chickennob2
08-14-2007, 02:53 AM
First, let me preface this by saying that I have no experience playing football. Kidney condition = no contact sports. My football knowledge is limited to that available to an observer. If anything is wrong with any of this analysis, please correct me. I'm still new to alot of the terminology. Also, I'm working off of my dvr recording (not HD) of the game, so I have only a somewhat grainy image of the action around the ball that ESPN decides to show. Sorry.
Play 1: 2 wide left, one right. TE on right side. Single back Henry. Defense presents a 3-4 with strongside LB standing up on the line. Henry 11 yard run, 2 hole
Pears: accelerated well to his block and had him on skates, almost pushing the DE into Henry before putting him on his back 4 yards upfield
Myers: Didn't have to do much, his assignment got some penetration around Myers, but on the side away from the ball carrier, so essentially Chris just had to let him run and kind of redirect him.
Nalen: Gets through the trash to eleminate the WILB (I assume that makes sense, the 3-4 ILB towards the weakside). Good play by the vet.
Holland: Pulls through the hole to take on the SILB. Takes him out of play.
Meadows: comes behind Graham to take out the SLB.
Graham: Cuts in to block the DE, appears to get beat to the inside, but in doing so seals off the left side of the hole. Don't have a good view, but it appears after Henry is through the line he falls forward onto the ground. Can't realy see what went on looks, it looks like he just kind of lunged at the DE at that point.
Jackson: lined up as slot receiver to the left accross from and slightly outside the WLB . It looks like he tries to get in a position to block the WLB, can't, and moves downfield to kind of push the FS out of the way. WLB helps make the tackle.
Hixon: Lines up wide left. Goes out of the picture almost immediately after snap.
Walker: Wide right. CB across from him is about 8 yards off. Tries to sell an out route, not in position to block the CB, who is one of the 3 in on the tackle.
Henry: One cut right through the hole, shakes off a lunge by the WDE, splits the CB and WLB right as he's met by the SS and taken down. Falls forward for a yard. 11 yard run.
Play 2: Same formation on both sides of the ball. Corners 7-8 yards off. Cutler bounce pass to Hixon, incomplete
Pears: Steps outside to take on the rushing WLB, lets him 5 yard upfield, though with no horizontal movement towards the QB, before WDE, being blocked by Myers, runs into WLB and Pears, allowing the WLB to squeeze betweeen Pears and Myers just as the ball is thrown.
Myers: Blocks WDE. Disengages briefly, allowing the WDE to get vertically upfield 4 yards (though again, no horizontal penetration). Remains between his assignment and the QB. Awkward play as WDE bumps into WLB and Pears, pushing the WLB between Myers and Pears.
Nalen: blocks NT with help from Holland, gives up very little ground. No penetration.
Holland: see above.
Meadows: Blocks SDE. Solid arm extension, gives up no ground. A solid play.
Graham: Stays in apparently to block SLB, but he feigns a rush before dropping back into zone coverage. Graham then turns to try to help Meadows.
Henry: runs through the line with no one to block and turns around about a yard past the LOS as a safety valve.
Hixon: runs up field and appears to break back towards the LOS for the ball (curl route, I believe). Standing 17 yards up field as the ball bounces a yard or two in front of his feet.
Jackson: Post route. Appears to be in a tough spot with the zone coverage.
Walker: far side of the field, mostly out of camera. Appears to be maybe a curl route.
Cutler: 7 stop drop, plenty of time. Play action fake to Henry, throws well short of an open Hixon. Meh.
Play 3: Strong offset I. Walker left, Hixon right, Johnson in at fullback, Graham on left side with Henry deep. 3-4 front with both OLBs standing up on the line. 20 yards to Walker.
Graham: Releases on a drag route 2 yards past the line. Open. SILB in position to tackle short of 1st, though.
Pears: Gives up abut 4 yards upfield before engaging with SLB. Once engaged, gives up about a yard towards Cutler.
Myers: Engages with SDE, gives up a yard or two while redirecting him horizontally. Solid block.
Nalen: Takes on NT. gives up maybe a yard, but pretty much dominates.
Holland: Blocks WDE with Meadows. Give up about 5 yards upfield. Holland ends up out of the play, though Meadows remains engaged.
Meadows: see above.
Henry: Meets blitzing SILB, gets pushed backwards almost into Cutler. Prevents a sack, but isclose to interfeting with Cutler's throw.
Johnson: Slightly rounded 90 degree quick out. Open.
Hixon: Runs something somewhere between a post and a streak. Has inside position on C, but it would be a tough catch.
Walker: Post route Has inside position and is slightly ahead of CB. Wrapped up immediately, manages 4 to 5 YAC.
Cutler: 7 step drop,feet slightly happy, but stands in the pocket, and with Henry being pushed into his face, collapsing the pocket, delivers a strike to Walker. From rookie to vet in one play.
Play 4: Same formation on both sides of the ball. Henry run outside left, 10 yards.
Graham: Attempts to block SLB, but gets beat to the outside. Henry stiff arms past the lunging arm tackle.
Pears: Drive blocks SDE out and away from the play. Eventually gets beat to the inside, but as the play is to the outside, he held his block long enough to take assignment out of the play.
Myers: Has trouble squeezing between Pears and Lepsis to get to the SILB on the second level. Doesn't get there in time and SILB is free to run to the ball carrier.
Nalen: competently handles the NT, who is a complete non factor in the play.
Holland: Mauls WDE. Completely.
Meadows: Pulls inside and gets lost in the trash. WILB, who it appeared he may have been going for ends up making the tackle.
Walker: Gets a chip in on the S, delaying him enough to keep him out of the initial play, though he chases Henry upfield to help make the tackle from behind when he's met by the WILB.
Hixon: Away from ball, out of the picture
Johnson: Tries to take out feet of pursueing WLB, and gets a piece. LB ends up on the ground momentarily.
Henry: The reason the play worked. Takes the handoff wide outside, stiffarms the lunging SLB, meets both the SILB and CB at about the LOS, plants his foot, lowers his shoulder, and booms his way in between the two defenders. Met 9 yards upfield by WILB and chasing S (that Walker chipped) from behind. Lowers his helmet into LB and knocks him backward for another yard. Beastly.
Play 5: 2 TEs, Jackson left, Graham right. Hixon about 3 yards left of Jackson. Walker about 4 yards right of Graham Singleback Henry with the 3-4 OLBs standing up at the line. Corners way off. Henry runs outside right. With two TEs, and me not knowing proper terminology, I will dub the offensive right side the strong side. Henry runs for 4 or 5.
Jackson: Actually does a very good job blocking the WLB. Suprisingly.
Pears: engages the WDE, but lets him slide towards the playside. Pears gets caught in the trash and disengages. WDE pursues horizontally and assists in tackle on Henry.
Myers: lunges forward at legs of NT, holding him in place.
Nalen: Gets to the second level, adeptly running off the edge of my TV screen. No idea. At the end of the play, he comes back on screen as he's engaged with the WILB 2 yards downfield of where Henry goes down.
Holland: Doesn't drive forward, lets SDE come to him and solidly blocks him. Just stones him.
Meadows: fights to the second level, but the SILB is gone before he gets there. SILB meets Henry 2 yards behind the LOS. Henry breaks the tackle. Once this happens, Meadows is horizontally about a yard or so from the CB running in to the newly created hole. With Pears's WDE coming from the left and the CB from the right, Meadows decided to instead run behind the line of scrimmage towards the SILB Henry stiff armed to the ground so that he can shove him back down as he tries to get up. This is of course 5 yards behind the play, and the two defenders Mewadows neglected to block both converge on Henry to make the tackle. WTF.
Graham: Engages the SLB lined up outside of him, forces him first inside and then to the ground. Completely seals off the inside of the running lane. This guy can block.
Walker: Runs downfield and disappears. At the end of the play is seen blocking the S downfield of where Henry is tackled. Though the corner on his side assisted in the tackle.
Hixon: off camera
Henry: Once again makes up for mediocre blocking by breaking the tackle of an unblocked SILB by stiffarming him to the ground and then catching himself with the arm and cutting upfield. Sandwhiched by WDE and CB at the first down marker, wrapped up but fights forward for another 4 yards.
Play 6: Exact same formations, but with the receivers split their normal distances from the line and Sapp in for Henry. Attempted pass play, Cutler breaks tackle and sneaks it to the one yard line. Again, offensive right will be labelled strong side
Pears: Standing at the snap, engages WLB, uses hands well and gives up no ground horizontally. Solid play
Myers: Tries to drive into WDE, misses to the outside. WDE comes in and barely overruns Cutler, who ducks to avoid the arm tacle. Myers really just got abused.
Nalen: blocks NT with help from Holland. Pancakes him.
Holland: see above.
Meadows: blocks SDE. And in a rare feat of mediocrity, he holds his own, using very good footwork.
Hixon: off camera
Walker: Maybe a curl or post. Gets a shove on a linebacker upfield
Jackson: Shoots downfield, off cameara. Ends up blocking safety at the goal line
Graham: goes downfield for pass off camera, possibly a flag route.
Sapp: rolls left into the flat for a dumpoff.
Cutler: Looks like a 5 step drop. Ducks under the arm tackle of the DE who owned Myers, shoots downfield. Actually shows very good speed. Wraps up the ball as he nears contact, lowers his head (think less shoulder ram and more fetal position) and goes down at the one. Smart decision, if it weren't preseason. Took a decent shot.
Play 7: Goalline formation. Graham to the left, Alexander to the right, Jackson off the line to the right, motions accross to the left. Offensive left is now dubbed strong side. Johnson directly behind Cutler with Henry deep. Henry to the approximately 1 hole, though there are no real gaps. Sorry my comentary here is not very good, but the LOS becoems just a huge heap of bodies.
Jackson: Takes on SLB, redirects him outside and wide of the play.
Graham: takes on SDE, wrestles around, initially pushed back but eventually pushing him to the goalline. I'd say this one was a draw.
Pears: SDT gets lower, goes under Pears such that Pears is literally laying on top of him. Then lost in the jumble.
Myers: Lunges over NT, see above.
Nalen: has legs taken out/ends up laying on top of pile.
Holland: Flies into WDT, ends up going inside of WDT, who stays put and looks like he may have gotten a hand on Henry's legs.
Meadows: doubles WDT with Holland. Can't really tell as he appears to blow past him. But its such a mess that its hard to tell.
Alexader: Engages with WDE and shoves him backwards. Finally a win.
Johnson: Runs to the 1 hole area and disappers into the tangled mass of bodies.
Henry: Met at the pile by a leaping LB coming over the top. WDT kind of gets a piece of his legs. Tries to push and fight his way over the pile, but no dice.
Play 8: Same formations, but with Jackson starting on the left of the LTE and motioning to a spot about a yard behind the LT and LG. Alexander and Graham switch places. 1 yard run by Henry, TD.
Jackson: Fights through the five hole and gets a piece of a LB.
Alexander: Stands the SDE up. As play goes to his inside, he takes the DE out of the play.
Pears: Drives down on SDT, pushes into the ground/
Myers: See above, but with NT.
Nalen: dowbles on the NT.
Holland: Lunges past WDT and hits the legs of some LBs
Meadows: Pushes WDT backwards, with some initial help by Holland. One of Pears's better plays.
Graham: Stands up and eliminates WDE.
Johnson: Leaps over the top, taking a leaping LB out of the air.
Henry: Runs essentially up the ack of Pears, slices through bodies, and ends up with his torso over the goal line. TD
And there you have it. The first Broncos drive of 2007.
Didn't get much of a look at the receivers. As far as blocking, Nalen was far and away the best OL on the field. He won every play. Holland was probably the second best (sorry Kuper), using his size to his advantage. Pears played fairly well, though he was a little inconsistent. Myers really struggled. Meadows needs to find another job. Very inconsistent. If Lepsis isnt 100%, we need to scour the waiver wire, because anyone would be an improvement at this point. Im hopeful that when everyone is healthy, this unit will return to form.
Graham played well as a blocker, and Jackson really suprised me in that department. He may hang around for another year. Jay had a bad first throw, but on the other 2 passing plays (walker and scramble), he looked solid. Too little information to tell. Travis Henry is the man. He will be a very solid player for us.
I didn't bother analyzing the D, as you can't see anyone but the D-Line with the footage ESPN gives you. But I may look at some D players tomorrow or else see if any of the younger O Linemen improved later in the game.
Play 1: 2 wide left, one right. TE on right side. Single back Henry. Defense presents a 3-4 with strongside LB standing up on the line. Henry 11 yard run, 2 hole
Pears: accelerated well to his block and had him on skates, almost pushing the DE into Henry before putting him on his back 4 yards upfield
Myers: Didn't have to do much, his assignment got some penetration around Myers, but on the side away from the ball carrier, so essentially Chris just had to let him run and kind of redirect him.
Nalen: Gets through the trash to eleminate the WILB (I assume that makes sense, the 3-4 ILB towards the weakside). Good play by the vet.
Holland: Pulls through the hole to take on the SILB. Takes him out of play.
Meadows: comes behind Graham to take out the SLB.
Graham: Cuts in to block the DE, appears to get beat to the inside, but in doing so seals off the left side of the hole. Don't have a good view, but it appears after Henry is through the line he falls forward onto the ground. Can't realy see what went on looks, it looks like he just kind of lunged at the DE at that point.
Jackson: lined up as slot receiver to the left accross from and slightly outside the WLB . It looks like he tries to get in a position to block the WLB, can't, and moves downfield to kind of push the FS out of the way. WLB helps make the tackle.
Hixon: Lines up wide left. Goes out of the picture almost immediately after snap.
Walker: Wide right. CB across from him is about 8 yards off. Tries to sell an out route, not in position to block the CB, who is one of the 3 in on the tackle.
Henry: One cut right through the hole, shakes off a lunge by the WDE, splits the CB and WLB right as he's met by the SS and taken down. Falls forward for a yard. 11 yard run.
Play 2: Same formation on both sides of the ball. Corners 7-8 yards off. Cutler bounce pass to Hixon, incomplete
Pears: Steps outside to take on the rushing WLB, lets him 5 yard upfield, though with no horizontal movement towards the QB, before WDE, being blocked by Myers, runs into WLB and Pears, allowing the WLB to squeeze betweeen Pears and Myers just as the ball is thrown.
Myers: Blocks WDE. Disengages briefly, allowing the WDE to get vertically upfield 4 yards (though again, no horizontal penetration). Remains between his assignment and the QB. Awkward play as WDE bumps into WLB and Pears, pushing the WLB between Myers and Pears.
Nalen: blocks NT with help from Holland, gives up very little ground. No penetration.
Holland: see above.
Meadows: Blocks SDE. Solid arm extension, gives up no ground. A solid play.
Graham: Stays in apparently to block SLB, but he feigns a rush before dropping back into zone coverage. Graham then turns to try to help Meadows.
Henry: runs through the line with no one to block and turns around about a yard past the LOS as a safety valve.
Hixon: runs up field and appears to break back towards the LOS for the ball (curl route, I believe). Standing 17 yards up field as the ball bounces a yard or two in front of his feet.
Jackson: Post route. Appears to be in a tough spot with the zone coverage.
Walker: far side of the field, mostly out of camera. Appears to be maybe a curl route.
Cutler: 7 stop drop, plenty of time. Play action fake to Henry, throws well short of an open Hixon. Meh.
Play 3: Strong offset I. Walker left, Hixon right, Johnson in at fullback, Graham on left side with Henry deep. 3-4 front with both OLBs standing up on the line. 20 yards to Walker.
Graham: Releases on a drag route 2 yards past the line. Open. SILB in position to tackle short of 1st, though.
Pears: Gives up abut 4 yards upfield before engaging with SLB. Once engaged, gives up about a yard towards Cutler.
Myers: Engages with SDE, gives up a yard or two while redirecting him horizontally. Solid block.
Nalen: Takes on NT. gives up maybe a yard, but pretty much dominates.
Holland: Blocks WDE with Meadows. Give up about 5 yards upfield. Holland ends up out of the play, though Meadows remains engaged.
Meadows: see above.
Henry: Meets blitzing SILB, gets pushed backwards almost into Cutler. Prevents a sack, but isclose to interfeting with Cutler's throw.
Johnson: Slightly rounded 90 degree quick out. Open.
Hixon: Runs something somewhere between a post and a streak. Has inside position on C, but it would be a tough catch.
Walker: Post route Has inside position and is slightly ahead of CB. Wrapped up immediately, manages 4 to 5 YAC.
Cutler: 7 step drop,feet slightly happy, but stands in the pocket, and with Henry being pushed into his face, collapsing the pocket, delivers a strike to Walker. From rookie to vet in one play.
Play 4: Same formation on both sides of the ball. Henry run outside left, 10 yards.
Graham: Attempts to block SLB, but gets beat to the outside. Henry stiff arms past the lunging arm tackle.
Pears: Drive blocks SDE out and away from the play. Eventually gets beat to the inside, but as the play is to the outside, he held his block long enough to take assignment out of the play.
Myers: Has trouble squeezing between Pears and Lepsis to get to the SILB on the second level. Doesn't get there in time and SILB is free to run to the ball carrier.
Nalen: competently handles the NT, who is a complete non factor in the play.
Holland: Mauls WDE. Completely.
Meadows: Pulls inside and gets lost in the trash. WILB, who it appeared he may have been going for ends up making the tackle.
Walker: Gets a chip in on the S, delaying him enough to keep him out of the initial play, though he chases Henry upfield to help make the tackle from behind when he's met by the WILB.
Hixon: Away from ball, out of the picture
Johnson: Tries to take out feet of pursueing WLB, and gets a piece. LB ends up on the ground momentarily.
Henry: The reason the play worked. Takes the handoff wide outside, stiffarms the lunging SLB, meets both the SILB and CB at about the LOS, plants his foot, lowers his shoulder, and booms his way in between the two defenders. Met 9 yards upfield by WILB and chasing S (that Walker chipped) from behind. Lowers his helmet into LB and knocks him backward for another yard. Beastly.
Play 5: 2 TEs, Jackson left, Graham right. Hixon about 3 yards left of Jackson. Walker about 4 yards right of Graham Singleback Henry with the 3-4 OLBs standing up at the line. Corners way off. Henry runs outside right. With two TEs, and me not knowing proper terminology, I will dub the offensive right side the strong side. Henry runs for 4 or 5.
Jackson: Actually does a very good job blocking the WLB. Suprisingly.
Pears: engages the WDE, but lets him slide towards the playside. Pears gets caught in the trash and disengages. WDE pursues horizontally and assists in tackle on Henry.
Myers: lunges forward at legs of NT, holding him in place.
Nalen: Gets to the second level, adeptly running off the edge of my TV screen. No idea. At the end of the play, he comes back on screen as he's engaged with the WILB 2 yards downfield of where Henry goes down.
Holland: Doesn't drive forward, lets SDE come to him and solidly blocks him. Just stones him.
Meadows: fights to the second level, but the SILB is gone before he gets there. SILB meets Henry 2 yards behind the LOS. Henry breaks the tackle. Once this happens, Meadows is horizontally about a yard or so from the CB running in to the newly created hole. With Pears's WDE coming from the left and the CB from the right, Meadows decided to instead run behind the line of scrimmage towards the SILB Henry stiff armed to the ground so that he can shove him back down as he tries to get up. This is of course 5 yards behind the play, and the two defenders Mewadows neglected to block both converge on Henry to make the tackle. WTF.
Graham: Engages the SLB lined up outside of him, forces him first inside and then to the ground. Completely seals off the inside of the running lane. This guy can block.
Walker: Runs downfield and disappears. At the end of the play is seen blocking the S downfield of where Henry is tackled. Though the corner on his side assisted in the tackle.
Hixon: off camera
Henry: Once again makes up for mediocre blocking by breaking the tackle of an unblocked SILB by stiffarming him to the ground and then catching himself with the arm and cutting upfield. Sandwhiched by WDE and CB at the first down marker, wrapped up but fights forward for another 4 yards.
Play 6: Exact same formations, but with the receivers split their normal distances from the line and Sapp in for Henry. Attempted pass play, Cutler breaks tackle and sneaks it to the one yard line. Again, offensive right will be labelled strong side
Pears: Standing at the snap, engages WLB, uses hands well and gives up no ground horizontally. Solid play
Myers: Tries to drive into WDE, misses to the outside. WDE comes in and barely overruns Cutler, who ducks to avoid the arm tacle. Myers really just got abused.
Nalen: blocks NT with help from Holland. Pancakes him.
Holland: see above.
Meadows: blocks SDE. And in a rare feat of mediocrity, he holds his own, using very good footwork.
Hixon: off camera
Walker: Maybe a curl or post. Gets a shove on a linebacker upfield
Jackson: Shoots downfield, off cameara. Ends up blocking safety at the goal line
Graham: goes downfield for pass off camera, possibly a flag route.
Sapp: rolls left into the flat for a dumpoff.
Cutler: Looks like a 5 step drop. Ducks under the arm tackle of the DE who owned Myers, shoots downfield. Actually shows very good speed. Wraps up the ball as he nears contact, lowers his head (think less shoulder ram and more fetal position) and goes down at the one. Smart decision, if it weren't preseason. Took a decent shot.
Play 7: Goalline formation. Graham to the left, Alexander to the right, Jackson off the line to the right, motions accross to the left. Offensive left is now dubbed strong side. Johnson directly behind Cutler with Henry deep. Henry to the approximately 1 hole, though there are no real gaps. Sorry my comentary here is not very good, but the LOS becoems just a huge heap of bodies.
Jackson: Takes on SLB, redirects him outside and wide of the play.
Graham: takes on SDE, wrestles around, initially pushed back but eventually pushing him to the goalline. I'd say this one was a draw.
Pears: SDT gets lower, goes under Pears such that Pears is literally laying on top of him. Then lost in the jumble.
Myers: Lunges over NT, see above.
Nalen: has legs taken out/ends up laying on top of pile.
Holland: Flies into WDT, ends up going inside of WDT, who stays put and looks like he may have gotten a hand on Henry's legs.
Meadows: doubles WDT with Holland. Can't really tell as he appears to blow past him. But its such a mess that its hard to tell.
Alexader: Engages with WDE and shoves him backwards. Finally a win.
Johnson: Runs to the 1 hole area and disappers into the tangled mass of bodies.
Henry: Met at the pile by a leaping LB coming over the top. WDT kind of gets a piece of his legs. Tries to push and fight his way over the pile, but no dice.
Play 8: Same formations, but with Jackson starting on the left of the LTE and motioning to a spot about a yard behind the LT and LG. Alexander and Graham switch places. 1 yard run by Henry, TD.
Jackson: Fights through the five hole and gets a piece of a LB.
Alexander: Stands the SDE up. As play goes to his inside, he takes the DE out of the play.
Pears: Drives down on SDT, pushes into the ground/
Myers: See above, but with NT.
Nalen: dowbles on the NT.
Holland: Lunges past WDT and hits the legs of some LBs
Meadows: Pushes WDT backwards, with some initial help by Holland. One of Pears's better plays.
Graham: Stands up and eliminates WDE.
Johnson: Leaps over the top, taking a leaping LB out of the air.
Henry: Runs essentially up the ack of Pears, slices through bodies, and ends up with his torso over the goal line. TD
And there you have it. The first Broncos drive of 2007.
Didn't get much of a look at the receivers. As far as blocking, Nalen was far and away the best OL on the field. He won every play. Holland was probably the second best (sorry Kuper), using his size to his advantage. Pears played fairly well, though he was a little inconsistent. Myers really struggled. Meadows needs to find another job. Very inconsistent. If Lepsis isnt 100%, we need to scour the waiver wire, because anyone would be an improvement at this point. Im hopeful that when everyone is healthy, this unit will return to form.
Graham played well as a blocker, and Jackson really suprised me in that department. He may hang around for another year. Jay had a bad first throw, but on the other 2 passing plays (walker and scramble), he looked solid. Too little information to tell. Travis Henry is the man. He will be a very solid player for us.
I didn't bother analyzing the D, as you can't see anyone but the D-Line with the footage ESPN gives you. But I may look at some D players tomorrow or else see if any of the younger O Linemen improved later in the game.