Cheers…

to maybe the last epic, outdoor Broncos home playoff game. If this game takes place in 2031 and in the new stadium at Burnham Yard, is the retractable roof opened or closed? Those decisions are typically made before kickoff. Considering the snow doesn’t start swirling around Mile High until halftime, maybe the roof is open. But we also knew before the game there was a potential for an inch of snow. Does the NFL step in and tell the Broncos the roof needs to be closed? Or is it truly Denver’s (Sean Payton’s) call? Regardless, the reality of a closed-roof Broncos playoff game is still five years away, at least, and the Broncos have aspirations to be right back in this same spot next year and for the rest of the decade. So, maybe this wasn’t the final time snow impacts a big-time playoff game at Mile High. Only time will tell.

Boo… 

Anyone who thought this was truly going to go different for Jarrett Stidham. Even before the snow hit and essentially eliminated the downfield passing game, the Broncos backup quarterback was who he’s always been: inconsistent. This wasn’t Jeff Hostetler, who took over for an injured Phil Simms in Week 15 before leading the Giants to a Super Bowl in 1990. This wasn’t Nick Foles, the latest star backup to step up in the playoffs. Foles, too, took over as the Eagles’ starter in early December eight years ago. We’ve never seen anyone be thrust into action like Stidham was in a conference championship game after not having played all season. Confidence from your teammates, and even an entire city, can only go so far.

Cheers… 

to Aussie Jeremy Crawshaw for backing up his statements to The Denver Gazette saying he was ready to play in the snow. After growing up in Melbourne and playing his college ball at Florida, the rookie punter is experiencing a real winter for the first time in his life, but he didn’t look like it on Sunday. Crawshaw may have had the best individual performance of any Denver player given his six booming punts of 309 yards for an average of 51.5 yards per punt. His three punts inside the 20-yard line were all huge, too. 

Boo… 

The Broncos offensive line for not doing its part when it needed it the most. That unit didn’t look like one that had multiple All-Pro players on it. The Patriots were regularly putting pressure on Stidham in the first half, despite some of the explosive plays. RJ Harvey ran hard, but he didn’t have much room to operate out of the backfield, finishing with just 37 yards on 13 carries. The Broncos as a whole averaged fewer than 3.5 yards per carry on 24 attempts. The lack of a run game was a big reason the first three drives of the second half resulted in punts and accumulated a total of 26 yards. The big guys needed to be better, and they simply weren’t.