"Perhaps it’s because, in his heart, he will always be a Colt. He was drafted by the Colts. He played in Indy forever. The stadium there is even referred to as “the house that Peyton built”. All Manning has built in Denver is expectations, expectations that he failed to live up to in the biggest game we’ve hosted here since the 1990’s"

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"The contrast between the Ravens of the North and the Broncos of the West is as stark as the varying leadership styles of their Generals. The Baltimore approach is intimidation; the Broncos are more tactical than that"

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Terrell Davis made the Mile High Salute famous. He and his Broncos team mates of the Super Bowl era used the gesture to celebrate and as a way to honor our troops.

Since then it's made occasional appearances. Peyton Hillis adopted it, Tim Tebow did, too. But the 2012 Broncos haven't embraced the Broncos' traditional TD celebration and fans are noticing. It's a real shame, too. Mile High would go positively nuts it Peyton Manning were to bust one out.

I believe we have seen Eric Decker do it, but not Demaryius Thomas. Not even Knowshon has. Maybe it's part of the reason that, despite the Broncos rather shocking success in 2012, Broncos Country doesn't seem quite as fired up as last season.

It's high time that the Orange and Blue bring back the Mile High Salute and treat Mile High fans to a healthy dose of good old-fashioned tradition when the Broncos come home to face the Browns and Chiefs to close out the season.

Wins are nice, but here in Broncos Country we like to salute the past.

Welcome back to the Tweepcap, where the story behind the game is retold in Tweets. Are any of yours in there? Scroll to the bottom and work your way up. It's pretty fun, you guys. Take that, "Best Sports Blog"

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Certain media types continue trying to drive home the point that the rivalry between the Broncos are Raiders isn't what is used to be just becuase Oakland has been terrible. Anybody who says a thing like that has clearly lost touch with the fans.

Rant coming.

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(photo CBS Sports)

Von Miller is coming into his own as one of the top linebackers in the NFL. His frequent visits with quarterbacks are becoming the talk of the NFL. And, when Miller sacks a QB he's not ashamed to gloat. Even when the Broncos were getting their asses handed to them by the Falcons, Von gyrated after sacking Matt Ryan.

If he gets to Cam Newton on Sunday, Von plans to mock the second-year QB by busting out his famous "Superman" celebration. He told Lindsay Jones of USA Today Sports "I hope I get a chance to do it".

That's funny and all, but we would rather not see Miller so motivated by his desire to mock other players. Sack dances are fun and all, but Miller is a professional - and a very promising one. Fans enjoy his showmanship, but his coaches probably don't care as much about his sack dance preparations as they do his game preparations.

The Chiefs made a roster move today that could threaten the Broncos' manhood.

Kansas City re-signed defensive end Shaun Smith who made a name for himself last season due to some, uh, inappropriate touching.

He grabs other players balls and squeezes them really hard. That's an assertion made by both Brown Center, Alex Mack and 'Niners Tackle Anthony Davis, who claimed to have their jewels scrunched by Smith.

Smith has been out of the league this season, sitting out as a street free-agent since being released by the Titans in August.

The Broncos will see him twice this season. They better keep their eye on the balls.

(via Sports Grid)

Wanna hear something bizarre? Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis replacement, rookie QB Andrew Luck, each has precisely 2,404 passing yards through eight games, and both captain teams that are 5-3.

Manning had more TD's and fewer interceptions. His passer rating is 108.6 while Luck's in only 79. However, if the playoffs started today, the Colts would play the Broncos in Denver.

(photo by Gary Green, Orlando Sentinel via the Denver Post)

The Denver Broncos are on some kind of surreal tear through the AFC. To look ahead at Denver's schedule it to become giddy at the opportunities that lie ahead. The Broncos could easily win between six and eight of their next eight games and head into the playoffs with one of the top two seedings.

But things started out slowly.

The Broncos had to go on the road and face stiff competetion early in their season, and, when they sat at 1-2 folks weren't so sure that they were headed anywhere. As recently as st half-time of the Chargers game there were some grave concerns about the Broncos' prospects. Since then, those fears have drifted away. Denver pounded the Chargers in that second half, scoring 35 unanswered points. They followed that win with a dusting of the Saints and then proved their meddle by coming from behind to beat Cincinnati on the road.

It's all good in the hood.

Take notice, Nuggets fans.

The Nugs are 0-3 and a panic, not unlike the one Broncos fans felt a few weeks ago, is casting a blue and yellow shadow across their early season. People are saying the they just aren't good and that it's going to be a really long year.  Have the Broncos taught us nothing?

Just as Peyton Manning took some time to "gel" with his new team, Andre Iguodala and Evan Fournier have to determine their roles and adjust to George Karl's schemes. Wilson Chandler is practically new here, too, as little as he has played for the Nuggets. A teams that's made as many moves as the Nuggets have over the past few seasons isn't going to be a complete team this early in the year.

A lot rests on how good JaVale McGee can be. We have no idea. The most expert NBA analysts on the planet can't seem to size him up, so how can we? Also yet to be determined is Ty Lawson's ability to emerge. Lawson's been handed the keys and the new contract. If he rises to the occasion there's no telling how valuable he can be.

In their loss to the Heat on Saturday evening, the Nuggets showed that they were making a great deal of progress. The made mistakes, obviously, but they had a chance to beat the best team in the NBA with a few ticks left on the clock. at the very least, the Nuggets demonstrated that they have the confidence in themselves to face down Goliath.

Being winless after three games is a drag. It was a drag when the Broncos were 1-2. But, if there's one thing our football team has shown us, it is that patience is sometimes rewarded. So keep calm ... and go Nuggets.

Confidence. Help yourself to some, Broncos Country.

Your team is never out of it. It's a weird feeling isn't it? It's that Manning feeling.

Maybe you didn't feel it at half time of the Chargers game, when San Diego lead 24-0 and the Broncos looked hopeless. But you felt it when the smoke cleared and Denver had scored 35 unanswered points.

You certainly had that Manning feeling last week, while the Broncos were decimating the Saints.

But did you have that feeling today, when the Broncos fell behind, when Manning had thrown two picks, when the Bengals scored a touchdown to make it 20-17?

I did.

I'm not saying I am some kid of soothsayer, but I Tweeted at the time: "The Broncos can overcome  a three point deficit to the Bengals to win". Denver then went on to score 14 unanswered points. A meaningless late field goal was all that Cincy had left in them. Their dispirited fans had even less left in them - they had left long before that kick.

Peyton Manning doesn't make all the plays. It takes a team to win. But the Hall of Famer does give his team mates that feeling that they're never out of it. It's our turn. We fans need to get that Peyton feeling. We should just know by now.

Now the Broncos are 5-3 and with #18 at the helm the sky's the limit. Is anybody counting them out now?