chickennob2
10-07-2007, 09:31 PM
This season is looking like it may be a lost cause. The Travis Henry experiment failed (dope). Ben Hamilton's injury was a big blow. The defensive interior is a joke. It looks like the DJ as Mike experiment failed too. Ian Gold is done in Denver. So, since at this point we don't look to be in contention for the division, and we can certainly forget about the wild card, I say we change a few things up.
First of all, forget about replacing Shannahan. True, we haven't been to the superbowl in 10 years. But then again, only 13 teams have made it to the big game since we last made it. Of those 13, 4 now have different head coaches than they did in the years they won it. While we in Denver have come to expect championships from the Broncos, we have to be realistic. Year in and year out the Broncos are competitive. And while this year doesn't look promising, we are coming off of 2 very solid drafts and have a lot of young talent. I think this team is a year away, maybe 2, from being a serious competitor.
Secondly, you can forget about replacing Bates. The defense is sucking for 2 reasons. 1) We don't have the personnel for the scheme. 2) Players generally take time to adjust to new schemes. On the first problem, you have to admit that the DT and LB positions are both severely underperforming. We just don't have the talent there to compete. And when the interior of your defense has little talent, you are going to be run on. Regardless of coaching. There are certain things you can try to do, gimmicks and whatnot like we tried 1st half against the Colts, but sooner or later talent will win out. This is an area we have to improve on. Al Wilson's injury hurt badly, and the DJ move turned out to not work. But again, you can't blame coaching for this. As for the second facet of our defensive woes, teams take time to gel in a new system. By replacing Bates, all you are doing is making this problem worse. We need some consistency in the staff. Give Bates another year with some actual talent and see what he can do.
Still, at this point, the season looks to be heading nowhere fast. So I say put the young guys in. Scheffler reappeared today, and Martinez surprised everyone with quite a few solid catches. Don't push Walker or Champ to play until they are completely healthy and ready to go. They are our long term answers, and we shouldn't risk prolonged injury to get them some garbage time. Along the D-Line, get Moss, Crowder, Elvis, and Thomas in as much as possible. Engleberger can ride the pine. Maybe switch up the linebackers. Try Webster at Mike and Williams back at Will. Put Lewis/Green in at Sam. Gold can enjoy the view from the sidelines. When Hamza returns, let him play for Ferguson/Lynch as much as possible. We really need to see what these young guys have in them.
So while I'm not giving up on the team, I am giving up on this incarnation of the team. Things aren't working right now. Get the young guys in there and get them some experience. And hey, they may just be an improvement.
First of all, forget about replacing Shannahan. True, we haven't been to the superbowl in 10 years. But then again, only 13 teams have made it to the big game since we last made it. Of those 13, 4 now have different head coaches than they did in the years they won it. While we in Denver have come to expect championships from the Broncos, we have to be realistic. Year in and year out the Broncos are competitive. And while this year doesn't look promising, we are coming off of 2 very solid drafts and have a lot of young talent. I think this team is a year away, maybe 2, from being a serious competitor.
Secondly, you can forget about replacing Bates. The defense is sucking for 2 reasons. 1) We don't have the personnel for the scheme. 2) Players generally take time to adjust to new schemes. On the first problem, you have to admit that the DT and LB positions are both severely underperforming. We just don't have the talent there to compete. And when the interior of your defense has little talent, you are going to be run on. Regardless of coaching. There are certain things you can try to do, gimmicks and whatnot like we tried 1st half against the Colts, but sooner or later talent will win out. This is an area we have to improve on. Al Wilson's injury hurt badly, and the DJ move turned out to not work. But again, you can't blame coaching for this. As for the second facet of our defensive woes, teams take time to gel in a new system. By replacing Bates, all you are doing is making this problem worse. We need some consistency in the staff. Give Bates another year with some actual talent and see what he can do.
Still, at this point, the season looks to be heading nowhere fast. So I say put the young guys in. Scheffler reappeared today, and Martinez surprised everyone with quite a few solid catches. Don't push Walker or Champ to play until they are completely healthy and ready to go. They are our long term answers, and we shouldn't risk prolonged injury to get them some garbage time. Along the D-Line, get Moss, Crowder, Elvis, and Thomas in as much as possible. Engleberger can ride the pine. Maybe switch up the linebackers. Try Webster at Mike and Williams back at Will. Put Lewis/Green in at Sam. Gold can enjoy the view from the sidelines. When Hamza returns, let him play for Ferguson/Lynch as much as possible. We really need to see what these young guys have in them.
So while I'm not giving up on the team, I am giving up on this incarnation of the team. Things aren't working right now. Get the young guys in there and get them some experience. And hey, they may just be an improvement.