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omac
09-19-2008, 11:49 PM
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/sep/18/broncos-report-no-changes-on-special-teams/


Broncos report: No changes on special teams
By Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Thursday, September 18, 2008


What is this?

There will be no scheme or personnel changes on the Broncos' kickoff coverage team in light of a slow start, special teams coach Scott O'Brien said Thursday.

Instead, O'Brien is seeking better gap control and leverage from both sides attacking ball carriers, who have squirted free for one touchdown and nearly two others during the Broncos' 2-0 start.

"We've had three bad plays where it wasn't sound and synchronized by everybody on the field, and that's what happens," O'Brien explained. "I like their energy. But hey, you can't let returners in this league get into stride and if you do, you're going to pay a price. And we've paid enough already."

Darren Sproles tied a Chargers record with a 103-yard touchdown Sunday and added a 41-yard runback. That performance came after Oakland's Johnnie Lee Higgins raced 58 yards up the middle in the season opener after Denver's first score.

Kicker Matt Prater laid some of the blame on himself, given he's produced only three touchbacks on 15 chances and is 10th in average distance kicking off. Those results have prompted him to put extra work in that area this week.

But O'Brien said Prater has been consistent enough. It's the coverage team, which is getting a feel for one another after a preseason mixing and matching bodies and features several young players, that has to learn from its mistakes.

"I love the guys," O'Brien said. "They're giving me everything they've got and once they get experience doing it, they should be OK."

Remember me?

Saints quarterback Drew Brees has some familiarity with the Broncos from his days with San Diego. But this actually will be Brees' first game against any AFC West opponent since leaving the division in 2005.

"He still has some history in that computer upstairs of his where he can kind of draw from," Broncos defensive coordinator Bob Slowik said. "But I'm not sure it matters who he plays. As long as he gets a comfort level with the coverages and so on, he's awesome."

Since joining New Orleans, Brees has passed for a league-best 9,400 yards and 58 touchdowns, second in the NFC.

"He's been around and seen everything you can throw at a quarterback, so he's not really thrown off by anything," Broncos safety Marlon McCree said. "You can't really surprise him. You can try to disguise but he knows where to find the holes. You've got to put pressure on him and make him earn everything."

Looking ahead

Brandon Marshall, fresh off his 18-catch performance in Week 2, won't back down from his preseason goal of 140 receptions.

But he said Thursday the team's success will ultimately decide how he's judged as a player, even if he does hit the heights he has set for himself.

He pointed to his 102-catch season last year within the context of Denver's 7-9 record.

"I want to be a guy not only in the record book but somebody with a Super Bowl ring, like Rod Smith or Jerry Rice," he said. "If I want to be compared to those type of guys, then I've got to win."

Marshall needs nine catches Sunday against New Orleans to have the fastest start in the first two games of a season by a receiver in NFL history. Andre Rison had 26 catches to open the 1994 campaign.

Marshall, though, is expecting extra attention from the New Orleans secondary in that quest.

"I would hope that they would double and triple me, roll coverage to me, whatever they can do," he said. "It just means there's bigger plays on the other side with Tony Scheffler and Eddie Royal. And if they stop our passing game we have a great running game."

Injury report

* Center Tom Nalen had been practicing since last week following an arthroscopic clean-out of his left knee.

But coach Mike Shanahan didn't like what he had been seeing from Nalen and opted to back off Thursday, holding the veteran player out of practice.

"You could see the last couple days he wasn't ready to go and I just felt like practicing him would set him back," Shanahan said.

* Receiver Darrell Jackson (calf) and defensive tackle Josh Shaw (left leg) missed a second straight full workout.

Etc.

* The Saints returned 200 tickets for Sunday's game. They are available through all Ticketmaster outlets.

* The Broncos are looking for their first 3-0 start since 2003.

He said it

"They're completely different guys. Both are great players. But Reggie Bush is Reggie Bush. . . . He's a great athlete. He has balance in what he does and they know different ways to get him the ball. And when he does, he makes things happen."

Manuel, on 6-foot, 203-pound Reggie Bush vs. 5-foot-6, 181-pound Sproles, who had 317 all-purpose yards vs. the Broncos on Sunday.

So he's saying the scheme is basically sound, but the players just haven't executed it well .....

sneakers
09-19-2008, 11:55 PM
I do like the fact that I have seen defensive starters sprinkled in on Special Teams Coverage....shows that they take it seriously.

omac
09-20-2008, 12:11 AM
I do like the fact that I have seen defensive starters sprinkled in on Special Teams Coverage....shows that they take it seriously.

I don't like risking Champ getting an injury through ST, though; use Paymah on ST ... j/k. :D

honz
09-20-2008, 12:17 AM
Scheffler has been out there on STs too which I don't really like, but he did make the tackle on Sproles on our last kickoff against the Chargers at the 18 yard line or so. I really don't care who we have to put out there though, as long as we keep our kick coverage from losing games for us.

G_Money
09-20-2008, 12:39 AM
O'Brien is supposed to know what he's doing. Last year, he didn't know jack and this year has been forced to use starters. Now that's either because they're better at Special Teams than the backups (not likely because backups actually get more practice at it and the secret to ST is scheme, ie that gap control stuff O'Brien was talking about, and tackling not individual prowess) or because he's having trouble getting buy-in without "veteran leadership."

Both of those reasons for the extra starter usage is a problem. In college they sometimes use starters because there the speed difference between backups and starters really does exist, and because it does help with unity and team buy-in. The reward is usually first seats on the bus or first grab of the gifts at bowl games, whatever. It's a prestige thing - you get a badge.

The pros are not college - Woodyard and Winborn are faster than their starting colleagues and better at ST to boot. Kou is supposed to be a ST demon. Jackson makes his plays on ST.

O'Brien needs to start pulling his weight as a Special Teams guru. He got paid a lot of money to bring his expertise to our woeful situation, which has gotten no better thus far in his tenure. Now maybe our roster turnover has hampered him. But he has the rest of this year to figure out how to get guys to close off lanes and tackle.

If he can't do that then we need to get someone who can, because kickoff coverage directly impacts scoring defense. It's much harder to stop a team from scoring when they're starting on their own 40 than their 15.

Kickoffs are reaching the end zone, and being run out because the guy knows that even though NORMALLY he wouldn't try it, he can get well past the 20 because, well, it's us. That's a problem.

Fix it, Scotty. Whatever personnel you feel you need to use, fix it.

And try not to get our few defensive stalwarts broken in the process.

~G

silkamilkamonico
09-20-2008, 01:13 AM
"We have an offense now. We don't need special teams."

Spider
09-20-2008, 03:40 AM
not much you can do with our special teams .... cant turn chicken shit into chicken salad ..work with what we got

gobroncos
09-20-2008, 03:43 AM
where is the hot woman thread?