Peyton Hillis!

[Fred Waiss, Sr.]

Now, that's what we've been talkin' 'bout! It seemed pretty obvious Peyton was
showing his game to his boss. I hope his boss noticed.
Remember when Reeves showed some real football acumen (like that word?) by
running Larry Canada in the 4th qt. to use up clock and get ground first downs
against a tired D? I've thought for a few weeks that McD should (at the very
least) use Hillis in the 4th to get those tuff yards and help preserve a lead.
Plus, of course, use him goal-to-go.
Also, compliments on McD's use of Phil Simms: Hand off to Hillis again and
again and again and don't even think about passing the football. Near genius.
Props to Orton for managing the game, and to the D for playing like we saw last
week and the first 6. I don't expect a win in Indy, but I'll be disappointed if
it's not close.

--
Fred Waiss, Sr.

[Adam Smith]

I didn't get to see the game, but I saw Hillis' stat line on the box
score. Good to know he hasn't been completely forgotten.

However, when you have a ~30 point lead in the fourth quarter, there's
really no "wrong" playcall, so we don't know if McD was intending to
use Hillis as a clock-killer, or just resting Moreno/Buckhalter, or
giving Hillis a chance to demonstrate something in a game situation,
or what. I'd like to see if McD does the same thing with Hillis when
the Broncos are sitting on, say, a 10-point lead.

Indy's going to be a hard game to win, to say the least.
Unfortunately, I don't think this is a game the Colts are likely to be
looking past.

The good news is that the Broncos have a 1-game lead over
Jacksonville, a 1-2 game lead over Baltimore (pending MNF tonight in
Green Bay), and a 2-game lead over Miami/NY/Pittsburgh. Even better,
a lot of those teams have games scheduled against each other, so there
are more guaranteed losses coming to that group. If the Broncos can
take care of business at home against the Raiders and Chiefs, they've
got an excellent shot at a wild-card berth. Those, plus a road win
against either the Eagles or Colts all but guarantees it.

I'm not expecting the Broncos to go very far in the playoffs, but just
getting into the postseason would be a great accomplishment in McD's
first year.