Tavern talk: McDaniels manages the game well

Come on, Mike, you're taking your conclusions way beyond what the evidence will support. You're mistakenly assuming NE wouldn't have changed anything in their drive had they not had the timeout. But they clearly would have conserved time a bit more in various places (see the first play where a 7 yard pass took 24 seconds off the clock, for example).

You and I both know Tom Brady doesn't need 1:43 and a timeout to get 60 yards in a no-huddle. They were in FG range with :38 seconds left! He might have had fewer shots at the end zone, but that's about it.

I love McD, man. Just watching him at the podium, he seems like he's in charge and knows it all. It's not a cockiness, it's a confidence. This guy's a good coach and I'm looking forward to him getting a franchise QB and coaching my Broncs for a long time. He just sounds like a good coach.

"The opponent in the second half is the clock." (for both teams).
-Bill Walsh
You might as well consider the clock ending the half to be part of the same thing.

Whether a poor decision hurts the team depends on many different factors and circumstances. That doesn't make it NOT a poor decision.

No love for Norvalicious? The Chargers ran the 2-minute drill perfectly, never calling their one timeout and leaving the Giants with only 15 seconds at the end of a one-point game. I expect such biased Norv-erlookings from Schatz and Simmons, but you're better than that Lombardi!!

For Reid's last flag on the placement of the ball I thought the ref's hosed Philly. Looked like a first down all the way.

How does McKid think he only needs 1:30 to score? He dinks and dunks and the league is catching on. Denver has not had one pass over 25 yards over the past two games and have scored 10 points in 8 quarters. This team may need well over 5 minutes to score. McD is taking a page out of Shanny's Jake Plummer offense.

No love for Norvalicious? The Chargers ran the 2-minute drill perfectly, never calling their one timeout and leaving the Giants with only 15 seconds at the end of a one-point game. I expect such biased Norv-erlookings from Schatz and Simmons, but you're better than that Lombardi!!

VR - The point is not the outcome. The point is that if you consistently make the right decisons it is going to benifit more often thatn not.

Clearly circumstance and luck play a role, and are things you cant control. Would you rather have the Pats have to kick a 40 yrd FG at best, or be Inside the 20 with 2 shots at the end zone?

The worst was when Andy challenged the McCoy reception and assumed the refs had to give him the forward progress. But no one touched McCoy so he was obviously short of the 1st down. I wonder if Andy just didn't understand the exact rule on forward progress in that situation?

@Jim

You missed the point, dude. The point was that you don't give Pitt the ball back with a large amount of time left. The idea of a two-minute offense is to get down the field in that amount of time. Sure, you want to score, but you also don't want to wipe out that score by giving up points, nor do you want to not score and net negative points.

McD made the right call, as Lombo stated. You don't approach the situation expecting to fail in your two minute offense. Not to mention, the thought is, if we're gonna score in a two minute offense against Pitt, the extra 30 seconds won't matter. Pitt would have to have defensive breakdowns for that to happen so the extra time is moot.

Also, Rivers ran that offense down the field on the Giants. That wasn't clock management by Norv Turner, that was phenominal QB play from Phillis Rivers. Not taking the time out when you don't need to is an obvious move, not a smart move. Lombo usually points out the smarter decisions or dumber decisions, not the common sense ones. That's why the columns are interesting and not masterminding the obvious.

Yatrix, I get the point, I just don't always agree with it. Every game has an eb and flow to it. The Broncos dominated the 1st half by throwing the ball underneath and opposite of Troy P's side of the ball. Yet they were going to go into half time down by 4. If you don't trust your QB who had only thrown 2 interceptions all season and you don't trust your D which is one of the top ranked units, when do you trust them? I think his play calling spoke volumes to his team , which promptly went out and laid an egg in the 2nd half. If the score was reversed then I have no problem with this strategy.

I think it should be noted that the Patriots nearly screwed up their FG opportunity at the end of the half but were bailed out by shady homefield time-keeping. With 4-5 seconds left on the clock Brady threw into the end zone - a play that took at least 5 seconds - yet the time mysteriously stopped at 1 second allowing them to kick the field goal. That could have been a huge blunder had the home cooking not bailed them out.

I think it should be noted that the Patriots nearly screwed up their FG opportunity at the end of the half but were bailed out by shady homefield time-keeping. With 4-5 seconds left on the clock Brady threw into the end zone - a play that took at least 5 seconds - yet the time mysteriously stopped at 1 second allowing them to kick the field goal. That could have been a huge blunder had the home cooking not bailed them out.

Mike...really??? no mention on how in the world NE got that 3d and 14 play off...and incomplete..in 3 seconds and still had a second left??? cmon mike...u were soind so good this year.....did bellicheck offer u a possible job next year???

@Yatrix. Rivers was awesome, but during that two minute drive, he motioned twice to spike the ball (the last time after the Sproles pass but before the TD pass to V.Jackson) and Norv waived him off. While this may seem obvious to you, it doesn't appear to be for most coaches, which I thought was the point of the article. If Lombardi is going to praise McDaniels for managing a horrific and embarassing loss correctly, then I think a standing Norv-ation is in order for a coach who (with his QB) successfully managed a game-winning drive.

It shouldn't be surprising that Denver reporters don't get football. They, like 'Bronco Country', are pretty sure the only way to play football is on the edge, trying to zip darts into double and triple coverage. We've run two QB's (Griese, Plummer) out of town over it, and worshipped 10% of Jay Cutler while minimizing the other 90% that Bearland now has to try to rationalize. I'm glad that McD has an unusually thick skin.

All you had to do was actually pay attention to the games against Baltimore and Pittsburgh to realize that Denver HAD to dink and dunk or let Kyle Orton get slaughtered. When you can't protect your QB, you can't go downfield, and you certainly don't want to have your QB hucking up prayers under extreme duress just because you're inside 2 minutes-- especially with Big Ben trolling the other side line. By that time, the Steelers had adjusted to the play action fakes, and the slants were working anymore. Luckily, not many teams have front sevens that are total mismatches against Denver's zone-scheme built interior. Meanwhile, McD will remain practical and try to maximize Denver's strengths rather than hope against hope that his team morphs into something it ain't just because the media and fans can't give up the ghost of John Elway.

The football gods have shined upon my Broncos numerous times in the past 30 years. First of all, we were given John Elway, Mike Shanahan, Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith, etc. Now, we have obtained Josh McDaniels! The man is in command; all fears about the Broncos' short-term (and long-term) prospects dissipate once he addresses the media. There is something about John Carroll University that begets greatness: McDaniels, Don Shula and even London Fletcher are all alums. Yes, I can rest easy with McDaniels at the helm. Mr. Bowlen is an awesome owner and he NEVER gets the credit he deserves. Thanks again, Lombardi!