Kyle Orton: Broncos Need Better Balance

[Denver Native (Carol)]

http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/denver.broncos.colts.2.1938846.html

Kyle Orton is irritated. Brady Quinn is befuddled. Tim Tebow is resolute.

Denver's three quarterbacks all had different matters on their minds Wednesday as the Broncos (1-2) began preparations for their trip to Tennessee (2-1) this weekend.

Orton, whose 1,078 yards passing through three games are the most by a Broncos quarterback since 1962, suggested the Broncos' third-down troubles and red-zone issues could be solved with more production out of Denver's dismal running game.

Quinn admitted he didn't know why he leapfrogged Tebow to serve as the Broncos' backup quarterback Sunday against Indianapolis, and Tebow insisted he was just going to keep hitting the playbook and learning what he can by watching.

The Broncos were a miserable 5-for-15 on third down and failed to score a touchdown on five trips inside the Colts' 20-yard line in a 27-13 loss Sunday.

Just one week earlier, they were 14-for-20 on third down in a win over Seattle.

"I think we were balanced and I think we were in the right situation, short-yardage situations," Orton said. "We were able to stay balanced and had the whole game plan at our disposal."

That's another way of saying he needs more production out of his running backs, none of whom are averaging even 3 yards a carry.

"I mean, you've got to be able to run the ball in the red zone," Orton insisted. "The closer you get down there, the more people there are to defend in the end zone and the easiest way to get in is to run it in."

Orton wasn't just calling out his tailbacks Wednesday.

When he was asked on a conference call with reporters in Nashville what was wrong with the running game, Orton cracked, "Not enough yards."

"We haven't had negative runs, which is a good thing," he added. "We have only had five or six negative runs, which we always talk about as a good thing. We are starting the play well. We just need to finish some blocks and finish some runs and get into the secondary and make some big plays."

The Broncos are dead last in the NFL with a 67-yard average on the ground.

They failed to punch it into the end zone on three runs by Laurence Maroney from inside the 1-yard line Sunday.

Blame it on an inexperienced and injury-riddled offensive line that could get right tackle Ryan Harris back against the Titans or on a banged-up backfield in which Knowshon Moreno (hamstrings), Maroney (thigh), Andre Brown (turf toe) and Correll Buckhalter (back) have all been in and out of the training room.

One thing's for certain: Tebow is not a legitimate option near the goal line just yet.

"We're not going to do that in short yardage," coach Josh McDaniels insisted this week. "People who mention that, I don't know, that's ridiculous."

Tebow, whose bruising running style made him a Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion at Florida, hasn't played since taking three snaps in the Broncos' opener in Jacksonville, his hometown, and rushing twice right into the pile for 2 yards.

If Tebow thinks he could be part of the solution in the red zone, he's not saying.

"Well, I just try to do whatever my role is and to the best of my ability accomplish that role and you know, whatever I'm asked to do I'm going to do it and just try to do that the best I can," he said in his usual diplomatic manner.

After earning the No. 2 quarterback job with a decent training camp, Tebow was the third quarterback Sunday. McDaniels said it was a combination of the game plan and performance during the week and that it was a fluid situation.

Quinn, who had an awful training camp, said he's getting a hang of the offense now.

"Yeah, I think so. I think as you're here longer you get more and more comfortable with what you're doing week to week in the game plan," he said.

So, what did he do better to earn the No. 2 job last week?

"I don't know," Quinn said with a laugh.

And he'll keep it by ...

"Just do whatever I did last week, and then do it again this week," he said.

Tebow said nothing changes with him week to week no matter whether he's the No. 2 or No. 3.

"I'm trying to learn every day of practice and improve and get better, just try to keep understanding things more and play faster in practice," he said.

Knowing that he and Quinn are basically battling it out on a weekly basis doesn't add any pressure, Tebow said.

"I think I try to approach it the same every week and that's be ready, know what my role is, try to prepare and learn the game plan as best I can and every day in practice continue to try to improve the things I don't think I'm doing well," Tebow said.

While Orton is off to the best start of his six-year NFL career and Quinn quickly catches up on the nuances of McDaniels' intricate offense, Tebow is adjusting from his role as the big man on campus to being just another rookie biding his time in the pros.

"It's been a great learning experience for me and it's been I guess every day just a constant process to keep learning, keep getting better and I've got a lot to work on," said Tebow, who spent training camp refining his footwork and throwing mechanics to shave time off his windup.

[rcsodak]

I wish they'd have tried a sneak last week, with orton, at the goalline. Why start 5yds away to make a yard? Ugh

[Northman]

The Broncos were a miserable 5-for-15 on third down and failed to score a touchdown on five trips inside the Colts' 20-yard line in a 27-13 loss Sunday.

Just one week earlier, they were 14-for-20 on third down in a win over Seattle.

Yea, that simply wont do. We really need to stay consistently good on third down to have any success this year. Aside from the redzone woes.

[Lonestar]

http://cbs4denver.com/broncos/denver.broncos.colts.2.1938846.html

Kyle Orton is irritated. Brady Quinn is befuddled. Tim Tebow is resolute.

Denver's three quarterbacks all had different matters on their minds Wednesday as the Broncos (1-2) began preparations for their trip to Tennessee (2-1) this weekend.

Orton, whose 1,078 yards passing through three games are the most by a Broncos quarterback since 1962, suggested the Broncos' third-down troubles and red-zone issues could be solved with more production out of Denver's dismal running game.

Quinn admitted he didn't know why he leapfrogged Tebow to serve as the Broncos' backup quarterback Sunday against Indianapolis, and Tebow insisted he was just going to keep hitting the playbook and learning what he can by watching.

The Broncos were a miserable 5-for-15 on third down and failed to score a touchdown on five trips inside the Colts' 20-yard line in a 27-13 loss Sunday.

Just one week earlier, they were 14-for-20 on third down in a win over Seattle.

"I think we were balanced and I think we were in the right situation, short-yardage situations," Orton said. "We were able to stay balanced and had the whole game plan at our disposal."

That's another way of saying he needs more production out of his running backs, none of whom are averaging even 3 yards a carry.

"I mean, you've got to be able to run the ball in the red zone," Orton insisted. "The closer you get down there, the more people there are to defend in the end zone and the easiest way to get in is to run it in."

Orton wasn't just calling out his tailbacks Wednesday.

When he was asked on a conference call with reporters in Nashville what was wrong with the running game, Orton cracked, "Not enough yards."

"We haven't had negative runs, which is a good thing," he added. "We have only had five or six negative runs, which we always talk about as a good thing. We are starting the play well. We just need to finish some blocks and finish some runs and get into the secondary and make some big plays."

The Broncos are dead last in the NFL with a 67-yard average on the ground.

They failed to punch it into the end zone on three runs by Laurence Maroney from inside the 1-yard line Sunday.

Blame it on an inexperienced and injury-riddled offensive line that could get right tackle Ryan Harris back against the Titans or on a banged-up backfield in which Knowshon Moreno (hamstrings), Maroney (thigh), Andre Brown (turf toe) and Correll Buckhalter (back) have all been in and out of the training room.

One thing's for certain: Tebow is not a legitimate option near the goal line just yet.

"We're not going to do that in short yardage," coach Josh McDaniels insisted this week. "People who mention that, I don't know, that's ridiculous."

Tebow, whose bruising running style made him a Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion at Florida, hasn't played since taking three snaps in the Broncos' opener in Jacksonville, his hometown, and rushing twice right into the pile for 2 yards.

If Tebow thinks he could be part of the solution in the red zone, he's not saying.

"Well, I just try to do whatever my role is and to the best of my ability accomplish that role and you know, whatever I'm asked to do I'm going to do it and just try to do that the best I can," he said in his usual diplomatic manner.

After earning the No. 2 quarterback job with a decent training camp, Tebow was the third quarterback Sunday. McDaniels said it was a combination of the game plan and performance during the week and that it was a fluid situation.

Quinn, who had an awful training camp, said he's getting a hang of the offense now.

"Yeah, I think so. I think as you're here longer you get more and more comfortable with what you're doing week to week in the game plan," he said.

So, what did he do better to earn the No. 2 job last week?

"I don't know," Quinn said with a laugh.

And he'll keep it by ...

"Just do whatever I did last week, and then do it again this week," he said.

Tebow said nothing changes with him week to week no matter whether he's the No. 2 or No. 3.

"I'm trying to learn every day of practice and improve and get better, just try to keep understanding things more and play faster in practice," he said.

Knowing that he and Quinn are basically battling it out on a weekly basis doesn't add any pressure, Tebow said.

"I think I try to approach it the same every week and that's be ready, know what my role is, try to prepare and learn the game plan as best I can and every day in practice continue to try to improve the things I don't think I'm doing well," Tebow said.

While Orton is off to the best start of his six-year NFL career and Quinn quickly catches up on the nuances of McDaniels' intricate offense, Tebow is adjusting from his role as the big man on campus to being just another rookie biding his time in the pros.

"It's been a great learning experience for me and it's been I guess every day just a constant process to keep learning, keep getting better and I've got a lot to work on," said Tebow, who spent training camp refining his footwork and throwing mechanics to shave time off his windup.

BMOC. To worthless rookie. A life adjustment for him.
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[Ravage!!!]

I still don't understand McD's reply to the questions about Tebow being used on the goalline situation. How is that ridiculous? :confused: Teams all over the NFL are using spread offenses and wildcat formations down there. What other QB in the NFL is more "suited" for the wildcat formation than Tebow (other than Vick)?

Oh well. Hopefully we get something worked out. I think with Tennessee we'll see a lot of 3rd down situations. I think our pass defense will shut down anything Young will throw, but of course I'm worried about their ground game, just as they are worried about our passing game and not our run game.

[rcsodak]

ANDRE BROWN COMING OUT PARTY!!
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[Ravage!!!]

ANDRE BROWN COMING OUT PARTY!!
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Did you watch him in college? I don't know anything about him... or are you just making a joke? :lol:

[arapaho2]

i know our run game needs a better back


but the thing i got about the tebow thing is...its like a little kid with a new toy...he wanted it, hoped for it, prayed for it...and when he finaly got it he couldnt wait to play with it....after a while though...it wasnt all he hoped it would be and put it in the toy pile with the other toys...maybe he will play with it later...maybe not


he couldnt wait to get tebow into the game at jacksonville...and then nothing...now the thought of him entering the game is rediculous:confused:

[silkamilkamonico]

he couldnt wait to get tebow into the game at jacksonville...and then nothing...now the thought of him entering the game is rediculous:confused:

How in the world did you comprehend "Tebow will not be used in short yardage situation..that's ridiculous" to "the thought of Tebow entering a game is ridiculous"?

[turftoad]

i know our run game needs a better back


but the thing i got about the tebow thing is...its like a little kid with a new toy...he wanted it, hoped for it, prayed for it...and when he finaly got it he couldnt wait to play with it....after a while though...it wasnt all he hoped it would be and put it in the toy pile with the other toys...maybe he will play with it later...maybe not


he couldnt wait to get tebow into the game at jacksonville...and then nothing...now the thought of him entering the game is rediculous:confused:

He didn't want to play with Shanny's toys, they weren't good enough. Hope he doesn't get tired of his own. :D

[arapaho2]

How in the world did you comprehend "Tebow will not be used in short yardage situation..that's ridiculous" to "the thought of Tebow entering a game is ridiculous"?


duh!!

from his mouth: One thing's for certain: Tebow is not a legitimate option near the goal line just yet.

"We're not going to do that in short yardage," coach Josh McDaniels insisted this week. "People who mention that, I don't know, that's ridiculous."

[broncohead]

Didn't cutler sa something to the same effect and get flamed for it? Orton can start completing 3rd downs and do somethig in the red zone

[Lonestar]

He didn't want to play with Shanny's toys, they weren't good enough. Hope he doesn't get tired of his own. :D

I know your not high on Josh but could it be for other reason besides not WANTING to play with mikes toys.

Just maybe like on D those toys were not worth a crap as IIRC * of th starters are no longer in football.

Just perhaps mikes toys really did not fit the scheme OR flat did not want to play in DEN anymore, or for Josh and the scheme.

Might be more to the equation than Josh just not wanting them..

[DenBronx]

For the record Tim Crowder is still in the NFL playing in the Tampa 2 for the Bucs with 2 sacks, 6 tackles, 1 FF and 1 PD. :laugh:

[Lonestar]

For the record Tim Crowder is still in the NFL playing in the Tampa 2 for the Bucs with 2 sacks, 6 tackles, 1 FF and 1 PD. :laugh:

IIRC he was not one of the 08 starters either.

but I could be wrong.

[Northman]

Just perhaps mikes toys really did not fit the scheme OR flat did not want to play in DEN anymore, or for Josh and the scheme.




Probably a combination of all of the above. For a guy who is supposed to be great for QB's i cant buy into the fact that he couldnt do good things for guys like Cutler, Hillis, etc. But it was a confliction of ego's that lead most of them out of here. But i dont believe that said players couldnt be used in Josh's scheme's one bit. Assitant coaches, probably. But not players. You can get pretty much any player to play within a scheme. The biggest problem for Josh right now is getting the scheme to work.

[Ravage!!!]

Probably a combination of all of the above. For a guy who is supposed to be great for QB's i cant buy into the fact that he couldnt do good things for guys like Cutler, Hillis, etc. But it was a confliction of ego's that lead most of them out of here. But i dont believe that said players couldnt be used in Josh's scheme's one bit. Assitant coaches, probably. But not players. You can get pretty much any player to play within a scheme. The biggest problem for Josh right now is getting the scheme to work.

I agree. I get that some people want to look at the positive, and others want to look down upon the coach. I know we all have our biases.

But when a number of people leave (either Players OR Coaches) and they leave because of the same stand-by excuse "they couldn't work within the system or they didn't want in Denver"... honestly, we have to be truthful and look at the common denominator. Nolan wasn't a "shanahan" headcase that simply "couldn't accept the change" that so many want to try and blow out their holes. The common denominator is the coach. At the young age, he has had a hard time getting along with players, and with coaches. Call it inexperience, call it youth, call it ego...whatever, doesn't matter what it is/was.

So I'm like you. The players can work within any scheme. I hear this excuse all the time "he wasn't good for the scheme." Thats such a lame reason. Not very many coaches come in and simply replace every player on the roster so that the player "fits the scheme." Coaches coach the players. These players will learn and use THIS scheme because its being coached to them. Now its time we get THIS scheme working

[dogfish]

"We haven't had negative runs, which is a good thing," he added. "We have only had five or six negative runs, which we always talk about as a good thing. We are starting the play well. We just need to finish some blocks and finish some runs and get into the secondary and make some big plays."

mcdaniels said largely the same thing, with the same emphasis on "finishing runs". . . doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that they're talking about maroney's pathetic indecisiveness. . . i hope mcD sees now that maroney is done-- i'm going to be furious if they actually give that waste of space a contract extension. . .

[Lonestar]

Probably a combination of all of the above. For a guy who is supposed to be great for QB's i cant buy into the fact that he couldnt do good things for guys like Cutler, Hillis, etc. But it was a confliction of ego's that lead most of them out of here. But i dont believe that said players couldnt be used in Josh's scheme's one bit. Assitant coaches, probably. But not players. You can get pretty much any player to play within a scheme. The biggest problem for Josh right now is getting the scheme to work.

Not saying he could not do things for them just that it takes two to tango and if jay really made it plain in initial meeting when he first got to town that he was not going to be happy in a very controlled Offense and that he wanted it to do it his way. I can understand why they did not get along.

HEY we will probably never know for sure what took place in dove valley.

I do believe that Josh could have made him a super star like Brady was, but like I said it takes two to tango. I do not think Jay ever liked living in DEN when he saw a chance to get out of dodge, he made it easy for DEN to move him.

[Lonestar]

mcdaniels said largely the same thing, with the same emphasis on "finishing runs". . . doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that they're talking about maroney's pathetic indecisiveness. . . i hope mcD sees now that maroney is done-- i'm going to be furious if they actually give that waste of space a contract extension. . .

I'm going to give him the benefit of doubt and wait awhile before junking him.


I was never a huge fans of his but he surprised me in his earlier years. Getting him out of NE may be the jump start he needs.

[silkamilkamonico]

duh!!

from his mouth: One thing's for certain: Tebow is not a legitimate option near the goal line just yet.

"We're not going to do that in short yardage," coach Josh McDaniels insisted this week. "People who mention that, I don't know, that's ridiculous."



Since when does "short yardage" equal "entering the game"? Are you insinuating that an entire NFL game is played in consecutive battles of short yardage?

[Ravage!!!]

Since when does "short yardage" equal "entering the game"? Are you insinuating that an entire NFL game is played in consecutive battles of short yardage?

Actually, if you want to get technical, it very much is. Ten yards isn't that much distance, and everyone knows the game of football is a game of inches. The ENTIRE game of football is fighting for inches at a time. The difference between a RB that averages 4 yrds a carrry is MUCH bigger than one that averages 3, and thats just a 36 inch difference per carry.

How many times does a game come to first downs that have missed the marker by a foot...12 inches? Goal line stands that are fighting for that tip of the ball to just touch the edge of the goal line? The difference between going for it on 4th and 1 and 4th and three is HUGE, but thats a difference of just 72 inches.

The battle at the LoS is a battle to either push the other players back, or be pushed back, in short yardages at a time.

[silkamilkamonico]

Actually, if you want to get technical, it very much is. Ten yards isn't that much distance, and everyone knows the game of football is a game of inches. The ENTIRE game of football is fighting for inches at a time. The difference between a RB that averages 4 yrds a carrry is MUCH bigger than one that averages 3, and thats just a 36 inch difference per carry.

How many times does a game come to first downs that have missed the marker by a foot...12 inches? Goal line stands that are fighting for that tip of the ball to just touch the edge of the goal line? The difference between going for it on 4th and 1 and 4th and three is HUGE, but thats a difference of just 72 inches.

The battle at the LoS is a battle to either push the other players back, or be pushed back, in short yardages at a time.


Uhm, no, you're not stupid. That's a nice reach though Rav. You know exactly what I was responding to in terms of Arapho's comment about McDaniels comment.

[claymore]

I cant believe Orton threw the O Line under the bus like this. What an a hole.

[rcsodak]

Did you watch him in college? I don't know anything about him... or are you just making a joke? :lol:

No joke!