We came in with the right defensive game plan...

[Taco John]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.

[BigPlayShay]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.

And we had those 3 points until a freaking gust of wind blew it away. Seriously, that FG attempt looksed like a curve ball. That ball moved so much. It looked like it was going to be right down the middle, and then zipped right all of a sudden.

Penalties made that attempt longer than it had to be though.

[footstepsfrom#27]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.
I saw three men rushing the passer and CB's playing 7 yards off the line in the 4th quarter. We lost for multiple reasons, defense going soft in the 4th one of them.

[Pezman]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.


I dunno bro. That third to last drive was damned impressive regardless. The Giants had the ball for 9 plays in that one and only had ONE third down? That to me shows sloppy execution on our d, especially considering that Tiki ran for 25 yards in that drive alone. I'd have to say your statement is true for the first three quarters, an perhaps even until halfway through the fourth quarter...

...after that, it was slop

[ncjmirabile]

Part of the problem is Denver is getting a ton of bull rushing and very little speed rushing from the d-line. Sacks probably would be better if there were a pass rushing end with top flight speed.

[GreatBronco16]

Part of the problem is Denver is getting a ton of bull rushing and very little speed rushing from the d-line. Sacks probably would be better if there were a pass rushing end with top flight speed.

We would have more sacks if the Refs would start throwing the yellow to tell the offense to stop with the holding. If they keep knocking them 5 yards back then they will eventually stop holding and then the sacks would be there.

[ludo21]

We would have more sacks if the Refs would start throwing the yellow to tell the offense to stop with the holding. If they keep knocking them 5 yards back then they will eventually stop holding and then the sacks would be there.


agreed.

TJ, did you watch the last drive?? Thier were db's in zone letting all the underneath routes open, and i saw 2 plays where a dl dropped into coverage. Im mad, but no longer at the refs (as much)

[Popps]

We could have scored 123 points, and Taco would be in here saying we needed 127 to win it.

"There's your game."

lol!

[Taco John]

we needed 3 points.

Three.

[Popps]

we needed 3 points.

Three.

We actually scored 23.

23.

That's more than 7 other teams that got a W today, while we got a L.

We also dominated time of possession.

Keep digging.

[x123z]

We only have one receiver Rod Smith.

[Orange_Beard]

No matter how much we focus on D, this is a "master mind" team. Shannny needs to put teams away with the O. He seems to bring 3 quarters of plays, then sits back.
I don't see why the O can't pour it on.

[BroncoBen]

That to me shows sloppy execution on our d, especially considering that Tiki ran for 25 yards in that drive alone. I'd have to say your statement is true for the first three quarters, an perhaps even until halfway through the fourth quarter...


Wasn't it the 4th quarter that the Giants had around 12:00 on the clock, down by 2 scores.

It seemed to me that the Broncos were playing pass (thinking they had to pass to get back in the game) and the Giants went back to the running game and got off a couple of big runs.

[Beantown Bronco]

We only have one receiver Rod Smith.

This is the wrong week to come with that. Lelie made two GREAT catches today, some others that he should have caught (and did), he ran routes over the middle, and had decent yards after the catch....

The WRs were fine catching the ball today. Bell, on the other hand....

[Mile High Shack]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.

way to blame it on the offense TJ

70 yard drive to win the game and Coyer and crew let it happen again

these 4th qtr collapses by our D are getting stupid

[bloodsunday]

We actually scored 23.

23.

That's more than 7 other teams that got a W today, while we got a L.

We also dominated time of possession.

Keep digging.
Who gives a ****, its gone? (Major league for those that don't know).

There is perception and reality. The perception is that this team was built to win on defense. The reality is that they are not capable of doing that. Nonetheless, both units had opportunities yesterday (the O was 1 for 6 on third down after taking a 10pt lead) and blew them. It doesn't matter if you believe that this team should win on O or on D, because while both are above average, neither is apparently capable of taking over a game when the chips are down. THERE IS NO DOMINANT UNIT ON THIS TEAM.

We were one tipped pass away from the exact same scenario unfolding three weeks ago.

[Rascal]

Sure it was a great plan...but as always Coyer can't adjust during the game.

[bronco militia]

pick and choose what you want, but the offense failed to get a crucial 1st down, elam missed a field goal, and the defense went soft.

everyone had a hand in this one

[Crushaholic]

Oh, and Darrent was hampered with a gimpy ankle late in the game. I admire his toughness when he came back out on the field, but he clearly wasn't the same player late in the game. We should have moved the chains to put the game away and we didn't do it. That goes back to better playcalling.

[55CrushEm]

No question that this was a TEAM loss in every sense of the word.

Yes, Elam should've hit the FG.

Yes, our defense goes conservative with leads in the 4th quarter.

Yes, our offense can't seem to convert 3rd downs in the 4th quarter.

IMO, our defense did GREAT.....they held the top scoring offense to 10 points yesterday through 3+ quarters.....on the road.

At the end of the day, our offense needs to be able get a couple of 1st downs......

Elam missed the FG.....but Champ gave them the ball right back with a GREAT interception......what do we do? 3 and out again....

As much as I say it's a team loss, there is a slight shift of blame to the offense, IMO.

[Raider Bill]

FWIW I think I saw on NFL network, the donks have been outscored 55-19 in the 4th quarter this season.

[Mediator12]

FWIW I think I saw on NFL network, the donks have been outscored 55-19 in the 4th quarter this season.

68-29 currently. This is the sole reason this team is not undefeated so far. They have played very well through three quarters and routinely lose the fourth Q.

[ludo21]

68-29 currently. This is the sole reason this team is not undefeated so far. They have played very well through three quarters and routinely lose the fourth Q.


agreed. Even tho in the Miami game we got dominated it was a late 3rd/4th qrtr collapse.

Makes me wonder if its lack of conditioning. Just a thought.

[The Big E]

pick and choose what you want, but the offense failed to get a crucial 1st down, elam missed a field goal, and the defense went soft.

everyone had a hand in this one
True. And Fergy was frozen on the final play. What was he doing? Hell, he would've been better off tackling Toomer and getting an interference call. That would've pretty much been the same as an incompletion, they'd just be on the one instead of the two with time for only one more play.

Ok, enough. I'm moving on to the Philly game.

[bendog]

agreed. Even tho in the Miami game we got dominated it was a late 3rd/4th qrtr collapse.

Makes me wonder if its lack of conditioning. Just a thought.
Not with a shanny team. Cannot be that. Several factors, everyone knew coming in we were desperately short in the dbackfield. Aside from Mia, den was ahead in the 4th so .... not surprising other teams passed and scored while Den tried milking the clock.

What's urprising me is that despite den's relative dominance of other d's with the run game, we aren't controlling the 4th. I don't know why. Are teams selling out with 8 guys in the 4th? I recall with TD, Den OWNED the 4th.

I don't really agree that TJ is just banging on the offense. It's really both. Same thing last week. Den has a chance to put them away, but the offense misfires and let's brady have the ball. But then, at the very last, Plummer made the play.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/gamebook/NFL_20051016_NE@DEN

[Popps]

What's urprising me is that despite den's relative dominance of other d's with the run game, we aren't controlling the 4th. I don't know why. Are teams selling out with 8 guys in the 4th? I recall with TD, Den OWNED the 4th.
]

I'll tell you what it might be....

The staff went out and spent tons of money/effort rebuilding this defense over the last couple of years. They rebuilt the defense with dominating teams like Indy in mind... holding high-scoring units to low scores.

We've got marginal offensive weapons and a decent QB. We do have a very good running game, but it's NOT the 98 Broncos, no matter how you want to slice it.

So, the staff figured... we're pretty damned good on offense, all we have to do is build up a lead and employ a defense that can actually protect that lead. Hence, late in games... the offense is taking less chances. Jake isn't throwing the ball into coverage, we're not firing bombs down field, etc.

"Take care of the ball and let your defense and special teams protect your lead."

That's the line of thinking that led our staff to bolster our defense, which was allowing huge amounts of points to good teams. We thought we had it fixed. We're running the ball and trying to work on the clock late in games.
Problem is, our defense looks completely different in the fourth quarter of games.

I hope we get this fixed. It's baffling.

[DB-Freak]

The problem is the offense stalls too not just the damn defense in the 4th quarter.

[Taco John]

The offense has not converted more than one third down in the fourth Q in any game this year.

[DB-Freak]

Popps, the close games around the league you posted not too long ago doesn't prove much until you can show that offense was able to keep the defense off the field and at least consume at least a considerable amount of time.

[16-JakE-16]

why we kept going empty backfield on 3rd down is beyond me. that combined with the prevent D the final drive (yes, it was there) is why we lost.

[Broncoman13]

The offense has not converted more than one third down in the fourth Q in any game this year.


Can't blame that on Jake though... he's doing pretty good IMO. He missed a couple throws yesterday, but we shouldn't be throwing the ball in that situation to begin with. Remember back a couple years vs the Phins. Shanny threw the ball on three consecutive downs. All we had to do was run the ball and force them to use their timeouts. This isn't a new problem with Shanny... it's been here for about 5 years now! Why he abandons the run is beyond me???

[FADERPROOF]

We went in with the right defensive plan, we just didnt go out with the right defensive plan.

[Rock Chalk]

Bottom line. It was a great defensive game plan. And our defense executed it up until the last drive when they finally buckled under the weight of the team. We had great pressure on Eli all day, and ultimately it resulted in an interception at the game point. We weren't in soft zones at the end of the game, that's ridiculous. We were blitzing from the start of the game to the finish, and with great results.

We needed three more points from the offense in the last five final drives. We got zero. There's your game.
Unreal.

Your comprehension has dwindled to zero. You have take the depths of internet idiocy to new levels.

The offense put up 23 points, the defense gave up 24 points, but its the offense's fault still?

Un-****ing-real.

[Hulamau]

One thing we got to get corrected we had mutliple DBs going out with cramps almost every game at key times as DW did yesterday.

The trainers arent making damn sure these kids stay hydrated with enough electrolytes for this to happen this often to several different players.

With both Walls out with the groin, and then DW the last few plays it really didnt help.

[Kaylore]

The defense looked like crap that last play. I didn't see a single player on offense on the field when Eli basically made first down after first down in a row. This isn't the offense's fault. That TD to Toomer there were two d-backs standing near the receiver.

[Raider Bill]

68-29 currently. This is the sole reason this team is not undefeated so far. They have played very well through three quarters and routinely lose the fourth Q.


I couldnt remember the exact number. I have only seen portions of Donks games, but looking at those numbers there is enough blame to go around.

If you multiply by 4 and divide by 7 games you arrive at (doing it in my head)

something like 38-17.

That's a substandard points allowed and a substandard points scored, although the points allowed is much worse.

Just looking at the numbers, I'd say the problem lies mostly with the defense, but this could be exacerbated by the offense not maintaining any TOP. Someone would have to break down the Donks 4th quarter TOP stats because I dont feel like doing it. LOL

Just an observation folks.
.
Dont want to get into a whole Oakland sucks thing right now, because I'd be inclined to agree with you .

[Crushaholic]

If the offense had controlled the clock, the tired and injured defense (Darrent) wouldn't have had to come back out on the field. We've done a good job at controlling the time of possession this year, but we couldn't string together enough plays on offense to get a first down or three and put the game away. Champ's INT SHOULD HAVE been the game. Conservative playcalling on offense played a key role in losing that game. There was less than 4 minutes to go. That shouldn't be hard to milk away if we go back to the running game. Instead, we empty the backfield and give the ball back to Eli...:moody: