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ENGLEWOOD Womens John Elway Jersey , Colo. (AP)The angst that permeated the Denver Broncos for two straight summers of quarterback competitions is noticeably absent from team headquarters this year.Veteran Case Keenum is the unquestioned starter and that’s allowed the Broncos to install their offense without having to take different skillsets into account.That certainty has had a ripple effect on the entire roster.”That makes a huge difference, especially for the players, for your receivers, for your offensive line, hearing the same cadence every day, working with your same quarterback every day,” coach Vance Joseph said Thursday. ”It’s huge for Billy (Musgrave) as a coordinator to build his system around one quarterback.”Having Case as the starter has definitely helped matters.”A more relaxed attitude that was evident all spring culminated with Von Miller wearing fake dreads under his helmet and again at the podium as the Broncos wrapped up their offseason program.Fifty feet away, quarterback Paxton Lynch , the 2016 first-round draft pick who has started just four games in two years, displayed a fresh maturity in his first interview since being relegated to understudy duties in March.”I was really excited actually when we got Case, for the fact that he’s a veteran guy who’s been through it a little bit. He’s had his ups and downs. But the way he carries himself and the way he handles himself, he’s a pro and that only benefits me and other guys in that locker room,” Lynch said.While many fans may have given up on Lynch, general manager John Elway and Joseph are still his biggest boosters , suggesting he still has a bright future in the NFL.”It means a lot, especially the head coach and the big guy upstairs, too, having my back,” Lynch said. ”… Whenever I get the opportunity to go out there and take over, I’m going to be ready for that.”Lynch’s confidence level remains high even after losing out to Trevor Siemian twice and now having to fend off Chad Kelly to win the No. 2 quarterback job in training camp. (Siemian is now the Vikings’ backup).”There’s always room for improvement,” Lynch said after a spotty 7-on-7 drill Thursday. ”I obviously believe that I can go out and play right now, but that’s not my job right now. Case is the guy and I’m doing everything I can to make myself better and make the team better.”Obviously, I’m confident in what I can do and confident in my abilities. So, I’m hanging my hat on that.”At the team’s final offseason practice, Miller donned the same disguise he wore recently while working as an undercover waiter at a upscale Denver steakhouse .”It’s just the last day of camp, it’s just like the last day of school, so I try to mix it up, I lost a bet,” Miller said.He wouldn’t divulge the nature of the wager.”I can’t really talk about it, but I lost it,” Miller said. ”And then I started thinking about it, man, it would be cool with dreads. Some of the best pass rushers in the league have dreads, Melvin Ingram, Jadeveon Clowney, so maybe that will rub off on me today.”Miller had fun wearing the wig during an undercover appearance at Guard and Grace in Denver to promote the club’s ”Taste of the Broncos” charity event later this summer”I think after about like 20 minutes they knew it was me,” Miller said. ”But at first, I was making guys mad, eating off peoples’ plates and taking shots with people. It was fun.”Miller said he used to wear the wig out to dinner and to the movies to blend in.”But now I’m busted,” he said. ”Now I’ve got to switch it up.”— Who called it? WHOOOOOOO CALLED IT? Boom, Steelers lost. Then again, the Broncos lost too, so it was all for naught. Also, who has ultimately been proven right about Kirk (or is it Kurt) Cousins being a loser QB who will put up decent fantasy stats, but is completely incapable of winning games against winning teams? I want thrones of people to line up for the “we should have trusted you Pete” apologies. Regarding last week Bradley Chubb Broncos Jersey , I’m still struggling with what we witnessed. That was the Jets game all over again. We were out of it from the opening snap. Is that on the players or the coaches though? I think it’s both, but ultimately the players have to play, and USUALLY the starters are starters for a reason, and the backups and backups to the backups aren’t playing for a reason.People are bemoaning Vance Joseph, Bill Musgrave, and Joe Woods. But here’s the thing: They can only coach the players they have, and if the players they have aren’t talented enough to run the gameplan, then they are doomed from the time they boarded the plane.I didn’t see anything wrong with Musgrave’s gameplan. I saw players who couldn’t execute it (again, starters are starters for a reason, and backups aren’t starters for a reason). I didn’t see much wrong with Woods’/VJ’s second half defense either. Holding a team to 20 SHOULD be enough. Now, I don’t like not covering Kittle in the first half, but was that players not being good enough (physically and mentally)? I saw players who were confused and players who proved that they aren’t starters being incapable of executing it.The thing is that the Broncos are loaded with talent, but there’s some talent that just isn’t playing right now due to injury. It’s most noticeable in the most noticeable positions: WR and CB. I also warned about tempering expectations with how many rookies we were starting. Rookies are up and down and sometimes flat terrible. I liked what we saw from most of them, but all of them showed that they are still rookies.So lets temper the “clean house” mentality that is the easy low hanging fruit. We are playing games with the deck stacked against us because of key injuries at very thin positions. Now, I’m not using it as an excuse against the Niners, because they are equally injured as Denver. I’m simply saying that we need to temper the scorch the earth mentality that is popular right now. I’m still on the fence with our coaching staff. I want them gone because of production (the same as I wanted McDipsh*t gone because of production), but I want them to stay because they are going through growing pains, and I want the damn fruit of the growth instead of ripping out the tree. But then again, that’s hope, and I’m not sure hope is the best plan going forward. Plus, honestly, Vance Joseph still makes waaaaaay too many dumb mistakes. He’s either too stupid as a head coach, too scared, too ignorant, or a combination of all three. My fear is that it’s a combo of all three, and if that’s the case, then he probably needs to go because you can’t change those inherent flaws. Crap, I just talked myself into the “fire VJ” crowd. Then again, I think it was Von calling the coach out that pushed me over the edge.Last Week: 11-5Overall: 129-76-2Los Angeles Chargers (10-3) at Kansas City Chiefs (11-2) 6:20pm FOX/NFLN TNFThis is going to be a great game. The two best teams in the AFC in Arrowhead in December, and oh by the way, it’s a divisional game so you know it’ll be close! Both teams have injury concerns, so that’s a tossup even though I think the Chiefs are more vulnerable than the Chargers from that standpoint. It’ll take more Mahomes special sauce to pull this out unless the KC defense steps up big time. I’m just not sure if they can. Prediction: Chargers 34, Chiefs 37Houston Texans (9-4) at New York Jets (4-9) 2:30pm NFLN/CBS (if local) - SATURDAYAfter tasting their first defeat in 10 weeks, I anticipate them pouring it on the Jets. Sam Darnold is still up and down, i.e. “a rookie”, so I’m not expecting much from him. Prediction: Texans 31, Jets 20Cleveland Browns (5-7-1) at Denver Broncos (6-7) 6:20pm NFLN/CBS (if local) - SATURDAYHere’s my concern about this game: If we let Nick freaking Mullens destroy us, how in the hell are we going to rein in Baker Mayfield? The Broncos ONLY HOPE is that its in Denver, and in Denver, we’ve shut down the Chiefs twice, Rams, and Steelers. But that’s honestly our only hope. If we play down to the competition like we have a propensity to do, we will lose. Prediction: Browns 27, Broncos 24Arizona Cardinals (3-10) at Atlanta Falcons (4-9) 11:00am FOXThis should be easy for Atlanta, but then you remember that it’s Atlanta and they just simply can’t get out of their own way. Still though Von Miller Jersey White , they have a better offense than the Cardinals, who are just piss poor pathetic. Prediction: Cardinals 9, Falcons 20Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-8) at Baltimore Ravens (7-6) 11:00am FOXLamar Jackson is the starter for the remainder of the season. This may or may not mean Joe Flacco will be available for trade. But that’s talk for another day. The Bucs can score in bunches, but they can also have a drought in bunches. Plus, I just flat our trust Jackson more than Winston. Prediction: Bucs 23, Ravens 24Detroit Lions (5-8) at Buffalo Bills (4-9) 11:00am FOXWhy does the NFL hate us? Wait, this isn’t a national game, so screw it. The only fans suffering through this game live in Detroit and Buffalo, and they are use to pain and suffering. Prediction: Lions 20, Bills 23Green Bay Packers (5-7-1) at Chicago Bears (9-4) 11:00am FOXOn paper this should be a great game. Two great QBs going head to head in a heated divisional rivalry. And this very well might live up to the paper hype. But will it? Is the “boost” teams usually get when a head coach is fired worn off of the Packers? Will they crash back down to their 4 win self? Prediction: Packers 24, Bears 30Oakland Raiders (3-10) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-8) 11:00am CBSThe only thing worse than living in Cincinnati is living in Oakland. My goodness this game will be impossible to watch. For some reason, the Raiders keep trying, and every once in a while their talent shows itself. Then there are the Bengals who just appear to be in a death spiral. But it’s in Cincy, so there is that. Prediction: Raiders 17, Bengals 20Dallas Cowboys (8-5) at Indianapolis Colts (7-6) 11:00am FOXAm I the only one who really doesn’t give a crap about the Cowboys? Then again, the Colts just can’t seem to pull it together for any stretch of time, as their record indicates. Still, I think the Cowboys are the hotter team, but Andrew Luck is a much better QB. I’m honestly torn on this game. I want to pick the Cowboys, but I just can’t pull the trigger. Prediction: Cowboys 24, Colts 26Washington Redskins (6-7) at Jacksonville Jaguars (4-9) 11:00am CBSI think the Redskins will lose out. Then again, I think the Jags will too. Decisions decisions. Prediction: Redskins 9, Jaguars 15Miami Dolphins (7-6) at Minnesota Vikings (6-6-1) 11:00am CBSSo honestly, Cousins will lose, which means the Vikings will lose. The only real issue is that I think the Dolphins are a bad team that’s getting incredibly lucky. I know the Dolphins have a winning record, but I don’t consider them a winning team. What to do? What to do? Perhaps the Vikings will have that “coach is fired” bump the way Green Bay and most teams do? Prediction: Dolphins 24, Vikings 27Tennessee Titans (7-6) at New York Giants (5-8) 11:00am CBSI’m scratching my head at how the Giants have 5 victories. I mean, they damn near had the #1 overall pick locked up! There’s no way to really sugar coat this game; it’s going to be awful. But I think the Giants do just enough at home to squeak by and keep tanking their draft pick order, not their record. Prediction: Titans 20, Giants 21Seattle Seahawks (8-5) at San Francisco 49ers (3-10) 2:05pm FOXThis should be a laughable game in all honestly. It still pains me to see 3 wins for the Niners. Remember, Pete Carroll said Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay are the two most innovated and genius offensive minds in the game. I think the respect he has for them will show up in his film study and preparation to go against Kyle’s team. Prediction: Seahawks 24, Niners 20New England Patriots (9-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5-1) 2:25pm CBSThis should be another really good and close game. Both teams lost last week and both teams have historically been great. I think the Steelers have the more talented team, but the Patriots (with respect to the very last play of the game last week) are the much better coached team. and you could see it in his face and hear it in his voice that it wasn’t coach speak. He’s pissed at himself. And a pissed off Belicheat is a scary thing. Prediction: Patriots 31, Steelers 27Philadelphia Eagles (6-7) at Los Angeles Rams (11-2) 6:20pm NBC SNFThe Eagles suck and the Rams don’t. Carson Wentz likely won’t play this week or the remainder of the year because of his back, and Jared Goff has got to be pissed off and motivated. But hey, at least the Broncos enter this week and likely exit this week with the same record as the defending champs. There’s pride in that, no? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Lets see if our boy Aqib Talib has a better game now that he might be in better game shape. Prediction: Eagles 27, Rams 31New Orleans Saints (11-2) at Carolina Panthers (6-7) 6:15pm ESPN MNFThis game was suppose to be for the division, then the Panthers decided to go on a five game losing streak and completely destroy that notion. I believe the Saints have the division locked up, right? Does that mean they’ll ease up? Hell no! They are gunning for that #1 seed. Look for Drew Brees to have a good game and Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara to have great games. Prediction: Saints 36, Panthers 27