Dear Santa....

   by Gus Ramsey

    Dear Santa,
          I don't have too many requests for Christmas, but they are pretty important, so here goes.

    First, can you please get the Broncos receivers some really good gloves so they can stop dropping the ball. Most puppy kennels don't see this many balls drop over eight weeks. I mean, if balls keep dropping at this rate, Times Square is going get a complex.

    I also want continued health for the Broncos offensive line. They've spent more time bending over together than lifers in a Turkish prison, so if you could make sure they stay on the field for the rest of the season, that would be great. They are the unsung MVPs of this season.

   Speaking of health. I know it would be an early gift, but would you mind giving Tom Brady a little touch of the flu this week? I wouldn't want anything really bad to happen to Tom, but if he couldn't play on Sunday, Ala Adrian Peterson, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte and Darren McFadden, well let's just say there might be a few extra cookies out for you at the Ramsey house. Do you like Toll House?

    I would like a pacemaker or a defibrillator for obvious reasons.
    I need a pad for my left knee. I find myself kneeling on it a lot lately.

   Could you give Andy Reid and the Eagles some nice gifts? They were kind enough to let the Broncos get Brian Dawkins, Brodrick Bunkley and Joe Mays.  Maybe a speedy recovery for Ryan Howard... well, no, actually not that. How about some of those Forever Lazy things in Eagle green? I think coach Reid would look great on the sidelines in one of those.

    Oh, I'm going to need a good eraser. In the last few months I wrote the Broncos 2012 starting quarterback was not on the Broncos 2011 roster and that the Broncos needed to draft Patrick Peterson or Nick Fairley. Ooh, that reminds me, I would LOVE a Broncos #58 jersey.

   That's all, Santa. Whatever you can do would be appreciated. I'm not sure why, but I really believe this year, you know what I mean?


*****other Broncos thoughts******
   Can we please stop saying the Broncos are lucky? Were they lucky Demayrius Thomas dropped a sure TD pass? Were they lucky when the perfectly booted onside kick bounced off TWO Broncos players hands and was recovered by the Bears? Were they lucky when Chris Harris dropped a likely pick-6?  If Barber fumbling the ball was luck then so was Peppers blocking the field goal. Marion Barber may have fallen down in bounds if not for a hustling DJ Williams, who shoved him out of bounds. Are the Broncos getting breaks? Absolutely. Are they getting a bunch of lucky breaks? No. Does this mean they'll make a long playoff run? Of course not, but let's not diminish some really impressive wins by saying they were lucky. At a time yesterday when I was preparing to trim my goatee (haven't during the win streak) and fans were thinking "oh well, it had to end sooner or later," the Broncos were doing what they've been doing for 6 straight weeks, playing their hearts out to the final gun.

   I heard someone at work today dismiss the Prater tying field goal by saying, "Well, it was at altitude."
I don't care if it's a 40-yarder, when you are kicking a game tying field goal on the last play of the game, there is a ton of pressure, especially when you are trying to keep the Tebow Train on the tracks. There's nothing easy about a 59-yard field in any conditions. Go stand on the 49-yard line of your local football field and take a long look at how far that is....

   On a much smaller scale, Tebow already has his Drive and his Fumble. The Drive against the Jets and yesterday when Barber was stripped the very first thing I (and probably every Broncos fan) thought of was Ernest Byner.