Week 11 Bronco Revelations

[bpc]

Cutler - Best QB rating game he has had all year. I think he's played better in other games, made better throws, more plays but it was nice to see a truly efficient effort like this one. This is what we could have every week for him if the OLine blocks like they did this game and the WR's make one on one plays like they did. Great game though. I'd give him an A.

Backfield - Well, I was concerned if Selvin Young could carry the rock and be a primary back especially against a physical defense. Unfortunately it looks like he has a lot of talents we can use on the field, I doubt he is a bell-cow that we can depend on for a 30 carry game every once in awhile. Still, it was great to see the depth of this backfield however there is room for improvement. Andre Hall showed a nice fresh burst coming off the bench for the Broncos. That 62 yd was a thing of beauty. We know we have a couple different guys that can carry the rock for us. It will be interesting to see what happens with Travis Henry and his suspension for the rest of this season. I don't think anybody will deny that the guy has great talent when he is on the field healthy. He just gets dinged easily and has questionable character. Like it or not, if the league doesn't suspend him, he could be a key player coming down the stretch for our offense. IF HE DOES get suspended, I still think we have to look at adding another HB in the offseason. I do like the look of Selvin Young, Andre Hall and Mike Bell in the backfield. Back to the HB by committee.

WR - Marshall finally got into the endzone. He lacks true speed but his YAC potential is a huge thing for this team. Stokely continues to be gold for 3 or 4 big catches a game whether it be first downs or TD's. Glenn Martinez was my player of the game before he fumbled that PR. He gave us a big play and then took that TD away. Still, his block was the reason that Stokely scored early in the 1st quarter. The guy definitely looks like a solid player though.

Should be interesting to see how Javon Walker fits into this team down the stretch. Our schedule definitely softens up, as does the pass defenses we play. If he could come back and return to the level we are used to seeing from him... he could help morph this offense into a really dangerous unit.

OL - I thought the line played great... outside of Erik Pears. He had another holding call and gave up another sack. The guy sucks. I still am standing by assertion that this team needs to draft a top flight tackle in the first round this year.

DL - I thought it was interesting to see Marcus Thomas not starting. I'm wondering what was going on there. Elvis was plugging away, basically the only consistent rush we had coming each play. Another nice play by Crowder. I think we found ourselves a keeper boys. The other guys put together a blue collar, solid effort. We need more pressure on the QB.

LB - I thought DJ had a solid game. I didn't see Webster too much but he made a few tackles. It looked like they had Gold spying Young which rarely worked. I saw Ian getting juked out of his cleats a bunch of plays. We need to go in a different direction from that guy.

DB - Its alarming how many big plays our secondary is giving up. Especially Champ and Bly this year. If you ever want to personally make me mad... have the play be 3rd and 2 and tell Karl Paymah to sit 10 yards off the WR. We had some stupid plays and coverages on 3rd down against the Titans. Against a better team, we would have lost. I thought Lynch was solid. Abdullah was exploding out there but he still needs to remain in control. He left a lot of plays out on the field. I thought Champ looked subpar on a bunch of plays against a pedestrian WR like Justin Gage. Bly got owned a few times too but he lived up to his name as a gamble first corner. He now has 4 INT's on the year.

ST - I thought that the units were great outside of one kick return and the fumbled punt by Martinez.

Coaching - I thought it was solid as wel. Still, I think Shanahan needs to have a better understanding of how to get his players into the game. I thought we should have went to Marshall earlier in the game. I also think we need to design some early pass plays to get the TE's involved in the game.

Nice win over a solid team in the AFC. Chicago is a dangerous team and it will be in the windy city. We need to play opportunistic on defense but we can't keep letting WR's run right by us in the secondary. Grossman has a lot of flaws but the one thing he can do is throw the long ball. We'll have to confuse him and get him throwing it to us. The schedule looks really managable from here on out and if we can just overachieve on defense a little, I think we could be poised for a nice little stretch for the remainder of the sason.

[Hogan11]

This was Cutler's first game without an INT, no?

Nevertheless, it was a watershed game for him...best one he's played to date thanks to the line holding up well.

Young and Hall are very promising...I think you can forget about Bell.

Marshall & Martinez (in spite of his fumble) both had good games. Stokley continues to be the sure thing that he is, no surprise there.

The D continues to improve but not at the rate of the ST's, still it's all good.

It's very hard not to be optimistic after that performance last night.

I'm buying, big time.

[elsid13]

nice breakdown, but are you referring to the safety blitz as one given up by Pears. Because I think that was on Hall, Pears took the DE and Hall didn't step up when the SS hit the gap.

[chrisp]

Originally Posted by Hogan11

This was Cutler's first game without an INT, no?

No, his third actually, the streak of reg-season games with at least one int ended against GB, even though we lost. Plus he didn't throw a pick against detroit, but you can be forgiven for forgetting about that one.

In fact I'd rather he continued the streak and we won both games (or at least were in the Detroit game).

The best thing about this game is that it was a solid win against a good team who, for all their question marks are solid in the trenches on both sides of the ball. That had been one of the biggest weaknesses so far - in the detroit game our O-line was just flat-out bullied by Detroit's big guys

As for Marcus Thomas, I don't think he's been starting for some time. In fact, I think he was put in there after the San Diego game more as a wake-up call to the vets than becuase he had finally 'arrived'. He's still developing so please don't start any "Is Thomas a bust?" musings just yet, there was no way he was going to ever do more than be a part of the rotation in his first year, even if he goes on to be an all-pro eventually. In fact, I would say he's doing well to be on the field and participating, usually rookies struggle to get on the field on the lines, especially in Denver.

[dragondawg]

i liked how marhsall pumped fake the pass to no one

[Mediator12]

The DL made Young look like Montana last night throwing the ball, bpc. I really questioned their strategy especially after his injury to sit back and allow him all day to find guys. There was zero pressure on him in the pocket and when he ran it was because of the coverage and not because of pressure. If you allow him a free release and vision he is going to make people miss alot of the time. Plus, he passed for over 300 yds and could have had 400 if they did not drop 5 or more passes.

They were very fortunate to get the TO's or they would have surrendered close to 500 yds last night and a lot more points. Worst game I have ever seen out of Champ and the rest of the pass defense was totally exposed again due to lack of pressure from the front four. At least, they are playing the run much better.

[fontaine]

Originally Posted by Mediator12

The DL made Young look like Montana last night throwing the ball, bpc. I really questioned their strategy especially after his injury to sit back and allow him all day to find guys. There was zero pressure on him in the pocket and when he ran it was because of the coverage and not because of pressure. If you allow him a free release and vision he is going to make people miss alot of the time. Plus, he passed for over 300 yds and could have had 400 if they did not drop 5 or more passes.

I agree, the DL is a house of cards. There were some individual plays by Crowder, Thomas (FF), Mallard, even Adams but you get some of those with the huge volume of plays Tenn ran off.

For most of the game, the DL was sucking wind, at home, protecting a lead. Dumervil was the only one who I saw playing with reckless speed and total comittment. The rest of the guys either have no talent or have some talent but are still too young (Crowder/Thomas).

I would put this DL among the worst I've seen in Denver under Shanahan and that's saying a lot. I'm really, really surprised now we didn't go after Grady Jackson.

[-Slap-]

I think the best thing you can do with a guy like Young (or Vick or Flutie) is keep him in the pocket and make him throw the ball to beat you. A balls out pass rush is making it easy on him. Looking at the numbers, we did flush him more than people might expect. His 11 rushing attempts equaled a season high and not many of them were designed runs. It's true his 74 rushing yards were also a season high, but that's largely due to the inability of our spies to break down in space.

[broncswin]

Originally Posted by dragondawg

i liked how marhsall pumped fake the pass to no one

Me too, that is just football instinct right there, at sometime in his playing days I think he got the opportunity to throw the rock.

[Dukes]

Originally Posted by dragondawg

i liked how marhsall pumped fake the pass to no one

I was worried he'd lose the ball trying to pull it back in. Great play considering it got him an extra 5+ yards

[Rohirrim]

If we can't move to somehow get Dorsey in the first round, I hope the Broncos go after a first round tackle AND a meat eating, giant, bone crushing guard in the 2nd or 3rd. I'm sick of watching this team get down to the five and calling in Elam because they don't have the beef to drive it down their throats.

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by -Slap-

I think the best thing you can do with a guy like Young (or Vick or Flutie) is keep him in the pocket and make him throw the ball to beat you.

That was the general consensus before the game, but after seeing him last night I think it is the last thing you should do. The guy can find open receivers and can hit them with ease when given time. If you make him throw on the run, however, he clearly cannot hit a guy two yards in front of him with the ball. It's unreal how inaccurate this guy is when he is on the move. I say blitz him up the middle every time, force him out of the pocket, and have either a spy or a guy like Crowder (who appeared to be the only guy who could take him down one-on-one) ready for him on the outside.

[BroncoFiend]

Originally Posted by dragondawg

i liked how marhsall pumped fake the pass to no one

I agree, whatever you think about Marshall, that guy is a playmaker. He is always looking to make a play. He even made that one look like it was a designed pass all the way. Really smart thinking.

He might be as much fun to watch as any Bronco in a long time. I just hope he keeps his nose out of trouble.

[Broncoman13]

Originally Posted by -Slap-

I think the best thing you can do with a guy like Young (or Vick or Flutie) is keep him in the pocket and make him throw the ball to beat you. A balls out pass rush is making it easy on him. Looking at the numbers, we did flush him more than people might expect. His 11 rushing attempts equaled a season high and not many of them were designed runs. It's true his 74 rushing yards were also a season high, but that's largely due to the inability of our spies to break down in space.

Young looked up and saw that they were spying him, usually with Ian. He believes he can win that match-up one on one and that's why he ran so much. Ian Gold couldn't tackle him when he got to him and the other half dozen plays he just over pursued/took poor angles/or flat out couldn't bring him down.

One of the reasons Young is going to be a good QB is b/c he dictates match-ups. The teams that will have the most success vs VY are the teams with strong push up the middle. DE's contain and DT's get after him and he has problems. He doesn't throw very well on the run and the inside pressure with DE's containing outside give him problems. Last night we didn't get much pressure and our DE's didn't contain. I think it's funny to try and spy VY. A lot of people here said he wouldn't be able to do in the NFL what he did in College. So far he's been able to make people miss and proven that he's not very easy to take down. I can't think of too many people in the league that could effectively "spy" VY. Gold has the speed and agility and looked silly even when he was there to make the play his 220# frame was just too small.

[Broncoman13]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

That was the general consensus before the game, but after seeing him last night I think it is the last thing you should do. The guy can find open receivers and can hit them with ease when given time. If you make him throw on the run, however, he clearly cannot hit a guy two yards in front of him with the ball. It's unreal how inaccurate this guy is when he is on the move. I say blitz him up the middle every time, force him out of the pocket, and have either a spy or a guy like Crowder (who appeared to be the only guy who could take him down one-on-one) ready for him on the outside.

The spy proved to be a waste of time.

The pressure up the middle with the DE's playing contain is the key. Force VY to throw on the run and you can beat him.

He's no Jay Cutler throwing the ball but I think 99% of the QB's in the NFL can hit an open receiver when given time.

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by OSKIE!!!

The spy proved to be a waste of time.

Only because they had the spy setting up too far downfield, allowing VY to get a head of steam going before the spy could get to him.

[bronclvr]

I love Champ, but what is up with him? He got beat, like four or five times which is not like him-I wonder if his injuries are worse than advertised-

[CHANGSTER]

Originally Posted by OSKIE!!!

The spy proved to be a waste of time.

The pressure up the middle with the DE's playing contain is the key. Force VY to throw on the run and you can beat him.

He's no Jay Cutler throwing the ball but I think 99% of the QB's in the NFL can hit an open receiver when given time.

Not 100? just had to take a shot at Van Pelt didn't you

[Paladin]

Add the fact that the "spy" is not a good tackler. He hugs the runners down.......

[bpc]

Originally Posted by elsid13

nice breakdown, but are you referring to the safety blitz as one given up by Pears. Because I think that was on Hall, Pears took the DE and Hall didn't step up when the SS hit the gap.

True. But watch the play again. Who are you blocking Pears? He engaged a player and basically turned them lose after about 1 second.

I'm sick and tired of watching Erik Pears. He is a slight upgrade over George Foster because he can actually be in the position he should be in for the play called. He however lacks athletic ability and the ability to redirect which makes him extremely limited on the field.

[Los Broncos]

Originally Posted by bronclvr

I love Champ, but what is up with him? He got beat, like four or five times which is not like him-I wonder if his injuries are worse than advertised-

He did make some keys plays and third down.

But he doesn't look one hundred percent.

[loborugger]

I seem to remember Sam Adams getting some good push up the middle on a couple of plays last night. Wasnt expecting to see that.

[fontaine]

Originally Posted by bpc

True. But watch the play again. Who are you blocking Pears? He engaged a player and basically turned them lose after about 1 second.

I'm sick and tired of watching Erik Pears. He is a slight upgrade over George Foster because he can actually be in the position he should be in for the play called. He however lacks athletic ability and the ability to redirect which makes him extremely limited on the field.

I'm beginning to see this as well.

Pears basically has window or maybe 3 seconds where he can use his wingspan to steer DEs out wide but he simply doesn't have the footwork and quickness of steps to keep up with the DEs. If the ball isn't release in that time then the DE usually get's pressure on Cutler, but Jay has been doing a good job stepping into the pocket to get away from the outside pressure.

I'm really disapointed to say the least. I was really hoping Pears was going to be able to take the next step after a few games but athletic ability seems to be limiting him.

[telluride]

Kinda annoying to see D. Veal making plays for the Titans.

[Crushaholic]

Originally Posted by dragondawg

i liked how marhsall pumped fake the pass to no one

Yes, I almost forgot about that move. It froze the defender until Marshall could get across the first down marker...