KEY MATCHUPS WEEK 2 - Broncos @ Falcons

[Ronnie Tsunami]

---MORE TO COME---

1. Falcons RT Tyson Clabo vs. Denver OLB Von Miller

Clabo is a former Bronco who recently signed a 5 year, $25 million extension with the Dirty Birds. Flying under the radar, Clabo is regarded by most as a top-10 right tackle in the game. In week one, Clabo was pitted against the Chiefs 3-4 outside linebacker Justin Houston, a recent product out of Georgia who can play both the 3 and 5 weak alignment techniques, much like Mr. Miller.

Houston subbed in for nixed stud Tamba Hali, who is similarly versatile. I believe Hali was serving a suspension. Regardless, Houston managed to snag a sack towards the end of the 2nd quarter, where the Falcons had driven to the 3 yard line, beating down on the Chiefs fan section.

If Houston can beat Clabo on a non-passing down at the goal line, my guess is that Von Miller should finish the day with at least one sack and a handful of key QB pressures. If he can’t get past the 330 pounder, Dumervil had better step his game up, or it will be a long evening for Tracy Porter and Mike Adams. Every other match up that throws a Broncos defender against a Falcons skill position player will be significantly impacted by this match-up.

2. Tracy Porter, right cornerback vs. Julio Jones, #2 wide receiver

If the incumbent AFC Defensive Player of the week wants to have a second solid game, he must do so against against one of the hottest WR’s in the league.

Julio Jones has dominated non-stop, practically every single game of his high school, college, and now pro careers. He does not come out of the blue; Jones was ranked the #1 wideout in the nation by rivals during his senior year.

Once again, he dominated at Alabama, and has recently resumed his dominating ways at this level. Jones put up six catches and over 100 yards, resulting in a pair of big ole TD’s.

While Bailey will certainly take swipes at Jones in red zone situations, it can be expected that 24 will be matched up against Roddy White, who usually lines up on the offense’s right side. (And Bailey at the D’s left, hence the “Left-side lockdown moniker”) White is the more proven of the WR duo, but Matt Ryan knows he will have to look elsewhere. You can bet that Ryan will be studying Porter film all week. Press coverage will not be attempted,a nd if it is, a safety will be over the top.

3. Mike Adams, safety vs. Tony Gonzalez, tight end

Mike Adams is the Broncos alleged “tight end firefighter.” With the emergence of beast TE’s, teams are hunkered down in their laboratories, trying to develop a hybrid safety that can come up in the box, support the run AND run with the best tight ends. While Gonzalez came into the league a decade before the emergence of the modern day tight end, he certainly still has the skill set to gouge Denver for 80 yards and a touchdown or two.

If Bailey locks down his man, Ryan will look to Jones first, and Gonzalez second. If Adams cannot distinguish the play at the line immediately, look for the Falcons to eat the Broncos alive on 3rd down, much like Pittsburgh did for three-and-a-half quarters.

More to come, post your matchups

[Chris]

Solid write up. Did you write this or copy this from somewhere?

[Agamemnon]

Dangerous receiving tight ends are nothing new, they're just getting more popular. Bronco fans of all people should know this.

[cutthemdown]

Awesome thread I love talking individual matchups. A lot of times on the board the threads are sort of generic and lack details on the actual match ups that will be important.

Last week I totally blew it thinking the Doom/Starks matchup was going to be a key to the game. But really it never seemed to become one as Doom had rbs chipping him all night.

This week my pick is simple.

Usually Grimes plays the RT corner, which mostly would match up with DT. But he is out for the yr. IMO the Chiefs will try and put Asante Samual on DT, but maybe not so this matchup could be fluid.

But Duante Robinson - 5-10 bkup CB - against either Decker or DT. This CB is notorious for gambling and giving up big plays. I really think he has less chance of stopping either of our WR then Bailey and Porter do of playing Jones and White.

They are the big time passing team, but I think we have the matchups to really throw to our WR this game.

Also our two TE sets with single back allow us to protect manning in a variety of ways. I think we can get big plays out of that formation going deep to our WR against Robinson.

[TheReverend]

Why do people assume we're even going to consider 1v1 match ups?

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by TheReverend

Why do people assume we're even going to consider 1v1 match ups?

Broncos will play a lot of cover 1 probably. Trying to not show what WR would be doubled deep. Moore will play center field, Adams will try and help on Gonzo, Porter and Bailey will probably both get stuck in man to man at different times.

But even when a corner in 1-1 its not like there aren't zones all over the field with the safetys and the linebackers.

One thing we aren't good at is that middle of the field zones with our linebackers. What frustrates me is Woodyard often right there in his zone, or sticking to his man, but then doesn't seem to get his hands on the ball lol.

I still think he can become a better play with some more starts under his belt.

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

Broncos will play a lot of cover 1 probably. Trying to not show what WR would be doubled deep. Moore will play center field, Adams will try and help on Gonzo, Porter and Bailey will probably both get stuck in man to man at different times.

But even when a corner in 1-1 its not like there aren't zones all over the field with the safetys and the linebackers.

One thing we aren't good at is that middle of the field zones with our linebackers. What frustrates me is Woodyard often right there in his zone, or sticking to his man, but then doesn't seem to get his hands on the ball lol.

I still think he can become a better play with some more starts under his belt.

We played the **** out of cover 3 against Steelers receivers that aren't HALF the deep threat JJ and Roddy are, but you think we're gonna swap out of that and into cover 1 against them?

I'll have what you're smoking.

[cmhargrove]

We just aren't good at covering Tight Ends. Not our linebackers, not our safeties. Hopefully, we can scheme our way into fixing that problem in the next few weeks before we see the Pats again.

Otherwise, i don't see us keeping the Falcons' receivers out of the end zone all day, we just hope to keep that to 1-2 passing scores to their top receivers.

This is another really fun matchup in what is going to be a really fun season. Hopefully, we stomp the birdies and keep our team healthy. This is a brutal opening schedule and we need all of our starters.

[Tombstone RJ]

I'm thinking the falcons are going to try and exploit the Broncos inability to cover jack-diddly-crap over the middle due to slow LBers.

[Smiling Assassin27]

Roddy White chiming in:

Roddy White ‏@roddywhiteTV
Watching film and the broncos love to play cover 6 and cover 4 little man coverage on third and medium or short #runmiketurnerrun

Retweeted by Michelle Beisner

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by Smiling Assassin27

Roddy White chiming in:

And I hope we treat them that same exact way!

JDR isn't going to change his base from week to week. Not his style.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by TheReverend

We played the **** out of cover 3 against Steelers receivers that aren't HALF the deep threat JJ and Roddy are, but you think we're gonna swap out of that and into cover 1 against them?

I'll have what you're smoking.

I didn't see alot of 3 dbacks back each taking 1/3 of the deep field. Truthfully though i didnt go back and watch a whole lot but will watch closer this week.

I thought our zones were disguised a bit better then that.

[cutthemdown]

Originally Posted by TheReverend

We played the **** out of cover 3 against Steelers receivers that aren't HALF the deep threat JJ and Roddy are, but you think we're gonna swap out of that and into cover 1 against them?

I'll have what you're smoking.

I didn't see alot of 3 dbacks back each taking 1/3 of the deep field. Truthfully though i didnt go back and watch a whole lot but will watch closer this week.

I thought our zones were disguised a bit better then that. But what I am smoking is pretty good.

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

I didn't see alot of 3 dbacks back each taking 1/3 of the deep field. Truthfully though i didnt go back and watch a whole lot but will watch closer this week.

I thought our zones were disguised a bit better then that. But what I am smoking is pretty good.

They look a lot alike (like 2 and 4 do). One way to check is to see how they manipulate the WR. Funneling the player inside to the safety is usually a man technique as opposed to giving him the sideline.

[cutthemdown]

I did notice the CB use a lot of outside technique forcing the WR to take inside releases.

Porter IMO is obviously faster then Goodman was by quite a bit. WIth Moore in there and now Porter we are quite a bit quicker on the back end then we were last few years.

Once concern I have is that our linebackers even when they position themselves well, still can't make a play. The coordinator has them in right spot but they just don't make a lot of plays.

[ZONA]

How The Broncos Win:


Offense - Obviously it all starts with #18. Look for the Broncos to start no huddle this time but will try to establish the run early. A steady diet of successful running will open things up for more play action passing. With Atlanta not really having much of a defensive rush presence, look for Manning to go with more deeper routes and even some double moves with the extra time in the pocket.

Defense - Look for the defense to play safe early not to give up big plays so soon and get the crowd into it. That means DB's will give some cushion to the Atlanta WR's. Don't look for Broncos safeties to be up in the box too much, they're going to need to help in the secondary. This should not be a problem as the Atlanta rushing game is not on track as of now. Denver NEEDS to get to Ryan with the front 4/5. They can't risk a safety blitz.


Broncos - 34
Falcons - 24

[Bacchus]

Originally Posted by Tombstone RJ

I'm thinking the falcons are going to try and exploit the Broncos inability to cover jack-diddly-crap over the middle due to slow LBers.

If the Broncos give Porter over the top safety support than the middle will be open for the Falcons, but you have to pick your poison.

[Doggcow]

The only matchup I'm really worried about is Tony G.

The only close 2nd is their D Line. I think our Oline should hold up fine, but we have lapses here and there and a badly timed one could be extremely costly.

[Play2win]

One of the reasons Stockley was called the slot machine was because he was getting throws from the screen master. He has that again now.

[kent156]

what is Sam brandon up to these days?

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

If the Broncos give Porter over the top safety support than the middle will be open for the Falcons, but you have to pick your poison.

I think our best option to take away the deep game and let them catch the intermediate stuff and take punishment coming across the middle.

Should be all slowed down by the second half and won't even want to play anymore by the 4th.

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by kent156

what is Sam brandon up to these days?

I think Carter could handle that role.

Surprisingly good in man coverage in college.

[s0phr0syne]

Originally Posted by TheReverend

I think Carter could handle that role.

Surprisingly good in man coverage in college.

Tony or Quinton? (I'm assuming Quinton, but just making sure.)

[rmsanger]

Well at least the good news is that we're facing two of the best receiving Corps right off the bat this year! Our 2ndary will be tested early and often which should bode well for the remainder of the year (except NE) as they will be lesser talented players.

Another interesting observation will be how well our Defense handles the run, especially against Oak & HOU. We saw our 2ndary play well together, especially in the redzone against Pitt. I'm not sure how good they are against the run (outside of champ). Our LB's look sloppy & inconsistent against the run as well.

[TheReverend]

Originally Posted by s0phr0syne

Tony or Quinton? (I'm assuming Quinton, but just making sure.)

Quinton. Been mentioning it since he was drafted:

http://orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?t=98026

^ btw, barring hiccups with Irving's performance and 1 mention of McBath, the rest of that post is EXACTLY what's come to pass in the year and a half since.

I'm pretty awesome, alright.

Oh man... even more awesome... from page 2:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

But as far as nickel looks, I expect us to play a 3-3-5 nickel and drop a lineman instead of a linebacker OR to go 4-1-6 and have Carter play the dime back role (almost like the 2nd nickel LB... a modified "big nickel" almost).

We saw a TON of that last Sunday.