Rock Chalk
08-28-2006, 09:19 PM
OK, I have re-watched the game and took the time to write my opinion on each drive both offensively and defensively so this is going to be a long read (hopefully its a good one for you guys and gals).
First Offensive Drive:
Mike Bell looked tentative the entire drive. Houstons defense was swarming the run and expected it so he didnt have a lot to work with, and he did show some grit on a 2nd and 6 run that picked up 3 yards he should have lost but missed a big hole for at least 10 yards. Jake threw a brilliant medium range pass to Rod Smith after slipping on the ground during his drop back. Makes a nice pass out in the flats to SHeffler who was just shy of getting a first down. One bad play on this drive, on 3rd and 3 from the 24, Kircus gets alligator arms on a bullet by Jake for a first down and then some. Oh, two bad plays. Elam shanks the 41 yard field goal attempt.
First Defensive Drive:
First Houston play a dump off in the flats sort of to the RB Lundy who was completely uncovered. Good 9 yard gain that is immediately converted by Lundy on the next play up the gut for 2 yards. Hole was big on that play so him getting two yards was a plus. Lundy had a decent drive against our run defense on tosses, catches and a couple of plays up the middle. Darrent is a sure tackler when he isnt overly aggressive. Pass rush was pretty good on the first Houston bootleg that Carr fumbled on and our LBs knocked out of bounds, forces the punt however. Only time I saw a decent pass rush but only two passes thrown in the drive.
Second Offensive Drive:
Both of Plummer's first two passes (first in the first drive) to Walker were beautiful passes. At this point, Jake looks like he is going to have a good game. Next play, Tatum bursts through the hole for a good 11 yard gain finding a small crease in the line, not a huge hole, but good enough for him to slip through. Jake's second incompletion is the slant to Rod that was well played by the defender. Tatum is hit in the backfield on his the next run but still manages to get back to the line by pushing forward. Denver handled the blitz well on the next play but the out to Kircus was way off the mark on third down. Plummer's first real bad pass.
Second Defensive Drive:
Starting off with a great pass rush on Houston's first play. Run defense still showing big holes and Lundy continues to run well if not spectacular. Our d-line has been pushed around to this point on run plays. Great pass rush on the next pass play. This was a great defensive series for our boys other than the lackluster run defense. Ekuban records a quick sack.
Third Offensive Drive:
Ed Hochuli needs a bigger shirt. Walker makes his mark on his third catch by draggin Robinson three yards to get the first down. The flare to Mike Bell in the flats was great but this is where Bell shows his greatest flaws. He gets up the field four yards but gets hit high and this is going to get him hurt. Needs to run lower or wont make it the whole season. Two straight encroachment calls, second one a direct result of Plummer's hard count. Mike Bell on a run up the middle lost his footing again and is nailed right at the line. Had a hole. Get better cleats. Mike gets a hole, but it closes quickly and Houston's defense stops him for a short gain. Footing is a problem. Jake under pressure rolls out and makes a silly pass either overthrowing #87 or missing Rod just short in double coverage. Couldnt really tell from the angle. Texans had switched from 4-3 to 3-4 for first time on this play to try and confuse Jake.
Third Defensive Drive:
Slow developing pass rush on the first play, but had to do with holding by offensive line by Spencer on Ekuban. Ekuban for a great tackle for loss on stretch play very next play. Lundy finding no where to run on this drive, Myers stuffs him right at the line. On the next run play for "breathing" room a good 4 yard gain giving the punter some room to punt from the end zone.
Fourth Offensive Drive:
A badly shanked punt gives the Donks great field position. Tatum gets a good run for about 7 or 8 yards, complimented by an incidental face mask on the Texans. Sidenote here, they flash a state that was absolutely incredible. Since 1995, first quarter point differential, the Broncos are + 481. Next closest competitor is Holmgren teams at +251 points. Thats just mind boggling. Tatum gets another crease up the middle for 5 yards. Next Tatum run is a good run, gets hit after about 3 yards and pushes forward for another yard and a half, just shy of the first down (about 4 inches short). Tatum gets 2 on the short yardage I-form set with a FANTASTIC block by Kyle Johnson who blew Ryans up. Naked bootleg results in nothing for Jake, throws it away. Well covered downfield. Next run play nets nada as the Texans expected and had all the gaps full. No where to go for T Bell. 3rd and 10 situation. Smith makes a helluva grab after juggling it and gets about 6 yards on the quick out. Elam nails the 32 yarder. Houston lines up on center and gets flagged though, Denver gets another chance on the 5 yard penalty.Nice naked bootleg to Alexander to the 1 yard line. Tatum gets tripped up behind the line but stumbles forward to get back to the LOS at the 1. Defense got through on that play. Tatum follows KJ and pushes forward with the second effort for the 1 yd TD. Best drive of the night for the offense even if it was only 44 yards. (First drive wasnt bad, but ruined by Kircus' alligator arms).
Fourth Defensive Drive
Carr drops back to pass, deflected incidentally by Myers and picked off by DJ.
Fifth Offensive Drive
Mike Bell finds a good crease for about 4 yards, getting tripped up in the middle of the line and diving for about 3 yards. Jake way overthrows Javon in the end zone. Throws a bullet to Rod for a first down, Rod takes a good shot but was smart enough to know where the first down marker was. Sterling Sharpe comments "technically, nobody does it better than Rod Smith in the National Football League" (word!). Bell gets the nod and gets a 4 yard run with a huge hole but running upright as soon as he gets hit gets hit hard and goes down. GET DOWN MIKE! Jake throws a pass to Sheffler in the endzone that they want PI but was not PI. A "nod" route? Whatever the hell that is. Next play, Plummer hurries the pass intended for Walker on the out pattern in the end zone and was way off the mark. THis was his worst pass of the night by far, landing 3 yards short of the end zone and 2 yards short of Walker. Field Goal good. Shanny gives Plummer a talking to but not a screaming at as some have mentioned. Seemed cool and collected but obviously not happy.
Fifth Defensive Drive
On the rollout, Carr completes to Lundy for about 4 yards was buried by Al Wilson with DJ coming up right behind. Next pass a flare/screen to Lundy on the weakside for another 4 yards. Bringing the blitz, Carr completes it to Cook for about 6 yards giving them their second first down, DJ on the tackle. Next play, rollout to Carr's left, Ian got faked and hesitated on whether to go after Carr or drop into coverage allowing Carr just enough time to complete it to Daniels for a first down. Carr completes a pass to Johnson on the cross route for about 8 yards, 2 minute warning. DBs have been playing soft the whole game :( Carr on the rollout, nothing open so runs it for a first down. Carr is 5 for 5 for 33 so far on this drive. Carr throws to Moulds. well covered by Darrent who just misses defending the pass. Moulds gets about 2. Deep pass to Moulds overthrown but he had Darrent beat. 3rd and 9, Carr throws to Walter, tackled by DJ before the first down with a good sure hit and tackle. 4th and 3 going for it. Darrent playing about 10 yards off Andre Johnson on a 4th and 3, completed for about 5 yards.Gets an earful from Champ about it. Lundy finds a crease on the weakside for 7 yards, getting out of bounds. 48 seconds left. Oh good lord, as if this wasnt painful enough the first time. Lundy gets a good hole up the middle because the run defense has disappeared, DJ forces a fumble that goes forward and Ferguson loses the friggin ball above his head. Texans recover, ball moved back to where it was fumbled. Run defense packed it in this drive, and pass rush has been practically non-existant since that 3 and out deep in Houston's own territory. 14th play of drive, delay of game. Defense stacks the Line and Lundy still gets 7 yards. Carr spikes it, Houston settles for field goal with 11 seconds left.
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OK, pass rush is about the same as last year. Good at times, gone at others. Run defense see above. Plummer looked pretty decent this game except that last drive where he had several miscues either overthrowing or missing badly. Javon Walker made some great plays and was the target of a couple of Jake's bad throws. Rod Smith is, well, Rod Smith. Mike Bell was mostly unimpressive but does run with a lot of heart. Reminds me of Droughns more than TD like some have mentioned. Tatum has shown a remarkable improvement over his running abilites from last year but I am still skeptical about him being a full time back. Maybe that's just from the media heads or maybe I have good reason to be skeptical, but regardless, this year he is playing much tougher than he did last year. Between the Bells, I think our running game will be as effective as it has been the past ten years. 3rd downs were atrocious offensively and if this is what we have been workng on in camp, we need to change what it is we are doing because what we have been working on is not working. The offensive line wasn't as bad as I thought it was the first time I watched the game, but it isn't as good as it was last year either. Hopefully they will gel better by the time the season starts though and I know o-lines generally take a bit of time to get back into the swing of things. Linebackers have played remarkably well again. Ian got bowled over once and hesitated on going after Carr giving him enough time to find an open receiver but DJ was everywhere. His whiff on Carr in the backfield was really his only bad play. Al seemed to be near all the tackles even if he wasnt making them all.
Punts were a lot better and kickoffs were fantastic. One went completely to the back of the end zone and I would like to see more of this. Coverage was great but the return game leaves a little to be desired still. Havent had much of a chance to see any kickoff returns for either of the teams due to long kickoffs from both teams.
I was going to do the second half but after having a bout with insomnia last night Im exhausted and going to bed early fellas. Will go over the second half tomorrow after work. My impressions having watched the game a second time left me with a bit of a better impression in some areas than I had and a bit of a worse impression in some areas as well. Run defense does not look very good at all for the most part and the pass rush seems to be about as good as it was last year.
Still, if we can repeat last year's performance and get lucky in a few games, we might be in the Superbowl this year.
First Offensive Drive:
Mike Bell looked tentative the entire drive. Houstons defense was swarming the run and expected it so he didnt have a lot to work with, and he did show some grit on a 2nd and 6 run that picked up 3 yards he should have lost but missed a big hole for at least 10 yards. Jake threw a brilliant medium range pass to Rod Smith after slipping on the ground during his drop back. Makes a nice pass out in the flats to SHeffler who was just shy of getting a first down. One bad play on this drive, on 3rd and 3 from the 24, Kircus gets alligator arms on a bullet by Jake for a first down and then some. Oh, two bad plays. Elam shanks the 41 yard field goal attempt.
First Defensive Drive:
First Houston play a dump off in the flats sort of to the RB Lundy who was completely uncovered. Good 9 yard gain that is immediately converted by Lundy on the next play up the gut for 2 yards. Hole was big on that play so him getting two yards was a plus. Lundy had a decent drive against our run defense on tosses, catches and a couple of plays up the middle. Darrent is a sure tackler when he isnt overly aggressive. Pass rush was pretty good on the first Houston bootleg that Carr fumbled on and our LBs knocked out of bounds, forces the punt however. Only time I saw a decent pass rush but only two passes thrown in the drive.
Second Offensive Drive:
Both of Plummer's first two passes (first in the first drive) to Walker were beautiful passes. At this point, Jake looks like he is going to have a good game. Next play, Tatum bursts through the hole for a good 11 yard gain finding a small crease in the line, not a huge hole, but good enough for him to slip through. Jake's second incompletion is the slant to Rod that was well played by the defender. Tatum is hit in the backfield on his the next run but still manages to get back to the line by pushing forward. Denver handled the blitz well on the next play but the out to Kircus was way off the mark on third down. Plummer's first real bad pass.
Second Defensive Drive:
Starting off with a great pass rush on Houston's first play. Run defense still showing big holes and Lundy continues to run well if not spectacular. Our d-line has been pushed around to this point on run plays. Great pass rush on the next pass play. This was a great defensive series for our boys other than the lackluster run defense. Ekuban records a quick sack.
Third Offensive Drive:
Ed Hochuli needs a bigger shirt. Walker makes his mark on his third catch by draggin Robinson three yards to get the first down. The flare to Mike Bell in the flats was great but this is where Bell shows his greatest flaws. He gets up the field four yards but gets hit high and this is going to get him hurt. Needs to run lower or wont make it the whole season. Two straight encroachment calls, second one a direct result of Plummer's hard count. Mike Bell on a run up the middle lost his footing again and is nailed right at the line. Had a hole. Get better cleats. Mike gets a hole, but it closes quickly and Houston's defense stops him for a short gain. Footing is a problem. Jake under pressure rolls out and makes a silly pass either overthrowing #87 or missing Rod just short in double coverage. Couldnt really tell from the angle. Texans had switched from 4-3 to 3-4 for first time on this play to try and confuse Jake.
Third Defensive Drive:
Slow developing pass rush on the first play, but had to do with holding by offensive line by Spencer on Ekuban. Ekuban for a great tackle for loss on stretch play very next play. Lundy finding no where to run on this drive, Myers stuffs him right at the line. On the next run play for "breathing" room a good 4 yard gain giving the punter some room to punt from the end zone.
Fourth Offensive Drive:
A badly shanked punt gives the Donks great field position. Tatum gets a good run for about 7 or 8 yards, complimented by an incidental face mask on the Texans. Sidenote here, they flash a state that was absolutely incredible. Since 1995, first quarter point differential, the Broncos are + 481. Next closest competitor is Holmgren teams at +251 points. Thats just mind boggling. Tatum gets another crease up the middle for 5 yards. Next Tatum run is a good run, gets hit after about 3 yards and pushes forward for another yard and a half, just shy of the first down (about 4 inches short). Tatum gets 2 on the short yardage I-form set with a FANTASTIC block by Kyle Johnson who blew Ryans up. Naked bootleg results in nothing for Jake, throws it away. Well covered downfield. Next run play nets nada as the Texans expected and had all the gaps full. No where to go for T Bell. 3rd and 10 situation. Smith makes a helluva grab after juggling it and gets about 6 yards on the quick out. Elam nails the 32 yarder. Houston lines up on center and gets flagged though, Denver gets another chance on the 5 yard penalty.Nice naked bootleg to Alexander to the 1 yard line. Tatum gets tripped up behind the line but stumbles forward to get back to the LOS at the 1. Defense got through on that play. Tatum follows KJ and pushes forward with the second effort for the 1 yd TD. Best drive of the night for the offense even if it was only 44 yards. (First drive wasnt bad, but ruined by Kircus' alligator arms).
Fourth Defensive Drive
Carr drops back to pass, deflected incidentally by Myers and picked off by DJ.
Fifth Offensive Drive
Mike Bell finds a good crease for about 4 yards, getting tripped up in the middle of the line and diving for about 3 yards. Jake way overthrows Javon in the end zone. Throws a bullet to Rod for a first down, Rod takes a good shot but was smart enough to know where the first down marker was. Sterling Sharpe comments "technically, nobody does it better than Rod Smith in the National Football League" (word!). Bell gets the nod and gets a 4 yard run with a huge hole but running upright as soon as he gets hit gets hit hard and goes down. GET DOWN MIKE! Jake throws a pass to Sheffler in the endzone that they want PI but was not PI. A "nod" route? Whatever the hell that is. Next play, Plummer hurries the pass intended for Walker on the out pattern in the end zone and was way off the mark. THis was his worst pass of the night by far, landing 3 yards short of the end zone and 2 yards short of Walker. Field Goal good. Shanny gives Plummer a talking to but not a screaming at as some have mentioned. Seemed cool and collected but obviously not happy.
Fifth Defensive Drive
On the rollout, Carr completes to Lundy for about 4 yards was buried by Al Wilson with DJ coming up right behind. Next pass a flare/screen to Lundy on the weakside for another 4 yards. Bringing the blitz, Carr completes it to Cook for about 6 yards giving them their second first down, DJ on the tackle. Next play, rollout to Carr's left, Ian got faked and hesitated on whether to go after Carr or drop into coverage allowing Carr just enough time to complete it to Daniels for a first down. Carr completes a pass to Johnson on the cross route for about 8 yards, 2 minute warning. DBs have been playing soft the whole game :( Carr on the rollout, nothing open so runs it for a first down. Carr is 5 for 5 for 33 so far on this drive. Carr throws to Moulds. well covered by Darrent who just misses defending the pass. Moulds gets about 2. Deep pass to Moulds overthrown but he had Darrent beat. 3rd and 9, Carr throws to Walter, tackled by DJ before the first down with a good sure hit and tackle. 4th and 3 going for it. Darrent playing about 10 yards off Andre Johnson on a 4th and 3, completed for about 5 yards.Gets an earful from Champ about it. Lundy finds a crease on the weakside for 7 yards, getting out of bounds. 48 seconds left. Oh good lord, as if this wasnt painful enough the first time. Lundy gets a good hole up the middle because the run defense has disappeared, DJ forces a fumble that goes forward and Ferguson loses the friggin ball above his head. Texans recover, ball moved back to where it was fumbled. Run defense packed it in this drive, and pass rush has been practically non-existant since that 3 and out deep in Houston's own territory. 14th play of drive, delay of game. Defense stacks the Line and Lundy still gets 7 yards. Carr spikes it, Houston settles for field goal with 11 seconds left.
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OK, pass rush is about the same as last year. Good at times, gone at others. Run defense see above. Plummer looked pretty decent this game except that last drive where he had several miscues either overthrowing or missing badly. Javon Walker made some great plays and was the target of a couple of Jake's bad throws. Rod Smith is, well, Rod Smith. Mike Bell was mostly unimpressive but does run with a lot of heart. Reminds me of Droughns more than TD like some have mentioned. Tatum has shown a remarkable improvement over his running abilites from last year but I am still skeptical about him being a full time back. Maybe that's just from the media heads or maybe I have good reason to be skeptical, but regardless, this year he is playing much tougher than he did last year. Between the Bells, I think our running game will be as effective as it has been the past ten years. 3rd downs were atrocious offensively and if this is what we have been workng on in camp, we need to change what it is we are doing because what we have been working on is not working. The offensive line wasn't as bad as I thought it was the first time I watched the game, but it isn't as good as it was last year either. Hopefully they will gel better by the time the season starts though and I know o-lines generally take a bit of time to get back into the swing of things. Linebackers have played remarkably well again. Ian got bowled over once and hesitated on going after Carr giving him enough time to find an open receiver but DJ was everywhere. His whiff on Carr in the backfield was really his only bad play. Al seemed to be near all the tackles even if he wasnt making them all.
Punts were a lot better and kickoffs were fantastic. One went completely to the back of the end zone and I would like to see more of this. Coverage was great but the return game leaves a little to be desired still. Havent had much of a chance to see any kickoff returns for either of the teams due to long kickoffs from both teams.
I was going to do the second half but after having a bout with insomnia last night Im exhausted and going to bed early fellas. Will go over the second half tomorrow after work. My impressions having watched the game a second time left me with a bit of a better impression in some areas than I had and a bit of a worse impression in some areas as well. Run defense does not look very good at all for the most part and the pass rush seems to be about as good as it was last year.
Still, if we can repeat last year's performance and get lucky in a few games, we might be in the Superbowl this year.