Broncos get positive feedback

The Broncos won a game, a preseason game but it was still a win and it was a shutout and it came over a team that should be competitive in 2009. Beating Arizona is the bright light that new coach Josh McDaniels needed. It was some kind of confidence confirmation for the players too.

Rookie quarterback Tom Brandstater showed he can play. In a preseason game. He's got a long ways to go but he does look coachable and with hard work he could develop. Just hope that starter Kyle Orton and backup Chris Simms don't get hurt at the same time during the regular season.

The defense gets a solid grade in this one.

The season opener is next and the Broncos will have to run the ball better, play the same kind of defense and hope the quarterbacking doesn't doom it's chances of competing well and having a chance to win.

Hold on as it promises to be a rough go in 2009 in year 1 of the McDaniels regime.

Notes

The Broncos running game looks like a weakness unless the line gets healthy and unless Knowshown Moreno has a smash debut.

Rookie Kenny McKinley looks like a real find as a third or fourth receiver. He won't be a star but he could be a productive part of the offense.

I think, but I'm not sure, there was a Jarvis Moss sighting. Will it be enough for him to make the roster, I'm not sure.

Rookie DB David Bruton looks like a contributor to be and the secondary and special teams needs some rambunctious youth.

Broncos compete but lacking firepower

Jay Cutler was back in Denver but the return hardly mattered as it was but a preseason game. The former Broncos' quarterback started slow but had a solid evening (15-21, 144 yards, 1 TD) in a 27-17 Bears' win but the reason for the evening was to see how and if the Broncos would progress.

Kyle Orton was accurate (12-16) but hardly special. Rookie Tom Brandstater showed glimpses of potential (8-12, 110 yards) even though he threw an interception. Fellow rookie Kenny McKinley, a wideout from South Carolina and a Steve Spurrier favorite, grabbed four balls for 75 yards. That's the good news. The bad news is the Broncos struggled to run the ball and were penalty plagued.

And a not-so-irrelevant fact is that Denver is now 0-3.

This is not a situation of the team looking at a lot of players and getting ready for the season. This is a team lacking in explosive talent with running back Knowshon Moreno out with an injury and receiver Brandon Marshall struggling with maturity.

Marshall is going to be a cancer if not traded yet his value is at an all-time low.

Moreno needs to get and stay healthy.