Denver Native (Carol)
11-15-2010, 11:44 AM
http://maxdenver.com/blog1/2010/11/15/broncos-49-chiefs-29-by-the-numbers/#more-1722
DENVER – For one of the rare times in our weekly numbers analysis, I’ll say this: statistics can lie. All you have to do is look at how the Chiefs ended the game with more first downs (30 to 25), more total yards (484 to 452) and far more passing yards (433 to 299) than the Broncos.
But others don’t, as you can see below:
49: Points scored by the Broncos, which ties with a 2005 game against the Eagles for the Broncos’ most since a 50-point day against San Diego in 1963.
56.3: Percentage of plays on which the Chiefs ran in their first eight games, the most in the league. The Chiefs were also the only team to run on more than 55 percent of their snaps this year.
27.8: Percentage of plays on which the Chiefs ran Sunday, showing the extent to which the Broncos took Kansas City out of its preferred tactics and pace. The Chiefs ran on five of their first eight plays (62.5 percent) covering their first two possessions, but only picked up 11 yards on those carries, leading to just one first down and a pair of punts on those series. Meanwhile, the Broncos surrounded those possessions with three touchdown drives covering 80, 82 and 53 yards, effectively removing the Chiefs’ primary weapons from the game.
“You get them out of what they do best,” said wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who had the kind of performance that has become typical for him this year: six catches, 90 yards and two touchdowns. “They don’t want to get into a game where they throw the ball. That’s not what they do best. What they do best is jam it down your throat and let (Jamaal) Charles go crazy on the defense. We started off fast and put our defense out there — 7-0, 14-0, 21-0, 28-0 — and got them out of what they do best.
“That’s the fast start that Coach (Josh) McDaniels talks about.”
After falling behind 21-0, Kansas City called passes on its next 10 plays. They closed the game by dropping back Cassel 18 consecutive times — one of which became a Cassel scramble.
266: Improvement, in yardage allowed, by the Broncos’ run defense from their last game against Kansas City. The Chiefs ravaged Denver for 317 rushing yards last January; they picked up just 51 on Sunday.
Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan said the defense took the Chiefs’ rushing dominance last season personally.
“Absolutely. The guy (Jamaal Charles) is having an awesome season, and we knew we couldn’t let him have a day like he had here last year,” Haggan said. “He definitely left a bad taste in our mouth. He’s a good running back.
“I think it’ll be in his mind in three weeks (when the Broncos and Chiefs meet in Kansas Cit), so we’ve just got to stay humble and keep rolling. ”
0: Number of runs covering at least 10 yards by the Chiefs on Sunday. That snapped a streak of 35 consecutive games in which Kansas City had posted at least one double-digit yardage carry.
Kansas City’s longest run of the day was a modest seven-yard carry by Jamaal Charles with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter. The last time their longest carry was so minimal was on Oct. 5, 2008, when a seven-yard Charles carry was the best the Chiefs could muster in a 34-0 loss at Carolina.
Heading into Sunday, the Chiefs had amassed 39 double-digit yardage runs this year, an average of 4.9 per game.
131.5: Kyle Orton’s quarterback rating on Sunday, which was the second-best of his career, only surpassed by his 134.7 rating against the Redskins 364 days earlier. Orton became the seventh quarterback in Broncos history with at least two games with a rating over 130.0 (minimum 10 attempts), joining John Elway (10 games), Craig Morton (5), Jay Cutler (3), Charley Johnson (3), Jake Plummer (2) and Steve Tensi (2).
Orton’s rating was the best posted against the Chiefs since San Diego’s Philip Rivers racked up a 135.6 rating against Kansas City on Nov. 29 of last year. The Chiefs have allowed just three quarterbacks since 2007 to post 130-plus ratings at their expense; two have been Broncos: Orton on Sunday and Jay Cutler on Dec. 9, 2007, who blistered the Chiefs for a 141.0 rating in Denver’s 41-7 win.
27-6: Denver’s all-time record when a quarterback posts a rating above 130.0. Denver is 13-1 in such games since 1991; last year’s afore-mentioned defeat at Washington is the exception.
469: Passing yards amassed by Cassel. That represented a career high for Cassel and the second-most ever amassed by a Kansas City quarterback, only surpassed by Elvis Grbac’s 504-yard day against Oakland 10 years ago.
Cassel’s tally is also the most the Broncos have ever allowed to a quarterback, surpassing the 441 yards Denver surrendered to New Orleans’s Aaron Brooks and St. Louis’s Kurt Warner during the 2000 season. Three hundred of Cassel’s yards came after halftime.
(Also worth noting: Cassel is just the third opposing quarterback to have a 400-yard day agains the Broncos in Denver, joining Seattle’s Dave Krieg — 418 yards at Mile High Stadium in 1983; 406 yards there a year later — and New Orleans’s Drew Brees, who passed for 421 yards at Invesco Field in 2008.)
5-4: Denver’s all-time record when allowing a quarterback to pass for more than 400 yards. The Broncos have now won four consecutive games when an opposing passer breaks the 400-yard milestone, beginning with Brooks’s 441-yard day at the Louisiana Superdome on Dec. 3, 2000.
65: Denver’s point-differential turnaround in their last two home games, from the 45-point loss to the 20-point win Sunday. To take it a step further, at one point in the second quarter, after Jason Hunter’s 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown, the differential between the last two home games was 80 points.
“We owed it to them (the fans),” Haggan said. “Hopefully we continue to play that way the rest of the season.”
DENVER – For one of the rare times in our weekly numbers analysis, I’ll say this: statistics can lie. All you have to do is look at how the Chiefs ended the game with more first downs (30 to 25), more total yards (484 to 452) and far more passing yards (433 to 299) than the Broncos.
But others don’t, as you can see below:
49: Points scored by the Broncos, which ties with a 2005 game against the Eagles for the Broncos’ most since a 50-point day against San Diego in 1963.
56.3: Percentage of plays on which the Chiefs ran in their first eight games, the most in the league. The Chiefs were also the only team to run on more than 55 percent of their snaps this year.
27.8: Percentage of plays on which the Chiefs ran Sunday, showing the extent to which the Broncos took Kansas City out of its preferred tactics and pace. The Chiefs ran on five of their first eight plays (62.5 percent) covering their first two possessions, but only picked up 11 yards on those carries, leading to just one first down and a pair of punts on those series. Meanwhile, the Broncos surrounded those possessions with three touchdown drives covering 80, 82 and 53 yards, effectively removing the Chiefs’ primary weapons from the game.
“You get them out of what they do best,” said wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who had the kind of performance that has become typical for him this year: six catches, 90 yards and two touchdowns. “They don’t want to get into a game where they throw the ball. That’s not what they do best. What they do best is jam it down your throat and let (Jamaal) Charles go crazy on the defense. We started off fast and put our defense out there — 7-0, 14-0, 21-0, 28-0 — and got them out of what they do best.
“That’s the fast start that Coach (Josh) McDaniels talks about.”
After falling behind 21-0, Kansas City called passes on its next 10 plays. They closed the game by dropping back Cassel 18 consecutive times — one of which became a Cassel scramble.
266: Improvement, in yardage allowed, by the Broncos’ run defense from their last game against Kansas City. The Chiefs ravaged Denver for 317 rushing yards last January; they picked up just 51 on Sunday.
Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan said the defense took the Chiefs’ rushing dominance last season personally.
“Absolutely. The guy (Jamaal Charles) is having an awesome season, and we knew we couldn’t let him have a day like he had here last year,” Haggan said. “He definitely left a bad taste in our mouth. He’s a good running back.
“I think it’ll be in his mind in three weeks (when the Broncos and Chiefs meet in Kansas Cit), so we’ve just got to stay humble and keep rolling. ”
0: Number of runs covering at least 10 yards by the Chiefs on Sunday. That snapped a streak of 35 consecutive games in which Kansas City had posted at least one double-digit yardage carry.
Kansas City’s longest run of the day was a modest seven-yard carry by Jamaal Charles with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter. The last time their longest carry was so minimal was on Oct. 5, 2008, when a seven-yard Charles carry was the best the Chiefs could muster in a 34-0 loss at Carolina.
Heading into Sunday, the Chiefs had amassed 39 double-digit yardage runs this year, an average of 4.9 per game.
131.5: Kyle Orton’s quarterback rating on Sunday, which was the second-best of his career, only surpassed by his 134.7 rating against the Redskins 364 days earlier. Orton became the seventh quarterback in Broncos history with at least two games with a rating over 130.0 (minimum 10 attempts), joining John Elway (10 games), Craig Morton (5), Jay Cutler (3), Charley Johnson (3), Jake Plummer (2) and Steve Tensi (2).
Orton’s rating was the best posted against the Chiefs since San Diego’s Philip Rivers racked up a 135.6 rating against Kansas City on Nov. 29 of last year. The Chiefs have allowed just three quarterbacks since 2007 to post 130-plus ratings at their expense; two have been Broncos: Orton on Sunday and Jay Cutler on Dec. 9, 2007, who blistered the Chiefs for a 141.0 rating in Denver’s 41-7 win.
27-6: Denver’s all-time record when a quarterback posts a rating above 130.0. Denver is 13-1 in such games since 1991; last year’s afore-mentioned defeat at Washington is the exception.
469: Passing yards amassed by Cassel. That represented a career high for Cassel and the second-most ever amassed by a Kansas City quarterback, only surpassed by Elvis Grbac’s 504-yard day against Oakland 10 years ago.
Cassel’s tally is also the most the Broncos have ever allowed to a quarterback, surpassing the 441 yards Denver surrendered to New Orleans’s Aaron Brooks and St. Louis’s Kurt Warner during the 2000 season. Three hundred of Cassel’s yards came after halftime.
(Also worth noting: Cassel is just the third opposing quarterback to have a 400-yard day agains the Broncos in Denver, joining Seattle’s Dave Krieg — 418 yards at Mile High Stadium in 1983; 406 yards there a year later — and New Orleans’s Drew Brees, who passed for 421 yards at Invesco Field in 2008.)
5-4: Denver’s all-time record when allowing a quarterback to pass for more than 400 yards. The Broncos have now won four consecutive games when an opposing passer breaks the 400-yard milestone, beginning with Brooks’s 441-yard day at the Louisiana Superdome on Dec. 3, 2000.
65: Denver’s point-differential turnaround in their last two home games, from the 45-point loss to the 20-point win Sunday. To take it a step further, at one point in the second quarter, after Jason Hunter’s 75-yard fumble return for a touchdown, the differential between the last two home games was 80 points.
“We owed it to them (the fans),” Haggan said. “Hopefully we continue to play that way the rest of the season.”