Denver Native (Carol)
08-16-2010, 03:57 PM
http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/The-Morning-After-Preseason-Week-1/63184767-a678-40c0-abe2-db69b0a61231
The Broncos left Cincinnati encouraged by the performance of the first team offense and defense, but not satisfied with the loss.
KEEPING THE ONES IN CHECK
With Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens at receiver, the Bengals command the full attention of any secondary.
But the Broncos defensive backfield contained the duo for the most part in Sunday's preseason opener, holding them to four catches for 19 yards in the first quarter. Champ Bailey's play in particular drew praise from Head Coach Josh McDaniels.
The veteran cornerback sped in for acrobatic deflections in front of Ochocinco and Owens on the first two plays of Cincinnati's second possession, drawing a respectful high five from Ochocinco. The drive ended when Bailey tackled Owens by his ankles after a short reception, freezing the receiver's progress on an attempted fourth-down conversion.
"He battled Chad and he battled T.O. a bunch," McDaniels said. "He was in there on some pass break-ups and was really physical at the line of scrimmage. It was an interesting situation because it was a preseason game, but they weren't playing like a preseason game."
THE AIR SHOW
Cincinnati's experienced, young cornerback tandem of Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall presented the Broncos with a litmus test for their aerial attack. Without running backs Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter or LenDale White dressing for the game, McDaniels embraced the opportunity to evaluate his passing game.
Once the team fell behind, the game plan moved even further toward the passing game as the Broncos attempted to play catch-up.
"We got into such a passing situation in the second half because we were playing it like a normal game," McDaniels said.
The team ran the ball on 15 plays -- four of which came from Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow -- compared to 42 pass attempts.
"We figured it would be a good test for us," McDaniels said. "They have two real good corners and a decent scheme in terms of challenging your protections, too. It's something we wanted to do coming into the game."
Orton completed passes to five different receivers and hit Eddie Royal and Brandon Lloyd for touchdowns.
"We've really got five or six receivers that can really play, and it just feels like the strength of the offense right now," Orton said.
GOING FORWARD
The team's first showcase against opponents other than teammates provides McDaniels and his staff with plenty of game tape to analyze, material to reinforce and scenarios to reevaluate.
"We were able to put it in twice in the red area. We stopped them on short yardage. We really played competitive in a lot of those situations," McDaniels said.
"We struggled a little bit on third down defensively. We had an opportunity to go down there and score twice in the two-minute offense -- second quarter and fourth quarter. We left the defense out on the field a little bit too long and got tired at the end of the game and gave up a little bit more than we wanted to."
With two touchdown drives in three series Orton still found areas to improve.
"I think we had a three-and-out on the second series and we had a chance to pick it up but we just didn't hit a pass," he said. "We've got to stay away from three-and-outs, and we'll just try to improve in general and try to win the game."
Royal came up big in his reps, too, but the final result left him unsatisfied.
"You always want to win the game no matter what," the receiver said. "At the end of the day you go out and play to win. We're not happy about losing -- you never can accept losing. We're going to go back and look at the film and fix the things that we need to fix.
The Broncos left Cincinnati encouraged by the performance of the first team offense and defense, but not satisfied with the loss.
KEEPING THE ONES IN CHECK
With Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens at receiver, the Bengals command the full attention of any secondary.
But the Broncos defensive backfield contained the duo for the most part in Sunday's preseason opener, holding them to four catches for 19 yards in the first quarter. Champ Bailey's play in particular drew praise from Head Coach Josh McDaniels.
The veteran cornerback sped in for acrobatic deflections in front of Ochocinco and Owens on the first two plays of Cincinnati's second possession, drawing a respectful high five from Ochocinco. The drive ended when Bailey tackled Owens by his ankles after a short reception, freezing the receiver's progress on an attempted fourth-down conversion.
"He battled Chad and he battled T.O. a bunch," McDaniels said. "He was in there on some pass break-ups and was really physical at the line of scrimmage. It was an interesting situation because it was a preseason game, but they weren't playing like a preseason game."
THE AIR SHOW
Cincinnati's experienced, young cornerback tandem of Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall presented the Broncos with a litmus test for their aerial attack. Without running backs Knowshon Moreno, Correll Buckhalter or LenDale White dressing for the game, McDaniels embraced the opportunity to evaluate his passing game.
Once the team fell behind, the game plan moved even further toward the passing game as the Broncos attempted to play catch-up.
"We got into such a passing situation in the second half because we were playing it like a normal game," McDaniels said.
The team ran the ball on 15 plays -- four of which came from Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow -- compared to 42 pass attempts.
"We figured it would be a good test for us," McDaniels said. "They have two real good corners and a decent scheme in terms of challenging your protections, too. It's something we wanted to do coming into the game."
Orton completed passes to five different receivers and hit Eddie Royal and Brandon Lloyd for touchdowns.
"We've really got five or six receivers that can really play, and it just feels like the strength of the offense right now," Orton said.
GOING FORWARD
The team's first showcase against opponents other than teammates provides McDaniels and his staff with plenty of game tape to analyze, material to reinforce and scenarios to reevaluate.
"We were able to put it in twice in the red area. We stopped them on short yardage. We really played competitive in a lot of those situations," McDaniels said.
"We struggled a little bit on third down defensively. We had an opportunity to go down there and score twice in the two-minute offense -- second quarter and fourth quarter. We left the defense out on the field a little bit too long and got tired at the end of the game and gave up a little bit more than we wanted to."
With two touchdown drives in three series Orton still found areas to improve.
"I think we had a three-and-out on the second series and we had a chance to pick it up but we just didn't hit a pass," he said. "We've got to stay away from three-and-outs, and we'll just try to improve in general and try to win the game."
Royal came up big in his reps, too, but the final result left him unsatisfied.
"You always want to win the game no matter what," the receiver said. "At the end of the day you go out and play to win. We're not happy about losing -- you never can accept losing. We're going to go back and look at the film and fix the things that we need to fix.