24champ
09-11-2005, 11:19 PM
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The search for positives following a 24-point loss to a team coming off a 4-12 season is typically a fruitless one.
Nevertheless, defensive end Trevor Pryce tried when asked if there was anything to which he could cling following the 34-10 season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins, a defeat that marked the team's worst opening-day loss in 39 years.
Pryce paused as he foraged through his mind searching for something -- anything -- to which he could cling.
"I don't think we got tired," he said.
It didn't take him long to amend himself.
"There's nothing positive to come out of this," Pryce said.
Added Head Coach Mike Shanahan: "They played much better than we did in all phases."
And the Dolphins did so from the start. It began with a three-and-out series to open the game, continued with a Miami goal-line stand in the second period, mushroomed with the loss of two cornerbacks to cramps and another to a separated shoulder a quarter later, when the Broncos fell behind by double digits for good.
The 85-yard, final-play fumble return for a touchdown by Jason Taylor was merely an appropriate coda for an opener that frustrated the Broncos in every way.
Said Pryce: "It was insult to injury."
Never has the cliché been more apt.
"I was (thinking), 'Wow. You've got to be kidding me,'" Pryce said.
The emotions of the locker room in the moments following the game ranged from disappointment to anger. Smiles were non-existent; if any wounds of the game had begun to heal, they were picked wide open by Taylor's time-expired jaunt.
"I'm p---ed off, trust me," wide receiver Rod Smith said. "But what can I do about it now? All I can do is go to work tomorrow (and) look at the tape hard."
THE POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Coaxing turnovers. Converting third-downs. Capitalizing in the red zone. All three were points the Broncos focused upon during the course of the offseason and on through training camp and the preseason.
Denver was just one-for-three in those areas. While the defense forced a fumble and an interception and the special teams recovered a Wes Welker fumble on a punt return. the offense went 1-of-12 on third downs and scored just one touchdown on four red-zone opportunities.
"Third down we did nothing, and (in) the red zone we did nothing," quarterback Jake Plummer said.
Meanwhile, Miami was 8-of-15 on third downs and found the end zone on two of four red-zone forays.
"Any time you're 1-for-12 in third downs and keep your defense on the field as much as we did, it's hard to talk about a lot of positives, especially being 1-for-4 in the red zone, as well," Shanahan said. "One of the things we emphasized was the red zone and third downs, and we were poor in both areas.
The lone third down that Denver converted -- via an 8-yard pass from Plummer to Stephen Alexander -- did not result in any points because that proved to be one of the drives where Denver was stymied in the red zone, on a drive where the Broncos ran four plays from inside the Miami 3-yard-line for minus-1 yard. Only an offsides penalty against Miami's Taylor managed to get the Broncos moving forward on that second-quarter stand, which scuttled an opportunity to take the lead.
That series was a microcosm of the game, as a third-down pass to Alexander fell incomplete and a fourth-down Tatum Bell run lost a yard, giving the Broncos a failed third down and a failed red-zone chance within seconds of each other.
"It's hard to beat a team -- especially in their backyard -- when those two areas are very poor," Shanahan said.
Making matters worse was that Mike Anderson -- always a proficient goal-line runner -- watched helplessly from the bench as the offense ground to a halt in the goal post's shadow, having been knocked out of the game with a rib injury after just four carries of work.
Watching the team struggle at the goal line proved a worse torment for the sixth-year veteran than the injury itself.
"That's painful," Anderson said. "That's one of the things we worked through preseason and all throughout camp to get better in. We all knew when the season kicked off what areas we needed to get better in and that was one of the biggest areas right there. You get that close to the goal line, you've got to get something out of it, no question."
It meant the difference between a halftime lead and a deficit. THe Broncos would never come that close to taking the lead again.
"If we get that touchdown, we're up 7-6 going into the half, and the game is different," Smith said. "There's too many opportunities that we blew, and we blew them -- all 11 of us. It's not one guy, it's the entire offensive unit. We take blame for everything each other does."
Rod Smith was angry about the game, but kept his perspective. "The season is nowhere near over," he said. "We just can't go undefeated." PHOTO: ERIC LARS BAKKE
ONWARD TO WEEK TWO
It was the Broncos' worst season-opening defeat since 1966, the team's third loss in its past four road games (including the playoff defeat at Indianapolis) and the third loss by at least 20 points in the past five games dating back to last December.
Afterwards, it was time to begin anew. Time to start over and to do so quickly; with San Diego arriving for the home opener on Sept. 18, the Broncos can scarcely afford to fritter any time away.
"We're going to go back to the drawing board," Shanahan said.
"We just go back to the drawing board," concurred Wilson, "and try to continue to do what we do -- and that's to try to be excellent at what we do, not worry about anything else, go out and play our game and hope for the best."
It is the hope for the future -- that a two-game homestand against division opponents can make this season opener merely an unpleasant memory -- that will have to fuel the Broncos now as they turn to the San Diego Chargers.
"This is a 16-round fight," Shanahan said. "Obviously we're very disappointed that we lost the football game, but it's not the end of the season. We'll see the type of character we're made of when we come back and play a good team next week."
And it didn't take some of the Broncos long to turn their focus ahead.
"It's already behind me," Lenny Walls said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
And that is a long way off.
"The season is nowhere near over," Smith said. "We just can't go undefeated. That's the only thing."
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=4656
DenverBroncos.com
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The search for positives following a 24-point loss to a team coming off a 4-12 season is typically a fruitless one.
Nevertheless, defensive end Trevor Pryce tried when asked if there was anything to which he could cling following the 34-10 season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins, a defeat that marked the team's worst opening-day loss in 39 years.
Pryce paused as he foraged through his mind searching for something -- anything -- to which he could cling.
"I don't think we got tired," he said.
It didn't take him long to amend himself.
"There's nothing positive to come out of this," Pryce said.
Added Head Coach Mike Shanahan: "They played much better than we did in all phases."
And the Dolphins did so from the start. It began with a three-and-out series to open the game, continued with a Miami goal-line stand in the second period, mushroomed with the loss of two cornerbacks to cramps and another to a separated shoulder a quarter later, when the Broncos fell behind by double digits for good.
The 85-yard, final-play fumble return for a touchdown by Jason Taylor was merely an appropriate coda for an opener that frustrated the Broncos in every way.
Said Pryce: "It was insult to injury."
Never has the cliché been more apt.
"I was (thinking), 'Wow. You've got to be kidding me,'" Pryce said.
The emotions of the locker room in the moments following the game ranged from disappointment to anger. Smiles were non-existent; if any wounds of the game had begun to heal, they were picked wide open by Taylor's time-expired jaunt.
"I'm p---ed off, trust me," wide receiver Rod Smith said. "But what can I do about it now? All I can do is go to work tomorrow (and) look at the tape hard."
THE POINTS OF EMPHASIS
Coaxing turnovers. Converting third-downs. Capitalizing in the red zone. All three were points the Broncos focused upon during the course of the offseason and on through training camp and the preseason.
Denver was just one-for-three in those areas. While the defense forced a fumble and an interception and the special teams recovered a Wes Welker fumble on a punt return. the offense went 1-of-12 on third downs and scored just one touchdown on four red-zone opportunities.
"Third down we did nothing, and (in) the red zone we did nothing," quarterback Jake Plummer said.
Meanwhile, Miami was 8-of-15 on third downs and found the end zone on two of four red-zone forays.
"Any time you're 1-for-12 in third downs and keep your defense on the field as much as we did, it's hard to talk about a lot of positives, especially being 1-for-4 in the red zone, as well," Shanahan said. "One of the things we emphasized was the red zone and third downs, and we were poor in both areas.
The lone third down that Denver converted -- via an 8-yard pass from Plummer to Stephen Alexander -- did not result in any points because that proved to be one of the drives where Denver was stymied in the red zone, on a drive where the Broncos ran four plays from inside the Miami 3-yard-line for minus-1 yard. Only an offsides penalty against Miami's Taylor managed to get the Broncos moving forward on that second-quarter stand, which scuttled an opportunity to take the lead.
That series was a microcosm of the game, as a third-down pass to Alexander fell incomplete and a fourth-down Tatum Bell run lost a yard, giving the Broncos a failed third down and a failed red-zone chance within seconds of each other.
"It's hard to beat a team -- especially in their backyard -- when those two areas are very poor," Shanahan said.
Making matters worse was that Mike Anderson -- always a proficient goal-line runner -- watched helplessly from the bench as the offense ground to a halt in the goal post's shadow, having been knocked out of the game with a rib injury after just four carries of work.
Watching the team struggle at the goal line proved a worse torment for the sixth-year veteran than the injury itself.
"That's painful," Anderson said. "That's one of the things we worked through preseason and all throughout camp to get better in. We all knew when the season kicked off what areas we needed to get better in and that was one of the biggest areas right there. You get that close to the goal line, you've got to get something out of it, no question."
It meant the difference between a halftime lead and a deficit. THe Broncos would never come that close to taking the lead again.
"If we get that touchdown, we're up 7-6 going into the half, and the game is different," Smith said. "There's too many opportunities that we blew, and we blew them -- all 11 of us. It's not one guy, it's the entire offensive unit. We take blame for everything each other does."
Rod Smith was angry about the game, but kept his perspective. "The season is nowhere near over," he said. "We just can't go undefeated." PHOTO: ERIC LARS BAKKE
ONWARD TO WEEK TWO
It was the Broncos' worst season-opening defeat since 1966, the team's third loss in its past four road games (including the playoff defeat at Indianapolis) and the third loss by at least 20 points in the past five games dating back to last December.
Afterwards, it was time to begin anew. Time to start over and to do so quickly; with San Diego arriving for the home opener on Sept. 18, the Broncos can scarcely afford to fritter any time away.
"We're going to go back to the drawing board," Shanahan said.
"We just go back to the drawing board," concurred Wilson, "and try to continue to do what we do -- and that's to try to be excellent at what we do, not worry about anything else, go out and play our game and hope for the best."
It is the hope for the future -- that a two-game homestand against division opponents can make this season opener merely an unpleasant memory -- that will have to fuel the Broncos now as they turn to the San Diego Chargers.
"This is a 16-round fight," Shanahan said. "Obviously we're very disappointed that we lost the football game, but it's not the end of the season. We'll see the type of character we're made of when we come back and play a good team next week."
And it didn't take some of the Broncos long to turn their focus ahead.
"It's already behind me," Lenny Walls said. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish."
And that is a long way off.
"The season is nowhere near over," Smith said. "We just can't go undefeated. That's the only thing."
http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=4656