Broncos Mtnman
09-23-2007, 11:41 PM
And what is that reality? Just that the Broncos have a TON of work to do on both sides of the ball before they will be a consistent winner.
From the first quarter (which saw the Jaguars dominate the time of possession - holding the ball for all but about 2 minutes), to the last quarter, the Broncos appeared to lack the passion and excitement we had witnessed in the first two games.
They shot themselves in the foot early and often. The offense was victimized by fumbles, penalties and dropped passes. An offense that had dominated in total yards over the first two weeks (averaging nearly 500 yards a game) managed only 265 yards.
The defense was terrible against the run (giving up 172 yards) - terrible at tackling - terrible on stopping the Jags on 3rd down (allowing them to convert 7 of the first 8). Last week I commented on how I thought it was the new system that was mostly responsible for the defense's inconsistency, but today, it was simply that they were outplayed. When you give up over 3 yards AFTER the tackle, that has NOTHING to do with learning a new system. It has everything to do with execution.
Execution, that's an approriate word for this article, since the Broncos killed every chance they had to beat the Jags... :mad:
I've shared with you about how I have witnessed many games where a miracle would sometimes bring us a win we often didn't deserve. In a nutshell, the Broncos played so badly, that even another Mile High Miracle (Jags fumble at the goal line with about 6 minutes left) wasn't enough to pull this mess out of the fire.
Here are this week's 4 downs....
Most Glaring Weaknesses
1st - Run defense. This continues to be a major weakness. I've heard from supporters of the team of how the Colts were frequently a terrible run defense. I don't find much comfort in that comparison, not until we see our offense produce like the Colts. Jay is good, but he's no Manning....... yet.
2nd - Tackling (or lack thereof...). How long does it take to learn to wrap up the guy you're tackling? The "no-hitting" in preseason excuse doesn't apply after the regular season is 3 weeks old. Shanny needs to work these guys in pads every day until they learn to freakin' tackle.
3rd - Fumbles and dropped passes. For the second week in a row, Selvin Young's inexperience in the NFL cost us, when he fumbled near mid-field in the last 2 minutes of the first half. At the time, we were only down by 7. Instead, this turnover resulted in an increase of the Jags lead. And, while there were many dropped passes, none were so significant as the dropped pass by Daniel Graham on 4th down from our own 9 yard line.
4th - Shanny. I've been giving him props the past two weeks for being creative and aggressive in his play calling, but he blew it today (IMO) with his decision to go for it on 4th down from our own 9. At the time, there was over 4 minutes in the game, and while our defense had it's weaknesses, I think the fact that the Jags would have been playing kill-the-clock would have made punting at that time a better choice. Failing to convert a 1st down gave the Jags a chipshot FG, effectively ending the game. In addition, managing our timeouts was terrible.
The Good Things
1st - Brandon Marshall. Man, this guy is a beast. He has become one of Jay's favorite targets, and once he gets the ball, he gets the YACs. He is proving himself to be a reliable receiver with great hands. He's also a great blocking WR on the run plays. If Rod ever comes back from his injury, Brandon has pretty much made it impossible for him to be a starter again.
2nd - Jay Cutler. He is showing great touch on his passes, and he has no problem with making plays. Until the last pass (when the game was pretty much over) when he threw his only pick, Jay made the proper reads and threw the ball with great accuracy. Let's put it this way, in a game where we couldn't run with the same effectiveness of the first two weeks, Jay was responsible for 222 of our 265 yards.
3rd - Brandon Stokely. Brandon is proving to be the #3 receiver we have lacked in Denver for quite some time. The Cutler to Walker - Cutler to Marshall - Cutler to Stokely combo is forming the basis of an great passing offense, which will serve the Broncos for years to come.
4th - Red Zone. 2 of the 3 trips inside the RZ resulted in TDs. In both cases, we were 1st and goal. The only trip inside the RZ that didn't result in a score was the failed 4th down attempt when it was 4th and 2 on the 4 yard line.
So, after 3 weeks we find ourselves 2-1. With the Chargers losing to the Packers, we are still in sole possession of :first: place. We could have really used this win because of our trip to INDY next week, but it is what it is.
Maybe we'll get into a shootout with the Colts like we did last year. Let's hope our defense at least learns to tackle, or Addai is likely to get about a million yards against us next week.
BMM
From the first quarter (which saw the Jaguars dominate the time of possession - holding the ball for all but about 2 minutes), to the last quarter, the Broncos appeared to lack the passion and excitement we had witnessed in the first two games.
They shot themselves in the foot early and often. The offense was victimized by fumbles, penalties and dropped passes. An offense that had dominated in total yards over the first two weeks (averaging nearly 500 yards a game) managed only 265 yards.
The defense was terrible against the run (giving up 172 yards) - terrible at tackling - terrible on stopping the Jags on 3rd down (allowing them to convert 7 of the first 8). Last week I commented on how I thought it was the new system that was mostly responsible for the defense's inconsistency, but today, it was simply that they were outplayed. When you give up over 3 yards AFTER the tackle, that has NOTHING to do with learning a new system. It has everything to do with execution.
Execution, that's an approriate word for this article, since the Broncos killed every chance they had to beat the Jags... :mad:
I've shared with you about how I have witnessed many games where a miracle would sometimes bring us a win we often didn't deserve. In a nutshell, the Broncos played so badly, that even another Mile High Miracle (Jags fumble at the goal line with about 6 minutes left) wasn't enough to pull this mess out of the fire.
Here are this week's 4 downs....
Most Glaring Weaknesses
1st - Run defense. This continues to be a major weakness. I've heard from supporters of the team of how the Colts were frequently a terrible run defense. I don't find much comfort in that comparison, not until we see our offense produce like the Colts. Jay is good, but he's no Manning....... yet.
2nd - Tackling (or lack thereof...). How long does it take to learn to wrap up the guy you're tackling? The "no-hitting" in preseason excuse doesn't apply after the regular season is 3 weeks old. Shanny needs to work these guys in pads every day until they learn to freakin' tackle.
3rd - Fumbles and dropped passes. For the second week in a row, Selvin Young's inexperience in the NFL cost us, when he fumbled near mid-field in the last 2 minutes of the first half. At the time, we were only down by 7. Instead, this turnover resulted in an increase of the Jags lead. And, while there were many dropped passes, none were so significant as the dropped pass by Daniel Graham on 4th down from our own 9 yard line.
4th - Shanny. I've been giving him props the past two weeks for being creative and aggressive in his play calling, but he blew it today (IMO) with his decision to go for it on 4th down from our own 9. At the time, there was over 4 minutes in the game, and while our defense had it's weaknesses, I think the fact that the Jags would have been playing kill-the-clock would have made punting at that time a better choice. Failing to convert a 1st down gave the Jags a chipshot FG, effectively ending the game. In addition, managing our timeouts was terrible.
The Good Things
1st - Brandon Marshall. Man, this guy is a beast. He has become one of Jay's favorite targets, and once he gets the ball, he gets the YACs. He is proving himself to be a reliable receiver with great hands. He's also a great blocking WR on the run plays. If Rod ever comes back from his injury, Brandon has pretty much made it impossible for him to be a starter again.
2nd - Jay Cutler. He is showing great touch on his passes, and he has no problem with making plays. Until the last pass (when the game was pretty much over) when he threw his only pick, Jay made the proper reads and threw the ball with great accuracy. Let's put it this way, in a game where we couldn't run with the same effectiveness of the first two weeks, Jay was responsible for 222 of our 265 yards.
3rd - Brandon Stokely. Brandon is proving to be the #3 receiver we have lacked in Denver for quite some time. The Cutler to Walker - Cutler to Marshall - Cutler to Stokely combo is forming the basis of an great passing offense, which will serve the Broncos for years to come.
4th - Red Zone. 2 of the 3 trips inside the RZ resulted in TDs. In both cases, we were 1st and goal. The only trip inside the RZ that didn't result in a score was the failed 4th down attempt when it was 4th and 2 on the 4 yard line.
So, after 3 weeks we find ourselves 2-1. With the Chargers losing to the Packers, we are still in sole possession of :first: place. We could have really used this win because of our trip to INDY next week, but it is what it is.
Maybe we'll get into a shootout with the Colts like we did last year. Let's hope our defense at least learns to tackle, or Addai is likely to get about a million yards against us next week.
BMM