Grading McD & Co.

[Bronco Yoda]

So what's the verdict so far. One game down.

Situational awareness was a mixed bag. Good that they gained those 18 sec. back on the clock at the end. Bad that they didn't call a time if someone would have not there wasn't a punter out there on 4th down!

The offense never really got into a rythm. Too many revolving rb's? Not enough Play action? just poor execution?

Nolan's D was good against a week O-line. Good to see some pressure but why no blitzes on that last drive to give up the score?

Special teams was sloppy. I had hoped for better from the preseason showing.

Too many costly penalties in the second half.



What say you all?

[lex]

Gerunds

[tsiguy96]

mcd put this team in a great position to win the game on that final drive, interior oline penalties killed it. we shoulda had the game locked down before the ID.

[lex]

Originally Posted by tsiguy96

mcd put this team in a great position to win the game on that final drive, interior oline penalties killed it. we shoulda had the game locked down before the ID.

6 pts?

[SonOfLe-loLang]

Our special teams were sloppy? I thought they did pretty good

[Tombstone RJ]

Defense: A
Offense: D
Special Teams: C
Coaching: A

I give coaching credit, especially Nolan's job. It's not like Cincy doesn't have weapons, they do. Carson Palmer is a great QB and the drive at the end of the game shows how good their offense can be.

McD did a good job too, esp. at the end of the game when he questioned the time remaining on the clock and the refs changed the time from 28 seconds to 40 seconds after McD told them how to do their jobs. Kudos to McD. This is why you are the man.

[tsiguy96]

Originally Posted by lex

6 pts?

when it was 6-0 and we were in FG range jackass.

[lex]

Originally Posted by tsiguy96

when it was 6-0 and we were in FG range jackass.

OK, 9 pts. Wow! Thats awesome work by the offense.

[lex]

Originally Posted by SonOfLe-loLang

Our special teams were sloppy? I thought they did pretty good

Yeah, on one of Praters FGs there was a high snap but he drilled it.

[tsiguy96]

Originally Posted by lex

OK, 9 pts. Wow! Thats awesome work by the offense.

if it takes 9 points to win, whats the problem? do you ALWAYS have something to b**** and moan about? its amazing, how can you truly have fun watching broncos if all you do is cry that they arent doing waht you want them to?

[TheDave]

Just too damn sloppy of a game for any grades... Yes the defense looked great but they were also bailed out several times by Cinci's dropped passes. On the other hand Cinci was bailed out several times with our offensive drops.

At this point everyone gets an IN-COM-PLETE.

[WolfpackGuy]

Defense: A
Special teams: B
Offense: D
Coaching: B

Overall: C+

[dbfan21]

Offense: C-
Defense: B+
Special Teams: A
Coaching: B

Overall: B-

Offense struggled throughout the game. Defense played well except for the last 91-yd drive. Special teams made every FG attempted and did a good job on punt/KO coverage. Play calls on O & D was solid.

I am still stoked (no pun intended..well, maybe a little one) about the win.

Go Broncos!!

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by SonOfLe-loLang

Our special teams were sloppy? I thought they did pretty good

Obviously the field goal kicking unit was perfect.
Kickoff team was awesome, with Cincy starting at the 20 or worse.

The bad/sloppy:

The fake punt. Can't let that happen.

Kern has looked better.

And Royal didn't look like Royal on his returns. What was with him returning that kick at the end of the game? Let it go into the EZ, save the 10 seconds or so and start at the 20 instead of falling down around the 12. I understand wanting to make a play, but that was too good a kick to attempt that on.

[LetsGoBroncos]

I was pleasantly surprised. If I had to pick a unit to look better than the other at this point in time I would pick the D, no questions asked. I have all the confidence in the world that the offense will only get better as the year goes on as they learn the scheme better and McDaniels coaches Orton up. If the D can be good all year (not great) and the offense improves I think we can win 8-10 games which in my opinion would be a good season considering everything that has gone on and the brutal schedule we face.

[BroncoBuff]

Originally Posted by Bronco Yoda

So what's the verdict so far. One game down.

What say you all?

Josh got kinda hosed by the receivers' drops ... nice for him he got bailed out for a win, but they gotta execute better. Can't grade the coach when the players are tripping all over themselves. That said, I wish he would have stopped feeding Marshall, I don't get that, his head wan't in it.

Special teams COVERAGE teams were excellent, but the return teams were average at best. I don't like Royal returning so much, put Alphonso and McKinley back there.

[gyldenlove]

Defense: B+ (Looked bad on the last drive and if not for a number of Coles drops could have looked worse)
Offense: C- (QB is injured, but the run offense didn't look good either)
Special teams: B- (Prater was near perfect, no long returns, only a shanked punt and Royal's decision to take the ball out of the end zone at the end keeping from getting a small A)
Coaching: B- (Nolan looks like he knows what he is doing defensively, except for the last drive, 6 points for 59 minutes is not enough when your coach is an offensive genious)

[fontaine]

McDaniels gets a fail:

Because he set the bar high. He hand picked Orton as a QB who can run his offense (over a better draft package from Washington for Campbell). Unless that offense consists of taking sacks and throwing for a few yards net passing for an entire half of football, then McD couldn't gameplan for Orton's strengths and weakenesses. And for a HC who's entire profile was based on that, then it's a pretty telling story.

Nolan gets an outstanding:

Forget the stats,
forget how the defense got no rest after the offense kept going 3 and out with very little time of possession,
forget how playing away from home they kept the other team from scoring more than once,
forget how they got a turnover and sacks.

No forget all that.

All you need to see the improvement from coaching is how they played with a ton of heart. Play after play, I saw a defense that is still learning the different looks, schemes, but above all and defense that played with a huge amount of intensity. Nolan asked his guys to play aggressively and almost instanty made adjustments by throwing complex looks and blitzes when it was clear the zone D was allowing too many short completions.

The zone D is still a work in progress but there's enough raw talent there to switch it up to aggressive, attacking front seven with enough talent in the secondary to support it.

[Taco John]

Defense: A
Offense: D
Special Teams: C
Coaching: B-


I think we under-used Buckhalter given the exceptional day he was having. If Moreno isn't delivering it on first and second downs, it seems unwise to keep giving the ball to him when you've got a guy delivering nearly 6 yards a carry ready to go. We can't risk losing games forcing the Moreno issue. He should earn his carries. (and I think he will - I'm just saying, he's a rookie, and if he's not delivering, he's not delivering).

The defense delivered when it mattered consistently, despite that excrutiating drive at the end of the game. Asking your defense to pitch a shutout is irrational. Hopefully the anemic offense we saw this past week is just some execution kinks being worked out.

One thing that I love about this win is the attention that Brandon Stokley is surely getting in the locker room. What a great guy to have as a locker room rally point right now.

[lex]

Originally Posted by Taco John

Defense: A
Offense: D
Special Teams: C
Coaching: B-


I think we under-used Buckhalter given the exceptional day he was having. If Moreno isn't delivering it on first and second downs, it seems unwise to keep giving the ball to him when you've got a guy delivering nearly 6 yards a carry ready to go.

The defense delivered when it mattered consistently, despite that excrutiating drive at the end of the game. Asking your defense to pitch a shutout is irrational. Hopefully the anemic offense we saw this past week is just some execution kinks being worked out.

One thing that I love about this win is the attention that Brandon Stokley is surely getting in the locker room. What a great guy to have as a locker room rally point right now.

I dont think Moreno was missing what was there. When he would get the ball there was often clutter...at least from what I saw. There were a couple of his runs that I missed because of lag since I was watching on line.

[Taco John]

Originally Posted by lex

I dont think Moreno was missing what was there. When he would get the ball there was often clutter...at least from what I saw. There were a couple of his runs that I missed because of lag since I was watching on line.

Indeed - but clutter or not, Buckhalter wasn't having any problems moving the ball. That's all I'm saying. Go with the guy whose getting the yards.

[Br0nc0Buster]

Defense: A
Offense: D
Special Teams: B-
Coaching: C

Nolan did a fantastic job, but McDaniels still has some stuff to learn
Some of his playcalling irritated me a bit, it reminded me of Mike Martz and the Rams in 2003

We are using a new system and the guys are getting used to one another.
Also Marshall isnt where he should be yet and Moreno is knicked up along with Kyle

I will give these guys a few more weeks, but I expect our offense to be much better than this as the season progresses

[1998Eternal]

Mcd is a solid character his offensive schemes are good just need a quarter-back who can execute them properly along with WR's to run not so sloppy routes.

[KevinJames]

Originally Posted by Taco John

Indeed - but clutter or not, Buckhalter wasn't having any problems moving the ball. That's all I'm saying. Go with the guy whose getting the yards.

yeah I think Moreno might not be 100% yet so giving Buckhalter more carries wouldn't have been a bad idea especially when he was the hot hand out there.

[tsiguy96]

Originally Posted by KevinJames

yeah I think Moreno might not be 100% yet so giving Buckhalter more carries wouldn't have been a bad idea especially when he was the hot hand out there.

moreno was met in teh backfield many times yesterday. however, he didnt look like the explosion was there, he prolly shoulda been held out til week 2. hillis didnt touch the ball once i dont think, sad.