Life in the NFL
Lelie’s big catch wasn’t enough
in Broncos’ loss to MiamiSUNDAY'S game against Miami was a great battle between two really, really good teams.
We just made too many mistakes. We could have put them away early, but we could only score three points on two trips inside Miami's 5 and it hurt us in the long run.
After they made their field goal with six seconds left, I was crushed because we went from being on top of the world to the bottom.
Before that, when Jason Elam made his kick, we thought we had the game won. It felt great -- better than the Fresno State game last year when we won late -- but it wasn't a very good feeling to get it all taken from you.
I was standing around trying to see if there was a penalty or something, but there's nothing you can do.
I thought I had finally done something big to help the team win. After I made that (30-yard) catch, I just had a strong feeling that we would either score a touchdown or Jason would kick a field goal.
Before that catch, we had two plays in the huddle to save time on the clock, and both of the plays were designed to go to me.
But because I went out of bounds on the first one and the clock stopped, the next play was changed in the huddle.
If I had stayed inbounds, it would have come to me again. And if I had stayed inbounds a little longer, more time would have ticked off and maybe Miami wouldn't have had enough time to kick the field goal at the end.
That big catch was a double move. I acted like I was doing something other than what I ended up doing. I faked a slant route and went to the corner, and the cornerback jumped on the fake and I beat him to the corner.
Quarterback Brian Griese told me he wasn't going to put up the home run ball further down the field. He told me he was going to throw it right to me so I could get out of bounds. After I caught it, I was hoping to turn up field and get more yards.
I was definitely surprised that the coach went to me that late in the game, that he had confidence in me as opposed to going to Rod Smith or Ed McCaffrey. It really boosted my confidence.
Most coaches keep their veterans in at crucial times, but coach Mike Shanahan had something up his sleeve. By taking Rod out and putting me in, the Miami defense was probably thinking that Rod was tired and that we'd probably go to Ed.
He's a smart coach, real intelligent, and a lot of the stuff he does shows just how smart he is.
Coach Shanahan said after the game that this loss is going to hurt more than a lot of losses ... because we had the win and put up the points to win and just couldn't finish them off.
He also said it shows the heart of the team, how everybody didn't give up and wanted to win and fought back.
For me, it was the first time I had been through something like that, up and down and then up and back down.
I think our defense did a great job against Ricky Williams, who is a great running back. He didn't do anything spectacular, compared to the games before. Our defense had his number and really came after him.
I saw the stats of the UH game against Nevada. The final score, 59-34, was believable. But 42 points in the first quarter! I don't know how in the world that can happen.
They're doing great and seem to have a good rhythm going. And I know coach June Jones won't be satisfied, even though they scored 42 points in a quarter, because he's got to take all the negative things into account.
But they have a great chance of going to a bowl game.
I also want to take the time to say that I can't stand the picture of me that runs with this diary. It's the worst picture I've ever seen of myself. It was taken after the little press conference when I got drafted. I was tired and had just gotten off a plane. That's the picture the Broncos photo guys sent to the Star-Bulletin, but we're working on changing it.