Lonestar
03-07-2010, 04:22 AM
Klis: Man-made lift needed by Broncos
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
POSTED: 03/07/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 03/07/2010 01:41:49 AM MST
As the Broncos move through their annual free-agent shopping period, they are buying as if they want to change their look.
Instead of the Broncos, they want to become the BRONCOS. Big and bold.
This local offseason strategy took me back to the rear of the press box at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in January 2008.
The Chargers were about to play the Tennessee Titans in an AFC first-round playoff game. Phil Simms, who ruined John Elway's first Super Bowl experience in the 1986 season and is the father of Broncos backup quarterback Chris Simms, was there to do color commentary for CBS.
I asked Phil Simms about his thoughts regarding the Broncos, who had finished the 2007 season with a 7-9 record. Simms' biggest problem with the Broncos was their lack of big players upfront.
"Denver needs men," Simms said. "You look out here at this game today, you're going to see men."
The nose tackles in that game were Albert Haynesworth and Jamal Williams. Simms' coach during his playing career, Bill Parcells, had just taken front-office control of the 1-15 Miami Dolphins.
"You watch," Simms said then. "The first thing Bill Parcells is going to do is he's going to go get men."
The Dolphins traded away their best player, Jason Taylor, during the offseason, yet went from 1-15 in 2007 to 11-5 in 2008.
Now we move to the Broncos' on- going offseason of 2010. Brandon Marshall, the Broncos' best player, may be on his way to Seattle. Meanwhile, the Broncos have gone about the business of acquiring men for their front lines. Justin Bannan in the middle of the defense. If they can reach a compromise on money, Rex Hadnot would anchor the middle of their offense. And the Broncos are hosting Dwan Edwards for a visit that will last into today.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels branches from the Parcells school of building a football organization. Everybody says Bill Belichick was McDaniels' mentor. But what Bill Walsh was to George Seifert, and Seifert was to Mike Shanahan, Parcells was to Belichick, and Belichick was to McDaniels.
"I don't want to say (Parcells) is the ringleader, but I think he coached at Army, coached at Air Force," said Indianapolis and ex-Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. "It's a different type of philosophy, and it's a philosophy that works."
The hope is that a few more good men will correct the Broncos' decade-long problem of late-season fades. As defensive players became dramatically bigger, faster, stronger and more athletic in the past 10 years, the Broncos began to increasingly have matchup problems.
They were 8-5 in Shanahan's last season of 2008 when they traveled to play a stout Carolina team. The Broncos needed just one win in their final three games to clinch a playoff spot, but it was almost as if they conceded the game against the more physical, powerful Panthers, losing 30-10.
This past season, the Broncos played each of their AFC West rivals on the road first. Won them all too, by 20, 11 and 31 points. The second time they played San Diego, Oakland and Kansas City, it was at Invesco Field at Mile High. The Broncos lost them all, by 29, one and 20 points. A combined 112-point free fall.
Enough, already, with the smaller, agile players upfront. The Broncos have been beaten up late in the season for 11 years. Even in the years when they made the playoffs, a time when the men separate from the boys, the Broncos were quickly exposed as weaklings.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints, coached by Parcells disciple Sean Payton; the New York Giants, coached by Parcells disciple Tom Coughlin; and the Patriots, coached by Parcells disciple Belichick; have won five of the last 10 Super Bowls. And rough, tough Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Baltimore won four of the other five.
To keep up with those rugged teams out East, to match up against the physically superior Chargers in the AFC West, the Broncos had to shift their roster priorities from quarterbacks, receivers and running backs to men, men and more men.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_14526946#ixzz0hTsqtZcJ
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
POSTED: 03/07/2010 01:00:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 03/07/2010 01:41:49 AM MST
As the Broncos move through their annual free-agent shopping period, they are buying as if they want to change their look.
Instead of the Broncos, they want to become the BRONCOS. Big and bold.
This local offseason strategy took me back to the rear of the press box at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium in January 2008.
The Chargers were about to play the Tennessee Titans in an AFC first-round playoff game. Phil Simms, who ruined John Elway's first Super Bowl experience in the 1986 season and is the father of Broncos backup quarterback Chris Simms, was there to do color commentary for CBS.
I asked Phil Simms about his thoughts regarding the Broncos, who had finished the 2007 season with a 7-9 record. Simms' biggest problem with the Broncos was their lack of big players upfront.
"Denver needs men," Simms said. "You look out here at this game today, you're going to see men."
The nose tackles in that game were Albert Haynesworth and Jamal Williams. Simms' coach during his playing career, Bill Parcells, had just taken front-office control of the 1-15 Miami Dolphins.
"You watch," Simms said then. "The first thing Bill Parcells is going to do is he's going to go get men."
The Dolphins traded away their best player, Jason Taylor, during the offseason, yet went from 1-15 in 2007 to 11-5 in 2008.
Now we move to the Broncos' on- going offseason of 2010. Brandon Marshall, the Broncos' best player, may be on his way to Seattle. Meanwhile, the Broncos have gone about the business of acquiring men for their front lines. Justin Bannan in the middle of the defense. If they can reach a compromise on money, Rex Hadnot would anchor the middle of their offense. And the Broncos are hosting Dwan Edwards for a visit that will last into today.
Broncos coach Josh McDaniels branches from the Parcells school of building a football organization. Everybody says Bill Belichick was McDaniels' mentor. But what Bill Walsh was to George Seifert, and Seifert was to Mike Shanahan, Parcells was to Belichick, and Belichick was to McDaniels.
"I don't want to say (Parcells) is the ringleader, but I think he coached at Army, coached at Air Force," said Indianapolis and ex-Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. "It's a different type of philosophy, and it's a philosophy that works."
The hope is that a few more good men will correct the Broncos' decade-long problem of late-season fades. As defensive players became dramatically bigger, faster, stronger and more athletic in the past 10 years, the Broncos began to increasingly have matchup problems.
They were 8-5 in Shanahan's last season of 2008 when they traveled to play a stout Carolina team. The Broncos needed just one win in their final three games to clinch a playoff spot, but it was almost as if they conceded the game against the more physical, powerful Panthers, losing 30-10.
This past season, the Broncos played each of their AFC West rivals on the road first. Won them all too, by 20, 11 and 31 points. The second time they played San Diego, Oakland and Kansas City, it was at Invesco Field at Mile High. The Broncos lost them all, by 29, one and 20 points. A combined 112-point free fall.
Enough, already, with the smaller, agile players upfront. The Broncos have been beaten up late in the season for 11 years. Even in the years when they made the playoffs, a time when the men separate from the boys, the Broncos were quickly exposed as weaklings.
Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints, coached by Parcells disciple Sean Payton; the New York Giants, coached by Parcells disciple Tom Coughlin; and the Patriots, coached by Parcells disciple Belichick; have won five of the last 10 Super Bowls. And rough, tough Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Baltimore won four of the other five.
To keep up with those rugged teams out East, to match up against the physically superior Chargers in the AFC West, the Broncos had to shift their roster priorities from quarterbacks, receivers and running backs to men, men and more men.
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_14526946#ixzz0hTsqtZcJ