Here we go again! The sun has set on Week 6, yet another week of incredible comebacks, big upsets, and of course controversy. As the final seconds ticked away in Denver’s loss to Jacksonville there was a sour taste in the collective mouths of Bronco fans. The offense was not up to par with three turnovers, the defense gave up miles of yardage and some of the coaching decisions were shall we say, not great. However, those are forgivable and can be overcome during the course of a game. The taste that will not go away is that of Referees deciding the potential outcome of an NFL game with horrendous officiating (again).

The Broncos coming off two weeks of offensive mediocrity started out with a bang. The drive started on their twenty yard line, ten plays and eighty yards later it was 7-0 Denver. The drive was crisp, clean and flawless; finally the offense is back in synch. The first time out on defense it looked as though they had carried the momentum from the Tampa game over to this week, forcing a Jacksonville fumble, and the rout appeared to be on.

Staring at a blow out win and demoralizing a team that has given the Broncos fits over the past few seasons, the Broncos offense came back out with swagger and confidence. As Cutler was scrambling left looking for an open receiver the worst thing that could happen, happened , the collective wave of warm air that swept across the brisk afternoon in Denver was 70,000 excited fans exhaling here we go again.

The Broncos were able to hold Jacksonville to a field goal, however there was a sense that this game was going to take a terrible turn for Denver. The first half was a back and forth battle between the two teams, Denver had a chance once again to take control of the game, however as Michael Pitman dashed down the sideline to give Denver a first and goal, the official tagged Ryan Clady with a phantom holding penalty, taking away all the momentum that was gained. The third time The Broncos could take control Brandon Marshall fumbled on the ten yard line. There are only so many things that team can overcome, even with all the calls and momentum on Jacksonville’s side, Denver was only behind 10-7 at halftime.

The Jaguars took a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter when Maurice Jones-Drew galloped through the Bronco defense for a 46 yard touchdown run. Denver however answered with a 39 yard field goal by Matt Prater, to cut the deficit to 17-10. The next Jaguar possession is when the officials decided that Jacksonville should win the game. Following a Jones-Drew run that Champ Bailey stuffed out for a loss, Jacksonville faced a third and seventeen, the Broncos had regained the momentum all they had to do is stop the Jags and would have good starting field position for the drive to tie the game. David Garrard took the snap, was flushed out of the pocked and ducked out of bounds with only a gain of only four yards. Once again there was a yellow hanky on the field, illegal contact on Dre Bly, for anyone that saw the game, that was completely absurd, The Jaguar receiver shoved Bly to the ground yet Dre was penalized. Jacksonville ended up scoring on a pass from Garrard to push the lead to 24-10. Late in the fourth Quarter with Jacksonville facing a second and eight, the officials strike again. Marlon Mcree was called for pass interference on a play where it appeared the official had pre determined he was going to throw the flag long before the play was completed. Final score Jacksonville 14 Denver 17 officials 10.

On a day that started out so promising for the Denver Broncos, the only thing that fans can take comfort in was that the Broncos despite playing Jacksonville and the officials still had a chance to win. Something has to change; in an era where technology dominates it’s ridiculous that bad human judgments can change the outcome of a Game. Perhaps that was poetic justice for a certain officials blunder earlier in the year.