Circus Giganticus

What is the difference between the Battle of Little Bighorn and this Sunday’s Denver Broncos at Green Bay Packers game? Custer’s already gotten his slaughter over with.

Statistic-wise, the Green Packers have it over the hapless and helpless Denver Broncos. The Pack averages 33 points a game against Denver’s 19. 3 points a game. Or, the number 5th ranked offense is going against the number 23rd ranked offense. Total offensive yards per game the Packers go 403.3 yards per game against Denver’s 286.3 yards per game. Interesting stats, but not altogether conclusive by themselves. But, if you’ve watched Denver’s offense this year and if you’ve also watched Green Bay’s offense this year… well, put together, both stats and performance could lead you to see Denver as a two touchdown or more underdog. Also there’s the history: Denver has never won a game in Green Bay going 0-4-1.

What’s going to shape this game is Green bay’s time of possession and how they wield it. Look for the Packers to score successively and early and then use ball control to own the clock and starve out the Bronco’s offense. The Pack has averaged 5 more minutes of possession than their opponents so far this year but will do much better against Denver in this regard. The Denver defense will be on the field for too many minutes. They will be overworked and outplayed until they become mistake prone as fatigue and frustration kick in.

To compound the defense’s problems, the Denver offense will simply not show up and contribute their half of the game. Denver will have coaching miscues, player mistakes, and a simmering vibe of frustration on both sides of the ball. The loss at Lambeau will bring home to Bronco fans just what a dead end the John Fox coaching era has already become.

The Broncos face another source of adversity at Lambeau this Sunday. Green Bay has a very dangerous mindset right now and Denver is going to be on the business end of it. These Packers want to be and believe themselves to be a team of destiny. The Packers are a dynasty team , a team with a rich and storied history full of great players and great accomplishments. This season’s Green Bay Packers want to become a long standing part of that history and they have their eyes on the biggest of prizes; back to back championships and a run at an undefeated season. The Packers are 3 and 0 and face Denver at home, then Atlanta on the road, and then Saint Louis at home. Three teams with 2 wins total out of 9 games. Green Bay smells the blood and they WILL be 6 and 0. Don’t think for a minute Green Bay will not dispatch Denver with ruthless efficiency at home to move forward quickly and keep their eyes on the prize.

Denver can salvage some things from this game if the Bronco owner, front office suits, and head coach decide they will do so. First, John Fox must think smarter than his dogmatic coaching notions have previously allowed. The Broncos cannot be coached like an NFC team because that old-school Dan Reeves grind-it-out-on-the-ground ball control football has never worked in Denver. The fans have seen it and they don’t want it because they’ve recognize its limitations. John Fox must also, no matter how bad the beating, come out after THIS game and either energetically defend Kyle Orton for the long term or switch to Tebow and start him for the long term. Period.

Bronco ownership and management must also stop acting like Congress and admit some ugly truths, man-up, and deal with them by making the hard but practical choices in the short term. The long term will have to be dealt with later, after the triage of this season. The best way to bring about positive change is to listen to the fans and accept their remedies for this mess of a team. If the whole franchise gets together on this, shows some respect for the intelligence and heartfelt dedication of Denver Bronco fans, then a type of victory can come from defeat. But don’t be a jackass, take the Packers and the spread.

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