Lions and Tigers, Oh My!

Silver Surfer on the cerebellum
MC's rhyme at the zoo and when they're wack parrots tell em...

Props and Drops from this weekend’s Buffs’ throttling at the hands of Missouri and the Broncos’ dismantling in Detroit:

DROPS: Mike Shannhan the GM is letting Mike Shannahan the coach down. Years of bad drafting and bad free agent acquisitions left Shanny trying to comeback in the game with receivers more suited to the Arena league (Brian Clark, Glen Martinez?) , Olineman no one has heard of, and the long snapper one injury away from being the QB. Shanny’s two big free agent pickups, Travis Henry and Daniel Graham could be considered average pickups at best. With injuries spreading through the team, expect to see a lot of these no-name players over the second half of the year.

DROPS: The CU coaching staff had their worst game of the year and a half tenure in the loss to the Tigers. The biggest complaint? The three man rush utilized for most of the game by the Buff defense. Early in the contest, the Buffs pressured Mizzou QB Chase Daniel and the result was a tipped pass and a quick 7-0 Buff lead. That lead was short-lived as the pressure stopped and CU dropped 8 into coverage, allowing Daniel plenty of time to hit receivers. The result was tons of big yardage pickups and easy first downs. Did the staff watch the tape of any of the previous Mizzou games? Daniel had done the same thing versus light rushes versus Nebraska and Texas Tech.

DROPS: The dreaded “r” word is making its way around Denver and even on the national broadcast in regards to the Donks. Rebuilding. Yikes, not since the pre-Elway days have Denver fans actually faced a “rebuilding” situation.

DROPS: Halfway through the season and it seems the Broncos cannot get in sync with coordinator Jim Bates’ schemes and assignments. Witness some seldom used fullback getting open for a near 50 yard game when the Lions were on their own 5 yard line. First down after first down on simple slant plays. TJ Duckett and Kevin Jones picking up huge yardage. The biggest problem is the complete lack of pass rush, allowing QBs like Jon Kitna to focus on staying away from Champ Bailey and complete tosses to 2nd and3rd options.

DROPS: The CU offense, and QB Cody Hawkins looked like a lost team out there. Cody’s roll out passes seemed like they took a month to develop, and the receivers couldn’t get any separation form the Tiger defenders. The goofy direct snap play to RB Hugh Charles needs to be shredded from each playbook, because it doesn’t fool anyone. They never got in a rhythm and the end result was seven first downs all evening long and a season-high 11 punts.

PROPS: Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was on the CU sideline for most of the game, sporting a CU cap and mingling with some CU brass. Hurdle couldn’t have been anymore accommodating and cordial to the fans, coming over to the rail numerous times to shake hands, sign hats, and take pictures. By halftime, he was more of a show than the actual game.

PROPS: All that is the debacle of the Donks’ season and they are still only one game behind the leaders of a suddenly putrid AFC West. With Patrick Ramsey at the helm for the a portion of the year, the Donks’ must decide to go all in and try to snatch the division title from the Chargers or the Chiefs with some inspired play and creative play calling.

PROPS: The Buffs are solidly in the lead for all-world RB Darrell Scott. Even with the loss to Mizzou and the half empty stadium by the 3rd quarter, Scott reportedly had a great trip and nothing but praise for the coaches, players, and University.