orange crusher
05-17-2005, 04:05 PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Seeing Red
'Almost Half' of QB Camp Practices Devoted to Curing Red-Zone Ills
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- In the past decade, no one in the AFC has been as efficient at moving the football up and down the field as the Broncos.
Denver has averaged 6,058.9 yards per season -- a figure bettered only by the Minnesota Vikings in that time frame. Last year, the team amassed 6,332 yards -- the second-highest total in team history and the best since 2000.
So the yardage was there. The scoring, however, was not.
"We had 381 (points) last year," wide receiver Rod Smith said. "We should have high 400s."
In two of Denver's three best seasons in terms of total yardage, the Broncos did just that, averaging over 30 points per game while working at clips of 31.3 and 30.3 points a game in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Last year was the other season among the three highest yardage totals, and Denver averaged just 23.8 points per game for a 381-point tally.
The discrepancy between points and yardage can be summarized in three words -- red zone inefficiency. Reparing and restoring the team's efforts inside the opposition's 20-yard-line is arguably the highest single priority of the ongoing quarterback-camp practices.
"We're spending part of the day -- almost half of it -- in the red zone, working plays," quarterback Jake Plummer said. "The only way to get better is to continue to get down there."
Added Smith: "That's the main thing. Our red zone to me, honestly, was horrible and that caused us to have a lot fewer points."
Overall, the Broncos' red-zone scoring average -- calculated by the number of drives that end in some kind of score -- was 85.7 percent last year, following figures of 87.5 percent in 2003 and 88.1 percent in 2002.
But the alarming statistic of last season was touchdown percentage, as the Broncos found the end zone on only 49.0 percent of their possessions that broke inside the opposing 20-yard-line. In 2003, that percentage was 55.4; in 2002 it was 57.6.
"Last year, we didn't produce like we should down there," Plummer said. "We moved the ball as well as almost any team that's been here. We gained a lot of yards; we did a lot of good things, but we didn't finish those drives. We've just got to work on that, and that's why we're out here right now."
Practice is beneficial in terms of learning where to go, but Smith believes if the Broncos are to reverse that red-zone decline of the past three years, it will have to be through a change in mindset.
"We didn't execute," he said. "It's always a combination of things, but it comes down to guys individually making plays when they're in position they have good coverage and we've got to find a way to salvage that play and get three yards. If you can do that, two or three yards in the red zone is huge. Somehow, someway, we found a way to not make those plays and not stay on the field."
Extra work in practice and working on the mental response to red-zone challenges both offer potential solutions. On the other hand, wholesale personnel changes were disdained.
Of the 11 offensive starters in the AFC wild-card playoff loss at Indianapolis, only Reuben Droughns does not return, and with Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin and Mike Anderson, the Broncos boast three backs who have substantial experience in the system. Each has at least one 100-yard day to his name, although Anderson hasn't hit the century mark since 2001, his last full season at tailback before his two-year stay at fullback.
So even where there's change, there's familiarity. Plummer maintains that the Broncos' success from 20-yard-line to 20-yard-line means that major alterations in order to be more productive in the red zone are not necessary.
"We've got everybody back from the second most prolific offensive in Broncos history yardage-wise," he said. "I don't see why we have to go out and bring in some new guy."
It only takes the returning players doing just a smidgen better.
"We got down there a lot of times at the goal line and didn't produce a touchdown when we were down inside the 5, and we have to," Plummer said. "If we'd had four or five of those become touchdowns, our red-zone percentage goes way up; it's not as glaring a problem."
Seeing Red
'Almost Half' of QB Camp Practices Devoted to Curing Red-Zone Ills
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- In the past decade, no one in the AFC has been as efficient at moving the football up and down the field as the Broncos.
Denver has averaged 6,058.9 yards per season -- a figure bettered only by the Minnesota Vikings in that time frame. Last year, the team amassed 6,332 yards -- the second-highest total in team history and the best since 2000.
So the yardage was there. The scoring, however, was not.
"We had 381 (points) last year," wide receiver Rod Smith said. "We should have high 400s."
In two of Denver's three best seasons in terms of total yardage, the Broncos did just that, averaging over 30 points per game while working at clips of 31.3 and 30.3 points a game in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Last year was the other season among the three highest yardage totals, and Denver averaged just 23.8 points per game for a 381-point tally.
The discrepancy between points and yardage can be summarized in three words -- red zone inefficiency. Reparing and restoring the team's efforts inside the opposition's 20-yard-line is arguably the highest single priority of the ongoing quarterback-camp practices.
"We're spending part of the day -- almost half of it -- in the red zone, working plays," quarterback Jake Plummer said. "The only way to get better is to continue to get down there."
Added Smith: "That's the main thing. Our red zone to me, honestly, was horrible and that caused us to have a lot fewer points."
Overall, the Broncos' red-zone scoring average -- calculated by the number of drives that end in some kind of score -- was 85.7 percent last year, following figures of 87.5 percent in 2003 and 88.1 percent in 2002.
But the alarming statistic of last season was touchdown percentage, as the Broncos found the end zone on only 49.0 percent of their possessions that broke inside the opposing 20-yard-line. In 2003, that percentage was 55.4; in 2002 it was 57.6.
"Last year, we didn't produce like we should down there," Plummer said. "We moved the ball as well as almost any team that's been here. We gained a lot of yards; we did a lot of good things, but we didn't finish those drives. We've just got to work on that, and that's why we're out here right now."
Practice is beneficial in terms of learning where to go, but Smith believes if the Broncos are to reverse that red-zone decline of the past three years, it will have to be through a change in mindset.
"We didn't execute," he said. "It's always a combination of things, but it comes down to guys individually making plays when they're in position they have good coverage and we've got to find a way to salvage that play and get three yards. If you can do that, two or three yards in the red zone is huge. Somehow, someway, we found a way to not make those plays and not stay on the field."
Extra work in practice and working on the mental response to red-zone challenges both offer potential solutions. On the other hand, wholesale personnel changes were disdained.
Of the 11 offensive starters in the AFC wild-card playoff loss at Indianapolis, only Reuben Droughns does not return, and with Tatum Bell, Quentin Griffin and Mike Anderson, the Broncos boast three backs who have substantial experience in the system. Each has at least one 100-yard day to his name, although Anderson hasn't hit the century mark since 2001, his last full season at tailback before his two-year stay at fullback.
So even where there's change, there's familiarity. Plummer maintains that the Broncos' success from 20-yard-line to 20-yard-line means that major alterations in order to be more productive in the red zone are not necessary.
"We've got everybody back from the second most prolific offensive in Broncos history yardage-wise," he said. "I don't see why we have to go out and bring in some new guy."
It only takes the returning players doing just a smidgen better.
"We got down there a lot of times at the goal line and didn't produce a touchdown when we were down inside the 5, and we have to," Plummer said. "If we'd had four or five of those become touchdowns, our red-zone percentage goes way up; it's not as glaring a problem."