dragondawg
03-22-2007, 02:53 AM
It's been two days since Brandon Stokley signed with the Broncos, so naturally, I wondered if he'd been debriefed yet.
"Not yet," Stokley said Wednesday, unaccountably chuckling. "We haven't gotten that far yet."
Yo, Brandon, this is no laughing matter.
Frankly, I don't know what Mike Shanahan could be doing that's more important than learning the secret to dismantling his team in the playoffs, the secret certain members of the Colts of 2003 and 2004 hold in their hearts.
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Stokley said. "I've got that. I'm going to give that all up when I get there."
Why it took the Broncos so long to think of this, you'll have to ask them, but better late than never. This is like a high-ranking member of the KGB defecting during the Cold War. After all, Stokley was one of the executioners.
You may recall, he caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning on the first possession of the Colts' 41-10 romp in the 2003 wild-card playoff game. A little while later, Stokley took a Manning strike 87 yards for another score when the Broncos left Al Wilson alone to cover the middle of the field.
That one made it 28-3. Stokley had four catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Manning was 22-of-26 for 377 yards, five touchdowns, a perfect passer rating of 158.3 and the first playoff victory of his career. The abiding memory is Wilson, Kenoy Kennedy and Lenny Walls discussing how Marvin Harrison got open while Harrison got up and ran the rest of the way into the end zone.
Less than two months later, the Broncos traded for Champ Bailey.
Unfortunately, by the time I reached Stokley, Shanahan had already gotten to him. When I mentioned I wanted the secret for the newspaper, he didn't pretend the call was dropped, but he did the next best thing.
"You know what it was? It was just starting fast," he said, as if he hadn't just admitted to me he was bringing the classified stuff in a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
"Once we got out on top and got the lead and kind of took away their running game, it let us do what we like to do defensively, sit in the Cover 2 and just keep everything in front of us.
"When we get the big lead, that's what makes it so tough. The opposing team has to press, and they have to start trying to put up a lot of points because they know the Colts offense is going to keep scoring points. That was, I think, the real success for us when I played for the Colts those years. We got out to a good start, and the Broncos had to play catch-up."
Yeah, but come on. That seam route - you knew something.
"I don't really recall," Stokley said. "Shoot, that was, what, like four years ago, when we played that first time in the playoffs?"
More like three - Jan. 4, 2004 - but whatever. I've seen the Indy Shuffle before.
"I don't recall pinpointing one thing. We didn't do that very much. Basically, when I played for the Colts, what we said was, 'We've got to go out there and execute - do what we do and execute it and we'll win.' So it wasn't really looking at their defensive backs and saying, 'Let's pick on this guy, let's stay away from this guy.' Basically, we'll do what we do and we'll do it better than the other team."
Oh, right. Like you guys didn't game plan for Roc Alexander the next year, when Reggie Wayne caught 10 balls for 221 yards on the poor kid and sent him off to Peyton Manning Rehab?
"No, it wasn't the game plan," Stokley said, and I couldn't tell if he said it with a straight face because he was on the phone.
"But I think when Peyton sees it, and he sees that Reggie's hot and sees that Reggie's been getting open, making plays, he'll tend to go to that side more. Obviously, you want to stay away from Champ Bailey as much as possible, but it wasn't the game plan, 'Let's just throw at this guy all game long.' "
You have to admire the man's discretion. One day, it may benefit the Broncos. In the meantime, if he can get over his ruptured Achilles' tendon and become half the slot receiver he was with the Colts - "I just started running on it, so it's doing pretty good," he said - he could be an important weapon for Jay Cutler in the middle of the field against the Cover 2.
Stokley figures he has a Super Bowl coming, having missed the Colts' coming-out party last month because of his injury. For their part, the Broncos figure they have a little counterintelligence coming.
Before the inevitable playoff rematch, I just hope Stokley tells Shanahan more than he told me.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...434515,00.html
"Not yet," Stokley said Wednesday, unaccountably chuckling. "We haven't gotten that far yet."
Yo, Brandon, this is no laughing matter.
Frankly, I don't know what Mike Shanahan could be doing that's more important than learning the secret to dismantling his team in the playoffs, the secret certain members of the Colts of 2003 and 2004 hold in their hearts.
"Oh, yeah, definitely," Stokley said. "I've got that. I'm going to give that all up when I get there."
Why it took the Broncos so long to think of this, you'll have to ask them, but better late than never. This is like a high-ranking member of the KGB defecting during the Cold War. After all, Stokley was one of the executioners.
You may recall, he caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning on the first possession of the Colts' 41-10 romp in the 2003 wild-card playoff game. A little while later, Stokley took a Manning strike 87 yards for another score when the Broncos left Al Wilson alone to cover the middle of the field.
That one made it 28-3. Stokley had four catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Manning was 22-of-26 for 377 yards, five touchdowns, a perfect passer rating of 158.3 and the first playoff victory of his career. The abiding memory is Wilson, Kenoy Kennedy and Lenny Walls discussing how Marvin Harrison got open while Harrison got up and ran the rest of the way into the end zone.
Less than two months later, the Broncos traded for Champ Bailey.
Unfortunately, by the time I reached Stokley, Shanahan had already gotten to him. When I mentioned I wanted the secret for the newspaper, he didn't pretend the call was dropped, but he did the next best thing.
"You know what it was? It was just starting fast," he said, as if he hadn't just admitted to me he was bringing the classified stuff in a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
"Once we got out on top and got the lead and kind of took away their running game, it let us do what we like to do defensively, sit in the Cover 2 and just keep everything in front of us.
"When we get the big lead, that's what makes it so tough. The opposing team has to press, and they have to start trying to put up a lot of points because they know the Colts offense is going to keep scoring points. That was, I think, the real success for us when I played for the Colts those years. We got out to a good start, and the Broncos had to play catch-up."
Yeah, but come on. That seam route - you knew something.
"I don't really recall," Stokley said. "Shoot, that was, what, like four years ago, when we played that first time in the playoffs?"
More like three - Jan. 4, 2004 - but whatever. I've seen the Indy Shuffle before.
"I don't recall pinpointing one thing. We didn't do that very much. Basically, when I played for the Colts, what we said was, 'We've got to go out there and execute - do what we do and execute it and we'll win.' So it wasn't really looking at their defensive backs and saying, 'Let's pick on this guy, let's stay away from this guy.' Basically, we'll do what we do and we'll do it better than the other team."
Oh, right. Like you guys didn't game plan for Roc Alexander the next year, when Reggie Wayne caught 10 balls for 221 yards on the poor kid and sent him off to Peyton Manning Rehab?
"No, it wasn't the game plan," Stokley said, and I couldn't tell if he said it with a straight face because he was on the phone.
"But I think when Peyton sees it, and he sees that Reggie's hot and sees that Reggie's been getting open, making plays, he'll tend to go to that side more. Obviously, you want to stay away from Champ Bailey as much as possible, but it wasn't the game plan, 'Let's just throw at this guy all game long.' "
You have to admire the man's discretion. One day, it may benefit the Broncos. In the meantime, if he can get over his ruptured Achilles' tendon and become half the slot receiver he was with the Colts - "I just started running on it, so it's doing pretty good," he said - he could be an important weapon for Jay Cutler in the middle of the field against the Cover 2.
Stokley figures he has a Super Bowl coming, having missed the Colts' coming-out party last month because of his injury. For their part, the Broncos figure they have a little counterintelligence coming.
Before the inevitable playoff rematch, I just hope Stokley tells Shanahan more than he told me.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...434515,00.html