Good Morning, Broncos fans! In his latest mailbag, Mike Klis explains what caused the two controversial draw plays in Seattle:

On the first third-and-long run, Manning made an unfortunate audible. A pass play was the call but instead he gave tight end Virgil Green the ball, who ran on a play when a lineman didn't pull. Green got no gain and a game-ending concussion. On the next third-and-long, Manning had not yet called a play at the line of scrimmage. He was about to signal for a pass play when Manny Ramirez snapped the ball. Crowd noise was the factor there. Manning had the ball with no play called. Busted. Manning fed running back C.J. Anderson, who took the hit for a 2-yard loss.

So the Broncos weren't conservative-minded on those plays. It just looked that way.

A bad snap from Ramirez, caused by crowd noise against the Seahawks? Sounds all too familiar.

John Elway says Denver's problems come down to a bunch of little things adding up:

"I do know that we have to start doing the little things within each side of the ball better than we have been," Elway said. "A little bit more disciplined. We're not consistent, because we're not doing the little things right all the time. I'm talking about things like whether the depth on your route is deep enough, or setting the right way, knowing where your help is. Just little things. "Defensively, knowing where to line up, certain defenses we have technique where we're either taking the inside or outside away and being able to know within the defense which are those little technique things we are supposed to be doing. We need to start doing those things 100 percent. We're not doing those little things 100 percent of the time, so therefore it's causing the inconsistency."

I know I didn't express this very well yesterday, but my point about miscues under John Fox was meant to be a general comment. Of course, a writer's #1 job is to be clear, so for that I apologize.

As most of you are aware, I've been a frequent critic of Fox's conservativeness, especially as relates to fourth down decisions and clock management.

But these issues have never been a shock - Fox is, and always has been, a risk-averse coach.

What has surprised me most during Foxy's tenure - especially since Manning arrived - is the team's troubles with fumbles, dropped passes, missed tackles, penalties, and general discipline and preparation.

Last year, there was the mistake-filled loss after having built a 24-0 halftime lead at New England, and the uninspired play against San Diego while trying to gain home field advantage.

This was the team that ranked 28th in penalties and 25th in fumbles last year.

Of course, SB 48 was jam-packed with examples of every problem mentioned above.

I'm not suggesting (nor have I ever) that Fox should be fired.

Rather, I'm just wondering why the losses by these Broncos - the Fox/Manning Broncos - seem to come down to (sloppy/undisciplined) mistakes and poor decisions.

Perhaps it's just perception, and Denver's mistakes are magnified by their gargantuan expectations.

This is a veteran team with elite talent and supposedly great coaching.

At some point, they have to play like that on a regular basis (like they did for much of 2012).

Broncos

Players elected Jacob Tamme as the Broncos' union rep, with Ryan Clady, Von Miller, and David Bruton the alternates.

Louis Vasquez was held out of Tuesday's practice; the team will work out today and then be dismissed for the bye week.

Rahim Moore says he's working hard to improve at picking off passes (BTW, he has 17 career passes defensed, not sacks).

Brandon Marshall had some fun with idiot FF players who tweeted at him during Monday's Bears game, during which the more famous Brandon Marshall was injured.

Broncos Analysis

Cecil Lammey studies Denver's utilization of T.J. Ward to this point.

Mike Freeman says Denver won't beat Seattle until John Fox loosens the reins a bit.

Andrew Mason and Jeff Legwold (offense, defense/special teams) revisit Sunday's loss at Seattle.

In light of complaints from Peyton Manning and Mark Kiszla, Ross Tucker thinks the NFL should just go back to its old sudden death OT rules.

David Ramsey revisits The Drive and Denver's drafting of Floyd Little.

News

Rob Bironas tried out for the Lions just days before his death, and apparently had multiple road rage incidents in the moments leading up to his fateful crash.

The family of Paul Oliver sued the NFL for wrongful death, alleging that concussions led the former Chargers safety to suicide.

Phil Simms says he will try not to utter the blatantly racist name of the Washington team during tomorrow night's broadcast.

Transactions/Injuries

San Diego lost practice squad RB Marion Grice to Arizona and replaced him by adding RB Shaun Draughn.

Minnesota placed QB Matt Cassel (foot) on IR; Tampa Bay added wideout Louis Murphy; Carolina placed RB Mike Tolbert (leg) on short-term IR.

Analysis

Jason Lisk discusses the offensive struggles of the Patriots; Bucky Brooks lauds the Cowboys' offensive balance; Chase Stuart examines the makeup of Arizona's roster; Robert Mays on Ryan Tannehill's struggles.

Joel Corry thinks the era of running backs getting megacontracts may be over.

Greg Bedard calls for the resignation of Roger Goodell and replacement by a commissioner somehow independent of the owners who will pay his or her salary. He doesn't appear to be joking when he suggests that season-ticket holders be included among the committee that selects a new commish.

KSK meme-ifies Week 3.

Maths

Small sample size is likely to blame for Denver's rankings among advanced metrics to be so scattered: Advanced Football Analytics (#11), PFR (#13), Football Outsiders (#3), Massey-Peabody (#2).

Stuart presents Game Script data from Week 3.