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View Full Version : BREAKIN' IT DOWN, WEEK 3 vs. JACKSONVILLE



dogfish
09-21-2007, 09:54 PM
SCOUTING REPORT, DAVID GARRARD:

strong and thickly built, but lacks ideal height for a quarterback. . . very athletic and quick, with excellent escapability-- can scramble to extend plays, or pick up yardage with his feet. . . throws pretty well on the run, and is definitely dangerous outside the pocket. . . has a good arm-- can throw the intermediate routes with accuracy and great zip when he sets his feet properly, and shows some touch on shorter throws. . .

can be impatient in the pocket, and will sometimes tuck the ball and take off instead of hanging in and going through his progressions. . . generally takes pretty good care of the ball, though he has been prone to fumbling. . . more of a game manager who isn't asked to make a ton of throws down the field, but his arm and athleticism allow him to make plays when the team needs them. . . a tough competitor who can spark the offense with his energy. . .




this promises to be a low-scoring affair, a physical slugfest between two teams that are looking to establish themselves as contenders behind the top favorites in the AFC. . . in this type of game, where points look to be at a premium, turnovers are even more significant than usual-- taking care of the ball will be essential on both sides, and whichever team does a better job of it should gain a very distinct edge. . .

jacksonville has been one of the league's most schizophrenic teams the past few years, looking borderline dominant one week and then laying an egg against a weak opponent the next, so it can be a little hard to predict what you're going to get from them. . . one thing we've come to expect is tough defense, though they do fail to show up occasionally-- tennessee gashed them bigtime with the run in week one, but i think it's pretty optimistic to expect that kind of production. . . they tightened it up considerably against atlanta, and i don't think our O-line matches up very well with their deep and talented D-line, particularly on the interior-- we've traditionally had the most trouble running against teams with big, powerful DTs, and they've got a massive pair of roadblocks in marcus stroud and john henderson. . . one thing worth mentioning is that henderson left last week's game twice with a head injury, and is questionable for this week's game-- it obviously helps us if he's out, but they do have one of the league's better reserve DTs in rob meier. . . of course he's not in the same league as henderson as a run clogger, but he does collapse the pocket nicely. . .

we do match up a little better on the edges. . . former bronco reggie hayward has continued to improve his run defense, but a recent PFT report suggested that hayward hasn't exhibited the same explosiveness off the snap coming off a torn achilles tendon. . . bobby mccray filled in very ably last year, and has won the starting job at RDE, though solid vet paul spicer will probably still see plenty of time in the rotation. . . it would be smart for us to attack the edges with the wide zone and force their ends to defend the run, and possibly cut their behemoth tackles rather than going right at them. . . atlanta ran much better to their left against the jags, a blueprint we should follow with matt lepsis over there-- maybe we can get travis henry isolated against undersized free safety reggie nelson a few times. . .

their linebackers flow to the ball very well, though, so i'm not expecting many big runs-- their DTs will make it hard for our interior OLs to get to the second level, so blocking from the fullback and tight ends will be important. . . they're a very aggressive D that swarms to the ball, and all of their 'backers have sideline-to-sideline speed. . . MLB mike peterson is one of the league's most underrated defenders, and darryl smith quietly developed into a quality player last year when peterson went down. . . smith is back on the weakside, with second-year player clint ingram capably manning the strongside. . . speedy rookie justin durant will probably get some time as well. . . henry needs to be decisive and take what he can get, because if he gets caught moving laterally he's going to get stuffed-- he said in a recent interview that he's never had great success against them , so he knows what he's up against. . .

safety gerald sensabaugh has been lost for the year, so sammy knight will be playing at strong safety-- knight lacks footspeed, but is still a thumper in the running game. . . i don't know for sure if the jags are considered a cover-2 base D, but they like to keep their safeties deep and play a lot of zones-- knight doesn't fit this style of play very well though, and we may see more of him up in the box against our running game. . .

the jags have a nice group of pass rushers-- spicer can move inside on passing downs, and DE/OLB brent hawkins is a situational pass rusher they're said to be pretty high on. . . they like to get pressure with their front four and keep those safeties deep when they can, and they'll use stunts and twists to free up linemen, but they also showed last week that they're not afraid to cut the blitz loose if they're not getting pressure-- harrington was getting comfortable in the pocket in the first half, but they unleashed the dogs after hafltime and totaled six sacks for the day. . . when they blitz, they seem to like overloading one side more than coming up the middle-- reggie nelson was pretty involved in their blitz packages, and all of their LBs can bring it. . . we'll probably have to give eric pears a good bit of help against their talented group of pass rushers, and dan graham should earn his money even if he doesn't catch a single ball. . .

i suspect that they'll want to pressure our young QB, because we have some precise route-runners who know how to uncover against zones if given time. . . they don't seem to mind moving rashean mathis around, and when he covers javon walker it'll be two of the AFC's best at their respective positions going head-to-head. . . mathis is fast and physical, and plays with a lot of confidence-- should be a fun matchup to watch. . . on the other side, brian williams is a solid corner, but he doesn't have quite the same short memory as mathis-- i like brandon marshall against him, and expect they'll probably give williams some help over the top with nelson, who has excellent range covering the deep halves. . . it also wouldn't hurt to use some motion and try to get javon matched up on williams a few times. . . nickel corner scott starks is fast but not very physical-- stokley, who's pretty familiar with the jags, should be able to make a few plays against him. . . I think it would make sense to run a little more 3-wide this week, both to get stokley involved, and to potentially spread the field and try running at their nickel defense. . . their dime back, terry cousin, is an unremarkable journeyman who’s been in the league for a while, and knows his assignments but lacks any special qualities as an athlete—we haven’t used much 4-wide, so I doubt he’ll see much action. . .

the jags' D tends to be vulnerable in the middle of the field, and can be attacked with drags and comebacks, although their pursuit speed and generally solid tackling tends to prevent lots of yards after the catch. . . unless we get them involved with some play-action, i kinda doubt our TEs will be much of a factor in the passing game against their speedy LBs. . . chef's size could give nelson some problems, but he obviously hasn't been in our game plans thus far. . . one thing about nelson. . . PFW's scouting report on him coming out of college was that he is instinctive but not very smart-- hopefully we'll put that to the test, and try to confuse him with plenty of pre-snap motion. . .

their secondary has performed very well against opposing receivers so far this year (not that they've faced any passing games of any consequence), and my guess would be that we'll see a much more conservative game plan than last week, when we weren't afraid to go after their corners. . . i would expect the typical slants, digs and outs with not many deep routes-- as i said earlier, turnovers have the potential to be particularly important, and i have a feeling shenanigans will look to protect cutler a bit against their strong defense. . . jay has to be smart and patient this week, and throw it away if nothing's open-- be a game manager, let the defense do it's work against a pedestrian offense, and play field position. . .

one thing i worry about is batted balls at the line-- the jags have the biggest DTs he's likely to face, and they're smart about getting those long arms up and disrupting passing lanes. . . our OLs need to help out and cut the DTs when they see 'em doing that. . . cutler has a bit of a tendency to throw the shorter routes a little flat, trying to smoke it in there when he should be putting a little more air under the ball, and he needs to be conscious of that this week-- a tipped ball INT like last week could really be disastrous. . . those DTs can really collapse the pocket, and i wouldn't mind seeing us try to get him out on the edge a few times off the play-action (did kubes take all the bootlegs with him to houston, or what?). . . coaching is one area where I think we have an advantage against them, so I’m pretty eager to see how shanahan will gameplan this one. . .

dogfish
09-21-2007, 09:54 PM
on defense, it's very obviously going to be all about stopping the run. . . with the exception of one long pass where porter got behind bly with a double move, our D has been giving up nothing through the air, and jacksonville doesn't exactly have a strong passing game to begin with. . . i don't know that they're considered a west coast offense in philosophy-- they're more of a straight-ahead power running team that likes to control the clock by grinding it out on the ground-- but they sure look like a WCO when they do pass. . .

they'll look to take advantage of their big receivers down the field with the occasional deep post or go route, but they mainly like to attack the underneath stuff with slants, comebacks and digs, drags and crossing routes. . . they also like running screens to get MJ drew in space. . . their receivers are highly unimpressive, despite the high picks invested there. . . reggie williams is hit-or-miss, but mostly miss-- he's a physical presence, but he lacks speed to separate consistently, and isn't the most precise route runner. . . he's been in del rio's doghouse, and may or may not be part of their gameplan this week. . . matt jones is largely the same-- the converted QB is a fantastic athlete, but looks like more of a workout warrior than an effective football player. . . he has the body control and leaping ability to impress with the occasional highlight reel catch, but lacks focus and drops easy ones on a regular basis. . . jones has good straightline speed, but he's a long strider who lacks acceleration-- he isn't very crisp out of his breaks, and runs sloppy routes. . . jones is also criticized for lack of toughness catching the ball in traffic. . . they'll move him around, play him outside or in the slot. . .

earnest wilford may be their most dependable receiver when it comes to catching the ball-- he's tall and rangy, and shields the ball well, but he lacks any explosive qualities and is solely a possesion receiver. . . they went out and got browns castoff dennis northcutt this year because they needed someone with some quickness in the slot, but it speaks to their lack of quality receiving options that he's now starting for them. . . george wrightster and last year's first rounder, marcedes lewis, are both athletic tight ends, but neither has really come into his own yet. . . the one area where i think they match up well is in the red zone, where route running and quickness are superceded to a degree by size and power-- it may be tough for bly and foxworth (if he plays) to contain their big receivers in the short area. . .

their O-line was very solid last year, but seems to have regressed a bit. . . veteran center brad meester is out due to injury, and they really look to be missing him-- backup dennis norman is a very noticeable dropoff from the tough, heady meester. . . norman seems to struggle giving up penetration off the snap, so hopefully our DTs can collapse the pocket a little more this week. . . left tackle khalif barnes is a quality athlete, but seems to lack confidence. . . barnes can struggle locating his hand punch and doesn't seem to strike with a lot of power to rock defenders back on their heels-- he lets guys get under his pads too quickly. . . former jags star left tackle tony boselli was one of the announcers for the atlanta game, and he said that barnes opens his shouders too soon instead of keeping them parallel to the LOS. . . john abraham ate the guy's lunch, and i have a feeling that simeon rice and dumervil will give him a lot of problems. . . on the other side, tony pashos was touted as an upgrade, but he never impressed me that much when he was with baltimore-- he has a big size advantage over engelberger in the running game, but moss will be a different challenge with his quick first step. . . their guards are solid, hard workers who bring their lunch pails every week. . .

i expect our pass rush to have some success, but we have to keep containment on garrard so he doesn't scramble for big first downs, and bringing him down when they get there won't be an easy task. . . irregardless, i feel pretty confident that we''re going to shut down their passing game and make them one-dimensional from the get-go. . .

their offense is pretty vanilla in terms of what it does, and i wonder if that's by design or if their new OC just hasn't installed his entire playbook yet. . . they don't do much in terms of deception, just try to line up and beat you. . . not much pre-snap motion other than shifting by the TE/H-back, and they rely pretty heavily on a few formations-- lots of basic offset I, lots of two TE, some basic singleback slot and a little trips bunch mixed in here and there. . . nothing too fancy, not a lot of misdirection. . .

smash mouth running game with lots of dives and off-guard stuff, maybe a few sweeps or tosses to get jones-drew on the edge. . . fred taylor is the starter, but the two backs probably split the load pretty evenly, with taylor getting more work on early downs and between the twenties, and jones-drew handling most of the third down and red zone work. . . taylor is still fast with surprising agility for a guy his size-- he has a killer spin move to break tackles, and a pretty good stiff arm. . . MJD may be short, but he's compact and pretty powerful, tougher than you'd expect for a smaller back-- he has good hands and is elusive in the open field, with good lateral quickness and short-area burst. . . but he can also lower the shoulder when he needs to-- he has good leg drive and a natural low center of gravity, and his ability to get skinny and fit through small cracks makes him effective in short-yardage and goal line situations. . . they like to throw him the ball, but i believe gold can limit him in that regard. . . converted fullback greg jones is a tough inside runner who's a threat to carry the ball as well. . .

both backs have good vision and the patience to set up their blocks, and both are effective finding cutback lanes. . . their interior OLs are enormous, but at least our DTs match up in size. . . ORG chris naole is a nastier and more consistent run blocker than OLG vince manuwai, and our backup DTs will have their hands full with him when adams is out. . . norman seems to struggle with quickness, and they'll have to double team big sam if they don't want him bursting into the backfield and disrupting running plays. . .

winning the time of possesion battle and keeping our D-line fresh will be big for us. . . their OLs aren't especially athletic or mobile, so our LBs should have plenty of room to roam, and they need to get downhill and fill hard against the running game-- either bates or shanahan made some mention of a need for better gap discipline from the front seven, so hopefully we'll see some progress there this weekend. . . as i think our CBs can pretty much shut down their WRs on the outside (although we may want to give bly some help when he's isolated on the 6'5" jones-- champ can stifle any of their WRs on an island, allowing us to roll deep coverage to bly's side), we should see lots of safety help up in the box, and hopefully we'll bring a heavy dose of run blitzes. . . i doubt their ability to convert many third downs with their passing game, so limiting them on first by crowding the LOS will be even more vital than usual. . .

in a game where i don't anticipate a large number of explosive offensive plays, field position and the kicking game will be huge. . . this is generally a disadvantage fior us given the uneven (that's being polite) performance of our "special" teams, but maybe not this week. . . their kicker, josh scobey, is hurt, and has been replaced by the aging vet john karney-- he's still pretty accurate on short-to-intermediate FGs, but doesn't have a booming leg for kickoffs. . . they have a rookie punter, adam podlesh, and he had one partially blocked last week. . . i think we have an advantage there, if the coverage units are solid (please, PLEASE!). . . dennis northcutt is a dangerous punt returner, and jones-drew is effective on kick returns, so our guys will have to contain them. . . in a game that will quite possibly be determined by a few points, elam needs to be on his game-- we can't afford to keep leaving points on the board and keeping teams in it. . . while i certainly share everyone's concerns about our red zone offense, i'm not sure this is the defense to fix them against, and i'll be happy if we can consistently cap drives off with some points-- it's not like the jags have some quick-strike offense themselves. . .

to summarize, i think this game will be hard-hitting and nasty, and should be decided by which team can win physical battles, sustain drives and play ball control, and avoid mistakes. . . big offensive plays are likely to be in short supply, and it may not be either exciting or pretty. . . i'll be thrilled with any sort of win, as it would set us up very nicely indeed as we prepare to enter the toughest stretch of our schedule. . .

DenBronx
09-21-2007, 09:58 PM
thanks dogfish....i like how you break it all down for us. keep it up! :salute:

with jacksonville being dead last in the nfl against the run, then travis henry should have a monster game. if brown from the titans can put up 170+ yards in one game then i think henry will get at least 200. i think our offense will put up some pretty amazing numbers.

i think denver ranks at #17 against the run. not dead last but merely average. the good news is jones drew is struggling this year and denvers d basically has all the other areas on lock. our d has only allowed 34 points this year so id like us to continue the trend.

Reidman
09-21-2007, 10:47 PM
Actually Denver's run defense isn't too far behind the Jags at #27. If you have RB's from either team in your fantasy lineup you'd be wise to start them this week. I expect big games out of Henry, Maurice Jones-Drew (who has been noticeably absent so far this season) and Fred Taylor.

Their one-two punch could be our demise unless our front men step up this week. Last week I thought they were owned by Oakland's O-line and let Lamont Jordan break away too much. They even allowed J. McCown 28 yds on 2 carries, unacceptable.

BTW, thanks for the breakdown DF! Insightful and good reading as always!

BigBroncLove
09-21-2007, 11:22 PM
Great read dogfish. I love these threads because ya get to talk so much football. Really indepth this year to, I love em'.

A thought I'd talk about a few things to.


one thing i worry about is batted balls at the line-- the jags have the biggest DTs he's likely to face, and they're smart about getting those long arms up and disrupting passing lanes. . . our OLs need to help out and cut the DTs when they see 'em doing that. . . cutler has a bit of a tendency to throw the shorter routes a little flat, trying to smoke it in there when he should be putting a little more air under the ball, and he needs to be conscious of that this week-- a tipped ball INT like last week could really be disastrous. . . those DTs can really collapse the pocket, and i wouldn't mind seeing us try to get him out on the edge a few times off the play-action (did kubes take all the bootlegs with him to houston, or what?). . .

This is my biggest worry when facing Jacksonville. The Jags line didn't put up the numbers it normally does in this column last year but Henderson especially is extremely effecient at deflecting passes. I would expect to see the Dline's hands up very often on pass plays due to Cutlers throwing style. Cutler has a lot of arm strenght. He trusts his arm to get it to the target, and sometimes doesn't put that arch on the ball that allows Dlnes to swat it down at the LOS or defenders to undercut the route. I believe this will be a part of the Jags gameplan to try and force a lucky interception that could decide a game like this. At the very least, I think they will disrupt some drives with those DLine's long arms.

Your breakdown of the secondary is very good. I think with their Dline, they will move to zone coverages, while applying man-on-man principals applied on specific WR's. This will be to confuse Cutler. For example, go full Zone but put a CB ontop of Walker. Basically give Cutler some looks he may or may not be used to. If Cutler is forced to make a quick decision due to the play at the line, the Jags could reap rewards in such situations.

I also expect the Jags CB's to very aggressive in their contact. To the point that they could draw some penalties. The Broncos are a solid blockign team with their WR's, and Del Rio knows this. He'll want his team to play tough physical ball and set the tone of the game. This could work both ways, and I think in this case the Jags might draw some costly penalties.

Also I think the inclusion of Young mroe often in this offense to keep Henry fresh will be very interesting. I expect the Defenders to play the ball when attacking Young. He sometimes looks worriesome to me how he switches the ball from arm to arm when protecting it, and I think the defense will go after that. None the less, I am very itnerested in how Young plays. He's exceeded all my expectations so far, and I hope he can continue. I expect that token rookie mistake soon, and want to know how he will respodn to that. If the batted ball penalty was any indicator, I don't see to much trouble. It will be a key element though. If Young can get going while spelling Henry for a down or two, I think you will see this Jag defense begin to over pursue, something Shanahan will take advantage of.

Lastly I expect Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew to have solid days, but I think you wil see a better job by our run defense, adn mroe mistakes made by the secondary. The only reason I say this is specualtion. The Broncos Pass D has been good, too good for me to think this can continue for to much longer. I expect Indy to be the real test, but Jacksonville while having a below average QB will make some plays IMO. I think they'll also pay for Gerrards lack of experience, but with their running game, and Denvers likely concentration on stopping the run, I expect the Broncos to take more chances on the blitz and stacking the line, something that is undoubtably a calculated gamble, but this time I think it might come back at us against an unlikely opponent this week.

Great great breakdown dogfish. Truely a great read.

TXBRONC
09-21-2007, 11:40 PM
Actually Denver's run defense isn't too far behind the Jags at #27. If you have RB's from either team in your fantasy lineup you'd be wise to start them this week. I expect big games out of Henry, Maurice Jones-Drew (who has been noticeably absent so far this season) and Fred Taylor.

Their one-two punch could be our demise unless our front men step up this week. Last week I thought they were owned by Oakland's O-line and let Lamont Jordan break away too much. They even allowed J. McCown 28 yds on 2 carries, unacceptable.

BTW, thanks for the breakdown DF! Insightful and good reading as always!


It could be but you the Jags haven't been a Juggernaut on offense during Del Rio's tenure.

I don't worry much about the quarterbacks rushing stat. Ok he had two carries for 28 yard it was meaningless.

dogfish
09-22-2007, 01:02 AM
thanks dogfish....i like how you break it all down for us. keep it up! :salute:

my pleasure. . .


with jacksonville being dead last in the nfl against the run, then travis henry should have a monster game. if brown from the titans can put up 170+ yards in one game then i think henry will get at least 200. i think our offense will put up some pretty amazing numbers.

i think denver ranks at #17 against the run. not dead last but merely average. the good news is jones drew is struggling this year and denvers d basically has all the other areas on lock. our d has only allowed 34 points this year so id like us to continue the trend.


i think that stat is HIGHLY deceptive, and not very indicative at all of what kind of defense JAX has. . . they had a bad game against tennessee. . . happens to everyone once in a while-- PAYton and brady have put up stinkers in the playoffs, the greatest show on turf got shut down in the super bowl, and some good defenses have been gashed before this season. . . still, the jags have had an excellent D for years now, they have almost all the same guys, and i just don't believe that they suddenly forgot how to play. . . i think that game against tennesse was an abberation, plain and simple-- they're breaking in some new safeties and a re-arranged LB corps, and mike peterson and reggie hayward were out for most of last year. . .

henderson missed a lot of time last week, and they still held atlanta to 80 rushing yards on 23 attempts-- a very pedestrian 3.5 yards per carry. . . i'd love as much as the next guy to see travis drop 200, but he's never run for more than 67 against 'em in the past, and i'm sure not getting my hopes up that we're going to be facing some kind of pushover defense-- the jags are WAAAAYY too talented on that side of the ball. . . JMO though, and of course i'd rather see it play out the way you're predicting. . . but i'll be happy if we can put up 17 and get the "W". . .

oh, and our D has actually given up less points than that, because 14 of them came on punt and interception returns for touchdowns. . . :werd:

dogfish
09-22-2007, 01:21 AM
Great read dogfish. I love these threads because ya get to talk so much football. Really indepth this year to, I love em'.

A thought I'd talk about a few things to.

thanks, man. . . and thank god it's FOOTBALL SEASON again!!


:woot:




This is my biggest worry when facing Jacksonville. The Jags line didn't put up the numbers it normally does in this column last year but Henderson especially is extremely effecient at deflecting passes. I would expect to see the Dline's hands up very often on pass plays due to Cutlers throwing style. Cutler has a lot of arm strenght. He trusts his arm to get it to the target, and sometimes doesn't put that arch on the ball that allows Dlnes to swat it down at the LOS or defenders to undercut the route. I believe this will be a part of the Jags gameplan to try and force a lucky interception that could decide a game like this. At the very least, I think they will disrupt some drives with those DLine's long arms.

Your breakdown of the secondary is very good. I think with their Dline, they will move to zone coverages, while applying man-on-man principals applied on specific WR's. This will be to confuse Cutler. For example, go full Zone but put a CB ontop of Walker. Basically give Cutler some looks he may or may not be used to. If Cutler is forced to make a quick decision due to the play at the line, the Jags could reap rewards in such situations.


entirely possible-- i'm sure they'll do whatever they can to confuse and/or rattle him. . . i know he's not a conservative player by nature (nor do we really want him to be), but i hope he's at least cautious this week. . . in the type of game i foresee, you can deal with incompletions and even sacks, while turnovers will kill you-- eat the ball if necessary, punt it and live to fight another time. . . don't give them any easy points! unless their running game really explodes we should be able to limit their offense-- make 'em prove they can drive the length of the field against us. . .


I also expect the Jags CB's to very aggressive in their contact. To the point that they could draw some penalties. The Broncos are a solid blockign team with their WR's, and Del Rio knows this. He'll want his team to play tough physical ball and set the tone of the game. This could work both ways, and I think in this case the Jags might draw some costly penalties.

i don't generally think of them as a bump-and-run type of team-- you may be right, but with the beasts we trot out at receiver, they're welcome to try pressing them as far as i'm concerned. . . :D

brandon marshall showed last week how he feels about physical play when he rocked mario haggan! :woot:


Also I think the inclusion of Young mroe often in this offense to keep Henry fresh will be very interesting. I expect the Defenders to play the ball when attacking Young. He sometimes looks worriesome to me how he switches the ball from arm to arm when protecting it, and I think the defense will go after that. None the less, I am very itnerested in how Young plays. He's exceeded all my expectations so far, and I hope he can continue. I expect that token rookie mistake soon, and want to know how he will respodn to that. If the batted ball penalty was any indicator, I don't see to much trouble. It will be a key element though. If Young can get going while spelling Henry for a down or two, I think you will see this Jag defense begin to over pursue, something Shanahan will take advantage of.

i've been a fan of young since he was at texas, the kid has legit talent if he can stay healthy. . . his speed offers a nice change of pace, and i definitely like seeing him come in the game with the different dimension he brings-- i feel like there isn't a huge dropoff from henry, at least not for a series or two. . . we're gonna need henry a lot down the stretch, it makes sense to save him when we can, and having a capable second back makes that a lot easier to justify. . . young is also a more dangerous downfield receiver, if he can hang onto the ball. . .


Lastly I expect Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew to have solid days, but I think you wil see a better job by our run defense, adn mroe mistakes made by the secondary. The only reason I say this is specualtion. The Broncos Pass D has been good, too good for me to think this can continue for to much longer. I expect Indy to be the real test, but Jacksonville while having a below average QB will make some plays IMO. I think they'll also pay for Gerrards lack of experience, but with their running game, and Denvers likely concentration on stopping the run, I expect the Broncos to take more chances on the blitz and stacking the line, something that is undoubtably a calculated gamble, but this time I think it might come back at us against an unlikely opponent this week.

Great great breakdown dogfish. Truely a great read.

i'm cautiously optimistic about the run D, with a strong emphasis on the cautious part. . . honestly though, it's more hope than belief at this point. . .

it's inevitable that we can't hold opposing receivers and passing games under 100 yards every week, but i think we've got another strong week in us before going up against the colts. . . they'll probably make a few plays with their size, and as i said i am nervous about red zone coverage, but IMO everything is going to be tightly contested-- i can't see their lazy, sloppy receivers finding much separation against our corners. . . if anything, one of them might make a play if one of our guys gets too aggressive jumping a route and misses, but i'm honestly more afraid of garrard getting loose and converting a few big third downs with his feet to keep drives alive than i am of their receivers making plays against us. . . betcha john lynch drops the hammer on one of those slugs coming across the middle at some point. . . .

dogfish
09-22-2007, 01:28 AM
Actually Denver's run defense isn't too far behind the Jags at #27. If you have RB's from either team in your fantasy lineup you'd be wise to start them this week. I expect big games out of Henry, Maurice Jones-Drew (who has been noticeably absent so far this season) and Fred Taylor.

Their one-two punch could be our demise unless our front men step up this week. Last week I thought they were owned by Oakland's O-line and let Lamont Jordan break away too much. They even allowed J. McCown 28 yds on 2 carries, unacceptable.

BTW, thanks for the breakdown DF! Insightful and good reading as always!

i've got henry in three of my seven leagues, and he never leaves the lineup. . . now if shanahan would just find a way to get him into the endzone instead of letting cecil sapp go touchdown vulture on me. . . :frusty: :lol:


of course you know i'm joking, all i really want is the broncos win-- i like to win in my FF leagues too, but that's a very distant second. . .


and i did pick up taylor in one of my leagues just to start him this week-- shows my confidence in our run D. . . .:frusty:


i'll GLADLY sacrifice the points if we can shut him down, though-- maybe force a few fumbles. . .

TXBRONC
09-22-2007, 12:56 PM
i've got henry in three of my seven leagues, and he never leaves the lineup. . . now if shanahan would just find a way to get him into the endzone instead of letting cecil sapp go touchdown vulture on me. . . :frusty: :lol:


of course you know i'm joking, all i really want is the broncos win-- i like to win in my FF leagues too, but that's a very distant second. . .


and i did pick up taylor in one of my leagues just to start him this week-- shows my confidence in our run D. . . .:frusty:


i'll GLADLY sacrifice the points if we can shut him down, though-- maybe force a few fumbles. . .

A couple of picks would be nice as well.