D question

[frenchfan]

HI everyone.

Since I can only watch MNF games, I couldn't see many Broncos games. All I have are reports and these boards :salute:

I was wondering why our so soft D turned to be more physical against the Bucs... Did the Bucs O fit better our D? Except KC game, was the others O too good (CHargers and Saints have very good O IMO)? Was it finally the wake up call of our D?

I would be glad to read your answers/opinions here. TIA !
:salute: :beer:

PS : I have to say I'm glad we can win those physical kind of games... Good news if you ask me (though I would loved to see our O score more).

[Den21vsBal19]

Hopefully the embarrasment at the hands of the Chiefs was the turning point, but I ain't putting the bunting up until the D shows up againt a decent offense

[WARHORSE]

I think the fact that Dumerville can now use his hand to grasp somewhat, made a big difference on him getting to the QB. They also moved him around to the left side as well, where he tallied his first sack. This allowed more pressure overall, and Peterson was doing a great job of pushing the pocket as well.

Boss Bailey is getting comfortable. He was all over the place. His brother seems to have a great impact on him. He plays with more swagger here. I wish they would put Winborn at SLB and let Boss go to safety.

DJ was a killer the whole game as well.

Lastly, the coverage was better downfield. I think J Williams is playing better.

[gobroncsnv]

Was also obvious that we played better against Griese than Garcia... I think Griese is a good WC offense QB, but he doesn't throw the home run. He even missed on a pass to his WIDE OPEN TE in the end zone, with our safety about 5 yards off of him. Any kind of a decent throw would have worked. Sometimes, being lucky on D doesn't hurt abit.
While I know that the Bucs hadn't allowed many sacks this year, and we got 3 on them, we didn't pressure as much in the 2nd half, because of Garcia's mobility. Many have already said it, but maybe the biggest mistake we made was knocking Griese out of the game. I would have loved to see some more sacks in quarters 3 & 4 as well. And also, not have Thomas try to act like Primetime (just eat the ball once you catch it, big fella).
So IMO, I think we matched up better against Tampa than we do against SD or NO. We'll have a decent gauge on that theory when we play SD again at their house.
But our best idea of the day was gap control on the runs (Webster stayed in his assignments), and usually, the first guy there made the tackle. In the SD, NO, and KC games, we acted more like matadors than an NFL D.

[TXBRONC]

Four things:

1.) They maybe starting to gel as a unit. Several of the guys on that side of the ball like Champ have said that most of the breakdowns have been do to miscommunication.

2.) They got fairly consistent pressure on the quarterback as it has already been mentioned. Three sacks and several pressures including a Champ Bailey blitz that absolutely blew up Brian Grease.

3.) Overall the run defense did it's job the ypc was high nevertheless they kept Tampa Bay runners in check. Warrick Dunn had one run of 38 yards and after that he 10 carries for I think it another 36 yards.

4.) Special teams play was much improved, the tackling was better and Kern flipped field position for the defense a couple of times during the game.

NB: It is only one game but it's good foundation for the defense to build upon.

[LRtagger]

I also noticed that our corners were playing up on the line of scrimmage which is something I have been an advocate for. It allowed us to mix up our blitz packages by jamming the receivers off their routes. I you will notice, too, we didnt give up any big plays.

It also allowed for us to utilize the corner blitz which was very effective and knocked Greise out of the game.

I hope we continue to mix it up some, show some different looks and new blitz packages.

[jlarsiii]

I think it was the Kansas City game. Before that our defense could say to themselves that they had played some really strong offenses so overall their play may not have been so bad. After all they did play alright in the season opener against Oakland.

However in the Kansas City game our defense looked horrible against a horrible offense. They had to take it to heart that they were definitely not playing well at all. It had nothing to do with playing "good" offenses as it was that they were playing "poorly" to say the least. Getting embarrassed by a bad team is a good wakeup call.

So they decided to actually get to work fixing their problems. I agree with what the others have said in this thread so far. Hopefully our d plays well from here on out.

[Lonestar]

doncha just love the optimism last week they were looking for slowicks head on a pike this week everything is hunky dory..

this week we See JAX.. time will tell..

[LRtagger]

doncha just love the optimism last week they were looking for slowicks head on a pike this week everything is hunky dory..

this week we See JAX.. time will tell..

I still consider Slowick a liability and I don't think our defense is going to ever be great with him in charge.

After all, it still took Slowick 4 weeks to figure out that we need to show different looks and blitz from different angles. I figured that out after one game against SD. Slowick is still an idiot IMO and his track record proves it. I just hope people start to realize that our talent really isnt THAT bad and making adjustments that benefit our personnel goes a long way.

I also think our success against TB was magnified by the fact that they are not a great Offense. They are consistant, but they rarely try to put the ball downfield which is one of our glaring weaknesses.

[gobroncsnv]

NB: It is only one game but it's good foundation for the defense to build upon.


Trust me, I really hope so... Again, I'll want to see a game like this against the Pats, or SD, before I think we've got it knocked. Great that we got 3 sacks in the first half, I know, with 1 negated in the second... but would LOVE to see REALLY consistent pressure, sacks all game long, the kind that forces turnovers (plural intended). I'll be jonesing for this week in, week out.

But you're right, it does have to start SOMEwhere...

[Sassy]

Hopefully the embarrasment at the hands of the Chiefs was the turning point, but I ain't putting the bunting up until the D shows up againt a decent offense

Tampa's O was #7 in the league when they played the Broncos.

[hamrob]

The one plus for Slowik is that the players seem to really like him. It's not his fault he doesn't have the Dlineman needed to compete week in and week out.

Now...the horrible group of Safeties we employ is a whole different issue in itself!

[BroncoWave]

doncha just love the optimism last week they were looking for slowicks head on a pike this week everything is hunky dory..

this week we See JAX.. time will tell..

Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't be allowed to complement the defense after playing a good game. :rolleyes:

BTW, didn't you have us at like 1-4 at this point?

[LRtagger]

The one plus for Slowik is that the players seem to really like him. It's not his fault he doesn't have the Dlineman needed to compete week in and week out.

Now...the horrible group of Safeties we employ is a whole different issue in itself!

They liked Bates too.

[TXBRONC]

Yeah, you're right. We shouldn't be allowed to complement the defense after playing a good game. :rolleyes:

BTW, didn't you have us at like 1-4 at this point?

Why would yoiu want to complement a good effort by team you follow as a fan? ;)

[Sassy]

Why would want to complement a good effort by team you follow as a fan? ;)

Maybe he wants them to lose so they can get higher draft pics :D

[TXBRONC]

Maybe he wants them to lose so they can get higher draft pics :D


I don't know, maybe it's just more comfortable to find fault. ;)

[frenchfan]

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

I hope this was our wake-up call game for our D.
Of course, only time will tell.

My only prayer is that we go on playing heart and guts and ... HIT !!!!

Every D can be beaten, but I do believe hard hits are a big part of a good D. Schemes are important too, but I think we should be more physical...
JMHO.

Again, thanks guys !

:salute: :beer: