On if CB Champ Bailey will return this week

"We will see how he practices. He seems to be getting a little bit better. He practiced a little last week. We will get a chance to evaluate him over the next few days."

On returning injured players having setbacks in practice

"I think you get a better feel of what they can and can't do and whether they are in football shape. Whether they can play half of the game or a full game I don't think you know until they actually practice. Most of them have been working out for the past week or so. Hopefully, that is a good sign and there is no setback."

On FB Peyton Hillis

"He has really done a great job. Anytime you move from the fullback position to the tailback position there is going to be a learning curve. Even though he was a tailback in high school and a little bit in college, there are always those growing pains. You can see that he is getting better each game and has a lot more confidence. You can see his strength and his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. He has done a lot of good things to help our football team win."

On what FB Peyton Hillis injured during the game

"I think he was hurt all over. Hips, shoulders, I think he was just sore. I don't think it is anything that is real serious but he is quite sore today."

On DT Josh Shaw's injury

"We haven't gotten the MRI back but it is a dislocation in his elbow. Right now, it doesn't look good but we are going to wait to get the MRI back and I will tell you something more definitive on Wednesday."

On having a three-game lead over the Chargers

"The season is far from over with. We have seen teams bounce back very quickly. The thing that we are going to do is hopefully concentrate on the job at hand. We have Kansas City in our backyard and we have to worry about our business. We know what San Diego is capable of doing. We have seen them play some excellent games. To assume it is over is a big mistake for our football team and the rest of the NFL."

On the team's first outing against the Chiefs in Kansas City

"Anytime you get beat you are obviously disappointed. I think Kansas City has shown what they can do, they beat the Raiders and they beat us handily when we played them at home. We know what Kansas City is all about and we know we are going to get their best shot. They played an excellent football game and found a way to win. We know what is at stake for us and hopefully we take care of business."

On having a team that has been good on the road but struggling at home

"We will see how we do at home for the remainder of our games. Hopefully we play to the level that we have been in the past and do the things we are capable of doing."

On why home losses are becoming more common across the NFL

"I really can't. I told you before that I thought the big advantage of home field was the snap count, it makes it hard for the other team to audible. It seems that way throughout the league. There have been some pretty big upsets so you really don't know week to week. That is why we have to take care of business. We have had our stretches where we have had excellent home field advantage through the years and hopefully we can get back to it."

On how the team neutralized Jets DT Kris Jenkins

"Passes, runs and screens. We just had to change it up a bit. I am not sure if it neutralized him. I thought (C) Casey (Wiegmann) did a great job as well as our guards, holding him in check. We just tried to limit his plays and we were able to do that. It just shows you that Casey is a great competitor who has played the game for a long time. It was a great challenge for him and he played exceptionally well."

On the offensive line's pass protection

"I felt pretty good all through preseason. I think we have a very young offensive line but a very talented offensive line. If you would have told me back then that we would be leading the NFL in sacks allowed at this time of the year, it would surprise me. I am very pleased with the progress that we have made and how competitive they are."

On QB Jay Cutler not being affected by the rainy conditions in the Meadowlands

"It all depends on your players. Sometimes you do have to scale it back. You have some quarterbacks that really do not want to throw in the rain, they can't throw in the rain and be effective. Jay feels very confident throwing in the rain as well as he does in wind. Really the conditions don't bother him. It all depends on the quarterback with what you can and can't do. We knew going into that game, if it was raining, that Jay felt comfortable in throwing a wet football. I used the example of Steve Young after the game. It was a rainstorm coming down in buckets. He got on the headset and said, "Why aren't we throwing the ball?" I said, ‘You can throw in this rain?" He said, "Yeah," and then went 9-for-9 on the next drive. Some guys can do it and others can't. Jay has been a guy, if he feels it, who can throw the ball regardless of how wet it is and he proved that yesterday."

On S Vernon Fox

"I thought he played well. He took advantage of an opportunity and in both the run and the pass he made some plays. He played like a veteran should play. The game wasn't too big for him and he made some plays against a team that had a good rushing attack and a good passing attack .He will get a chance to start (again) this week.

More on S Vernon Fox

"He has played free safety and strong safety. He supports the run well and he has played deep in the nickel package. When you play as many games as he has played you get a chance to do a little bit of everything. Our safeties are interchangeable and he fit in quite well."

On what S Josh Barrett brings to the defense

"Speed. He will get experience as time goes on and he will feel more comfortable with the different schemes. The one thing that he does have is he has great size and great speed where he can make some plays. He did that a couple times on defense as well as special teams.

On S Josh Barrett's progress

"There is a learning curve. Some guys pick it up a little quicker than others. Josh has been working extremely hard. He finally got an opportunity to show us what he could do and maybe we should have been playing him a little bit earlier. He made some plays in pass defense, he made some plays in special teams and he has something that you can't coach-and that's size and speed-and he took advantage of that opportunity."

On whether he has simplified the defense with the injuries to veterans and young players in the lineup

"No, we really haven't. If anything we have kept on growing. I think the thing that we've done that we have talked about before is after we gave up too many yards rushing we went right back to the basics, we put our pads back on Wednesday and Thursday and we made sure that everybody knew what they were going to do. You can see it when you have pads on. Obviously, the downside to that is you can get more people hurt. I thought we had lost so many players at that time that it didn't matter. We had to get better. I think that has helped us and it has carried over to game day."

On the loss of DT Josh Shaw to injury

"Anytime you lose a player it's always tough. Shaw has been doing a great job, he has been doing better and better every game and it's a loss for sure. I think (DT) Nic (Clemons) will come in and do a great job. He has played well for us and he will get a chance to step up and show us what he can do."

On LB Jamie Winborn

"When (LB) Boss (Bailey) went down in Houston in the preseason, Jamie got a chance to see some playing time early. In the Raiders (Week 1) game he was one of the three MVP candidates on defense. He is a natural leader, he is very intelligent, he plays with a lot of enthusiasm and the game is not too big for him. He enjoys game day and he makes plays."

On how LB Wesley Woodyard went undrafted

"I can't answer that question. We had him projected in the fourth or fifth round. When you take a look at your different needs on your team sometimes people don't need linebackers-they need fullbacks, tailbacks-and all of a sudden you might be loaded at one position in the draft and here comes a guy you might have projected so you try to get him as a free agent. All of a sudden he becomes a starter and a good player. Why did (former Broncos WR) Rod Smith go undrafted? Why did (former Broncos RB) Terrell Davis go in the sixth round? Why was (former Broncos TE) Shannon Sharpe in the seventh round? (Former Broncos LB) Karl Mecklenburg-you can go on and on. You don't know for sure the size of the guy's heart, but I'm sure glad we got him."

On whether younger players will be relegated to lesser roles when veterans return from injury

"Those are problems you want to have. You want guys that are backing up that have had playing time and proved themselves. Sometimes when guys do come back they are not able to play a full game so you might have to split time. So there are a lot of different intangibles that go into it. You really don't know until the end of the week which direction you are going to go."

On whether FB Peyton Hillis is still "just a fullback"

"No, he has proven that he can play tailback and fullback. He is better with the ball in his hands at the tailback position running the football or catching the pass out of the backfield. He is going to get a chance to play more tailback because of what he has done and how he can break tackles. He also can play the fullback position which really gives us a lot of flexibility. I'm not sure, eventually, if he can't go out there and be a "tiger" or a tight end-type guy with that size. We could either line him up as a fullback or on the line of scrimmage-a (Indianapolis TE) Dallas Clark-type of position."

Hello Chiefs fans, Guru here from Mile High Report welcoming you to Broncos/Chiefs week.  

Got a Broncos question?  Fire away!   I'll check back in regularly to get those questions answered!

One question that I cannot answer is which team will show up wearing a Broncos uniform on Sunday.  The team that has lost 3 games to teams with a combined record of 6-26 against the rest of the NFL or the one that has beaten teams with the combined record of 25-8 against the rest of the NFL.  Your guess is as good as mine!

Best of luck this week!!!

DENVER POST

Brett Favre passed as though it was raining hard all day.  Jay Cutler passed as though he were tearing up the neighborhood in the park across the street from his childhood home in Santa Claus, Ind.

A rookie? Strike one. A fullback? Strike two. A seventh-round draft pick? Strike three. Yer out.  A rookie fullback drafted in the seventh round isn't supposed to play tailback in the NFL.  Peyton Hillis, who has all those credentials, not only has been playing tailback for the Broncos, he rushed for 129 yards Sunday in a 34-17 victory against imposing run-stuffer Kris Jenkins and the New York Jets.

As the Broncos' 34-17 victory against the New York Jets wound down on a cold, rainy night in New Jersey, Jets quarterback Brett Favre still was firing.

Denver's defense had waited weeks for a spark. A sack, a fumble recovery, an interception — anything to ignite a group so desperately desiring a big play.

The Broncos had forced 10 turnovers before arriving at the Meadowlands. Just to put that number in perspective, the Jets forced seven against the Cardinals on Sept. 28 in the very same stadium. So what happens? The Bronx win the turnover battle 2-1. . 

Gunslinger is a profession best left to the young.  Old, gray and put away wet, New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre got shot down by Jay Cutler and the Broncos on a rainy November evening so raw it felt like winter shoving aside autumn.

The Broncos, the Cardinals, the Giants and the Titans are ahead in each of their divisions by three games with four left. The Broncos could clinch a division title as soon as the powerful Giants and Titans — and FedEx their game to San Diego.

Away from their wives and children, freed from car payments and mortgages, removed from the comforts of their own beds, the Broncos excel.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS

VOTE FOR THE 4 GREATEST BRONCOS EVER!  Rocky sports cartoonist Drew Litton is looking for a few friendly faces for his mountain. Which four Denver Broncos greats should be immortalized on Mount Crushmore? Help us decide.

The weather conditions were perfect, as far as Jay Cutler was concerned.  Appearing hardly bothered by the steady rain and wind that whipped through the Meadowlands, Cutler threw for 357 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Denver Broncos to a 34-17 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.

Are the Broncos going to blow it?  The thought swirled through my head -- and probably yours too -- at the end of the third quarter, with Denver gripping a slippery 27-17 lead over the New York Jets. 

A week ago, the Jets beat the Titans, the team with the best record in football. A week later, the Broncos beat the Jets, suggesting the Broncos can be as good as anybody in the NFL.

Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler executed a sound game plan to perfection, mixing screens to Eddie Royal with passes to his tight ends before finishing with 27 completions in 43 attempts for 357 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Peyton Hillis continued to impress, turning in the first 100-yard game of his career by gaining 129 yards on 22 carries.

The presence and, even more striking, absence of the instant- replay booth proved significant Sunday.  Three of the first four touchdowns in the Broncos' 34-17 win over the New York Jets were influenced by close calls.

When Jay Cutler was a young boy growing up in Lincoln City, Ind., his idol was Brett Favre.  On Sunday, Cutler outdueled his idol in a steady downpour at Giants Stadium, leading the Broncos to a seemingly easy 34-17 win against Favre and the AFC East- leading New York Jets.

Doug Hillis turned 44 Saturday, so his son, Peyton, called his family home in Conway, Ark., to give his father a birthday greeting.  "I asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday and he said, 'I want 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns,' " said Hillis, the Broncos' rookie fullback.

The team the Broncos faced Sunday at Giants Stadium was the hottest in the AFC, if not the NFL. In one three-play stretch, three Broncos defenders - defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban, middle linebacker Spencer Larsen and cornerback Dre Bly - were hurt, adding to an already long list entering the game.

ESPN.COM

Say what you want about the Broncos' defense, but coach Mike Shanahan deserves a lot of credit for essentially clinching the AFC West. Sunday's victory over the Jets may not have been pretty, but the Broncos now have a three-game lead in the division and can clinch a playoff spot in the next two weeks.

Mark the Denver Broncos down as one of the most confusing teams in the NFL.

MISCELLANEOUS

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FINAL

The Denver Broncos looked the part of a team that was lost.  Beaten and battered both physically and mentally after getting crushed by the Oakland Raiders last week.  Sometimes the best thing for a team that has the world against them is a trip on the road against a team that no one believes they can beat.  That's exactly what the Broncos had facing them this week and they did what any mentally tough team would do.  They played their asses off, took advantage of opportunities and overcame adversity to win a hard fought football game.

The last part might be the most important.  The Jets were able to score on two long running plays.  The Jets turned the Broncos over in the Red Zone.  Hell, the Jets had Brett Favre.  None of it mattered to the Broncos who got up early and never looked back.

There were plenty of heros today, but we'll start with Jay Cutler(27/43 - 357 yards, 2TD, 1INT), who came back from an awful performance last week to play extremely well in a very tough environment.  The Meadowlands is a tough place to play on a calm day let alone when the weather is bad.  Cutler looked good, threw the ball well, and with the exception of one play, made good decisions with the football.  The Broncos win when Cutler plays well and both happened today.

Peyton Hillis(22 car. - 129 yards, 1TD) was a stud all day and the Broncos committed to the run more today than in any game in recent memory.  Cutler is still the motor that drives the car, but sometimes he needs a good tow every now and then and Hillis made that happen.

The Broncos defense, save a couple of mental lapses, played strong and forced the Jets to go the long way to score.  The defense got the Broncos on the board early as well, and any time you can get 7 points from the defense good things are bound to happen.

The Broncos now sit at 7-5, 3 full games up on the Chargers with 4 games to go.  The team will likely be much healthier next week with Champ Bailey and Nate Webster likely to return.  We could see D.J. Williams as well.  Any one that Broncos get back will be a huge plus, but it shouldn't be overlooked how well these guys played and just how valuable the experience will be moving forward.  Great Job Men!

As for next week, and those that follow, we'll take them one game at a time.  No one really knows what to expect from the the Orange and Blue, and in a season of so many ups and downs, I hope you like roller coasters because this ride is far from over!

Start of 4th Quarter