TMQ Tuesday Morning Quarterback's AFC preview:

[dragondawg]

Since Mike Shanahan -- known to this column as The Ultimate Leader, which Shanahan declares himself in his 3,814-word official bio -- became coach, Denver has led all local galaxies in rushing, averaging more than 80 parsecs gained annually. Really, the Broncos' rushing stats since 1995 are quite amazing: Denver has led the NFL in rushing since Shanahan arrived, having 1,000-yard backs in 11 of those 12 seasons. Others around the league tend to downplay the achievement, saying it is merely the result of Denver using a "system." As TMQ endlessly counters, why doesn't everyone use the Denver "system"?

The Cursors' rushing system has two basic components: at-the-knees blocking designed to injure opponents and a one-cut rule for running backs. At-the-knees blocking forces opponents to protect their knees, which makes them less effective. Denver's rushing performance declined somewhat last season after officials warned The Ultimate Leader his blockers would be watched more closely. One-cut running -- no dancing, no stutter-step, just choose a direction and hit the hole -- makes so much sense, Tuesday Morning Quarterback cannot fathom why every NFL team doesn't impose this rule. Bobby Turner, the running backs coach who came to Denver with Shanahan 12 years ago, never gets mentioned in the national media -- hmmm, a rule we just broke here -- though he ought to be celebrated. One reason the Broncos unloaded tailback Tatum Bell in the offseason is that he refused to follow Turner's one-cut rule. This year, the Denver workhorse will be Travis Henry, who's a prototypical one-cut runner. Henry has a legit opportunity to become the first person to rush for more than 1,200 yards for three teams, having already hit this plateau with Buffalo and Tennessee.

In recent years, Shanahan has staged total Broncos makeovers pretty much annually, and the lack of continuity has shown. Last year, he benched Jake Plummer when Denver was 7-4 and had the inside track for the playoffs; Jay Cutler went 2-3, and the Broncos went home. In the first half of 2006, Denver led the league in defense. Throughout the second half of the season, the Denver defense declined, finishing eighth in points against and 14th in yards against. Note: The defense declined when the offense declined because of The Ultimate Leader's quarterback shift. Shanahan put the blame on defensive coordinator Larry Coyer and cashiered him. Sure, three months ago, you ran a defense that became the first NFL team in 64 years to not allow a touchdown in the season's first 11 quarters. But what have you done for us lately? Apparently, Coyer was a magnificent genius in September and by December had become a total idiot, while Shanahan never wavered, always being The Ultimate Leader. Coyer's replacement, Jim Bates, is good, but still! This year, the Broncos will field a shook-up defensive line for the third consecutive season, with three of Denver's four draft choices being defensive linemen. Increasingly, Denver's decision to let Trevor Pryce go to Baltimore looks like a major blunder.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...4&sportCat=nfl

[atomicbloke]

Gregg Easterbrook has a grouse with Denver. I have never read anything good he had to say about Denver. If anyone else has, please tell me when.

Even when Denver wins a game, he has something bad to say about Shanny. From the above, it is clear he didn't watch Denver's games. He just saw the result and the statistics after the game and is basing his conclusions on them.

So a player can get injured with cut-blocking? Dammit, a player can get injured on every damn play. Football is a violent physical game where injuries are rampant. If you don't want to risk serious injury, you should stick to ping pong.

[chickennob2]

And he says that the defense declined at hte same time the offense declined when Cutler took over. First off, the defense really hit the fan in the Indy game, long before Cutler stepped in. Second, the offense IMPROVED when Cutler took over. This guy is an idiot.

[SportinOne]

The shift in quarterback had little to do with our defense collapsing. If it fell on the offense at all, it was Tatum. Always hurt, always going down easy on 3rd down. But this is nothing new to us Bronco fans. Still feels like the offseason when you get articles like this.

[400HZ]

Easterbrook is a Patsy homer, but I still think he's pretty entertaining.

[Ron Mexico]

Originally Posted by chickennob2

And he says that the defense declined at hte same time the offense declined when Cutler took over. First off, the defense really hit the fan in the Indy game, long before Cutler stepped in. Second, the offense IMPROVED when Cutler took over. This guy is an idiot.

Absolutely agree. One of the worst researched and obviously slanted articles I've read this year.

[NASurfer]

He doesn't know very much about this team but let's give him props for getting some names right! ie: Shanahan = head coach

[Paladin]

Originally Posted by 400HZ

Easterbrook is a Patsy homer, but I still think he's pretty entertaining.

You would think so. You don't have good sense anyway, sparkie........

[cmhargrove]

TMQ is a blow hard, that's what he gets paid to do. Sarcasm and witty satire are his specialties.

Although, if he really knew his crap he would have harped on Plummer, rather than Shanahan kicking Coyer to the curb. Anyone who watched us play Indy last year would understand the nature of our second half defensive fade.

Sometimes TMQ comes up with some clever stuff, but his job is usually to make fun of everyone.

[bronco militia]

FYI...Esterbrook graduated from Colorado College