| Travis Heath. 19th September, 2005 - 1:25 am
 Broncos’ cornerback Champ Bailey, may have saved the team’s season on Sunday against the San Diego Chargers. Yeah, I know that there is still a lot of football to play. That said, the rest of the season would have been rendered meaningless if not for the brilliance of Bailey.
The Broncos again came out flat in week two. The offense was stymied seemingly every time they had the football -- and they again failed to convert inside the five-yard line.
The defense looked sluggish in the first half, as well. The much talked about Broncos defensive line, was unable to generate anything that even resembled a pass rush. Things got so bad, that the Denver faithful booed the team off the field at halftime.
Needless to say, things looked pretty hopeless for the Broncos trailing 14-3 at the break.
That’s when Bailey swooped in to the rescue. On the first play of the second half, Chargers quarterback Drew Brees dropped back to throw a seemingly routine pass to wide receiver Keenan McCardell. Bailey though, had other plans. He jumped the route and intercepted the pass. The seven-year veteran from Georgia, then proceeded to return it 25 yards for a touchdown.
Old mighty Mo was then on the side of the Broncos, for perhaps the first time this season. This play sparked the team, and ultimately led the Broncos to a 20-17 victory over the chargers on a last second field goal by kicker Jason Elam.
Defensive end Trevor Pryce had this to say after the game, “Champ Bailey won the game. Let’s call it like it is.”
Not bad for a guy who was questionable all week with a dislocated shoulder, and played the entire game with a less than comfortable harness. I mean it’s not like a cornerback needs both his arms anyway, right?
Well, to be quite honest, the past couple of year’s members of the Broncos secondary couldn’t intercept a pass even with two (or even three or four) arms at full strength. However, Bailey was brought in to change that, and Sunday he did in a big way -- despite an injury that would have kept many guys out of the lineup regardless of the position they play.
Bailey told the media all week that he would play against San Diego, injury or no injury. A lot of players say things like that, but very few actually deliver. Furthermore, most players who do play hurt, just do it for effect. That is to say, most guys who play injured have little or no impact on the outcome of the game. Often times, they are benched early in the game as it becomes apparent that they can’t really contribute. If the Chargers were expecting Bailey to adhere to the aforementioned pattern, they left town sorely disappointed.
Bailey is starting to live up to all the hype that came with him from the Nation’s capitol in a trade for running back Clinton Portis before last season. Immediately upon his arrival, the Denver media suggested that it was a terrible idea to trade a running back for a cornerback.
We were told that a cornerback could in no way dominate a game in the way that Portis once had for the Broncos. The prognosticators assured the masses that cornerback is by definition, a dependent position, and that opposing teams simply throwing to the other side of the field would quickly take Bailey’s effectiveness away. And after a less than stellar season by Bailey’s own standards in 2004, many in the Denver media started referring to him as, “Chump” Bailey.
I’m wondering if they would care to revise their statements after Bailey’s performance Sunday?
I realize that Sunday’s win against the Chargers was just one win -- just like last Sunday’s loss to Miami was just one loss. However, I believe that the Broncos -- despite their pitiful performance in the first half against Miami -- would have won that game had Bailey not been injured. Bailey was dominant in the first half (as I wrote in my column last week) forcing two turnovers, and who knows what would have happened had he not been forced to leave the game.
With the Broncos offense looking inept so far this season, the defense has been counted on more than they ever have before in the Mike Shanahan era. One can only assume that the offense will get better, but they probably won’t ever reach championship form -- barring of course some sort of miracle, like old number 7 coming out of retirement.
So, if the Broncos ever legitimately hope to be NFL champs again in the near future, their Champ might very well have to be the catalyst.
Travis can be reached at travismheath@msn.com |
