Moore allowed Jacoby Jones’ 70-yard touchdown catch in the final minute of regulation in the Broncos’ playoff game the Baltimore Ravens won in double overtime on their way to winning the Super Bowl.

John Elway, the Broncos’ vice president of football operations, and coach John Fox both say Moore made great progress last season and they have confidence he’ll put the blunder behind him and make even greater strides in 2013.

With free agency looming and the draft approaching, the Broncos say they feel good about their safeties, including Quinton Carter, who is recovering from knee surgery and could push Moore for playing time in training camp.

“We anticipate both of them to come back even better,” Fox said at the NFL combine last week.

Elway said Thursday on 104.3 FM The Fan radio station in Denver that there’s no thought at team headquarters of moving Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey to safety next season, either.

As the AFC’s top seed, owners of an NFL-best 11-game winning streak and odds-on favorite to win it all, the Broncos thought they’d be the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans. Instead, the Ravens parlayed their stunning comeback in Denver into winning the rings that Peyton Manning and Von Miller were so confident they’d be getting fitted for about now.

The business of 2013 beckons, however, and the Broncos are moving on.

While fans may salivate over the likes of free agents Ed Reed and Charles Woodson or any number of younger safeties about to hit the open market, the Broncos’ brass continues to praise Moore for the progress he made last season and insist his wasn’t the only costly mistake that hurt them in the playoffs.

“Rahim had a great year,” Elway said at the NFL combine. “The strides he made from his rookie year to this year were tremendous. We expect him to make those same strides and I think the bottom line is for him — I haven’t seen him since the last game, but once he gets back and around his teammates — there are a lot of things in that game that caused it to end up the way it ended up. It wasn’t one play that caused us to lose.

“I’m happy with him and I think I was really impressed with him and how he handled it after the game. He stood up and he took it, which to me showed a great amount of maturation on his part. I’m looking forward to him coming back and even having a better year next year.”

Fox took just as much heat as Moore did over what happened next — ordering Manning to take a knee so Denver could take its chances in overtime rather than trying to move into field goal range with three timeouts and 31 seconds to work with.

“Once the season is over or after the Super Bowl, I think the reality is that everybody is 0-0, or undefeated or however you want to put it,” Fox said. “Any loss kind of sticks with you — scars, I might say — but you have to spit it out and get onto the next season and not let it linger and affect your preparation moving to the next season.”

Elway has been down this road before, and he’s optimistic a similar payoff awaits. The Hall of Fame quarterback-turned-front office executive has now been a part of two playoff runs that ended with questions about what went wrong in an early exit from the playoffs.

Elway experienced it as a player in 1996, when the Broncos were upset at home by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 30-27, but then came back and won the next two Super Bowls.

He once again finds himself picking up the pieces after a disheartening loss.

The Broncos’ stars all stumbled in that 38-35 loss: Manning had three turnovers, including an interception that led to the winning field goal; Bailey got burned repeatedly; Ryan Clady was playing with a torn rotator cuff that would require surgery and wasn’t anything close to his usual dominant self as Manning’s blindside protector; and Miller and Elvis Dumervil combined for just one sack.

All those poor performances were overshadowed, however, by the many mystifying mistakes that Moore, their second-year free safety, made on Jones’ 70-yard touchdown catch from Joe Flacco with 31 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Moore lined up too shallow and allowed Jones to blow past him after leaving cornerback Tony Carter, who failed to jam at the line of scrimmage, in the dust. Then, instead of going for the tackle, Moore tried for the interception on Flacco’s 50-yard high-arcing heave but mistimed his jump.

Moore took the blame after the game and promised to make good, saying, “I’m going to keep my head high and next time the opportunity comes, I’m just going to make it for my team. I’ll just make the play.”

The Broncos say they’re willing to give him that chance.

The post Broncos sticking by Rahim Moore appeared first on IdealCapper.

Green Bay at San Francisco
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 12, 2013
Where: Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FOX.
Line: 49ers -3. O/U: 44.5

Oddsmakers currently have the 49ers listed as 3-point favorites versus the Packers, while the game’s total is sitting at 45.

Green Bay has most of its defense healthy for the first time in weeks and spent the wild-card round attacking Vikings backup quarterback Joe Webb. Clay Matthews, looking fully recovered from a hamstring injury that has limited him at times, had a pair of sacks and forced a fumble while Charles Woodson played for the first time since breaking his collarbone on Oct. 21. With those two playmakers back, the Packers forced three turnovers and managed to hold Peterson under 100 yards rushing. The focus this week will be on Rodgers facing a San Francisco defense that has held opposing passers to 200.2 yards – fourth-best in the NFL – and finished second in the league in scoring defense. Rodgers passed for 303 yards but struggled until late in the game and was intercepted once in the first meeting. He should have a better rushing attack behind him in Saturday’s game, with DuJuan Harris and Ryan Grant taking handoffs. Rodgers was the leading rusher for the Packers in Week 1 and could be without one of his top receiving targets Saturday in Jordy Nelson, who is questionable with a knee injury.

In their last action, Green Bay was a 24-10 winner at home against the Vikings. They covered the 11-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (34) was profitable news for UNDER bettors.

Green Bay: 11-5 SU, 9-7 ATS
When playing in January are 7-3
When playing on grass are 10-0
After outgaining opponent are 7-3
When playing outside the division are 6-4
Green Bay is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing San Francisco
Green Bay is 6-0-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
Green Bay is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against San Francisco
Green Bay is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games

San Francisco has a solid candidate for Defensive Player of the Year in Aldon Smith and has surrendered an average of 13.9 points in eight home games. That defense is keyed on the front line by tackle Justin Smith, who has been dealing with a triceps injury and missed the final two games of the regular season. Justin Smith was wearing an elbow brace but has been practicing and is listed as probable for Saturday. On the other side of the ball, the 49ers will be giving the Packers a much different look than in Week 1. Kaepernick passed for a career-high 276 yards in a Week 17 win over the Arizona Cardinals and has opened up the playbook with his ability to extend plays with his legs and one of the stronger arms in the league. The 25-year-old finished up the regular season with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions and was at his best in some of the biggest games, including a four-touchdown performance at New England in Week 15.

San Francisco won its last outing, a 27-13 result against the Cardinals on December 30. The 49ers failed to cover in that game as a 16-point favorite, while the 40 combined points took the game OVER the total.

San Francisco: 11-4-1 SU, 9-7 ATS
When playing in January are 6-4
When playing on grass are 8-1-1
After outgaining opponent are 6-3-1
When playing outside the division are 8-2
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Francisco’s last 8 games
San Francisco13-2-1 SU in its last 16 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 5 games when playing Green Bay
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Francisco’s last 5 games at home

Prediction: 49ers 27, Packers 24

The post Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers Free Betting Pick & Matchup appeared first on IdealCapper.