to watch that last play double team inside right here a block out the key block thrown right here by winder to allow dorset to come into the end zone really a fine play and winder just unloads on number 52 johnny remember look at that block inside to spring gorset into the end zone whenever you see a great run off and that other guy in the backfield is ignored and he is a key eason's pass is shy of cedric jones kevin gibri on the coverage and you can see eason does not have the powerful arm and for those of you who are not following the nbc's coverage last week easton's thumb still does not have a 100 feeling so when you think about if you're you're holding a football and you're trying to throw the ball hard or long that thumb is really the pressure you need for control and power he just doesn't have it yet it's the motor nerves that were injured in that right hand and he said they're getting better all the time but eason who is such a natural thrower now has to think about that throwing motion lobs this one out complete with stanley morgan and morgan who had 501 catches coming into this game is out of bounds with the first down after that pickup 12 yards on the play well cincinnati's bengals in overtime beating the washington redskins they know they don't have to play next week and will host the following and for the patriots a win today they'll play either houston or cleveland that would guarantee the wildcard they'll play houston if they beat the browns tomorrow they play cleveland if the browns beat houston and they're still alive even with a loss but cleveland and buffalo and indianapolis all figure that indianapolis would have to lose stevens [Applause] 31-yard line but what blocking out in front the thing i like about stevens you watch him run he really attacks the tackler and that was a quality that i always was impressed with in waller payton in fact payton rarely got into a tight situation where he didn't unload on the guy who was trying to get at him stevens said it was it's his philosophy and he followed peyton in this that if he's the one that's doing the hitting he's not going to get his hurt as badly as the guy that's trying to tackle her three more yards for him second and three and stevens hit hard at the line of scrims dennis smith coming up from strong safety to make the tackle steemens falling forward to the 32 he'll be about a half yard shy it would appear of a first down these bronco defenders know that they're going to be big changes on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage and this last game and their performance in this last game will leave a final impression in the minds of the coaches in the minds of dan reeves and those who will be evaluating joe collier will not be here many of his staff will be gone many of the players in those uniforms on denver defense will be gone and they want to play well here today stevens again and he almost fought his way through the entire pack and would have had a touchdown it took the whole team to get him down and the last wave was there to trip him up at the 37-yard line dennison and dennis smith and you want to ask the question dick how many more yards would stevens have on the year if he ran with one arm on the ball there's no question it takes away some of his mobility some of the quickness in his cutting john stevens fifth behind some great talent dickerson craig herschel bell how about icky woods today for cincinnati another great rookie in the afc stevens he's to the 49-yard line and another first down before mecklenburg can get to him he's going back to that one arm around the ball to arm around the ball philosophy if he were carrying with one arm i'm sure you would have more fumbles and you mentioned he's only had one fumble on the season a most secure carrier of the ball and those fumbles cost you a lot of yardage and cost you field position and opportunities to score so i'm sure the raymond barry willing to give up some yardage just to be sure that that ball is secure boy played that last one like a 10-year veteran he took off the linebacker knocked him off stride went out caught the pass eason to morgan and the veteran has a first down at the 39 of the broncos kevin guidry playing very loose on the corner the rookie from lsu without mark haynes in the lineup guidry getting a chance to play in the rookie who has seen very little action of course moved in because steve wilson is starting over at that left cornerback position i'll tell you there are a lot of faces back there that uh would scare me if i was a defensive coordinator and that's one thing you have to say about collier he has operated here without a great many pieces to work with is it his fault that uh they apparently have not drafted well on defense here in denver well we know they haven't drafted well on defense that's that's an established pack reggie dupont gets his first call of the day and dennison greets him after about a yard gain good example of that as we mentioned with ted gregory their number one pick was supposed to be an impact player new england patriots so much at stake for them and they know that a wild card is not to be uh something thrown away because you need not be embarrassed it was as a wild card team three years ago they went all the way to new orleans in the super bowl they trail 14-7 two minutes to go in the half it's second down and eight eason showing pretty good mobility wall boyer bounces him out of bounds at the 35. you mentioned that trip to new orleans in the super bowl they share some super bowl nightmares with the denver broncos and their very one-sided loss to the chicago bears they know what it feels like to go through a season remembering and being reminded of how poorly you played in a super bowl that's one of the arguments that denver is using now that they had such a short season because of being in the super bowl is that legitimate i think another month they've had two years of intense pressure and with that super bowl uh came a lot of off-season responsibility as well they've had two intense years of pressure and extra pull-off games and i think they'll pay the price for it emotionally that's not the physical the emotional the direct snap is to tatuku and a flag down as steve wilson makes the tackle at the 30. and it's motion against new england [Applause] new england trotting out a few tricks of their own a play that we have seen the houston oilers use very effectively the direct snap to the running back well even if you count the play it appears to be short by a yard of a first down that they uh take a motion offense number 30 penalize five yards repeat the down third down there they don't want now they're concerned that barry may go with it it's apparently that's getting an early start and not used to taking this direct snap right hand side of your screen number 30 and you see him sliding forward now he can legally move but he cannot slide forward i think what they're saying is that he was moving forward as that ball was snapped big play for the patriots trailing 14-7 eason and are they ever playing soft on stanley morgan even though easton does not have the strength of arm and it seems the ball is taking a long time getting there morgan's so wide open it doesn't matter denver secondary has had injury problems all year long they lack a great deal of speed they're not able to keep up with some of the faster receivers dennis smith from his safety position well well off on that play game back in new england he's probably telling them you ought to see how i handle stanley when we get to the dress shop they own a dress shop together down in tennessee that's when she's the boss morgan an incredible story in his longevity although he has a coach harold jackson that put in 17 years in the nfl and he credits jackson's advice on taking care of himself physically for his longevity what a big throw for new england on third and 11. eason gets the first down at the 24. this is reggie dupard who played at smu and he's inside the 20-yard line let's check the clock now minute 23 and clock stop for the moment as the patriots call timeout we mentioned the importance of the early going for denver and they have got to be thrilled to be up here in the first half of this game in the last five games they've been outscored 135 to 17 in the first half but we have the day off tomorrow merlin and i'm looking forward to watching two games on nbc do we have a doubleheader for you with such strong playoff implications how about that first game after nfl live at 12 30 at 1 o'clock houston and cleveland will kick it off and the winner goes to the playoffs buffalo at indianapolis buffalo there's still some importance there for home field in indianapolis who knows depending on the game today the colts uh stranger things have happened miami at pittsburgh play out the year but then after watching the first game how about seattle and the raiders the winner represents the west of the afc avoids the wild card extra game and kansas city at san diego where rumors are both those coaches are in serious trouble and only two of those games not meaningful in terms of who is going to play in the playoffs that's that's interesting isn't it second down for eason underneath regardless to the rookie sammy martin for short yardage jeremiah castillo makes the tackle a four-yard pickup no huddle for the patriots third down and call it two hatreds have two timeouts left oh what a hit at the 16-yard line short of the first down dennis smith again fourth down a choice for barry do you go for the field goal here or do you try and pick it up it's third and a healthy two yards to go well it's fourth now after that play fourth i mean do you go for it on fourth or take the field goal they mark it at the 15 merlin excuse me so it's fourth and a long one and barry wants to think about it i don't blame him for a critical situation when you have a good solid running game you do have some options in a situation like this you were talking about barry being the most unique coach in the nfl what did you mean by that absolutely unique you talk to this man he is without ego he is without ego and he runs a camp he coaches as he would like to have been coached with great regard for the input of the players he'll ask them how do you feel he is very careful about maintaining their conditioning during the season in other words not working them too hard he said i want them ready to play on sunday if they feel that they need some time off you'll give them time off he'll do whatever he can to get them out on the field at maximum productivity on a sunday and then he is the last guy who wants to take any credit almost selfless and totally unselfish who's the antithesis of barry in the nfl well jerry glanville i would say and in his own way a very unique players coach but he is about as flashy as they get and uh as dramatic as they get if you will now he's going to go for the field goal it'll be 32 yards sporoski who has missed some short ones hits this one right down the middle so barry figuring why leave without something wants to go into that locker room with the field goal and gets it a 32-yard kick by the former tulsa man he went to tulsa as the team manager became the field goal kicker and is like so many kickers has tried to find a place for three years and he's never forgotten he said the big referee in the sky when he hits one he points up saying hey sometimes i missed him and i forgot to thank the good lord well he's had some good fortune in arriving in new england this is his seventh team that's a lot of opportunities to to kick the football and he's pleased to have had a chance to stick around 14 to 10. now is denver apparently with uh with 31 seconds left i might just run out the clock we'll see what reeves has in mind there's really been a formula here late in the season hasn't there the teams that are out of it and we had an example last week the jets monday night we had an example miami today denver if you let them get ahead early those teams that the season may be over play like they're going into the playoffs and here's another case in point the broncos getting off early washington today early against cincinnati so important to establish that momentum we talked about denver's difficulties in doing that well they've been able to hold it out here so far in the first half of this ball game new england like cincinnati carries two kickers on the roster teddy garcia with a kickoff and bell takes the touch back at the 20. that lead on the scoreboard even more important when you consider that down by seven or more points denver has been unable to come back all year so they they like being able to look up there at halftime and say hey we got the lead and if you look at the history of these two teams in new england seems to always play in denver uh the patriots in the last four games here at denver have either been ahead or tied at halftime and lost all four you know maybe they say this is different we're behind at the half now we've come back to whip elway looking very loose as he left the sidelines maybe there's a little surprise in the works here now straight ahead goes wander and he has eight or nine yards before ed reynolds i think i'm gonna give him a turnover on them hold on this would really be something with uh 19 seconds left the clock's still running and now timeout goal question of where the whistle was blown because the ball stripped away they deliberately went inside and tried to yank that football out of the arms were able to pop it loose and i think the officials are talking about was the whistleblower new england's not blown roland james steals it and with it dan reeves may just see that leads stolen here at the end of the half and what seemed to be an absolutely routine play turns into a what possibly could be a critical opportunity ed williams holding him up and roland james just reaching inside and hooking that football and performing some glam grand larceny right there see him stripping that ball away no question he had it before dorset hit the ground before sammy winder and weiner rarely fumbles heller looking upstairs winder in fact i think that's the what's that winder or door set that winder it was wine to the first fumble of the year then for winder did not have a fumble going into the day that was a case where the linebacker reynolds actually holds up winder and tackling him he keeps him up long enough for james to slip in and go for the ball of course that's the kind of play that barry works on i did the first thing he did when he took over as a head coach in in his about ball security and about stripping the football away from the opponents and he was able to get his team to turn those numbers around the scoreboard had been late on the timeout used new england has used all of their time out so they have a play or two perhaps they're in field goal range eason plenty of time throws it away 10 seconds left and we'll see whether or not barry sends in the field goal unit right now it's out of uh swarovski's reasonable range at the moment they might go to teddy garcia who has a stronger leg if not as accurate now barry feels that garcia may have a 60 yarder in him and will give him opportunities on anything over the 45 range jones has to get out of bounds and that was a key to that play he buys a little yardage down to the 23-yard line six yards on the play and here comes the field goal unit and it will be swarovski you think he was listening to you and he said has to get out of bounds he looked like he lit the afterburners heading for the sideline and this one will be from outside the 30 so about 40 yards plus his longest of his seven successful field goals has been 35 yards well this would be by five yards the longest of the year for jason starovsky who misses to the left that was not a good snap beagles did a good job of getting that ball down but it threw off the timing of the kicker good leg on swarovski despite those difficulties all right bob costa's back along with ahmad rashad in new york the broncos leading at 14-10 the patriots could have moved to within a point but the jason storowski field goal attempt from about 40 yards misses off target and so they can't take advantage of really a theft by roland james not so much a fumble by sammy winder james just reached in and yanked it free and the pats had a chance to capitalize but could not they trail 14 to 10 and even though on a neutral field you'd have to say that this year's patriots winners of six of their last seven are the stronger team you get in the mile high where the broncos as we said on the pre-game are always good and the patriots are two and five team on the road you got a toss-up game i think the patriots will have a rallying point because they get no respect at all here's a team if they win they go right into the playoffs denver is out of it and all we hear the whole first half is people talking about denver this denver that i really think the third quarter should be the telling quarter because denver they'll plant up as long as i stay close but i got a feeling that uh raymond berry will give the big speech at halftime tell them they got one more half or their season's over they'll respond and i think they'll take over in the third quarter well a fine day in december in denver and it was a good first half for the broncos who lead new england patriots playing for the wild card 14 to 10. here's the scoring the longest run of the year for john stevens started it off for the patriots as he rumbled 23 yards to give the pass a 7-0 lead it was the first touchdown scored by new england on grass in december in denver and it was a good first half for the broncos who lead new england patriots playing for the wild card 14 to 10. here's the scoring the longest run of the year for john stevens started it off for the patriots as he rumbled 23 yards to give the pats a 7-0 lead it was the first touchdown scored by new england on grass in 10 quarters this year but back came denver john elway using his backstore set had a long run and then winder capped the drive with a one-yard plunge to make it seven all and then it was elway again this time door set behind a crushing block by winder to give the broncos a 14 to 7 lead and why is it that denver's suddenly running the football so well well they're they want to make me look bad because i said all they had was elway back there and they've come out and added some dimension and i've got to say this that they're responding emotionally to this last game and as they had to do and they got off to a fast start as they had to do and now the important thing is to sustain through the second half of this ball game against the team that new england has not played as well as we expected them to play so far now we have it uh from reliable authorities that joe collier and his defensive assistants will be released after this game so denver will do a house cleaning on the on that side of the football and i've got to think that in some ways that collier and reeves have used that emotionally to spark this team because they like collier the players like this man he has been a very popular coach with them and his 20 years here in denver have made him the kind of figure that is oh it's almost heretic uh it's kind of a radical how would we say that dick it's a horrible thought for a lot of folks to see a denver team without a joe collier and yet reeves who inherited collier would like to see a system and a coach that is more compatible with his beliefs on the defensive side of the line of scrimmage and there's no question in my mind that although collier will end up being a scapegoat to some degree that there are changes that must be made and perhaps this is the best way to go about doing it and maybe the best thing for collier himself this second half kickoff which will be received by new england is sponsored by budweiser the king of beers rich carlos tease it up sammy martin and elgin davis are deep for the new england patriots who get the ball first to start the second half trailing 14-10 a win for new england and they are the wild card the lost and it'll take some doing for them to get into the playoffs brilliant high spinning kickoff that will be taken for the touchdown gives us a chance to look at the official statistics in the first half the one thing that is not on there that it's important to know there's the denver's five of seven in third down situations against the defense that leads the league in that category the stats pretty even as you look down two turnovers by the broncos a critical stat there and of course one of them they were very fortunate right at the end of the half but that did not cost them three points stevens was 65 yards from dorsett with 57 the leading rushers and stevens gets his number called open the second half and is out to the 26 yard line a gain of six more beck stevens with his receiving had a total of 90 yards of the patriot offense in the first half oh he is a good looking back isn't he receivers morgan four catches for 44 and steven's two for 25. mark jackson halfway there to make it four consecutive weeks for a hundred yards receiving no one's ever done that in denver history eason handing off to stevens tripped up for a loss dennis smith and kevin goodry no it's with kyle mecklenburg in there to assist but it's smith who has played a big game defensively for denver perhaps playing for his coach collier i think one of the things that uh you look at mecklenburg and you see the number of seasons of number games he missed he also played two games with that hand in such a state that he ended up breaking one of the pins loose in that hand and then you look at that cast he's got a dowel inside that cast his hand is wrapped around the dowel and then there are screws on both sides to keep the cash from twisting talk about playing with winner untied behind your back easton under pressure and almost a ball up for grabs as morgan has it knocked away by harden and braxton and the denver defense answers the call again mecklenburg and roland jones the pass rushers applying heat on eason well that fumble at the end of the half in denver denying new england any points may have been an emotional spark for the broncos and then to come right out and and three and out on defense gives your opportunity a excellent field position or should give them excellent field position and mateo maybe can get them some even better field position for the return here jeff beagles [Applause] it's a high wobbly boot the keel no fair catch and no one hit him immediately at the 34-yard line the flag is down at the line of scrimmage vincent brown or rookie made the tackle 40-yard punt ineligible man downfield i think they'll ask him to kick that one again that was a long kick apparently not reeve sends the offense on that's interesting receiver the offense number 59 downfield finley is declined first and 10 denver denver dominating the series but denver also having the advantage of hosting the series it just worked out that way with a computer in fact new england and part of their press release described their stadium they said a lot of your players have never seen sullivan field at roxboro [Applause] incomplete he was open at the new england 48. he started to say emotionally how tough it is for a team that's been enjoying the success of a super bowl appearance denver and then to go eight and eight and yet know that if they should win go eight and eight if they go eight and eight they'll tie for first place in the afc west maybe and at that uh they can look at a couple of plays this season and they could be in the playoffs again and yet you would think it would have been total disaster striking denver well one game that dan reeves will still have nightmares about 10 years from now as they're lost to the l.a raiders here when they were hit 24-0 having trouble as he pulled back now throws to jackson not much there as he's tackled immediately at the 40-andre tippett and company five yards for jackson one thing that this new england defense has not done well during the year years to rush the quarterback they've only had 28 sacks on the year that's well below the nfl average and elway has had a great deal of time to throw the football today boy you just don't want to give a quarterback that amount of time to sit back there and peruse his receivers because it's very difficult to cover those folks when they're running downfield in the open third down and six four wide receivers james bluffton the safety blitz then the throw underneath to matio breaks one tackle and then bubbles the ball we'll see if no the whistle had blown a dead clayborn was a man who made the tackle a little extra activity after the fumble killing the car key cart 72 denver brent williams 96 new england the combatants a little window dressing by the new england defense they don't do a lot of blitzing but you see roland james coming up as if he's going to blitz and then dropping back into coverage however they still threw the ball across in front completed it fans here angry that they didn't get a penalty but two guys fighting for the football of what it seemed to be a fair battle over there miranda kicked the ball into the end zone for the first time all season long stanley morgan once in the 70s we turned upon for a touchdown 80 yards but the somewhat unfamiliar role and a beautiful kick by haran that will bounce into the end zone so after going 15 games without a touch back iran's two for two today and on to hawaii to the pro bowl as denver's lone representative in that all-star classic time out mile high stadium the scene 11 39 left third quarter tony easton and the patriots need a win for a wild card they trail denver 14 to 10. eason to robert perryman for seven yards carol mecklenburg the tackle dick we were here last year for the new england denver game and that was really two games you remember the first half new england really stomped all over denver 17-3 second half denver came back to win 21-20 and of course new england would like to turn the tables and say well denver you won the first half here today i returned to come back and win the second half down and three [Applause] stephens enough for the first down at the 31-yard line and again embracing that ball clutched with both hands as he runs it off tackle boyer and mecklenburg with a stop denison there as well but coaches have to love to see that if you can give you productivity a thousand yards and then show little hope of ripping the ball away that's uh that's got to be a delight it must bring fright to even the great backs who carried it out there like a loaf and just uh flirting with disaster ball security see raymond barry looking at his notes there he keeps track of the plays that have been effective and tries to go back and utilize them again later in the ballgame stevens through the 37-yard line behind the block of robert perryman barryman serving that role just as winder blocks so well for dorset the first half a reminder we'll be selecting our budweiser most valuable player at the conclusion of today's game not only plays that have been effective but players that player has been effective doesn't matter whether he's running left or right on the day steve grogan still calls some of the plays but raymond berry has been calling more of the plays this year he got more involved as flutie became the quarterback felt that he had a little better feel for what flutie needed to have to work with and although rogan still calls some of them very much more involved in the play calling this year stevens on the loose one man to beat it's wilson and from behind castile makes the tackle at the 11-yard line john stevens we told you his longest run of the year coming into this game was 21 yards 22 yards he gets a 23-yard touchdown and now rips off 52 yards such a dangerous rece you see the little bounce out there and then just utilizing his great speed slowed down momentarily as he dives behind to set up the block for cedric jones which allowed the tackle from behind it was jones by the way who threw the big block on his touchdown run earlier now denver's achilles defense against the run reflect it again [Applause] to the 10 yard line denver stubbornly allowing just a yard down there along with simon fletcher number 73 fletcher folks who in denver thought he had a shot at a pro bowl or steven showing why he earned that honor as a rookie 132 yards rushing today you know he had only one 1 000 yard rushing season in college and here he is a rookie in the nfl and has over 1100. well five times this year he's gone over the century mark that is impressive i said he's never been a rookie really he came in with great maturity and he still is showing that here denver may have been offside flags fly as permanent gets to the three-yard line that'll be two yards shy of a first down walt boyer may have leaned into that neutral zone dick one of the things that has troubled denver's defense this year for so many years they gave up a lot of yardage but they had the ability to make the big play down when they got it when you got inside of their 20 and down and sound inside the 10. but unfortunately they do not have a lot of those big big play people around mecklenburg who's that kind of guy missed a lot of the season and you don't have people like steve foley of tom jackson and billy thompson and gratishard louis wright i mean those are a list of names that they would love to have back on the field or the equivalent they're off here today defense five yard penalty repeat the down second down half the distance or to five yards is half the distance down to the five yard line total defense this year minnesota the vikings are number one in yards allowed new england is fifth best in the league the average 322 in this wide-open game of the 80s denver is 22nd and philadelphia last in the league in generosity if he wants to stay in coaching he'll find a job [Applause] gets only a couple of those four yards mecklenburg spearheading the charge lawyer was there to assist along with michael brooks big play people when you need the big plays you see them rise to the occasion they mention mecklenburg's name very often but you can build around him until you really can and his absence from the lineup dan reeves said last year the carl mecklenburg is as important to our defense as john elway is to our offense you strip him out of the lineup for all those games and then put him back in with that cast on his hands you've you've really done something good he got your team third and two direct snap to tupu and on his own is the whistle sounded yes yes and boy was every mindful of a play a couple of years ago that really brought uh payne to new england when tatuku fumbled and dennis smith picked it up as new england was driving for a possible win collier who is watching this play with great concern watching as he sees that ball break loose and then you then the officials saying no the ball was blown dead same play we saw earlier only this time to two for moving lottery look how he drives that pile forward and there you're seeing that one of the weaknesses of this front seven they really don't have physical players who can move the pile backwards that's something sad to say about a front seven defensively barry with a tough call it's fourth in inches we'll see his decision when we return has elected to forsake the field goal might have changed his mind had they made that field goal at the end of the first half would have made it 14-13 he wants to touch down the balls on the two-yard line fourth in inches eason wants the ball to be wiped as you hear this crowd at mile high stadium oh boy these are great fans they're doing everything they can to help the broncos keith bishop but that offense is involved and you want to talk about emotional challenge here this is a throw it in your face kind of play harriman and stevens are the running backs eason incomplete [Applause] it's amazing stevens gets him up and down the field but inside the 20 the tempo champion doesn't give it to perriman and larry bird can't that's a running 20-foot hook shot right on the money i hate to second-guess calls but you've got an offensive line and the worst rushing defense in football and you throw the football on an initial situation that's what i don't like gorset gets three yards and stevens uh a winder rather and another pushing shove that stevens carrying the ball off guard off tackle successful and then once inside the 20 they didn't call any of those plays and even on short yardage one of the reasons that this new england offense has been so successful running the ball they've really challenged their offensive line back the offensive line went to raymond barry and said we want to run the football we want you to put some pressure on us and make us you know give us an opportunity to show you we can do that they have done it consistently through the year and yet as you say you get down there that close and and you try and finesse somebody well finesse sometimes gets to be a dirty word meanwhile that goal line stand by denver may be the answer to part of the playoff puzzle second and seven elway from the end zone vance johnson first down at the 26-yard line before clayburn can wrestle him down and emotionally what denver's defense did for the broncos this crowd and the emotions of new england might be telling irving fryer in the role of consultant today prior missed not only for his pass catching ability but he's one of the best blocking wide receivers in football and a tremendous threat as a punt return again with lots of time and another drop by the tight end so mobley's dropped two and k has dropped two mowgli and kaye are just having a horrible day and elway is looking out there and said what in the world is wrong with my tight ends fourth receiver so important you've got three wide men that demand coverage and so you have an opportunity to go to a tight end or go to a running back and then they drop the football five minutes and 12 seconds remaining third quarter denver 14. new england 10. that was the score at halftime [Applause] mowgli this time he does catch the ball and breaks a tackle to the 35. well we've got a holding call over there on dave studdard who literally threw andre tippet to the ground look at tippet he's serious he takes his helmet off i don't blame him for being angry that's a takedown watch number 70. that's dave stutter tippet is going to go by him stuttered he just grabs his shoulder and that just takes him down to the ground keep an eye on tiffany he stripped off his helmet and came storming back to the line offense number 70 10 yard penalty repeat the down second down the great players uh lawrence taylor i'm sure would concur with tippett that they're held on every play and that sometimes because you are an outstanding play player it carries a disadvantage they overlook something like when keith bishop for example was having to sit out some with that bench fracture of his thumb with a big cast on his hand and i said what what's most difficult about playing with that cast he said i can't hold and it's become a reality for the offensive lineman they just do it well enough not to get caught of these that's not just them it's every team in the league elway scrambles and he was down the ball is dead as soon as he slides so again it's the same as if you're tackled the ground can't call cause a fumble so there's no fumble i'm sure that one of the things that reeves has told elway is to slide every time you run that football now there's someone who's a little upset that's bruce armstrong talk about the conversations about wanting to run the ball more he's the man that went to berry and there's the slide watch billy bryan number 64 the center up there to protect his quarterback a very personal relationship between john elway and that offensive line are you going to say with the center i guess you can't avoid that quarterback billy has had a tough year physically a very tough year elway gets that he can't hit jackson talking about billy bryan you talk to billy if he if you talk to him from behind he has to turn his shoulders because he can't rotate that neck watch tippet heading for the sideline and here is tipping on that left play we've seen him from the right side as well as the left bursting by the blocking of ken lanier and he got him on the second time around but he got great pressure on elway that's a picture of intensity tippett driving at the quarterback well he just explodes off that line 10 minute on the line of scrimmage for new england and morgan back at his 32 oh very nearly blocked by jim bowman and the bounce for haran well that's stanley morgan's inexperience irving fryer would have come up on the fly to take that one stanley called a fair catch as he'd been instructed to but raymond i'm sure has also told him don't take a chance and stanley back pedaled on that one and it took a denver bounce 51 yards on the punt and they could almost taste the block come to blocking this punch [Applause] new england wasting a scoring opportunity their last possession when they had the ball at the two-yard line and i have to start over again from inside their 30 and michael brooks with a solid hit and he's one of those players that does have the size that might be able to move the pile i want to go back and underline what you said that part of the problem with the bronco defense they played cerebrally and with stunts and clever schemes but you say of their front seven men no one there strong enough to move they don't have the kind of dominant physical player to step in there and push people back and i think partially by choice because collier's system is one of constant movement eason dumps it off and mr everything john stevens is taken out of bounds by simon fletcher he wanted to go to uh stevens right off the bat but it wasn't there so he pumped once and waited for stevens to clear the corner one of the things that has not been talked about at the end of last season after the washington redskins blew denver's defense out so badly scoring at one point on five consecutive drives dan reed said i'm going to get involved with the defense i'm going to go over and get some of my philosophy into the defense well we're changing coaches kept him from doing that during the 88th season third down eason will run for it he's not going to get it jim ryan got eason and the patriots are going to have to putt and now it starts to get more and more serious for new england they trail 14 to 10. already fans have to be thinking about two field goals that weren't made one kicked and missed and one that they didn't go for when they were stuffed at the two-yard line and now eason is nailed and in the punt comes fiegels two minutes seven seconds left in the third quarter [Applause] not a good kick mateo can return this one from the 34 running start all the way to the 48-yard line and now after starting on the two-yard line what seemed just minutes ago now it's still way starting from midfield denver's last game and maybe new england's last game when you were a rookie do you remember your last game i remember well in fact we were out of the season i think three three games in and the last game of the season the wives had packed the u-hauls and they were lined up in the tunnel and the guys are coming off the field throwing their pads and nobody got in the shower and in five minutes they were all on the freeway with the engines racing yeah certainly the broncos are not in that mood today the way they've played here's doris having that big game and getting more out of bounds at the 36 yard line keith carts throwing a good block and dorsett having one of the best games since early in the year and we had two 100 yard games early it kind of disappeared from the offense we mentioned in the early in this ball game obviously given an opportunity to be showcased here a bit in this ball game and has responded with some very fine runs he's 60 yards away from costing denver a couple of places in the grasslands traditional draft [Applause] and he's down close to the 30-yard line roland james finally secures this up van reeves was asked about changes for this bronco team and obviously they have to make them they have to bite the bullet they've got a lot of players getting old graves said the only one that won't be critically reviewed is the owner patrick bolan but chuck knox used to talk about a run for the bus game the last game of the season didn't mean anything he said the players that are running for the bus and not worried about the game i don't want those guys on my team these broncos have not run for the bus today and in fact looking for more to add to their 14-10 lead blinder runs into a tough tackler elway elway spins and on this [Applause] mistake on the play is weiner going one way and elway the other and they ran into each other most unusual let's see if we can tell who's at fault elway there and winder lucky that that did not result in a fumble as weinder able to clamp down on that football frequently that kind of collision will put the football on the ground as it is it brings up a third and eight yards to go from the 34 final seconds third quarter four wide receivers [Applause] almost intercepted well-read by roland james and only because the pass was low was james tonight and he had a running start going the other way 24 seconds left in the third quarter and let's see how it's going to be a punt and not a field goal try [Applause] so james defense denies the broncos a possible field goal that would give him a seven point lead [Applause] yard line with a tough kick so how field position has changed from the two with new england on the denver two and now it's new england on their own five field position the name of the game the further you can start your opponent away from your own goal line the more the more opportunities you give him to self-destruct and the more chances you have to make something happen happened right now it's a long green i'd say that's one of those long shots on the pool table where you're backed up against the opposite railing [Music] patriots scored first seven nothing then denver a couple of touchdowns 14 to seven new england with a field goal had another after a fumble late in the first half missed that one and then we're stopped on fourth and inches at the two here in the third quarter and bob turman [Applause] and that probably will run out the third period andre townsend the tackler [Music] so the end of three quarters at mile high stadium new england a win gets them the wild card but they trail by four will be back after these messages from your local station 15-minute season through three-quarters only six total yards separate the two teams more importantly four points the separation denver leading 14 to 10. second down and eight from the seven yard line for the patriots their seven they were stopped on denver's two a possible go-ahead touchdown in the third eastern down [Applause] in the denver secondary one of the things you do get out of the smaller more active more agile player is good pursuit you see it here with boyer from his defensive end position able to catch up with eason who is quicker than he looks there is no flag quarterback was out of the pocket of course as soon as that quarterback starts to run changes the rules downfield so you can chuck them in if you look as looks as if it's a running play developing one of the weaknesses of this new england offense is their inability to break down the field in a hurry they need to drive and that's eason that's eason limping quite badly in the end zone looks like he may have wrapped that knee a little bit when he went down but eason is not a deep thrower he's a controlled pass thrower and they need the long drive they need to drive it a piece at a time to get the points on the board it's not a good situation for them and he's out of bounds at the 10-yard line shy of the first down dennis smith another tackle he's been as good as his pro bowl years in denver the way he's played today and easton is injured barry said if eason were injured i would have to start using both of my quarterbacks i don't feel that i can use either one of them separately i would use grogan on third downs and i would use both grogan and flutie in combination on first and second down let's see how badly injured that knee is we may indeed see him have to do that here late in the ball game jeff eagles to punt from his own end zone natiel a dangerous return man at the other end best pick of the day for beagles that'll force matiel to his 43 a reverse to bell that did not for ernest gibson and four other patriots darrell holmes was there first gibson made the hit 14 minutes left 14 10 broncos from the patriot bullpen number 14 steve grogan and number two doug flutie they're right-handers in the bullpen as they to tony easton here's how eason was injured the tackle by walt boyer good clean hit but it catches him around that right knee and see him reaching for that knee instantly as he goes to the ground oh the broncos leading 14 to 10 have the ball at their own 47. elway to jackson boy was that a dangerous collision course jackson and ronnie lepet were running they avoided each other and the ball avoided jackson time for this new england defense to rise to the challenge last week tampa bay was in new england territory eight times they came away with seven points they started three fourth quarter drives inside patriot territory right now this patriot defense needs to get a turnover needs to get some field position for their offense [Applause] patriots made some changes in their defense this year rod rust the longtime coordinator of their defense went to kansas city and they they didn't want to pick a coordinator they had three qualified people don shining and eddie kayette and jimmy carr they kind of let the three of them run this defense almost by committee and carr who sits up in the booth makes the calls for the defense but he does it in a way that they've all talked about what they want and the system is working they've had a good year defensively although right now as i said they need the big play [Applause] here and he forces the quick throw by elway incomplete but johnny remembered from the outside applying pressure ricky nathiel was the closest bronco so three incomplete passes and the broncos will have to punt [Applause] i can remember just moments ago how close new england came to blocking the rand kick and you have to wonder if maybe they won't try again dante scar there watching lori flutie from new england and things have to be a little nervous in that part of the country oops patriots offside and five yards won't give them denver a first down it'll bring up fourth and five [Music] certainly will give them an opportunity to pick up extra yardage on the kick too and you're already almost guaranteed defense number 23 five yard penalty repeat the down fourth down mcswain who blocked the punt first game of his [Applause] career as i recall as bishop the man said how in the world he can even get the ball back there with well that's a cast much like mecklenburg he says he snaps with the right hand controls with the left but we've seen some bad snaps during the year he's a great snapper when he's two-handed that's a good stance [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so for the second consecutive time new england starts that it's five and they'll start apparently with a new quarterback passing game short passes 94 yards but injured knee on the sidelines and steve grogan not flutie broken the veteran 35-year old rogan out of kansas state in his 14th year he's led the patriots to some great rallies but stacked up by brooks and a fumble on the play after the whistle [Applause] dick i think if this ball that this drive had started out toward midfield out beyond the 30 you might have seen flutie in the ball game down backed up they want the experience of grogan and the other thing they want is his long ball ability you see that ball bouncing away the official pointing to the ground indicating the whistle had blown before it bounced loose but grogan unlike eason loves to throw the long ball he likes to turn it loose downfield and new england in need of big yardage at this time in the ball game is the running back behind grogan [Applause] and he hits cedric jones for what appears to be a first down out at the 17-yard line steve wilson on the coverage make it the 18. he's testing that knee on the sideline but he is iced up and that's usually a very bad sign well very frustrated by the injury i said look i just barely got back from all of these problems with my thumb and my shoulder now a knee why me will not return but we heard that about tim goad and he did but it appears to be in the hands of the team of grogan and cody now and grogan going deep for jones good pressure by the broncos greg pressure coming from astantes craigan coming all the way from his nose tackle position looped around rogan realizes there's no time left simon fletcher number 73 also there here's the stunt right here as they come around to the outside and go inside hale no time to show you that yeah there it is quickly now we're back to live that's the way to get the job done incomplete behind right into the heels of jim ryan third and ten frequently when a second quarterback comes on the field you see a letdown by the defense so far you haven't seen that from this bronco defense and looking at grogan's numbers all-time patriot passers bay pirelli in a jim plunkett like its numbers of course would be offended by someone he picked up out in los angeles with the raiders [Applause] they also had some good numbers running the bowling top rushing quarterback four years he did [Applause] in front of jones might have shielded him from the ball meanwhile jones rulon jones and karl mecklenburg were applying pressure you can't throw a pass better than that we talked about the long arm that grogan still possesses watch how perfectly thrown that pass is that's a catchable ball interesting that neither team erlin has converted on third down the entire second half big numbers in the first half on the conversions eagles kick is a perfect spiral matill at the 32 [Applause] down at the 42 darrell holmes made the tackle a 52-yard punt by beagles and a flag is down new england throughout the day has had ineligible men downfield on the punt let's see yep well we saw reeves say no the last time he didn't want them to punt again 42-yard net on that punt maybe he just doesn't want to risk his people on punt return which is a place where you do normally get people on the defense number 73 downfield early finley is declined first and ten denver win or lose a heavy heavy day emotionally for dan reeves he's going to have to say goodbye some very close friends of the truly fine home records in football in the 80s they've only lost twice this year their opener 21-14 to seattle and then that disaster in overtime to the raiders 30-27 when denver left 24-0 gallops to the 43 and a flag down could be a face mask on the end of the play 15 more yards for dorsett face mask defense number 31 5-yard penalty first down fred marion reliable free safety in position to make the tackle and reaches out well you no question about it took a hold of that mask and dorsett who doesn't always say what he means we talked about his future he said i don't care about a future here really doesn't matter to me is playing today like it really matters to it long range future where he's playing 88 yards for dorset he gets the call again and nothing there this time [Applause] just to repeat that situation on the draft so well here's a still active that gives you a reflection how new england has drafted and the players that made their team versus the denver draft where they have only perry kellya tight end and guidry a reserved cornerback and only gerald perry has had a chance to start and have an impact the other two really marginal players new england on the other hand with three starters out of this group john stephen and tim goad and also the linebacker vincent brown has started impact players and those others that you saw listed there an outstanding list of young players who will eventually i think help this new england team denver has called a time out in a surprising spot in this game they've called time in fact then dan reeves himself looks surprised on the sidelines we've seen that several times this year in fact it was a question of timeout or no timeout that lost denver three points in that crucial game just before the half against the los angeles raiders and later in the season we saw reeves absolutely red-faced and furious that was down to new orleans wasn't it when he was so mad about the raider game and the raider game in l.a that's right in l.a well tomorrow there'll be some mixed emotions the highs and lows of this season down to the final sunday houston at cleveland and uh that's a winner take all for a wild card berth buffalo indianapolis the colts are still alive and they're getting help thus far from denver miami and pittsburgh and then the second half of our doubleheaders seattle and the raiders the winner wins the afc west it could be seattle nine and seven it could be the raiders eight and eight good enough to win it wouldn't that be something i don't know if that's a good something on second and 12 elway off play action vance johnson out of bounds at the 31-yard line they don't stop the clock on that they say play dead inbounds third down and three a little play fake to hold things inside and then elway was working on lepet right side here is lapette one on one and he gets turned all the way around by vance johnson look who has excellent form excellent technique i think one of the finest cornerbacks in football at this point in his career that was a quick push-up so the play is dead inbounds clock runs 14 to 10 denver leads crying catch by mark jackson first down at the 22. jackson's fifth catch [Applause] ernest gibson on the coverage not close enough to cover but look at this leaping catch a circus catch that jackson has made routine over the past three weeks andre tippett oh boy you wonder why he's angry at the end of a ball game jim juriga hanging on in the last four games winder right through the hole he's still going to the four yard line first and goal denver it's not an easy task to sustain emotion in a game that means absolutely nothing in terms of playoffs but you mentioned some keywords pride job security the last opportunity these coaches are going to have to judge their talent comes today and a lot of talent has shown a good mark today [Music] first touchdown but these denver broncos had the players vote on most valuable players the most valuable players on offense john elway you could expect that and sami winder well that's the kind of play that they were applauding here in denver when they voted him co-mvp offense for the year 1988. carlos bishop because of those heavy wraps in his hands and gripping the ball he has just enough movement that it's attracting the defense of new england well this is the same start on number 64 offense five yard penalty one try i think he's looking at that center and saying 64. following the false start on the center and you're not allowed to simulate the snap if you do that you draw the penalty it's the same thing as an offensive lineman raising up or lifting up a bad again with a terrific catch so the mathematics now for new england nine minutes and 18 seconds left and 10 points to tie they have a couple of possessions you would think in that amount of time but they must be opportunistic and productive now and the irony winder so easily on first and goal well not that easily but in one play to get a touchdown where new england the same half of the field same situation could not score in the third quarter and that may be the most important series in the new england season and raymond berry typically whether high or low he just hides behind that stone face this consistency [Music] i've never seen a year where so many teams out of it have played so hard and so well there have been years where just you know you look for the big score 38-10 sure that team was out of it just reversed this season [Applause] yard line who do you think the most valuable player was on special teams elected by the players ken bell thank you yes absolutely on cue special teams play now here's uh the man that's going to be called upon to to rally his team and if there's any one player at least in the clubhouse or with respect on the playing field on this new england roster it is the veteran steve grogan i mean he is a highly competitive guy he's a firebrand type and this is a time where he'll call upon all his veteran [Applause] turns it resources a first down cedric jones out of bounds at the 34-yard line 14 yards to match the number on the quarterback's back barry looking through splitting through he doesn't have great vision saying how'd he get that done i'll tell you this is one of those marvelous escapes groga just ducking underneath right there you'll wake up greg townsend will feel that tackle and he'll relive that opportunity to make a sack about a dozen times in his sleep tonight morgan left jones right with protection and it goes to duke the running back he stops the clock out of bounds at the 39 brooks the closest bronco this is a time when the new england patriots sorely miss irving fire a big play receiver but it was friar who really ignited that those last drives in new england when easton was able to reach him with the football on several key situations and easton now on crutches on the sideline taking the pressure off pressure off of that leg and the pressure squarely on his fellow quarterback steve brogan second down in five less than nine minutes to go sammy martin that was a fine reception as martin who had only two catches all year comes up with 18 yards and a first down in bronco territory at the 43. [Applause] and the broncos were waiting for it randy robbins 48 roland jones 75 and the clock that electronic monster when you're behind continues to eat up every precious second getting an extra yard with those powerful legs but it's not enough for a first down eight yard so it'll be third and two ryan and smith the tacklers john stevens who have been so effective in the early going has been noticeably absent until now here he comes back into the background of the field stevens who had a 23-yard touchdown run and a 52-yard run but seemingly fed up new england for the lead now stevens runs right into number 71 greg fragan [Applause] new england having run so often to the right side early comes back to the left joe collier must have known something he had his defenders coming to the left and there they were waiting for stephen two-yard loss so it's fourth and four and they're going for it they're all big plays now rogan and dukar makes a top catch with robin's all over him and it's a 12-yard gain in the first down and the clock down by 10 points cheering section back [Applause] home [Applause] took it right out of the hands of cedric jones [Applause] and in their own special way this defense is saying to joe collier hey joe we want you to go out with one you can be proud of i'm sure he's proud of that play that's the kind of takeaway the kind of defensive finish to a drive that that he's seen so often and engineered so often for these broncos and grogan might might have tried to get it done too quickly his pass was a little under thrown and braxton perfectly in front of jones to make the interception [Applause] lives go down as milford hodge is winding the backfield well we started today merlin by talking about the denver defense not being good enough the defense that gave away christmas well maybe new england's offense next to last in the league wasn't good enough either well i don't think this game today necessarily reflects the of these two teams i think what we have to look at is what has happened emotionally today there's been a lot of up and down emotionally but the one thing that has been expressed again and again on the field by these players is that they were not going to allow this to be a bad day for denver thoroughly embarrassed last week because this defense was stopped i mean seattle took the ball six times and went straight down the score they did not want that to happen here today and it hasn't jerry kubiak is now the quarterback for elway [Applause] and they stay on the ground predictably and new england waiting for it wraps up winder and the clock is at 5 47. as we did initially the patriot wives thought it was a touchdown only to find the braxton was the football version of the scrooge there [Music] well yeah you can appreciate it more than anyone merlin the emotions and the feelings and the people so many people intimately who care i mean fans care but they can they can uh shuck it off after a couple of days i mean this is this is your livelihood you live with it for that whole off season and walking away with a loss today would have been would have left such bitter memories for this bronco team down by brent williams and almost took the ball away from kuviak in the process if you're wondering why kubiak is on the field i'm sure that dan reeves not about to take any chances with john elway's help that's what dan said earlier no one would doubt that that he's never been a loser the bottom part of there is the message we've got to surround ourselves with people who feel the same way and this was a gut check for a lot of folks today and the message was loud and clear we want you to register how you're going to vote which side you're going to be on stanley morgan is back at the new england 45 horan running from [Music] patriots have spent one of their time out remember they used it when it was fourth in inches down on the two yard line and will this be the play that you remember from this new england season i'm sure it's the one that raymond berry will remember an opportunity to use that big offensive line and john stephen harriman to go up inside instead he elected to try and finesse that denver defense and hit back part tough to finesse finesse isn't it yes yeah you don't vanessa finesser and that's exactly what happened in this situation but grogan and the patriots still are in it but they need to score on this possession you would think and to kuku and you don't even have to see the number when a man starts moving tacklers with him the way mosey does braxton was in on the stop no huddle on second and four but he doesn't get out of bounds it's a first down but the clock runs in and now new england is battling two opponents [Applause] the bronco defense much maligned and that clock that now spells four minutes and under down the middle seed rick jones the intended receiver that'll kill the clock mecklenburg applying the pressure one of the realities of this situation we've been informed that colyer and his defensive staff will not survive this disastrous season and by denver standards it was a disastrous season and along with collier because of a change in system a lot of these players who whose play allows them by virtue of their intelligence by virtue of their knowledge of the system to survive they will not survive under a new system people like jim ryan for example perhaps dennison many of the smaller offensive players will probably not survive the team river the incomplete falls are a little behind him it's third and ten and for raymond berry what a season for him they start out by beating the jets and then they lose minnesota buffalo and houston badly then they beat indiana and lose 45 to three to green bay so they're two and four and that's when he changed and went to the running game the defense held things together and they closed out the year seven and two and they're two losses as we said by just field goals but today today was another story and an opportunity for so much to gain they have not been able to convert third and ten screen to do part he's got a couple of blockers and he uses the sidelines out of bounds at the 26. that's going to be right at the yardstick he's short by about a half a yard i believe dick stops the clock that was as important as the first down we'll see whether it's fourth and one the chains all the way on the other side of the field so they may have to bring them across and measure but i believe he's about a half yards short they are going to measure well new england has been notoriously bad on the road on grass fields and this year hadn't scored a field and scored a touchdown just field goals and losing at green bay 45-3 but beat miami 6-3 they're a little better on grass than denver has been on artificial turk but they're not as comfortable on an opposing surface as they are on their own and of course denver is a natural turf team new england an artificial team it's a first down that knows just tickling the yardstick so much for these eyes of mine maybe it's time to go to the cheaters i think we've seen that the patriot wives a bit today the bronco wives have been busy as well they continued their food drive today earlier in the year they they brought in 43 tons of food and 23 000 in donations and they added to that thirty five hundred dollars from the players distributed that to shelters and michigan's uh and food banks and uh a very worthy uh opportunity for them to help the community and the homeless and those who are in need truly the spirit of this holiday season on first down rogan has it twice slotted down by greg cregan cragan who has led this team in tackles this year at nose guard and certainly a overachiever has played another big game today he's earned the right i believe you see him right in the center of your picture number 71 when they ask would you stand up and be counted on this day when some folks were running for the buses he's given you an answer played at utah state your alma mater i remember him well roland jones too they're also out of utah state tackle you for a long time down the middle but over the head of the intended target jones again that's the same play apparently it appeared to be that uh drogon tried that was intercepted by braxton you really have the feeling that this bronco defense is saying hey joe this one's for you for the 20 years here with the broncos surviving four different head coaches three super bowls they would like to have won one of those he goes back to the first day of the afl season he was a boston patriot because they think he decided he coached for the head coach in the uh for the bills for a short time [Applause] rogan with 3 28 left looks at third and 10. [Applause] wilson we mentioned in there because of injuries to mark haynes of course they're challenging on that side that ball in and out of the hands of number 45 wilson and look how close it comes to being caught by gad boys and then dropping to the ground fourth and ten and grogan has to get at least ten or it would appear the broncos with a ten point lead would be able to run it out and jones the speed is to the right he goes back to the middle and morgan the veteran has a first down at the 10. as he sneers a bullet in a 16-yard gain between dennis smith and mike harden for so many years it was that combination that clicked in new england grogan de morgan you look back on this game and the field goal missed at the end of the half and then that fourth and inches down at the two yard line where even a field goal then if you if you figure that drugging can move them in and of course they're wise uh that was a reaction to the fourth down must completion by grogan and you don't think that the folks uh indianapolis colts-wise are chewing the other way today do you they're not watching with any interests they need denver to win for their hopes of a playoff spot to be alive but that won't be the only victory they'll need second and ten from the team the incomplete and dennis smith was a seven foot high jumper he really had jones blanketed and all over the top of grogan what number do you think that guy wore 77 carl mecklenburg that one didn't have much of a chance but grogan has to look for something uh out of the ordinary well the mvps as you might guess have made their presence felt today although mecklenburg was not picked as the mvp on defense because of his absence that's logical missing as many games as he did simon fletcher was chosen there by the broncos west france is late coming on the field a tight end look out it was townsend who got there first and rowan jones with a payoff and now fourth down and the ball is at the 23-yard line the clock stopped for a moment with a sack of the quarterback but now running and this then is the season talking about wives and their how much they have at stake and how much the players have at stake new owners of the patriots victor kiam and fran murray also i'm sure twisting emotionally as they were hoping for an opportunity to see this one go their way so they could be in the playoffs into the end zone and incomplete denver takes over on downs [Applause] dennis smith over there steve wilson over there that ball almost over the top those faces tell you the story and on downs denver will start from the 24. we mentioned at the start of the game as you look at the obvious disappointment of the patriots who came here with a one-game mission of victory meant playoffs about these denver fans and many have felt that they're as good as any in the league and we talked about the no shows today and it was an extraordinary number for denver 5287 didn't come today over 70 000 for the season basically over did not many nfl cities could boast of such an attendance or support of their team there's an incredible fan base here and i don't think it's equal or better to anywhere in the league but i think i think the other thing that's happened in this town i think there are and i think they have not maintained that unconditional loyalty to the fans they've been tough on the barcodes this year in a season when the broncos have not been at the top of the stack steve sewell on the carry the two minute timeout and apparently denver is going to spoil all the patriot hopes what might have been tony eason injured in the second half steve grogan unable to make the the big play in his reserve and doug flutie didn't play well and i said earlier i really felt that that was dictated by field position they started that first drive so deep in their own territory they needed big yardage flutie primarily is effective running the football he wants to hand off the running game and then roll out and throw the short passes to control passes but as much as anything i think i think that barry was betting on the experience of grogan and the ability to read those uh long distance defenses those zone coverages that nickel package that he was facing and in fact he had said to me if it's a passing situation i really have to go with grogan's experience and i think that's dictated the substitutions here in this fourth quarter if i had a microphone and could put it to ray very nice and why was stevens running so well most of the game when they got inside the 20 he didn't use them they seem to change then we applaud him for his courageous threat oh hindsight the old 2020 vision but stevens uh was forgotten when they get down into scoring reigns and he got them he did score from 23 yards out for the only new england touchdown eason the starter before injured got 94 yards passing it was stevens really the offense as it has been most of the successful games this year morgan five catches for sixty five or fourteen third down conversions and only one in the second half then for defense as though it's been a schizophrenic defense sometimes they played well and this uh to the goal fortune of new england was a day when the broncos playing perhaps with ultra motion for that man joe collier gave it to the aggression and the effort that uh the owner and the head coach and collier himself has been begging for and hasn't always received this year well it's been a lack of emotion frequently that has given them those sad days when they have been blown out and there have been more blowouts defensively of course which is of course the changes here the defensive philosophy and the defensive situation in denver will be at the quarterback sewell on a reverse and fred marion just does him out of bounds at the 44 yard line well knowing that new england would stack it up just looking for the run into the line dan reeves calls a reverse we talked about reeves taking john elway out of the game not risking his quarterback who's going to be operated on for a versa an elbow problem on monday but reeves also has to be proud of elway's response to this season and they asked elway what he was going to do after the season he said i'm going to take a hard look at myself and see how i can improve my game and that's the kind of response that coaches appreciate and i'm sure and it's an honest one from elway he's as tough a competitor as reeves is not good yet we'll just take the kneel and here comes almost predictable melee johnny limbert over there 52 still engaged with clan's k mike rupert is in the thick of things with milford hodge and you don't want to mess with that man tip of the second-degree black belt karate expert you notice how there was just a kind of nice space around him and the people are looking for his number saying okay i'll go over there you got to know they they know tiffany he's got to be frustrated as are all of these new england patriots let's watch this play as it develops the fight developing right there on the line of scrimmage steve sewell i believe number 30 and 52 remember initially going at it and that just exploded things but there's tip he's saying to sammy weiner you really don't want to fight with me why do you saw the smile on his face no sir no sir yeah i guess we can find a little humor in this but there's more tragedy if you happen to be a new england fan or if you happen to be a player dressed in red and white here today or a coach any one of these members of this team who have fought so hard to get back and to have an opportunity to these playoffs 57 on the offense personal foul 26 on the defense penalties are all set number 57 on the offensive team has been ejected mike ruther the center raymond berry's team will finish nine and seven and it's conceivable that the winning team in the asc west that won't have to play a wild card will be eight and eight if it's the raiders the seattle seahawks and their fans on the road will try to repeat their impressive win that they scored against the raiders up in the kingdome if that's the case tomorrow and you'll see it on nbc it'll be seattle into the playoffs the bronco report car delway solid but not spectacular dorset outstanding game for him 86 yards we shouldn't really say that new england is eliminated from the that's true battle because they're not but they certainly are eliminated from controlling the battle in the battle and that's what they have lost today is an opportunity to assure themselves that playoff spot of course if cleveland wins tomorrow and indianapolis loses somehow they could get him they still happen to be able to go into the playoffs and that's a very real possibility there's the there it is uh accurately but that's not the way they wanted to do it this is a team that wanted to march into the playoffs with a victory today well both those things could happen tomorrow they well could not without realism that's not that long i think what's what disappoints new england is that they really felt that they were playing the kind of football that they could come in here and even with all of what denver was feeling today could go out and dominate this game and win it and they have not been able to do it [Applause] they'll become fans like the rest of us tomorrow a little more at stake there are playoff checks still to be gained if they can get the right combination but that's like standing at the table in las vegas and putting your money on fox cars yeah that's the thirty to one shots yeah well they spent their last time out so now it's just the cosmetic exercise of uh taking the snap from center and denver and uh it seems like a simple thing i think the collier dismissal has really uh spurred his team and they played really at their optimum and area reuben carter was the star he was one of the big guys who did play well and there's the now he's got to be fighting back tears collier well i think there'll be a lot of tears before this day is over and there should be you don't part with that kind of history and that kind of tradition and that kind of quality without a lot of pain without a lot of pain he's outlived everybody that he's coaching now in terms of the playing time earl moore on this side the linebacker coach stan jones who's been here almost as long as fires two long time assistants 18 years 12 years on the positive side the broncos will not be a losing team this year they will finish eight and eight as we heard joe gibbs earlier for washington that's important for coaches they don't like to look at that less wins and loss this season even if it costs them a position or two in the draft they're willing to take that it sets a tone for this offseason and that's important for all of these players there's a man who is our but wiser most valuable player in this game greg cragan budweiser will make a contribution to the united way on behalf of all the mdt selected in today's game not the big man as nose tackles go but he led this denver team in tackles for the year and he played extremely well again today flag down appears that the broncos were really uh off the ball to riga with a little shove it seems interestingly it's the denver guys that are picking the the extracurricular action at this point because we don't know what's being said down there but false start offense number 88 five yard penalty repeat the down fourth down oh that's interesting 16 years ago last time the broncos played at home with nothing at stake and it was uh 30 years ago almost to the day that raymond berry caught a dozen passes in new york and the colts beat the giants in overtime on alan amici's score and one of the greatest games if not the most memorable game in nfl history it wasn't to be so dramatic today for barry and his patriots and uh we're almost to the point now where they ought to just call this thing somebody liable to get hurt you see the officials throwing themselves in between those players i know it's their job i'll tell you one thing that's not a job i'd want those officials don't have on helmets they don't have on shoulder pads there's still a level of verbiage going on and uh obvious uh challenging of uh one's uh manly integrity here one of my old teammates gary lane the side judge down there today one of those involved you see them trying to face off with the players nothing to be gained in this kind of emotional skirmish here's clarence k east ooh man something said obviously by lawrence mcgrew to k on that particular situation and clarence k did not hesitate at all well he got a solid right hand to the midsection he knew not to go to the face not the only place you can hit i'll tell you this i i watched and participated in a few of those fights and uh with all those uniform protections on it's kind of silly dan reeves wants to know why somebody didn't get kicked out of the game well dan we saw one of your guys throw a punch maybe should have been clarence kate been a candidate wouldn't he patrick colin the denver owner who's already started to draw the plans for 1989. it's more than just a review of collier and his defense it's a review of direction review of their scouting system which has been very interesting i have personal file on new england number 26 i have personal file on new england number 38 penalties are offset there's new england's ball first and ten [Music] these situations uh i think could be handled better i mean the officials can only do what they're told to do he's done this before at boston college he gets it all the way to the end zone where it's intercepted by randy robbins and floaty as robbins carries it out hustles downfield and forces the fumble but robbins recovers and meanwhile away from the play and elbows and forearms being thrown you have any question about flutie's arm strength that was a 65-70 yard pass in the air well there was a smile from joe collier and flutie wisely everyone else just relax figuring well it's over and robbins of course has the option to run it out and floaty was the first man downfield swings around and bats it away that's a pretty good effort it's a kind of play though you better have eyes in the back your head you don't you want to know where everyone is show you what kind of competitor flutie is that's definitely don schineck with an there's a guy who could play the colts linebacker still leaves the nfl 37 interceptions to the linebacker he was the roommate of barry with the colts well the executive producer of nbc sports is michael weisman the coordinating producer of nbc's football ted nathan coordinating producer nfl live john j filippelli today's game was produced by kenneth roy edmondson directed by andy rosenberg nfl live produced by ricky diamond and tom roy nfl live directed by bucky guns technical directors mike straminsky and richard sanzevir joe costanz and our crew in the booth brad pearson merrick cohen ray friedman dodge that's it the season is over for denver they finished eight and eight yep i got two more seconds no timeouts i don't know how there's a black they got the denver bronco players out of the locker room if they continue this game they can't end on a penalty if it's both sides that are guilty and that would be the guess new england will finish nine and seven maybe will go on but it will require basements on number 60 on the defense fouled by the defense in the last 30 seconds the game is over by rule so it was just the defense that fouled and the game declared over by the officials the season is not over for raymond berry it is unless they get a lot of help and for that reads a chance to think about next year and the changes that need to be made before then 21-10 denver for the moment is spoiled the patriots came live beginning at 12 30 eastern time better late than never less i cannot enlighten you as of yet we just did get into the locker room and i was over there listening to dan reeves he had not yet addressed the situation maybe we can get into it with the linebacker jim ryan it was here we're live thanks for coming over i thought your team showed a lot of character today especially your defense you stopped a pretty good running game except for a couple of plays by stephen but you kept him out of the end zone well we you know on grass we've done all right this year it hasn't it's not really a surprise or anything so uh we just wanted to go out and play hard we just wanted to have fun today we were real loose you know nothing was really on the line except trying to play well to end the season what was it feeling like this week there's been so much written and said about changes who's coming who's going was it was it unusual playing a game in that type of study it is because we haven't done it in a long time every game we've played has been playoff possibilities you know it's really something's been on the line so it was a little different no one really knows uh what's going to happen now they talking about a whole lot of changes in that you start looking do they mean me you know do they mean this guy and all and uh so it is a little strange have you thought about that personally no no you're not putting me on the spot because i've been getting a question already already whether i'm going to retire or not and and i i have a pad answer and i think there's a lot of things that win that decision i'm going to evaluate my health i'm going to evaluate what my family thinks what the coaches think my role can be and just where i am professionally and uh all those things go into making up a decision i was watching the bench at the end of the game which was long and drawn out because of the fights and i saw a lot of emotion between joe collier and his defense i saw a lot of hugs i saw a lot of hugs between joe and merrell i know you can't talk about what was talked about in meetings but what does the future hold for the defensive coach well i think that's a big unknown it's a big question mark and that's why i think that maybe people are just looking at maybe this is the last one you know and whether it will be we'll find out you know i think that it'll probably be a few weeks before we find out you've been here a long time i'll let you go on this question don't you think because you've played for them for a decade that the the fellows that are being talked about joe merrill moore stan jones all of them wouldn't you as a leader on the defense like to see them return absolutely i mean if for nothing else joe kai is a guy that gave me my start i mean i owe him a lot that's just a personal feeling but uh the guy has been coaching for 20 years have been successful for 20 years so yeah i would love to see him stay because i think he can uh he can build this defense back up so i mean as long as you're concerned the game has not passed him by no i don't think so at all i think that he's he's really been still innovative uh as the game has changed so much i appreciate you coming by okay all right jim ryan uh dave studdard is here as well congratulations i i know that the second half of the season was fun for you personally well i finally got to play a little bit more and uh i won two out of four starts i got so i guess it was i guess it was kind of accomplishment i felt like i did all right and he held up really good i thought this team showed some character playing that kind of a game under these conditions in a game that really didn't mean that much to you well i think the game was just for fried we didn't we didn't have anything to win except the ball game and uh no chance of players or anything and i thought everybody laid it on the line really well and uh you got to give the guys credit for uh going out and do things like that you know i asked jim a minute ago i want to ask you the same thing and you know this there's been so much written and said this week about players that may be coming and going coaches that are coming and going how unsettling is it to try and play a football game under that type of setting well my name hasn't been mentioned as far as retiring or anything so i really hadn't worried about it but i'm sure my name is going to come up when it as as evaluating players and say well it's dave dave's 10th 11th year in the league can he still do it i think i still can and i'll just wait to see what dan has to say to me on whether or not he wants me to come back and that's all i can do hey it's good to see you back and i'm glad you're healthy and i look forward to seeing you next year thanks rodney too okay dave sledder who certainly came on strong second half of the season so les until we can talk to pat paul and let me just say i just walked in when you came to me i've been over in dan river's news conference he's not yet addressed the coach's situation you heard what jim ryan said i think there's a lot of uncertainty people just don't know and we don't know how much the players can say but we'll attempt to find out what is going on we'll attempt to talk with pat fallen and we'll have that for you tonight at ten o'clock ron zappolo news four from the bronco locker room at mile high stadium all right thanks ryan we'll see you again at 10. kathy okay peter big rebound and the weather changes we haven't been able to get anything done but when you win one of those it gives you a little confidence and i think that builds when we're going to camp and you and you really had came out in the last few games this season didn't you had big offense yeah we've uh we've moved the ball we took us too long to get get our timing down i think maybe if we start a little early next year or spend a little more time with that next year as far as the routes and stuff like that we'll be right back on on track i think things got a little chippy out there at the end frustration on the patriots part i think so you know they're battling for a playoff spot uh we had nothing to do but spoil and uh it was it was a very physical game all the way through that's one thing it was very physical okay thank you mark jackson and uh let's see we got craig craigan coming in defense greg which was much more light after seattle game you know it's hard to figure you have one game you look fine today 10 points great effort yeah it always seems like we play better at home i don't know why uh very very costly loss for the patriots although claiborne manufactures a nifty 23-yard run back into denver bronco territory then from the bronco 23 new england's fine rookie john stevens bounces to the outside runs by jeremiah castile it's a 23-yard score seven nothing patriots back come the broncos and yes it's the forgotten man tony dorsett dorset ripping off 27 yards out to the new england 49-yard line the drive carried to the one where sammy winder punched it in and the broncos had tied it at seven after forcing the patriots to punt the broncos drove again elway with all day to throw hits mark jackson over the middle and jackson converts it into a 32-yard gain to the new england 23. three plays later elway gives to tony d sammy weiner a great lead black touchdown 14-7 broncos late in the half the past jason starroski hits from 32 yards to cut it to 14-10 new england got it right back on a turnover but a poor snap led to a strawski miss and it was 14-10 at the break third quarter john stevens rips off another run again there is nobody on the outside and before he's done stevens will ramble 53 yards all the way down to the bronco 11 yard line but the defense dug in and on fourth down at the two tony easton's rollout shot falls incomplete and the broncos held at 14-10 the defense was fired up eason wants to throw but he can't walt boyer eventually pulling him down for the sack the broncos then proceeded to put it away sammy winder banged in from four yards out to make it 21-10 the defense then a couple of more stands and the broncos close out 88 winners 21-10 and i think the defense was trying to make a statement uh well they're trying to win one for uh for joe collier going out and it looked like the guys played for their uh their jobs today finally on the last game of the season well mike hafner took in the action over at the stadium he is standing by live over in the bronco locker room uh mike take it away thanks brian and i'm standing here with a guy who had a heck of a day running the football sammy winder first sammy uh you've got to be torn season's over with get this one behind you yet you finish up with a win well that was our intention to go out and finish up with a win and to do that we had to go out and execute you know in both faces of the game but i don't think it's really set in yet that you know we're not going to the playoffs that you know i think when we see those other teams playing in the playoffs i'm saying you know we could have very easily been there you know but um you can't win them all certainly we would like to but uh you know it gives us now we just got to look forward to next year and come out and do a better job you and tony had an excellent day running the football both of you oh yeah well you know we we had talked about it you know during the week that was going to go out and make our last one a good one you know and so uh you know he did a great job and offensive line did a great job of blocking you scored that one touchdown looked like you were so determined you said there's no way they're going to keep me out of there oh yeah uh i wanted to get in you know i i wanted to get up and do my dance but the ref didn't give me the signal in time and i didn't want to go penalty on the team and stuff but it was great to get in there sammy good job today all right sammy weiner the running back for the denver broncos uh you saw a couple of those touchdowns today brian and john and one of the things here in the locker room that everyone was concerned about was what's the fate of joe collier you guys have talked about it i've got a feeling that the players on defense know what the fate of collier is and have been told not to say anything guys and it's kind of a somber locker room when you ask somebody about uh the defensive or the defensive players about joe collier they don't have much to say and they say we're not talking about it mike do you get any indication over there uh from talking to the players even though they don't want to go on camera and discuss it uh when we might know for sure how long they're going to drag this out well one of the problems is patrick bowen had a flight out of here immediately after the game in fact he's gone to the airport and everyone speculated that with him leaving they definitely wouldn't make an announcement i would imagine and the rumors are flying around here that he definitely is gone uh that they will make it sometime after the holidays there's also a rumor going around that bill waltz is going to san diego and would love to have joe collier as his defensive coordinator so as i said lots of speculation lots of rumors but the feeling around here is that joe collier won't be the defensive coordinator next year mike the longer they drag this out the more rumors there will be like the ones you just mentioned i don't care what they feel about the job joe collier and his coaches did over there this year he does not deserve to be hung out on a limb after 20 years of hard service for the broncos i think they are if they're going to make the cut they ought to make it clean and get it over with i agree with you and and one of the things you have to look at is the draft since 1981 uh they have done a very poor job since the pick of dennis smith as far as defensive stars and joe's been doing it with mirrors for all that time and been very successful it's tough when a guy goes eight and eight defensive wise uh that that he has to take the problems for it and it's a shame for joe collier but you can't fire all the players in the front office so it looks like collier's gonna be the scapegoat very quickly mike is it a dismissal or a resignation what are you hearing i would imagine that because of his 21 years of service here that they will allow him to resign okay good hands but greg mills reports that with all that going for him he'll still have a tough time making the team when the broncos drafted steve atwater it was front page news that's what happens when you're a team's first round pick but have you ever heard of john javis he went to the broncos in the same draft this year that produced atwater but john javis went in the 12th round the final round 12th rounders aren't front page news after after the draft you know as far as 12th round first round you know all of it's the same you're in the same place so you treat everybody out here the same and are you treated the same are you treated the same as the first rounder yeah i can say i am because when atwater's called you hear jesus name so uh everybody's out here they treat the same well not quite first rounders generally make the team 12th rounders generally don't but john javis might have an advantage others don't have i've heard he might be the fastest player drafted this year i wouldn't say i'm the fastest man in the draft but on a good day i can get in here on my head and i'll do my thing with him at howard university javis used that speed as a kick returner he'd like to return kicks for the broncos and he'll play wide receiver too now you're a wide receiver they got a couple guys named dance johnson ricky nateel you know about these guys yes i do i've been watching them for a while and they're pretty tough back to fall now i'm out here and i'm gonna try to do my best and maybe i can beat our fourth man to get that fourth spot javis has to beat out steve watson and a host of others craig mills channel 2 sports broncos sign stepped in they were flooded with protests for signing a man who had been involved in an incident in dallas involving a young girl as john keating reports septian is hoping for a second again nobody's perfect i know whomever has no center of the first stop his comeback is a battle on two fronts winning a job and winning over a public which fair or not has labeled him a deviant two years ago ceptian was charged with indecency with a child a 10 year old neighbor girl he was convicted of nothing having plea bargained to a lesser offense while admitting that sexual contact did take place it's minor touching or antidote touching accidental and even if you just touch an arm close or a leg they're going to say you know anything they want so i was just going through my advice of my attorneys and that would be the best thing in that case because after two years i have no record and the main thing is slit my kick and do the talking i have my probation officers i have a psychiatrist that they recommend me to go over there they're all in favor of me to come over here because they believe uh you know that i'm a health individual a healthy person and the kids didn't have any problem or they shouldn't be afraid of me at all in his day he was one of the most prolific kickers in nfl history but his comeback has more to it than just the uprights rafael ceptian though is taking first things first from bronco headquarters john keating kmg8 7 sports and the broncos today welcomed the newest member of their defensive unit and defensive end kevin brooks checked into the team headquarters and didn't waste any time jumping into the workouts the broncos traded for brooks yesterday giving dallas what will likely turn out to be a third and fifth round draft choices across the past two seasons brooks started 26 games for the cowboys of defensive tackle but the cowboys fell he never developed the potential that made him a first round draft pick four years ago brooks figures the broncos could be a fresh start number one draft choices uh you know everybody has their expectations about number one but you know you have to realize number one's a human too and uh you know we come in and this is a new start and uh you have to get the right situation for the right person just like you know your job uh you have to get the right paper for you or whatever so uh you know it's just uh hopefully this is the right situation with kevin brooks and uh i can help denver out in any way i can time today septien began working out with the broncos at their headquarters yesterday he has been the center of controversy since signing as a free agent a lot of bronco fans didn't want him here after his highly publicized incident involving a young girl in dallas two years ago some fans even brought a petition to the broncos septien understands their concern but says he just wants a chance the public has his own opinion in that area and i respect that i think some they are they don't know exactly what happened and i don't they have to have their own understanding uh main thing is the if coach reeves save everybody respects coach reed from that area and coach reese has given me this opportunity that means that you know he studied the case and and he believes in me and the organization and i'm just thankful for them to give me this opportunity the broncos newest player kevin brooks arrived today is one of the biggest 66 297 traded yesterday from dallas to denver to help shore up the broncos defensive line on a day-to-day basis they will see that uh you know just a normal individual that you know fears god and i like to compete and i love sports and sports is my life and the main thing is [Music] i'm here because they have made a study the nfl cleared me up and coach reese releasing me and that's about it rafael septian bronco defensive quarter wade phillips says even with the arrival of brooks and carricker and many others the broncos basically will still be a 3-4 defense this year there are reports tonight that the broncos are interested in bears safety dave dewerson he's having contract problems in these new revelations that rafael seption admitted having sexual contact with a ten-year-old girl two years ago in dallas and uh really that is only news if you don't watch channel seven because that was a story that we had last tuesday so so much for rafael septien but that story is not necessarily news yeah but you can imagine it's going to be brought up again and again during training camp yes and the other stations uh did that tonight as a matter of fact they're bringing it up again and again but to other matters to other matters a pro bowl defensive player is available and wants to play in denver too good to be true you say well sadly you're probably right seven sports has learned that bear safety dave dewerson today contacted the broncos with written authorization from the chicago management that he can seek out his own trade dewerson is involved in a heated contract dispute with the bears he's after eight hundred thousand dollars a year chicago's top offer is said to be 690. dewerson's agent jim dougherty told me from his office in miami that denver is one of a handful of teams in which the bone jarring safety is interested but beyond the salary dewerson carries a hefty price tag the bears reportedly want a pair of number one draft picks in return and you'll remember denver gave up their number one a couple of weeks ago having selected bobby humphrey in the supplemental grant and above it all on a broncos team with several holes safety is not one of them well believe me i have no personal knowledge upon which to call but it seems to me that multi-millionaires get to be multi-millionaires by being fairly headstrong placement for pete rozelle the owners met again today in chicago with no progress in the squabble between the league's old guard and the new that man jim finks remains the favorite but now there is some feeling that the dissident owners who have pressured their way onto the selection committee will come up with their own names and there is one report that tech trans will be named interim commissioner come football season people may stop heading to las vegas on his contract status now carlos the team's kicker since 82 told by bronco general manager john beak that he's not eligible for a raise this year because he was left as an unprotected free agent and they can't give unprotected free agents raises that is not true number of players in the same situation have been given new contracts with raises now carlos who reportedly makes the neighborhood of three hundred thousand dollars a year told peter rogot today that he's somewhat disappointed with the situation i know that i can kick in this league and uh you know we're not going to be intimidated about this you know the fact is is it i've never complained about the money i make i feel very well compensated and we've never had a problem in the past and the only thing that that bothers myself and bothers my attorney is it that john b told us verbatim that that he had no control the league said that he wasn't allowed to give anyone else a raise and i i took him for that i mean i've always respected john and always enjoyed that relationship and you know i'm just a little bit surprised to find out that that was not the truth we'll have more with rich on the training camp update coming up in a minute yeah pictures on his contract hamilton from north carolina third round selection also signing today veteran safety terre on braxton should be a lot more signings tomorrow rookie camp opens on thursday america's great by the village inn restaurants [Music] the popular and successful broncos place kicker rich carles tonight he implies that broncos management is lying about whether they can or cannot increase his pay hi everybody i'm peter rogot we have a lot to talk about tonight we'll bring you up to date on the latest broncos signings we'll talk about the competition at the place kicker position and we'll hear more from a very disappointed rich carlos finally we'll check out some of that vaunted vance johnson speed off the field a lot on our plates so let's get right to it two signings to report they are third year safety tyrone braxton and third round draft pick daryl hamilton that leaves a dozen unsigned draft picks and nine veteran free agents among them rich carlos uh you know we're not going to be intimidated about this this is broncos general manager john beak offering carlos the same money as last year claiming league rules for bid arrays to a plan b free agent like carlos well it turns out other such free agents have gotten raises so in carlos's eyes beak lied yes i mean if we have if john and i have this great relationship then john needs to say hey you stunk last year we're not going to give you a raise and if you want to play football for us you know this is the way it's going to be but you know now it's gotten past that carlos had a subpar 88 campaign a year in which he made 300 000 he faces competition this summer from two kickers david treadwell a second year man who spent time with phoenix and rafael septienne septien's plea bargain to indecency with a child in dallas threatens to obscure his competition for a broncos job treadwell's kicking accuracy is his strong suit the length of his kickoffs isn't treadwell says he's improved it must be a combination of the run and the lifting and the working on it real hard but it has improved since i've been here in the month in the end few expect anyone but rich carlos to kick for the broncos in 1989 contract problems and all my bottom line is i want to kick and i want to kick for the denver broncos when we return the fast world of the vans broncos well before training camp begins we can tell you one thing remains the same the man you know as number 82 in orange is still the vance the addition of a ponytail doesn't seem to have slowed vance down in fact he's going full throttle [Music] today the vans found himself head to head with the big daddy don garlits garlit's drag racing exploits are well documented the pair hooked up at vandemir speedway to promote their real race sunday which is open to the public at 10 30 in the morning it will benefit the day treatment program at the denver children's center i don't think being fast on the football field has anything to do with driving a car well i'll tell you know i haven't really drive driven faster my force has been in the shop and haven't been driving now so i've gotten it out and everything so i get a chance to do it legally now not get a ticket how's that then it was time to stop talking and start driving the vance won one beat big daddy took one leaving only the grudge match sunday i'm gonna have my red car the real one the red the red car is the best well that's the challenge then sunday be there vance johnson here's what's on tap for tomorrow undoubtedly more player signings and anything else that happens on or off the field we'll have it for you that's it for now from broncos headquarters i'm peter rogot saying so long the broncos pre-season update take a look at all the 89 version of denver bronco training camp is officially open today with rookies and free agents taking physicals in denver this morning and then well they run through their dreaded 40-yard dashes as they go on the field and they have other tests this afternoon in greely lots of activity off the field today the broncos signed one veteran player this evening running back steve sewell now in the poll they also signed three draft choices earlier in the day wide receiver anthony stafford a six round pick from oklahoma usc tight end paul green and eight round draft choice and the team's 12th round pick john javis a wide receiver from howard they also cut a couple of players former cu player mike marquez and offensive guard bill michelle that leaves 11 players still unsigned five rookies and six veterans two a days begins tomorrow in pads in greely when it comes to injuries exactly what is shoulder shoulder this time that's right running back gerald wilheit often injured during his seven years in denver injured again working out with the other veterans this morning and just shorts t-shirts and helmets will height fell while trying to catch a pass from john elway and separated his shoulder as you can see the broncos feel he'll be out a month as for how this will affect his chances of making the team certainly doesn't help the the good part is that nobody knows our offense any better so from a mental standpoint gerald's not gonna fall behind it's hopefully uh you know physically he'll come around in time that that uh you know it's not too late oh it's a setback for me and it hurts my feeling that i work so hard this off season to show people that i i can play and stay healthy and then something like this happen how do you think it'll affect your ability to compete for a job oh i don't know you know like i said i'll be ready and whatever happens happens i can't control that but i'm in good shape and i'm very disappointed i'm hurt and i will work like a dickens to get back gerald wilheit the broncos today signed offensive lineman winford hood and to make room they released rookie tackle brian white out of b hello everyone i'm steve alvarez the broncos training camp in greeley as they continue their workouts against the phoenix cardinals coming up in just a moment we'll show you a couple of the little guys they may be small but they were big time fighters this morning and the first major injury of training camp one of the veteran running backs has gone down plus we'll talk to the big o orson mobler [Music] it's the running back gerald wilheit separated his shoulder while diving for a pass he could be out four to six weeks and if they have to put him on injured reserve during training camp he must stay on ir the rest of the season with me personally i take it as a challenge because i don't think it could get me down and there's definitely not no shoulder separation will make me want to retire that's crazy uh a major knee surgery maybe but my shoulder to me that's something i'll get over with in three or four weeks maybe shorter gerald walheit is a great athlete but he's been plagued with injuries ever since he came to denver in last year's training camp steve watson stepped on his foot and broke his toe just another case of bad luck some people call him injury prone he doesn't see it that way i'd say bad luck but not injured because when i say injury problems are personally well some people would say it's injury problems so i don't know i guess it's your own person's judgment i wouldn't say it the broncos and the cardinals will end their three days workouts tomorrow with a scrimmage at about 10 30. today a pretty good fight between bronco wide receiver anthony stafford and the cardinals kevin lewis call this one the lightweight division battle both men great form with a takedown and then everybody gets into the act they can get together with the wwf for the next wrestlemania speaking of big ass how about the big l orson mobley the broncos veteran tight end he came to camp swim and trim and discovered that it's the only way to go tell you what i don't think i better make it if i was carrying more weight so you can't imagine being as heavy as you used to be huh no it's too bad you didn't learn that lesson a couple years ago yeah that's true too you know but uh you know i learned a lesson the hard way and uh like i say you know it's been a good tool for me to learn from in the past mobley needed pants with expanding waistlines as he tasted life in the 260 270 and even into the 280 pound range but this summer he pushed himself away from the dinner table and because of that he could push himself harder on the field he comes to camp at a svelte 256. he's moving quicker and feeling better so at least for now he's gotten over being overweight time to work on the other part his mental health it was a tough off season mobley felt the broncos showed little interest contract negotiations dragged to a hole he missed the mini camp well they finally worked it all out and mobley is once again a happy training camper once you get behind you and both sides are happy then you can come in and do what you got to do so you can forget about the business part and just play for yeah that's what it boils down to i know you've gotten over what happened to the off-season think coaches ever hold grudges uh honestly uh i say for a while but you know once you get in here and they see you working hard and you perform that level you're able to perform so you know everything is forgotten and so far he's done nothing to make dan reeves remember maybe this time around we can finally see the potential and orson mobley realized he knows now that it takes both body and soul how much did that hurt you in the past when maybe you weren't in the right frame of mind uh it's hurt a lot it's hurt a lot and like i said you know sometimes you have to learn the lessons the hard way and uh i have and uh you know i'm just gonna do whatever it takes to play as long as you learn them that's the key that's right and we'll be back tomorrow night with another bronco camp update [Music] to pat bowling especially with the scalp laceration today wish you would have had one you know it's like locking the barn door after the next time they were helmets broncos owner pat boland and former bronco kicker jim turner banged up but escaped serious injury when their bikes collided near the team headquarters this afternoon bowling suffered a broken right collarbone and had lacerations while turner was hospitalized with four cracked ribs and a possible shoulder separation shortly after noon bolin and turner were ready for a 50-hour ride to the printing camp in greeley a yearly ride for bowling he invited turner this year block and a half away they hit a chuck hole filled with water and bowling fell on turner our nine news crew came upon the mishap took the back of the office then they went to the hospital leaders to say we didn't stop to take pictures after the accident happened big story though at the broncos camp was off the field today as hold on linebacker simon fletcher came to terms on a series of contracts steve alvarez will have our broncos update in just a few minutes also he's a one-year contract he'll be suited up tomorrow tomorrow they will go twice a day again at 9 15 at 3 15 if you want to come up and watch them here in greeley tonight we take a look at one of the most popular broncos ever wide receiver steve watson he came in here as an unknown free agent he became one of the greatest receivers in bronco history a lot of people however think steve watson is history it's going to be awful tough for him to make this team this year but steve faces the challenge head on i'll look back when it's all over and reflect a little bit right now i've really got a battle ahead of me and that excites me because it's the biggest one of my career steve watson's brilliant 10-year career is nearly over he's already said this will be his last season but if the broncos don't keep him you won't see him do what other aging veterans have done he won't tag on with another team i don't feel comfortable with that thought i we pretty much made our home here in denver and i i at this particular point if i had to if i had to do something like that i don't think i would do it instead he chooses to stand and fight here in greeley and when steve watson does battle you can never count him out he's proven too many people wrong in the past decade his chances of making it for an 11th straight year are not good but he thinks they're getting better initially i i thought i had maybe a 70 30 chance of making it 70 against 34 and uh at this point i think the odds have gotten a little better in my favor just from the way i feel and uh just some conversation i've had you i i take it you mean in the fact that the broncos are going to give you every opportunity to make this team i feel like that i really do i i'm excited about the thought of it i initially like i said i didn't have uh the idea in mind that i was going to get a fair shot i thought for sure that it was made very clear to me that they were looking for a younger player but now i can see i do have an opportunity to make this football team and i'm pretty excited about that the three amigos are the new stars but watson holds no resentment instead he wants to help them get the most out of their abilities the way he's done it for a decade just looking at them i really feel like i can give them something and maybe i don't know why i have that thought i'm competing with them for my job but i really feel as need to share my knowledge and i i feel like we can become a better receiving corps if i could just show a few things to these guys but make no mistake watson isn't here just to pass on his knowledge to the next generation he's fighting his greatest fight hoping for one more year he came into this league as an unknown free agent he knows what it's like to be the underdog i equate this with my rookie year starting from scratch i'm at the bottom of the totem pole i've got to prove myself all over again as if i haven't already but it's just one of those things it's the nature of the game you you come in on the bottom of the ladder and you go out steve watson is far from that he is one of the best ever to play the game for denver not many people are betting on him to make the team but not many would bet against him either in his holdout today he signed a series of one-year contracts it also means the broncos are one man over the roster limit so someone has to get cut tomorrow meantime the greely heat is making the guys a little irritable today shawn knight got into it with offensive lineman winford hood no damage done they'll probably eat dinner together tonight well maybe dessert right after the news tonight ron zappolo will have the broncos pre-season update more on what went on today including the l.a rams saturday august 12th at 7 on channel 4. play steve atwater suddenly he's the safety out of arkansas the broncos still have two unsigned draft picks bobby humphrey and melvin bratton steve alvarez joins us live now from greely steve any word on getting those two guys into camp well actually steve atwater's signing should help a great deal because he was taken 20th in the regular draft bobby humphrey in a similar position 17th in the supplemental draft so uh steve atwater's figure gives them a base in which to work from when they negotiate they would expect that bobby humphrey could be here quickly but as pat bowling and dan reeve said about melvin bratton they don't expect anything to happen because he still wants first round money but right now the story of course is that the broncos new kid is here safety steve atwater practiced for the first time this afternoon after signing a contract at midday atwater and his agent reached agreement with the broncos late yesterday this afternoon he worked out with a team didn't do that much but he's two weeks behind but even though he missed a lot of workouts tom dan reeves thinks that water can make a big impact this season because atwater attended the broncos rookie and developmental camp that helped even though he's missed practice at least in theory he knows the defense you

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Length: 189min 33sec (11373 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 20 2021