FanHouse MattLepsis

Matt Lepsis is a fairly forgettable football name. He suited up as a Denver Bronco for 10 years before retiring last season. And his biggest claim to fame was probably winning a Super Bowl ring. At least until recently, when he told the Colorado Springs Gazette that he did a bunch of drugs while he was playing football, only to leave the sport and follow a higher calling.

"For the first six games of the year, I was high," Lepsis said of the 2007 season.

[...] "The first thing I did when I woke up in the morning was get high, and I would try to stay that way all day long," said Lepsis, who won't say what drugs he used.

"I look back on it, and it was really foolish of me," Lepsis said. "There were definitely times when I wasn't even really there. I was physically there, but I was in another place mentally."

The scary part is that the NFL's drug testing didn't uncover Lepsis' problems with illegal substances. Oddly enough, he doesn't discuss exactly what drugs he was doing -- presumably the notion of being "high" would indicate marijuana but, according to what science says pot does to your body and brain, repetitively getting groped, grabbed, knocked around and pushed on the ground sounds pretty miserable.

The story in the Gazette immediately smells like a memoir of some sort, which has already been done by Jason Peters, but the good news is that he is in seminary, seeking to become a preacher. That, hopefully, should keep his message from being any sort of awkward public relations-filled fiasco. But that doesn't mean the media won't be all over this. And Roger Goodell's testing policies.

Via PFT

NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

How far do the Denver Broncos have to go to return to the playoffs? Their team was ravaged by injuries en route to a 7-9 record this season. A healthy team could have easily won another couple of games and found itself battling for a wild card. A more pessimistic view might point out that they got old in several spots because they haven't built well through the draft. That would indicate there's a longer road back to success. Either way, the good news is that, in Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Elvis Dumervil, they've got building blocks for 2008 and beyond. Here's where they need the most immediate help.

1. Defensive Stability – Jim Bates was hired as defensive coordinator and immediately installed a scheme predicated on big defensive tackles. It was a total flop. Sam Adams and Amon Gordon couldn't occupy blockers, leaving the middle of the field open to all comers. They overhauled the line during the season, but found no better results and that led to Bates's firing. New coordinator Bob Slowik must establish a strategy and stick to it if the team is to improve defensively. Be they big DTs or athletic ones, the team can't afford to veer wildly in such a short amount of time.

To get you ready for week 14, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Kansas City Chiefs/Denver Broncos preview.

2007 Records:

Kansas City Chiefs: 4-8 (t-3rd in AFC West)
Denver Broncos: 5-7 (2nd in AFC West)

Last Week:

Chargers 24, Chiefs 10
Raiders 34, Broncos 20

When the Chiefs have the ball: The Chiefs have decided on Brodie Croyle as their starting quarterback this weekend but they'd be wise to limit his impact on the game. The Broncos made another admission of their incompetence against the run when they released Sam Adams this week and K.C.'s game plan should feature Kolby Smith until the Broncos prove they can stop him. Even though the Broncos will play eight in the box to try and stop the run, Huard shouldn't be looking for too much more than quick slants and outs to Tony Gonzalez and Dwayne Bowe. Bad things, sacks and interceptions, happen with way too much frequency for Kansas City to try and open the game up downfield.

The injury report for this week's game against the Bengals is in - and it's good news all around for the Broncos. Darrent Williams will likely make his return to the lineup just in time to cover T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and it'll be interesting to see how Mike Shanhan handles the situation. Last week, the Broncos successfully contained the Cardinals' outstanding receiving pair of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald without Williams, who's claim to fame this season was being torched by Reggie Wayne when the Colts came into town. I'm betting we'll see a lot of Domonique Foxworth (maybe playing safety like he did against the Chargers?) on Sunday, especially because Williams is still recovering from his toe injury.

Adam Meadows will also likely be available this weekend after missing a few games with hamstring problems. Just before Meadows was injured, he was promoted ahead of George Foster, who has been one of the weakest links in Denver's offensive line this year. Last week that line produced just 106 rushing yards for a team that normally racks up at least 150, so we could see Meadows starting ahead of Foster again, or possibly in place of Erik Pears, who took over when Matt Lepsis was injured earlier this season. Either way, the Broncos must re-establish the run if they want to win against Cincinatti.

Other notable Broncos on the list: Stephen Alexander is probable coming off of a rib injury, Jason Elam is still recovering (but probable to play) from his "rainbow right" hammy pull, Javon Walker looks to be ready after suffering a first degree shoulder separation last week, and as always, Al "Ironman" Wilson is ready to play despite his season-long thumb injury.