can you say horrible defense?

[weazel]

I didnt expect much from the run defense, but the pass defense was even worse. Another season of a non-existent pass rush makes the secondary look terrible. How many more years do we have to watch this defense struggle?

oh yeah, thanks Ed Hockley

[Tned]

Can you say, "the offensive Broncos" (scoring not smell) are back?

[weazel]

Can you say, "the offensive Broncos" (scoring not smell) are back?

Shanny?

[Northman]

Can you say, "the offensive Broncos" (scoring not smell) are back?

We are at this moment where the Chiefs were a few years ago. All offense no defense. I guess next years draft will be nothing but ST and Def.

[Timmy!]

The defense is a huge concern, but 2-0 is 2-0. The Chargers defense gave up 39 points.... :D

The offense is averaging 40 points a game. We can beat pretty much anybody with that. Hopefully the defense gets better.

[MOtorboat]

The run defense was pretty good. :confused:

[BigSarge87]

The defense is a huge concern, but 2-0 is 2-0. The Chargers defense gave up 39 points.... :D

The offense is averaging 40 points a game. We can beat pretty much anybody with that. Hopefully the defense gets better.

But, eventually, we're not going to score 40 points in a game. So I freaking hope the defense gets something figured out before the offense has a bad day.

[honz]

The run D was pretty good, but our problems today just like much of last year was a lack of pass rush. Paging Elvis Dumervil!

[Skinny]

We need to do a better job of blitzing and disguising those blitzes. The secondary right now is just too easy for QBs to read. They've got to much time.

[weazel]

The run defense was pretty good. :confused:

1. LT was injured and didnt play most of the game
2. the backup was a midget who still broke some runs.
3. the Chargers abandoned the run game in the second half because they were behind by two scores.

hope this helps your confusion

[Dean]

As long as we have early leads, we need to be less conservative. Normally, dalling a Blitz now and then will pay dividends. That is how the defense survived in the late 90's. It could work again.

[jrelway]

yea our D sucks..might bite us on the ass down the road..hopefully we tighten up as the season progresses. just outscore the other team by alot..gosh damm!!!

[JONtheBRONCO]

Yeah it wasn't good at all. But, I'll take the win... And the Chargers aren't chop suey. They played out of their minds today on O. Either way, the O is BACK! GO BRONCOS!!!

[weazel]

I think (hope) they will get better though. They have to, you would think

[Npba900]

We are at this moment where the Chiefs were a few years ago. All offense no defense. I guess next years draft will be nothing but ST and Def.

Don't forget FA too. Denver is going to need to take a radical approach to the lack of pass RUSH!

1) Like use their 1st and 2nd and possible their 3rd pick ALL on Pass rushers in the 2009 draft.

2) Roll the dice, open up their wallet (possible) and go after the best avail. pass rusher in 2009!!!

Any other suggestions???????

[LoyalSoldier]

Run defense was actually playing very well. Other than one run they were solid. Then again they didn't need to run with how well they were passing. I was wondering why the kept Paymah on Chambers when it was clear he couldn't cover him.

[G_Money]

Early draft wishlist:

1) Safety like Moore (Rolle will be gone... :( )
2) MLB like Spikes
3) DE like Middleton
4) New Defensive Coordinator
5) hitman to kill Paymah
6) new ST coach
7) partridge in a pear tree

~G

[yardog]

Paymah :tsk:

[BigDaddyBronco]

Paymah :tsk:
I think they traded Foxworth because they couldn't even get a 7th for Paymah. Weak sauce.

[G_Money]

Don't forget FA too. Denver is going to need to take a radical approach to the lack of pass RUSH!

1) Like use their 1st and 2nd and possible their 3rd pick ALL on Pass rushers in the 2009 draft.

2) Roll the dice, open up their wallet (possible) and go after the best avail. pass rusher in 2009!!!

Any other suggestions???????

DO NOT DO #1.

We don't have any idea how to draft a good pass rusher. Why flush an entire draft trying to get something we don't understand?

We need to get some of the fluff off the books, maybe trade Bly or yes, Champ, and throw that money at an all-world DE. Expensive corners don't do us any good without a pass rush - we've already established that. Go get somebody who's ALREADY great at defensive end, and keep the defensive draftpicks for things like LB and safety, positions we understand a bit better.

~G

[Nomad]

Paymah sucked today, but again Chambers owned all of Denver's corners! And I agree I don't know why they kept Paymah on Chambers

[SmilinAssasSin27]

The D is pretty terrible, but SD does have some weapons. They are hardly slouches. They are the perfect team to expose our poor MLB and Safety play. Not every team has the weapons they have. NO will be another test next week...but their D is worse than SDs.

The 09 draft will consist of a RB, MLB and Safety...or 2 of each, while we sign a FA DE.

[atwater27]

Quote: drunk weazel

can you say horrible defense?

Christ man, can you say "anything positive"? What are you, a bitter old man like Al Davis that can't appreciate anything? How many threads are you going to start up today capping on the Broncos?

[ChargersChic]

WOW!!!!! Is all I can say.

[yardog]

I think they traded Foxworth because they couldn't even get a 7th for Paymah. Weak sauce.

I was yelling I can see he sucks from 3,000 miles away. What the hell was the coaches looking at?

[SCBronco]

Don't forget FA too. Denver is going to need to take a radical approach to the lack of pass RUSH!

1) Like use their 1st and 2nd and possible their 3rd pick ALL on Pass rushers in the 2009 draft.

2) Roll the dice, open up their wallet (possible) and go after the best avail. pass rusher in 2009!!!

Any other suggestions???????


Didn't they do #1 about 2 years ago? Crowder and Moss and Thomas. Hopefully they will come around soon.

[BigDaddyBronco]

I was yelling I can see he sucks from 3,000 miles away. What the hell was the coaches looking at?It's one of those things where they are in love with his size and athletic ability, but can't understand what we all see, he just sucks.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

WOW!!!!! Is all I can say.

Can you actually say that the Chargers have NEVER benefited from BAD CALLS????

[jrelway]

yes we have bad defense. but we did play a team with some serious weapons..LT, sproles, gates, chambers, and yes even jackson. im sure we'll fix our problems as the season goes on. if not, we can always put up 30-40 points every week :)

[Tned]

We are at this moment where the Chiefs were a few years ago. All offense no defense. I guess next years draft will be nothing but ST and Def.


The D is pretty terrible, but SD does have some weapons. They are hardly slouches. They are the perfect team to expose our poor MLB and Safety play. Not every team has the weapons they have. NO will be another test next week...but their D is worse than SDs.

The 09 draft will consist of a RB, MLB and Safety...or 2 of each, while we sign a FA DE.

When we talk about how much they sucked, let's not forget that the D held the chargers to 133 yards passing and 10 yards rushing in the first half. 68 of those yards came on the last drive of the half, including a 48 yard TD where Chambers torched Bailey, which doesn't happen often.

So, what I'm saying is that in the first half, our D played very well.

Now in the second half, with the 14 point lead, the Chargers came out fired up and completely manhandled the Broncos D and O in the 3rd quarter and the D in the 4th quarter.

Was it conservative play calling, because of the lead? Good adjustments by SD? I don't know, but lets see where we are in another game or two before we state we have a horrible D. SD is not a slouch offense.

[yardog]

When we talk about how much they sucked, let's not forget that the D held the chargers to 133 yards passing and 10 yards rushing in the first half. 68 of those yards came on the last drive of the half, including a 48 yard TD where Chambers torched Bailey, which doesn't happen often.

So, what I'm saying is that in the first half, our D played very well.

Now in the second half, with the 14 point lead, the Chargers came out fired up and completely manhandled the Broncos D and O in the 3rd quarter and the D in the 4th quarter.

Was it conservative play calling, because of the lead? Good adjustments by SD? I don't know, but lets see where we are in another game or two before we state we have a horrible D. SD is not a slouch offense.

It was Paymah.

[weazel]

Quote: drunk weazel

can you say horrible defense?

Christ man, can you say "anything positive"? What are you, a bitter old man like Al Davis that can't appreciate anything? How many threads are you going to start up today capping on the Broncos?

how many threads you going to follow me into to say something negative? You follow me into every thread each and every week. Time to get over the man-crush fanboy. I know youre waiting to reply to my post, so hurry fanboy, bless us with another post.

[Traveler]

Even Champ looked bad today. Luck was definitely on our side today. Looks like we're gonna have to outscore everyone to win games from this point on.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Fire O'Brien the ST coach.

[omac]

WOW!!!!! Is all I can say.

Good game! You should've won that; we got a lucky break, but we'll take it.

Rivers played solid throughout, as did Chambers, Sproles, and Gates. Also, good protection by your injury ridden OL.

Still, after throwing an INT and fumbling the ball and believing he cost the team the game, Cutler still comes back with 2 pressure filled completions in the endzone. The guy is definitely resilient. :cheers:

[Flatinum]

Yeah, but who's defense is worst - Denver's or SD's?

Cromartie looked all world today.

[Northman]

Yeah, but who's defense is worst - Denver's or SD's?

Cromartie looked all world today.

Not really, he got burned plenty by Marshall.

[omac]

I didn't notice Bly; did he play much? Did he get burned, or was he playing well? If he was playing at the same time as Bailey and Paymah, who was he usually covering?

[weazel]

wierd, his name never came up much at all

[BigDaddyBronco]

Not really, he got burned plenty by Marshall.
He didn't push the sarcasm button.

I can't remember who talked all of the smack about Cromartie being better than Champ (who played like **** today), but he was flat out owned by Marshall today.

[omac]

When we talk about how much they sucked, let's not forget that the D held the chargers to 133 yards passing and 10 yards rushing in the first half. 68 of those yards came on the last drive of the half, including a 48 yard TD where Chambers torched Bailey, which doesn't happen often.

So, what I'm saying is that in the first half, our D played very well.

Now in the second half, with the 14 point lead, the Chargers came out fired up and completely manhandled the Broncos D and O in the 3rd quarter and the D in the 4th quarter.

Was it conservative play calling, because of the lead? Good adjustments by SD? I don't know, but lets see where we are in another game or two before we state we have a horrible D. SD is not a slouch offense.

Although our offense was high octane, it was a bit predictable, in that they knew we were going to pass most of the time; they just couldn't stop us. Later, they were just waiting for the moment to get the INT, and it came. Passing that many times a game is very dangerous; defenses like to set traps, and Cutler seemed to fall into one to kill a drive.

I'd like a little more balance from the rushing attack. Rushing's always a safer play. Cutler had 50 attempts, completing a pretty high 72% of them. Conversely, we only ran the ball 24 times. That's a pretty dangerous ratio to have to live by every game of the season.

[Broncolingus]

...the defensive line didn't seem to have a particularly strong game - esp. in the second half when the offense had slowed somewhat after putting up 31 friggin points in 2 quarters.

...might be something to get fixed if Denver wants to make (and compete) in the postseason.

Just sayin...

(...for the past 7-8 years...)

[omac]

wierd, his name never came up much at all

Maybe Bly was playing well, or he wasn't playing at all. How long before JMFW can play major minutes?

[yardog]

Maybe Bly was playing well, or he wasn't playing at all. How long before JMFW can play major minutes?

For me it's over due by about 30 min of game time.

[Tned]

Although our offense was high octane, it was a bit predictable, in that they knew we were going to pass most of the time; they just couldn't stop us. Later, they were just waiting for the moment to get the INT, and it came. Passing that many times a game is very dangerous; defenses like to set traps, and Cutler seemed to fall into one to kill a drive.

I'd like a little more balance from the rushing attack. Rushing's always a safer play. Cutler had 50 attempts, completing a pretty high 72% of them. Conversely, we only ran the ball 24 times. That's a pretty dangerous ratio to have to live by every game of the season.

Agreed, if we do that every game, we are probably in trouble. However, we don't play a 3-4 defense that we struggle against every game. Our O-line clearly is still further along in their pass blocking than run blocking, and the Broncos came out and didn't even try and hide the fact they were going to pass, they played to their 'current' strength, a line that can pass block (Cutler only rushed/flushed a few times), WR depth (when did we last have 3 legitimate WR threats?), and TE passing depth in Tony/Nate.

We are back to classic Shanny offense, each week it will be something different. Next week, we might very well run it 40 times and pass it 25 times.

[omac]

Agreed, if we do that every game, we are probably in trouble. However, we don't play a 3-4 defense that we struggle against every game. Our O-line clearly is still further along in their pass blocking than run blocking, and the Broncos came out and didn't even try and hide the fact they were going to pass, they played to their 'current' strength, a line that can pass block (Cutler only rushed/flushed a few times), WR depth (when did we last have 3 legitimate WR threats?), and TE passing depth in Tony/Nate.

We are back to classic Shanny offense, each week it will be something different. Next week, we might very well run it 40 times and pass it 25 times.

Yup, I'm feeling giddy about the passing offense, and that definitely is our strength. Also, even though we got him in the 2nd round, Royal is turning out to be a real steal! And despite not being very effective yet in run blocking, I have absolutely no major problems with the OL as it is. And for 50 passes, that completion rate is insane; that's almost 3 out of every 4 passes, or 7 out of 10 passes!

[Dreadnought]

Looking at this glass half full, the past couple of years the Chargers totally punked our run defense. We knew they were going to run and it made no difference. That did not happen today. Rivers was on fire, but it wasn't quite enough. I see this as a better unit than last year, easily.

[spikerman]

Although it's a continual glaring weakness we could wait until the 5th round to draft a defensive lineman!!!! Wait, we tried that this year - I guess it didn't work. Carry on. :salute:

[tomjonesrocks]

Looking at this glass half full, the past couple of years the Chargers totally punked our run defense. We knew they were going to run and it made no difference. That did not happen today. Rivers was on fire, but it wasn't quite enough. I see this as a better unit than last year, easily.

I don't really see an improvement. We still have no pass rush, Sproles had a career day, and Rivers was able to complete passes wherever he wanted at will. It was a despicable, despicable performance--on par with any of the despicable performances of last year IMO. I don't remember a Chargers punt the entire second half.

The D looked good stopping a slow and hampered LT but that was about it.

I really want to know what the plan is for Paymah though. You can't keep running that guy out there.

[tomjonesrocks]

Double Post.

[Northman]

I don't really see an improvement. We still have no pass rush, Sproles had a career day, and Rivers was able to complete passes wherever he wanted at will. It was a despicable, despicable performance--on par with any of the despicable performances of last year IMO.

The D looked good stopping a slow and hampered LT but that was about it.

I really want to know what the plan is for Paymah though. You can't keep running that guy out there.

He had a career day on a screen pass and kickoff return. Something we've seen him do the last couple of years. So there has been some progress but there's also a lot of work still yet to be done.

[Drill-N-Fill]

The line got no penetration! We rarely blitzed to gain pressure. It was like we were playing a vanilla pre-season type defense. Paymah was terrible, but then again I thought he played bad last game too.

The saftey were out of position playing zone, and took bad angles all day. This game wouldn't have been close if it was in San Diego.

Positives: Entire offense. Couldn't ask for more.

I think Shanny is going to spend the week in the defensive meeting this week.

[Tned]

Yup, I'm feeling giddy about the passing offense, and that definitely is our strength. Also, even though we got him in the 2nd round, Royal is turning out to be a real steal! And despite not being very effective yet in run blocking, I have absolutely no major problems with the OL as it is. And for 50 passes, that completion rate is insane; that's almost 3 out of every 4 passes, or 7 out of 10 passes!

And, let's not lose site of the fact we rushed for 139 (not including Cutler's six) and a 6.3 YPC. Granted that was setup by the pass, and I wouldn't want to see 50 passes every week, but the way we came out in shotgun, it seemed clear that the goal was to spread them out and pass, which would open up the run to keep them honest.

[Npba900]

Although our offense was high octane, it was a bit predictable, in that they knew we were going to pass most of the time; they just couldn't stop us. Later, they were just waiting for the moment to get the INT, and it came. Passing that many times a game is very dangerous; defenses like to set traps, and Cutler seemed to fall into one to kill a drive.

I'd like a little more balance from the rushing attack. Rushing's always a safer play. Cutler had 50 attempts, completing a pretty high 72% of them. Conversely, we only ran the ball 24 times. That's a pretty dangerous ratio to have to live by every game of the season.

Something also to keep in mind, in the fall when the weather is great (September thru 1st week of Nov) the passing game works great! November thru January when the weather gets bad and then the ground game has to come into play.

Denver can't expect to pass the ball 50 attempts every sunday. But hey, while the weather is great....pass-baby-pass.

[Tned]

I don't really see an improvement. We still have no pass rush, Sproles had a career day, and Rivers was able to complete passes wherever he wanted at will. It was a despicable, despicable performance--on par with any of the despicable performances of last year IMO. I don't remember a Chargers punt the entire second half.

The D looked good stopping a slow and hampered LT but that was about it.

I really want to know what the plan is for Paymah though. You can't keep running that guy out there.


They gave up 78 yards rushing, 10 in the first half.

The lack of pass rush and giving up 200 yards passing in the second half was a concern, but that might have been slipping into a prevent, run out the clock mentality on defense/offense.

I still say the Jury is still out on this defense, because in the first two games they performed VERY well in the first half, and then gave up yards and points in the second when they had leads.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

It has to be the defensive coordinator, and coaches, as I feel, for the most part, we have the players on defense. My son was listening to KOA radio on the way home from the game, and he said that every defensive player interviewed said that the defense definitely needs to step it up. That is great, but if the coordinator/coaches are not calling for blitzes, etc., there is nothing the players can do about that.

[spikerman]

It has to be the defensive coordinator, and coaches, as I feel, for the most part, we have the players on defense. My son was listening to KOA radio on the way home from the game, and he said that every defensive player interviewed said that the defense definitely needs to step it up. That is great, but if the coordinator/coaches are not calling for blitzes, etc., there is nothing the players can do about that.

What scares me is that it seems like we hear this every year. The canned quote usually goes something like, "We know we have the talent on defense, we just have to put it together." I'm afraid that just like in years past we may be hearing this through the first 10 or 11 weeks of the season until the players just stop talking to the media.

[SmilinAssasSin27]

We face a similar O next week. We'll see who our D really is...the 1st half version, or the 2nd.

[atwater27]

how many threads you going to follow me into to say something negative? You follow me into every thread each and every week. Time to get over the man-crush fanboy. I know youre waiting to reply to my post, so hurry fanboy, bless us with another post.

Maybe it's time you start rooting for your boys instead of cursing them.

[SarahKay]

In order to go into the postseason is if our D gets better. We have all kinds of killer weapons on offense.. whats happend to our pass D? And we def need to improve on our run D. WTF!

Great win either way. Glad we stand 2-0. :salute:

[Broncolingus]

Yup, I'm feeling giddy about the passing offense, and that definitely is our strength. Also, even though we got him in the 2nd round, Royal is turning out to be a real steal! And despite not being very effective yet in run blocking, I have absolutely no major problems with the OL as it is. And for 50 passes, that completion rate is insane; that's almost 3 out of every 4 passes, or 7 out of 10 passes!

...good post.

I have no problems with the offense after two games. I'm willing to give it some time to see how the running game comes along.

Defensive line, minus some poor tackling & coverage from the LBs and RBs, looked damn week yet again.

[Tned]

In order to go into the postseason is if our D gets better. We have all kinds of killer weapons on offense.. whats happend to our pass D? And we def need to improve on our run D. WTF!

Great win either way. Glad we stand 2-0. :salute:

Run D:

Against Oak:

1st half 61 yards rushing
2nd half 83 yards (however 48 yards came on Oak's last drive, when the Broncos were up by 34 points.

Against SD:

1st half 10 yards rushing
2nd half 70 yards rushing

Our run defense is actually doing pretty good actually. We have given up a couple big runs, like 42 yards to Fargas at the end of the game, which bumps up the YPC, but the pass defense is more of a concern right now.

However, let's not lose site of the fact that SD was the fifth highest scoring offense last season.

[LRtagger]

but the pass defense is more of a concern right now.



Our nickle package and our pass rush are terrible. I want to see more of JMFW and less of Paymah.

Also our ST coverage is horrendous

[SmilinAssasSin27]

Our LBs are a mess. I know they lined up out of position (scheme or mistake) on the Sproles TD, but they just look lost. I wouldn't mind seeing DJ back inside and giving Woodyard a shot at OLB.

[omac]

Run D:

Against Oak:

1st half 61 yards rushing
2nd half 83 yards (however 48 yards came on Oak's last drive, when the Broncos were up by 34 points.

Against SD:

1st half 10 yards rushing
2nd half 70 yards rushing

Our run defense is actually doing pretty good actually. We have given up a couple big runs, like 42 yards to Fargas at the end of the game, which bumps up the YPC, but the pass defense is more of a concern right now.

However, let's not lose site of the fact that SD was the fifth highest scoring offense last season.

Very good points; lots of people were quick to discredit out offense, just because we did it against Oakland. At least give SD's offense some credit against our defense, not just blame it all on Denver's defense sucking. SD is a good offensive team.

Our run D is tons better than last season, where we were hemhoraging points and clock. I'd rather have a weak pass D than a weak run D. Though we need to fix our D, it gave us enough effort for our offense to get the win, something our defense couldn't do last season.

[Northman]

Our nickle package and our pass rush are terrible. I want to see more of JMFW and less of Paymah.

Also our ST coverage is horrendous

Special Teams actually concerns me far more than the Pass D. We are just giving up field position left and right. Not too mention scores off of it like from Sproles and Hester last year. At least if they are going to score on us they need to earn it more than they are.

[Bronco9798]

yes we have bad defense. but we did play a team with some serious weapons..LT, sproles, gates, chambers, and yes even jackson. im sure we'll fix our problems as the season goes on. if not, we can always put up 30-40 points every week :)

We allowed them to be weapons. Vincent Jackson is nothing special and LT sit most of the game. Gates hes been injured. Sproles is a good return man, but we allowed him to be great in everything else today. Chambers is an OK receiver, but we made him look all pro today. Come back and try again.

[Broncolingus]

Lack of a physical defensive line is where all the 'problems' start...

Bad positioning, tackling, etc. today from the LBs and DBs on several occations to be sure, but if Denver could EVER get pressure on a consistent basis from the down-4, most of these problems would be moot...

Also, where's the killer instinct?

[jrelway]

We allowed them to be weapons. Vincent Jackson is nothing special and LT sit most of the game. Gates hes been injured. Sproles is a good return man, but we allowed him to be great in everything else today. Chambers is an OK receiver, but we made him look all pro today. Come back and try again.

go look at the 2007 season of the chargers and tell me they didnt put up points against everyone they played. put up many points, even against the tough defensive teams. everybody i named above ARE playmakers. chargers are gonna put up points regardless. and im not saying our defense doesnt suck cause we do have issues..come back and try again.

[Bronco4ever]

I really hope we start to see JMFW as the nickel back instead of Paymuuugggh. The defense was pretty lousy to say the least, but outside of SD game 2 and New Orleans I don't see many offensive powerhouses like we had today. Sandy Eggo played a hell of a game today and it will be just as hard the next time we play them.

[SmilinAssasSin27]

We allowed them to be weapons. Vincent Jackson is nothing special and LT sit most of the game. Gates hes been injured. Sproles is a good return man, but we allowed him to be great in everything else today. Chambers is an OK receiver, but we made him look all pro today. Come back and try again.

gotta disagree w/ ya on this one. Sproles is a playmaker. He's not an everydown RB, but he is explosive. we may not have let him run well, but that flare in the openfield is a punt returners wet dream. Chris Chambers is a stud. He was when Miami was good and now that he has a QB, we are all seeing that again.

[AlWilsonizKING]

I didnt expect much from the run defense, but the pass defense was even worse. Another season of a non-existent pass rush makes the secondary look terrible. How many more years do we have to watch this defense struggle?

oh yeah, thanks Ed Hockley


Can you say 2nd game of the season?


PEACE!!!

[topscribe]

Have you considered the offense the Broncos played? Who's on that offense?

LT
Sproles
Chambers
Jackson
Gates
Rivers
One of the best O-lines in the business

Now, what did the Broncos do to their very strong defense? As I mentioned
elsewhere, the Bolts fans are over on their board, talking about how terrible
their defense is.

This kind of stuff happens. Great offenses sometimes get shut down, and
great defenses get blown up. I'm not saying the Broncos have a "great"
defense, but let's not throw them under the bus over one game. Especially
against a team such as the Chargers.

-----

[Cugel]

We played a team that was largely cripple on offense, with LT largely ineffective with a foot injury and Gates also injured and not a factor in the game.

For the second straight game the pass-rush was non-existent getting no pressure on the QB and the secondary was very shaky.

Oakland missed a lot of easy throws in the secondary against the safeties that were wide open, but JaMarcus Russell threw wild and high.

Of course, Rivers didn't miss. His receivers were wide open all day. Denver will have to play a LOT better defense to go anywhere this season; they can't expect to score 40 points a game all season long.

I was particularly disappointed in the D-line. I thought with the addition of DeWayne Robertson and Marcus Thomas entering his second year the pass-rush would be much better. But, it's been just as dismal as last year.

True, Denver wasn't gashed for huge yards on the ground, but S.D. gave up running the ball especially in the 2nd half. First, LT was injured, and then they fell behind by 21-3 and had to go away from the run to try and get some quick scores.

They managed to get over 100 yards rushing almost without trying.

Right now, this offense looks almost as good as Elway's last year, with Rod and Eddie Mac, and Terrell and Shannon. Brandon is a better receiver right now than Rod was that season and Royal and Stokely combined together are better than Eddie alone (though not so tough).

Sheffler is now looking like he was worth the 2nd round pick which is great. I was a fan of his, but until now he's really not shown us much. That was a very nice relief to realize he's going to be very good. Cutler was simply great, despite the int and fumble.

So, I think this offense can score with anybody, including Indy, Dallas, the Giants or Patriots. But, the team will only go as far as the defense and STs let them.

Giving up a TD on ST and giving up 32 points on defense has got to stop though.

And blitzing a lot more is NOT going to be the answer. The few times they tried it on third and long, the Chargers picked it up easily and Rivers made the throw downfield.

They might mix up their blitzes more, but their safeties aren't good enough in coverage for the team to blitz 7 guys a lot.

Overall, it was an exciting game, but this team needs a lot of work.

On the plus side, we can forget any threat of a similar season to last year. The offense is as good as anybody.

But, defensively? Not so much.

[topscribe]

We played a team that was largely cripple on offense, with LT largely ineffective with a foot injury and Gates also injured and not a factor in the game.

For the second straight game the pass-rush was non-existent getting no pressure on the QB and the secondary was very shaky.

Oakland missed a lot of easy throws in the secondary against the safeties that were wide open, but JaMarcus Russell threw wild and high.

Of course, Rivers didn't miss. His receivers were wide open all day. Denver will have to play a LOT better defense to go anywhere this season; they can't expect to score 40 points a game all season long.

I was particularly disappointed in the D-line. I thought with the addition of DeWayne Robertson and Marcus Thomas entering his second year the pass-rush would be much better. But, it's been just as dismal as last year.

True, Denver wasn't gashed for huge yards on the ground, but S.D. gave up running the ball especially in the 2nd half. First, LT was injured, and then they fell behind by 21-3 and had to go away from the run to try and get some quick scores.

They managed to get over 100 yards rushing almost without trying.

Right now, this offense looks almost as good as Elway's last year, with Rod and Eddie Mac, and Terrell and Shannon. Brandon is a better receiver right now than Rod was that season and Royal and Stokely combined together are better than Eddie alone (though not so tough).

Sheffler is now looking like he was worth the 2nd round pick which is great. I was a fan of his, but until now he's really not shown us much. That was a very nice relief to realize he's going to be very good. Cutler was simply great, despite the int and fumble.

So, I think this offense can score with anybody, including Indy, Dallas, the Giants or Patriots. But, the team will only go as far as the defense and STs let them.

Giving up a TD on ST and giving up 32 points on defense has got to stop though.

And blitzing a lot more is NOT going to be the answer. The few times they tried it on third and long, the Chargers picked it up easily and Rivers made the throw downfield.

They might mix up their blitzes more, but their safeties aren't good enough in coverage for the team to blitz 7 guys a lot.

Overall, it was an exciting game, but this team needs a lot of work.

On the plus side, we can forget any threat of a similar season to last year. The offense is as good as anybody.

But, defensively? Not so much.


Decent evaluation, Cug. (Good to see you, BTW!!) :beer:

The defense could shore up the pass rush and safety position a little bit, so
I agree with you some. I was just saying that I don't think the Broncos'
defense is quite as pathetic as some think.

BTW, I do have to take issue with you on Scheffler a little bit. He did show
us 49 receptions over 11 games last year. That's the equivalent of 72
receptions over 16 games. I'd say that's pretty good, wouldn't you?

-----

[nevcraw]

We played a team that was largely cripple on offense, with LT largely ineffective with a foot injury and Gates also injured and not a factor in the game.

For the second straight game the pass-rush was non-existent getting no pressure on the QB and the secondary was very shaky.

Oakland missed a lot of easy throws in the secondary against the safeties that were wide open, but JaMarcus Russell threw wild and high.

Of course, Rivers didn't miss. His receivers were wide open all day. Denver will have to play a LOT better defense to go anywhere this season; they can't expect to score 40 points a game all season long.

I was particularly disappointed in the D-line. I thought with the addition of DeWayne Robertson and Marcus Thomas entering his second year the pass-rush would be much better. But, it's been just as dismal as last year.

True, Denver wasn't gashed for huge yards on the ground, but S.D. gave up running the ball especially in the 2nd half. First, LT was injured, and then they fell behind by 21-3 and had to go away from the run to try and get some quick scores.

They managed to get over 100 yards rushing almost without trying.

Right now, this offense looks almost as good as Elway's last year, with Rod and Eddie Mac, and Terrell and Shannon. Brandon is a better receiver right now than Rod was that season and Royal and Stokely combined together are better than Eddie alone (though not so tough).

Sheffler is now looking like he was worth the 2nd round pick which is great. I was a fan of his, but until now he's really not shown us much. That was a very nice relief to realize he's going to be very good. Cutler was simply great, despite the int and fumble.

So, I think this offense can score with anybody, including Indy, Dallas, the Giants or Patriots. But, the team will only go as far as the defense and STs let them.

Giving up a TD on ST and giving up 32 points on defense has got to stop though.

And blitzing a lot more is NOT going to be the answer. The few times they tried it on third and long, the Chargers picked it up easily and Rivers made the throw downfield.

They might mix up their blitzes more, but their safeties aren't good enough in coverage for the team to blitz 7 guys a lot.

Overall, it was an exciting game, but this team needs a lot of work.

On the plus side, we can forget any threat of a similar season to last year. The offense is as good as anybody.

But, defensively? Not so much.

I disagree in 2 areas.
1. Russell was hurried, hit and sacked last week. they did a good job keeping him off balance.
2. The gave up 80 yards today on the ground.

otherwise good post!

[hamrob]

wierd, his name never came up much at allI'm not sure this has been mentioned. But it certainly looks like they are using Paymah for most of the games as the #2 cb opposite of Bailey with Bly playing the Nickle. I noticed that last week alot...and it seemed to be that way again for at least half of this game. What's up with that?

[hamrob]

Our LBs are a mess. I know they lined up out of position (scheme or mistake) on the Sproles TD, but they just look lost. I wouldn't mind seeing DJ back inside and giving Woodyard a shot at OLB.I'm all for that. Webster is just way too big of a liability in the passing game. That guy is slow and takes all of the wrong angles. He's a backup at best! enough said!

[topscribe]

I'm not sure this has been mentioned. But it certainly looks like they are using Paymah for most of the games as the #2 cb opposite of Bailey with Bly playing the Nickle. I noticed that last week alot...and it seemed to be that way again for at least half of this game. What's up with that?

Bly is better than Paymah at covering double moves, slants, and button hooks,
all typical moves in the slot. Paymah is very fast, much faster than Bly, so
he's harder to outrun than Bly on the outside. So this is why the switch.

That's my understanding from what I have read, anyway.

-----

[Tned]

We played a team that was largely cripple on offense, with LT largely ineffective with a foot injury and Gates also injured and not a factor in the game.

For the second straight game the pass-rush was non-existent getting no pressure on the QB and the secondary was very shaky.

Oakland missed a lot of easy throws in the secondary against the safeties that were wide open, but JaMarcus Russell threw wild and high.

Of course, Rivers didn't miss. His receivers were wide open all day. Denver will have to play a LOT better defense to go anywhere this season; they can't expect to score 40 points a game all season long.

I was particularly disappointed in the D-line. I thought with the addition of DeWayne Robertson and Marcus Thomas entering his second year the pass-rush would be much better. But, it's been just as dismal as last year.

True, Denver wasn't gashed for huge yards on the ground, but S.D. gave up running the ball especially in the 2nd half. First, LT was injured, and then they fell behind by 21-3 and had to go away from the run to try and get some quick scores.

They managed to get over 100 yards rushing almost without trying.

Right now, this offense looks almost as good as Elway's last year, with Rod and Eddie Mac, and Terrell and Shannon. Brandon is a better receiver right now than Rod was that season and Royal and Stokely combined together are better than Eddie alone (though not so tough).

Sheffler is now looking like he was worth the 2nd round pick which is great. I was a fan of his, but until now he's really not shown us much. That was a very nice relief to realize he's going to be very good. Cutler was simply great, despite the int and fumble.

So, I think this offense can score with anybody, including Indy, Dallas, the Giants or Patriots. But, the team will only go as far as the defense and STs let them.

Giving up a TD on ST and giving up 32 points on defense has got to stop though.

And blitzing a lot more is NOT going to be the answer. The few times they tried it on third and long, the Chargers picked it up easily and Rivers made the throw downfield.

They might mix up their blitzes more, but their safeties aren't good enough in coverage for the team to blitz 7 guys a lot.

Overall, it was an exciting game, but this team needs a lot of work.

On the plus side, we can forget any threat of a similar season to last year. The offense is as good as anybody.

But, defensively? Not so much.

While I have some concerns of our pass rush and nickel back, I think you might be a little off on a few things.

FIrst, they didn't rush for 100 yards, they only rushed for 80 yards. Also, you say they "gave up rushing the ball, especially in the second half". However, in the first half, before they "gave up" rushing, they only managed 10 yards rushing.

The Broncos held SD, the 5th highest scoring offense last year, to 10 yards rushing and 133 passing in the first half. 68 of those passing yards came on the last SD drive of the half which included the uncharacteristic 48 yard TD pass that Champ got burned on.

The defense held up very well in the first half.

10 yards rushing
133 yards passing
10 points

Now, both the offense and defense came out in the second half flat. Were they trying to sit on the lead? Did SD make adjustments? A little of both?

As to Gates. He had 4 catches for 61 yards, that isn't ineffective. A number of them were for first down (don't have time to research how many, and don't remember exactly how many there were.

Also, let's put something in perspective.

21 of their points came on 'big' plays, as opposed to chipping away at the defense.

103 yard kickoff return
48 yard pass that Champ misplayed
66 yard pass to Sproles

Then, another 3 points was setup by another big play, which was a 67 yard pass to the FB Tolbert, that was a little dump across the middle that found 5 of our defenders 'just a little' out of position which resulted in a big gain, and a FG.

So, 24 of their 38 points came off of 4 big plays, three against the defense, and 180 or so yards (half of Rivers yards) came off of three big plays, which were the result of blown coverages.

As an aside, I am surprised Shanahan didn't challenge the Chambers TD in the left corner of the endzone, as it looked very close to incomplete.

Anyway, I am not taking a little different view of the defense. I see a defense that held up very well, except for a handful of big plays. We have something like half of our defense that is either new, or playing new positions this year, and many of them are young. A blown assignment here or there isn't a big deal. I see a defense that came out in a bit too much of a 'prevent' mindset, after having shut down SD in all but one drive in the first half.

[topscribe]

I'm all for that. Webster is just way too big of a liability in the passing game. That guy is slow and takes all of the wrong angles. He's a backup at best! enough said!

I could not disagree with you more on Webster being slow. Did you miss the
play last week where he was step-for-step with a WR downfield in coverage?
Well, the WR did have a step on him, but that is a MLB, for pity's sake.
Moreover, I saw him run down somebody from behind on a pass play today. He
is the one who took the player down on the four yardline. I don't remember
now who that player was, but Webster showed his speed there.

Nope, that dude is FAST . . .

-----

[hamrob]

We played a team that was largely cripple on offense, with LT largely ineffective with a foot injury and Gates also injured and not a factor in the game.

For the second straight game the pass-rush was non-existent getting no pressure on the QB and the secondary was very shaky.

Oakland missed a lot of easy throws in the secondary against the safeties that were wide open, but JaMarcus Russell threw wild and high.

Of course, Rivers didn't miss. His receivers were wide open all day. Denver will have to play a LOT better defense to go anywhere this season; they can't expect to score 40 points a game all season long.

I was particularly disappointed in the D-line. I thought with the addition of DeWayne Robertson and Marcus Thomas entering his second year the pass-rush would be much better. But, it's been just as dismal as last year.

True, Denver wasn't gashed for huge yards on the ground, but S.D. gave up running the ball especially in the 2nd half. First, LT was injured, and then they fell behind by 21-3 and had to go away from the run to try and get some quick scores.

They managed to get over 100 yards rushing almost without trying.

Right now, this offense looks almost as good as Elway's last year, with Rod and Eddie Mac, and Terrell and Shannon. Brandon is a better receiver right now than Rod was that season and Royal and Stokely combined together are better than Eddie alone (though not so tough).

Sheffler is now looking like he was worth the 2nd round pick which is great. I was a fan of his, but until now he's really not shown us much. That was a very nice relief to realize he's going to be very good. Cutler was simply great, despite the int and fumble.

So, I think this offense can score with anybody, including Indy, Dallas, the Giants or Patriots. But, the team will only go as far as the defense and STs let them.

Giving up a TD on ST and giving up 32 points on defense has got to stop though.

And blitzing a lot more is NOT going to be the answer. The few times they tried it on third and long, the Chargers picked it up easily and Rivers made the throw downfield.

They might mix up their blitzes more, but their safeties aren't good enough in coverage for the team to blitz 7 guys a lot.

Overall, it was an exciting game, but this team needs a lot of work.

On the plus side, we can forget any threat of a similar season to last year. The offense is as good as anybody.

But, defensively? Not so much.Just a couple comments:

1st off, the Chargers line was crippled...they are missing their two best...that's right their two best Offensive Lineman....and we still couldn't
get any pressure on Rivers.

secondly, Scheff caught 49 passes last year and had 5 td's. That was top 10 in the NFL. So, although I understand your comments...he showed that he was worth the 2nd long before this year.

[hamrob]

Bly is better than Paymah at covering double moves, slants, and button hooks,
all typical moves in the slot. Paymah is very fast, much faster than Bly, so
he's harder to outrun than Bly on the outside. So this is why the switch.

That's my understanding from what I have read, anyway.

-----Got it. Does make you wonder though...why we're paying him 30+ million!

[hamrob]

I could not disagree with you more on Webster being slow. Did you miss the
play last week where he was step-for-step with a WR downfield in coverage?
Well, the WR did have a step on him, but that is a MLB, for pity's sake.
Moreover, I saw him run down somebody from behind on a pass play today. He
is the one who took the player down on the four yardline. I don't remember
now who that player was, but Webster showed his speed there.

Nope, that dude is FAST . . .

-----I'll watch the game a couple more times this week...but what I see is a guy with his feet stuck in cement who is a huge liability in coverage. I kept asking myself...why the hell they don't just send him after the QB...because he gets lost in almost every play. As for that play last week, it was a couple steps and a good throw meant a TD. Sproles made him look like a pop warner player today.

[topscribe]

I'll watch the game a couple more times this week...but what I see is a guy with his feet stuck in cement who is a huge liability in coverage. I kept asking myself...why the hell they don't just send him after the QB...because he gets lost in almost every play. As for that play last week, it was a couple steps and a good throw meant a TD. Sproles made him look like a pop warner player today.

Ham, Sproles runs somewhere between 4.3 and 4.4. He can make any linebacker
look bad. And he did. All of them.

Just like Fast Eddie has also made every other defender look bad. Hell, did
you notice on that two-point conversion how Eddie flat outran double
coverage? And those guys weren't linebackers. Now, talk about making
somebody look like Pop Warner!

I have been very unhappy with Webster since he came to Denver. But he has
seemed to show up the last couple games, at least as far as I could see.

Manuel is the one I'm not crazy about right now. I wonder when they're
going to let Lowry play at safety and see what he can do.

-----

[hamrob]

Ham, Sproles runs somewhere between 4.3 and 4.4. He can make any linebacker
look bad. And he did. All of them.

Just like Fast Eddie has also made every other defender look bad. Hell, did
you notice on that two-point conversion how Eddie flat outran double
coverage? And those guys weren't linebackers. Now, talk about making
somebody look like Pop Warner!

I have been very unhappy with Webster since he came to Denver. But he has
seemed to show up the last couple games, at least as far as I could see.

Manuel is the one I'm not crazy about right now. I wonder when they're
going to let Lowry play at safety and see what he can do.

-----Good points, but I just don't see it with Webster. I'll keep hoping. As for Lowry, he was playing safety quite a bit today. Didn't look all that impressive to me.

[hamrob]

I also noticed that Shaw was playing next to Robertson quite a bit. I'm not sure how well he did and why he was in for Thomas? If you check the stat sheet...I believe our Dline came up with a wopping 2 tackles. One being a sack by Engleberger...the other was that run stuff by Ekubon. San Diego didn't run alot...but wow! Also, thoughts on Boss Bailey today? I didn't think he looked all that great...but he ended up having the 2nd most tackle in the game for the Broncos. Champ had the most.

[Superchop 7]

Scribe, I like and respect you.....

That being said....

Our MLB is lousy.

[Broncos Mtnman]

Scribe, I like and respect you.....

That being said....

Our MLB is lousy.

Totally disagree.

Our LB play is the only thing working on defense right now.

[G_Money]

While I have some concerns of our pass rush and nickel back, I think you might be a little off on a few things.

FIrst, they didn't rush for 100 yards, they only rushed for 80 yards. Also, you say they "gave up rushing the ball, especially in the second half". However, in the first half, before they "gave up" rushing, they only managed 10 yards rushing.

The Broncos held SD, the 5th highest scoring offense last year, to 10 yards rushing and 133 passing in the first half. 68 of those passing yards came on the last SD drive of the half which included the uncharacteristic 48 yard TD pass that Champ got burned on.

The defense held up very well in the first half.

10 yards rushing
133 yards passing
10 points

Now, both the offense and defense came out in the second half flat. Were they trying to sit on the lead? Did SD make adjustments? A little of both?

As to Gates. He had 4 catches for 61 yards, that isn't ineffective. A number of them were for first down (don't have time to research how many, and don't remember exactly how many there were.

Also, let's put something in perspective.

21 of their points came on 'big' plays, as opposed to chipping away at the defense.

103 yard kickoff return
48 yard pass that Champ misplayed
66 yard pass to Sproles

Then, another 3 points was setup by another big play, which was a 67 yard pass to the FB Tolbert, that was a little dump across the middle that found 5 of our defenders 'just a little' out of position which resulted in a big gain, and a FG.

So, 24 of their 38 points came off of 4 big plays, three against the defense, and 180 or so yards (half of Rivers yards) came off of three big plays, which were the result of blown coverages.

As an aside, I am surprised Shanahan didn't challenge the Chambers TD in the left corner of the endzone, as it looked very close to incomplete.

Anyway, I am not taking a little different view of the defense. I see a defense that held up very well, except for a handful of big plays. We have something like half of our defense that is either new, or playing new positions this year, and many of them are young. A blown assignment here or there isn't a big deal. I see a defense that came out in a bit too much of a 'prevent' mindset, after having shut down SD in all but one drive in the first half.

The Chargers had 4 drives in the first half, one of which lasted for 2 plays thanks to the bad Champ-strip call.

San Diego Drives First Half

TOP Began Plays Yards Result

0:46 SD 20 2 1 Int
4:49 SD 18 10 66 FG
2:28 SD 5 3 -3 Punt
3:28 SD 20 6 80 TD

So we got a bad call in our favor and made them punt once. Other than that they had 2 long drives down the field on us, one of which we stopped for a field-goal deep in our territory.

They had the ball for essentially 3 drives. Don't count the yards, count the drives.

San Diego Drives Second Half

TOP Began Plays Yards Result

4:10 SD 41 8 59 TD
2:01 SD 22 6 75 FG
6:15 SD 19 14 71 FG
1:07 SD 9 3 91 TD
0:20 SD 18 3 25 End Reg

The clock stopped SD at the end, not our defense. If they'd had another 20 seconds we'd have lost. Besides Champ's non-reviewable play, we stopped SD exactly ONCE before that final drive.

They had 9 drives, 6 of which were for points, several of the big-play variety as you say. I don't think that's a good thing. If we can't pressure the QB, other teams are gonna get lots of big plays too. No, they didn't mulch us at 5 yards a play like Jacksonville did last year, but if the big play is always there then why would you need to? That again is not a good trait of the defense. Being carved up for big yardage doesn't mean we wouldn't be carved up for smaller yardage if the big plays weren't there. If the Qb has all day and most of tomorrow to decide what to do, chances are there will be something there for his benefit and our detriment.

Our defense didn't stop SD in the first half, circumstance did. They deferred to the 2nd half so we got the ball first. Getting in an extra drive plus a bad call for a turnover put us in the driver's seat, but that's not a pat on the back for the defense. The kicking game put SD on the 5, which helped force the 3-and-out.

I want our defense to be good, too, and SD has a very good offensive machine. But we barely slowed them down today. Thankfully we had some calls go our way and our offense came out firing on all cylinders.

It was a good benchmark game for us, to judge our talent against theirs, and we've made up almost all the ground offensively since last season - a heroic feat, if I do say so myself.

We were so outclassed in those games it was ridiculous. :coffee:

But in Oakland there were plenty of plays to be made, by a young team with bad leadership and no wide receivers. They just didn't make them. A team with so-so leadership and decent receivers shredded us. Our defense is currently leaving gaping holes in coverages and getting zero pressure on the QB.

We ARE better thus far in the run game, but it's a relative measure. In that sense I'd say our DTs are pulling their weight much more than last year. But there's no interior pressure on the QB, and no outside pressure either. Our blitzes are telegraphed and our DBs need work.

This year is a work-in-progress year. After the first two games I think we can definitely say that we have the horses on offense, especially in the passing game, to make a serious run.

But our defense needs work if that run is gonna go beyond the first round of the playoffs. A LOT of work.

So here's hoping we do as well with defensive picks in 09 as we have with offensive ones in 06 and 08. Because I don't think we're gonna get all the kinks out of the defense until we get some better players there.

Hopefully Slowik comes up with a better scheme in future weeks that can cover our talent deficiencies at S, nickel, DE and LB.

~G

[topscribe]

Scribe, I like and respect you.....


Nah, pffft. You just want my '69 Royal Enfield, Chop . . .

-----

[Dublin Bolt]

U think ur D is bad?, WOW.

We have more problems than u guys. Our LBs cannot tackle and we cannot rush the passer. Our secondary (apart from Weddle) is getting a mulligan from me today. Our D is only bettered by the Lions and Rams in terms of incompetence (fact).

I hope some of you now appreciate you were up against a fantastic QB today. Less of the smack talk please. Rivers is a great guy and a magnificient QB/leader to boot.

[Tned]

I hope some of you now appreciate you were up against a fantastic QB today. Less of the smack talk please. Rivers is a great guy and a magnificient QB/leader to boot.

I think that door swings both ways. There didn't seem to be much respect for Cutler coming from the SD fan arena.

Regardless, Rivers did play a heck of a game.

[Retired_Member_001]

yes we have bad defense. but we did play a team with some serious weapons..LT, sproles, gates, chambers, and yes even jackson. im sure we'll fix our problems as the season goes on. if not, we can always put up 30-40 points every week :)

LT was injured and Sproles isn't a weapon apart from KR's.

[Tned]

The Chargers had 4 drives in the first half, one of which lasted for 2 plays thanks to the bad Champ-strip call.

San Diego Drives First Half

TOP Began Plays Yards Result

0:46 SD 20 2 1 Int
4:49 SD 18 10 66 FG
2:28 SD 5 3 -3 Punt
3:28 SD 20 6 80 TD

So we got a bad call in our favor and made them punt once. Other than that they had 2 long drives down the field on us, one of which we stopped for a field-goal deep in our territory.

They had the ball for essentially 3 drives. Don't count the yards, count the drives.

San Diego Drives Second Half

TOP Began Plays Yards Result

4:10 SD 41 8 59 TD
2:01 SD 22 6 75 FG
6:15 SD 19 14 71 FG
1:07 SD 9 3 91 TD
0:20 SD 18 3 25 End Reg

The clock stopped SD at the end, not our defense. If they'd had another 20 seconds we'd have lost. Besides Champ's non-reviewable play, we stopped SD exactly ONCE before that final drive.

They had 9 drives, 6 of which were for points, several of the big-play variety as you say. I don't think that's a good thing. If we can't pressure the QB, other teams are gonna get lots of big plays too. No, they didn't mulch us at 5 yards a play like Jacksonville did last year, but if the big play is always there then why would you need to? That again is not a good trait of the defense. Being carved up for big yardage doesn't mean we wouldn't be carved up for smaller yardage if the big plays weren't there. If the Qb has all day and most of tomorrow to decide what to do, chances are there will be something there for his benefit and our detriment.

Our defense didn't stop SD in the first half, circumstance did. They deferred to the 2nd half so we got the ball first. Getting in an extra drive plus a bad call for a turnover put us in the driver's seat, but that's not a pat on the back for the defense. The kicking game put SD on the 5, which helped force the 3-and-out.

I want our defense to be good, too, and SD has a very good offensive machine. But we barely slowed them down today. Thankfully we had some calls go our way and our offense came out firing on all cylinders.

It was a good benchmark game for us, to judge our talent against theirs, and we've made up almost all the ground offensively since last season - a heroic feat, if I do say so myself.

We were so outclassed in those games it was ridiculous. :coffee:

But in Oakland there were plenty of plays to be made, by a young team with bad leadership and no wide receivers. They just didn't make them. A team with so-so leadership and decent receivers shredded us. Our defense is currently leaving gaping holes in coverages and getting zero pressure on the QB.

We ARE better thus far in the run game, but it's a relative measure. In that sense I'd say our DTs are pulling their weight much more than last year. But there's no interior pressure on the QB, and no outside pressure either. Our blitzes are telegraphed and our DBs need work.

This year is a work-in-progress year. After the first two games I think we can definitely say that we have the horses on offense, especially in the passing game, to make a serious run.

But our defense needs work if that run is gonna go beyond the first round of the playoffs. A LOT of work.

So here's hoping we do as well with defensive picks in 09 as we have with offensive ones in 06 and 08. Because I don't think we're gonna get all the kinks out of the defense until we get some better players there.

Hopefully Slowik comes up with a better scheme in future weeks that can cover our talent deficiencies at S, nickel, DE and LB.

~G

G, you make excellant pionts.

My response and those stats were specifically aimed at responding to a statement that the Broncos rush defense was still bad and gave up 100 easily.

They didn't, they gave up 10 yards in the first half and 70 in the second.

The other thing I wanted to point out was the damage the big plays did.

Is it possible that SD would have scored on those drives anyway? Possibly, but the big plays seemed to really gash us. That isn't to say they didn't also have sustained drives, but if we had eliminated the handful of big plays, it might not have come down to being down at the end. Hence the reason I have said in several posts that I think the jury is still out on this D until we see a few more games.

As to the big plays.

Sproles 103 TD return
Sproles 41 yard KO return (gives SD a shortish field)
2nd and 6 from SD 34 and Sproles takes a little dump off for 66 yards and a TD
FB Tolbert taking a little dump pass over the middle for 67 yards, setting up a FG.
Champ being burned for a 48 yard pass where he bit on the play fake or underneath route (need to watch again, I don't remember) and then couldn't catch back up to Chambers.


My point is simply that if our players are in position and make tackles on those four or five plays, it would have been a much different game, could have been a laugher, with the Broncos running away with it.

Now, this may very well be a defense that routinely gives up the big play, or it can be a team that had some tough matchups, having to cover gates, and stuff, and gave up some big plays that might not be the norm for the season.

Hence the fact the jury is still out in my mind, and lets see how they play against NO, Jax and TB over the next 4 weeks.

[omac]

LT was injured and Sproles isn't a weapon apart from KR's.

Sproles is a weapon in space. We have our version of Sproles, but he's on IR ... Aldridge. He can do the same stuff, be as dangerous.

[broncofaninfla]

No doubt about it. We need to improve on defense. Our middle LB's couldn't even make most teams. Also surpised our blitz packages aren't more creative. Would like to see us trade and get a MLB and safety and send Paymay packing. Looks like we are going to be in shoot outs this year, thank god we have the best offense in the NFL.

[MOtorboat]

No doubt about it. We need to improve on defense. Our middle LB's couldn't even make most teams. Also surpised our blitz packages aren't more creative. Would like to see us trade and get a MLB and safety and send Paymay packing. Looks like we are going to be in shoot outs this year, thank god we have the best offense in the NFL.

I don't think anyone better than our MLBs is available for a trade. We're stuck with what we've got this year, so the coaches are just going to have to adjust. The Chargers do have a very good offense, so let's keep that in mind. These types of shootouts happen where its not really representative of how good or bad a defense is. Let us not forget that that defense dominated the Raiders last week, and the Raiders came back this week and smacked Kansas City in the mouth.

[Thnikkaman]

I am not willing to write off our Defense yet.

I am willing to give Phillis a little credit. He threw a few nice balls out there today, and the Sparkler's O line is not filled with a bunch of slouches.

Also, Boss Bailey probably isn't 100% yet, and if we keep putting up these numbers on offense, we should be able to play around with the D a bit to figure out what we are able to do, and get the right players in the right positions.

[NightTrainLayne]

I don't think anyone better than our MLBs is available for a trade. We're stuck with what we've got this year, so the coaches are just going to have to adjust. The Chargers do have a very good offense, so let's keep that in mind. These types of shootouts happen where its not really representative of how good or bad a defense is. Let us not forget that that defense dominated the Raiders last week, and the Raiders came back this week and smacked Kansas City in the mouth.

These early weeks are always so hard to analyze because you still have such limited information.

How bad was the Raiders O? Well they scored some on KC.

How bad was the Raiders D? Well they virtually shut-out KC.

But, now the question is how bad is KC? Looks pretty bad, but they played tight with a N.E. team that didn't let the Favre-led Jets put up many points either.

How good/bad is the Chargers D?

It really is too early in the season to judge too well, but I still think I've seen enough to know that our defense sucks. Yesterday it was the big plays and passing game that torched us, but even though the stats support it, I'm not impressed with our run D either.

I think to some degree we are aiming to shut down the run to such a degree that we're leaving the passing game wide open. If we can balance that somehow, we can start to improve, but for now our defense is a sieve.

Hopefully, we can learn a bunch from this game to help improve, and adjust our scheme.

[BeefStew25]

We just need to gell.

[Dublin Bolt]

I think that door swings both ways. There didn't seem to be much respect for Cutler coming from the SD fan arena.

Regardless, Rivers did play a heck of a game.

Not from me..... I've always loved Cutler's gun slinging way. He really fires that ball in there, dare I say it ala the way Elway did. Although what was going on with the fumble at the end?, wow.

It's just I think Rivers has got an unfair rep. What went on between he and Jay last year was blown out of all proportion imho. Believe me he is a great guy and a fantastic QB/leader to boot.
:beer:

[jrelway]

LT was injured and Sproles isn't a weapon apart from KR's.

LT with a sprained toe is still better than most RB's in this league..and as for sproles? ran a kick off return back, and also took a swing pass to the house. 300 something plus all purpose yards..not a weapon? hmmm

[Flatinum]

He didn't push the sarcasm button.

I can't remember who talked all of the smack about Cromartie being better than Champ (who played like **** today), but he was flat out owned by Marshall today.

I didn't think I had to, making a comment like that. Cromartie was getting burned all day.

[Thnikkaman]

We just need to gell.

Who was the first to coin that phrase?

[Devilspawn]

We are at this moment where the Chiefs were a few years ago. All offense no defense. I guess next years draft will be nothing but ST and Def.
If that doesn't get fixed it could be 1-done if you make the playoffs. Everyone had the 13-3 Chiefs in the SB a while back and they couldn't keep up with Indianapolis. They had absolutely no defense.

The Raider game was an anolamy, my boys were not prepared and had a flawed gameplan. But it wouldn't have mattered, they didn't have 21 points in them much less 41. But the offense is uber impressive, the defense is just the opposite.

[tomjonesrocks]

I hope some of you now appreciate you were up against a fantastic QB today. Less of the smack talk please. Rivers is a great guy and a magnificient QB/leader to boot.

Sadly, Rivers is good. A real shame since instead of having to watch him convert long 3rd down after 3rd down against our pathetic defense I was rooting for him to get knocked unconscious by a blindside hit and walked off at some point in the game.

"Great Guy" though? Surely you jest. He's an idiot with more to learn about class than most QBs have forgotten. Some Chargers fans give him a pass since he plays for the Chargers. Fine. But you spew the garbage he has over the past few years and there's going to be some back taxes to be paid. Hopefully some team this season with a better D than hours collects.

[topscribe]

If that doesn't get fixed it could be 1-done if you make the playoffs. Everyone had the 13-3 Chiefs in the SB a while back and they couldn't keep up with Indianapolis. They had absolutely no defense.

The Raider game was an anolamy, my boys were not prepared and had a flawed gameplan. But it wouldn't have mattered, they didn't have 21 points in them much less 41. But the offense is uber impressive, the defense is just the opposite.

I think you nailed it on all points.

-----

[JONtheBRONCO]

Fact - The offense is back to it's glory days.
Fact - the defense isn't.
Fact - We are 2-0.
Fact - at the end of this week, next week, week 16, week 17, we are going to look back and be 2-0 in week 1 and 2. The better team did win yesterday.

As badly as the defense played in the second half, I will remain slightly optimistic because it is indeed, only the second week of football. Actually, our defense doesn't look bad in the first half of play, but when the 3rd and 4th quarter roll around, we look pee-wee-isk. I would like to point out, our offense has scored 80, yes 80 points in the first two bouts with division rivals.

Blows calls, bad teams, or bootlegs we have put up 80, and Cutler & co. are on a terror. If we score at will, our defense will be out there a lot guys and gals. We have to understand a pass oriented team is going to score more than the balanced approach. We are not sally's out there, we are not game managers (for the most part) the 2008 Denver Broncos are attackers. Lets cross our fingers for improvements on defense but realize our defense isn't going to be anywhere near the talent level of our offense, and we are going to see the good with the bad all season. GO BRONCOS!!!