A Team Win!

[gobroncsnv]

Looks like, for the first time in a long time, the entire team won a game against a decent opponent. Special teams were good, getting some long returns, the defense limited a really good rushing attack, a 4th qtr comeback... this one feels pretty good.
For my money, we've found our MLB, at least for the season. Larsen looks like he belongs out there. He's gonna go through growing pains, as we saw today, but he plays his responsiblities well... When their backs did get loose, it was because the LB's ran themselves off the play, which we've seen a few too many times this year. But he plays more like MIKE than who we've had out there. I'm just hoping that was rookie-itis.
I think there were some playcalling issues, certainly in the first half, but made up for them in the second. Sending Hillis wide on third down, and Bell between the tackles drove everybody nuts, right up there with the twin reverses.
But summing up, a pretty well-balanced W for our guys today. Wonder how we'll look when Champ gets back?

[Nomad]

I saw the last quarter of the game. I had the BRONCOS losing this game but they proved me wrong which is a good thing!:D

[Kapaibro]

I was pleased with the performance of all our players. some did make mistakes, but overall, they played well.

And our young players are just shining!!!!

[Denver Native (Carol)]

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/recap?game_id=29673&displayPage=tab_recap&season=2008&week=REG11

Injury-ravaged Broncos ride rookie RB Hillis past host Falcons

ATLANTA -- Denver pulled out every trick to deal with a rash of injuries, even starting a player on both offense and defense, and the gritty Broncos managed to put a hurtin' on Atlanta's surprising season.

Jay Cutler threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Graham with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, the Denver defense held off Matt Ryan's last-gasp drive and Denver rallied for a 24-20 victory Sunday, handing the Falcons their first loss of the season at home.

Michael Turner scored on a 28-yard run to put Atlanta ahead 20-17 with just under 11 minutes left, but the Broncos (6-4) managed to pull out their second straight victory on the road.

Cutler accounted for more than half the distance on the 10-play, 83-yard drive, going 47 yards to Brandon Marshall after the big receiver got a step on Chris Houston. Then, on third-and-goal at the Atlanta 9, Cutler scrambled to his right and spotted Graham for the winning score.

Atlanta (6-4) had won its first four games at the Georgia Dome and four of five overall.

The Broncos played without star cornerback Champ Bailey and all three of their projected starters at linebacker. Spencer Larsen started at both middle linebacker and fullback, the first player in club history to pull off that double.

On offense, Denver has lost five tailbacks, four of them for the season. Coach Mike Shanahan divvied up the carries among three players including Tatum Bell, signed a few days earlier after an ugly departure from Detroit when he was accused of stealing luggage from a teammate.

Cutler completed 19 of 27 passes for 216 yards, while Peyton Hillis, P.J. Pope and Bell combined for 113 yards on 21 carries.

The Denver defense loaded up on the line and held Michael Turner to 81 yards on 25 carries. The rookie Ryan finally showed his age, throwing his first interception at home, and his final bid at rallying the Falcons slipped through the hands of top receiver Roddy White.

After Atlanta drove to the Denver 37 at the two-minute warning, a holding penalty on Tyson Clabo knocked the Falcons back. Ryan went deep for White in the right corner of the end zone, and he had a step on safety Marquand Manuel. But the pass bounced off his hands before he tumbled out of bounds.

Ryan completed 20 of 33 for 250 yards, and White had five receptions for 102 yards -- his fifth 100-yard game of the season. But he couldn't pull in the one that really mattered.

Turner had a pair of touchdowns, also scoring from the 9 to give Atlanta a 13-7 lead at halftime. Jason Elam, kicking against the team that he played for the last 15 seasons, booted field goals of 46 and 36 yards for the Falcons.

But the Broncos jumped on Atlanta after halftime. Denver took the kickoff and went 77 yards in 11 plays. Cutler completed four passes for 42 yards, Hillis ripped off a 12-yard run and Pope burst up the middle for a 15-yard gain. Finally, Hillis took it in from the 2 to put the Broncos ahead.

After Ryan was picked off by Dre Bly, Denver ripped off another big drive. Atlanta's defense finally held at a goal line, forcing Denver to settle for Matt Prater's 20-yard field goal that pushed the lead to 17-13.

[Superchop 7]

Loved it all

Except the "nickel" (our version is more like a prevent than a nickle, all it does is prevent your defense from getting off the field)

But Slowik actually sent more than 4........good for him

Linebackers were "fired" up making plays with great intensity and emotion.

They can ship Webster and Niko out of here as far as I'm concerned, new guys are much better.

Pope did a nice job, liked his patience and vision.

Hillis does a great job.

Bell deserves kudos as well.

Once again, our JV beat their varsity.

Gotta love it.

[horsepig]

Larsen completely changed this defense. With a "hitter/killer" in the mike the whole dee played like a real dee. So sorry for the injuries but, sometimes it takes drastic events to open coaches eyes. Larsen, Winborn and Woodyard are 10X the backer crew we started the season with.

[shank]

i could have done without the jailbreak blitz on EVERY 3rd down play, but other than that i was very happy with the defense (when i wasn't laughing at how bad our safeties are).

[horsepig]

The O=line looked very good, the Dee line held the run down ( thanks to aggressive backers, lead by LARSEN), Cutler looked like an old pro, Hillis is the MAN, great performance!

[Dreadnought]

My only real complaint is with our worthless Safeties, who performed to their usual. Other than that a great win, with lots of guys stepping up when needed.

[horsepig]

i could have done without the jailbreak blitz on EVERY 3rd down play, but other than that i was very happy with the defense (when i wasn't laughing at how bad our safeties are).

Hell, even our safeties looked better today because the backers did their jobs very well and the line didn't get embarrassed. BTW, Engleberger did a terrific job against the run.

[horsepig]

Makes me wonder if Manuel & McCree are all that bad. Champ is a non issue. Champ puts a good defense over the top, not the other way around.

[shank]

manuel and mccree are both below average IMO. lowry is the worst safety in the league. i said in another thread, that as much as it pained me to do so, i literally LOLed at how bad lowry is when he got driven 5 yards backwards on the TD run (as well as several other tackle ATTEMPTS), and when he flopped onto his side as the last line of defense on the 2nd TD run. he's a joke, barrett could go out there blindfolded and at least have a chance to make some of the plays that lowry is unable to game after game.

either way, we need new talent at both safety positions, including at least one in the 1st or 2nd round.

[Dreadnought]

manuel and mccree are both below average IMO. lowry is the worst safety in the league. i said in another thread, that as much as it pained me to do so, i literally LOLed at how bad lowry is when he got driven 5 yards backwards on the TD run (as well as several other tackle ATTEMPTS), and when he flopped onto his side as the last line of defense on the 2nd TD run. he's a joke, barrett could go out there blindfolded and at least have a chance to make some of the plays that lowry is unable to game after game.

either way, we need new talent at both safety positions, including at least one in the 1st or 2nd round.

You forgot how nifty Lowry looked when he let Turner skip past him on the 28 yard TD run. Nice angle there - NOT

[shank]

You forgot how nifty Lowry looked when he let Turner skip past him on the 28 yard TD run. Nice angle there - NOT

i didn't forget, that was the flop that i was talking about. i watched lowry this game like i was watching ian gold last year, and he's WAY worse (which is saying a lot if you know how i felt about gold).

every time i saw lowry today, he was messing up. the only other times i saw him was when he came in late on a gang-tackle, which is insignificant. he's flat out awful.

[horsepig]

We've been talking about this all year. Let the kids play! If today is any indication, mike is wrapped like a Christmas toy for next year with Larsen. We can spend our early picks and FA signings on safeties and Dee tackles/ends. Woodyard & Wionborn play with energy and abandon: with Larsen at mike we havew a young, athletic, aggressive front seven! Wow, this could turn out pretty well!

[horsepig]

manuel and mccree are both below average IMO. lowry is the worst safety in the league. i said in another thread, that as much as it pained me to do so, i literally LOLed at how bad lowry is when he got driven 5 yards backwards on the TD run (as well as several other tackle ATTEMPTS), and when he flopped onto his side as the last line of defense on the 2nd TD run. he's a joke, barrett could go out there blindfolded and at least have a chance to make some of the plays that lowry is unable to game after game.

either way, we need new talent at both safety positions, including at least one in the 1st or 2nd round.
Manuel is a joke when the chips are down. Our safeties are very poor. Is Lowry really a NFL safety? Draft safeties and D=tackles/ends.

[PatricktheDookie]

And what exactly makes us think that Barrett would be better?

I'd love to hear the evidence.

[SR]

Lowry played today like Abdullah played last year. And that's the clown tons of people here were having a hard on for in training camp before he was cut...

[Dreadnought]

Manuel is a joke when the chips are down. Our safeties are very poor. Is Lowry really a NFL safety? Draft safeties and D=tackles/ends.

I'm actually leaning towards safeties first. The front seven may not be all that bad as things shape out. The jokers we have at Safetey are an embarrasment.

[horsepig]

Loved it all

Except the "nickel" (our version is more like a prevent than a nickle, all it does is prevent your defense from getting off the field)

But Slowik actually sent more than 4........good for him

Linebackers were "fired" up making plays with great intensity and emotion.

They can ship Webster and Niko out of here as far as I'm concerned, new guys are much better.

Pope did a nice job, liked his patience and vision.

Hillis does a great job.



Bell deserves kudos as well.

Once again, our JV beat their varsity.

Gotta love it.

I agree Blah. Let the kids play! Larsen looks to me like our "mike" of the near future-the whole defense looked like a different unit because Larsen, Woodyard, & Winborn played like devils (Engleberger also played the run strong today). Hillis is a stud, give this guy the rock! Youth everywhere except safety (Lowry does't count), dee line-youth, backers-youth: lets get some safeties in the draft and a D-tackle, & another D-End> YEAH!

[shank]

And what exactly makes us think that Barrett would be better?

I'd love to hear the evidence.

first and foremost, there's no way he could possibly be any worse than lowry.

second, during preseason, he looked the part. he was big and fast, and his lack of knowledge/experience seemed to hold him back more than anything physical. the only way to fix that is to play.

third, there is a clear trend this year of young guys coming in and playing really well. why not see if it continues with a physical specimen like barrett?

fourth, there is no possible way he could be any worse than lowry.

[topscribe]

And what exactly makes us think that Barrett would be better?

I'd love to hear the evidence.

Maybe because my sister would be better than our present safeties, and Barrett would be better than my sister? :coffee:

-----

[Slick]

first and foremost, there's no way he could possibly be any worse than lowry.

second, during preseason, he looked the part. he was big and fast, and his lack of knowledge/experience seemed to hold him back more than anything physical. the only way to fix that is to play.

third, there is a clear trend this year of young guys coming in and playing really well. why not see if it continues with a physical specimen like barrett?

fourth, there is no possible way he could be any worse than lowry.

first: I agree

second: I agree

third: Why not? We seem to have developed a trend here.

fourth: I agree

[tubby]

I like winning.

[gobroncsnv]

Does seem like our injuries have proved out to be addition by subtraction... We didn't improve by getting DJ and Champ outta there, but in almost every other case except at safety, I'd say, yeah, we did. Not yet nuts about Winborn, but Woodyard and Larsen are better than Boss and Web.
Hillis may just be the best fit we'll have with the way our Oline blocks this year. Change things up once in a while with a burner, but we need someone this year who doesn't wilt on first contact.

[horsepig]

Loved it all

Except the "nickel" (our version is more like a prevent than a nickle, all it does is prevent your defense from getting off the field)

But Slowik actually sent more than 4........good for him

Linebackers were "fired" up making plays with great intensity and emotion.

They can ship Webster and Niko out of here as far as I'm concerned, new guys are much better.

Pope did a nice job, liked his patience and vision.

Hillis does a great job.

Bell deserves kudos as well.

Once again, our JV beat their varsity.

Gotta love it.


And what exactly makes us think that Barrett would be better?

I'd love to hear the evidence.

Don't know til I see him play (kinda like Hillis, Larsen, Woodyard, etc............)

[gobroncsnv]

Cutler seemed to look better today also. He had a lot of yards last week, but his passing was much "crisper" today. No int's, nor really anything close to one. The drops were pretty much on the receivers today, also. I liked more of what I saw out of him today than perhaps the past 4 weeks. May this trend continue.

[horsepig]

Does seem like our injuries have proved out to be addition by subtraction... We didn't improve by getting DJ and Champ outta there, but in almost every other case except at safety, I'd say, yeah, we did. Not yet nuts about Winborn, but Woodyard and Larsen are better than Boss and Web.
Hillis may just be the best fit we'll have with the way our Oline blocks this year. Change things up once in a while with a burner, but we need someone this year who doesn't wilt on first contact.

Are you kidding go, I really feel like Woodyard/ Winborn make (Oh,my Lord) DJ expendable. Damn, just give Hillis the rock, he's no TD, but he's closer than we've had for a while. I'm just amped up. The young guys are coming through.


All of a sudden, this defense doesn't look completely lost, toast, over-cooked.


Man, we only need a couple more "hunter/killers" and we've got a frickin dynasty in the works.

[gobroncsnv]

Can't hang with you on Winborn... he needs to save his energy for staying in his gap instead of his moondancing after holding runners to a 7 yard gain. Granted, he did play better today, but I'll still take DJ over him.

[elsid13]

Are you kidding go, I really feel like Woodyard/ Winborn make (Oh,my Lord) DJ expendable. Damn, just give Hillis the rock, he's no TD, but he's closer than we've had for a while. I'm just amped up. The young guys are coming through.


All of a sudden, this defense doesn't look completely lost, toast, over-cooked.


Man, we only need a couple more "hunter/killers" and we've got a frickin dynasty in the works.

Let not get carried away. DJ was playing at extremely high level before he got hurt. When he comes back it will improve the backside pursuit and add more power/speed to the LB corp and nickle defense.

[Ziggy]

Winborn is better at celebrating than he is actually making plays. He's hot and cold. For every good play he makes, he misses a tackle or an assignment.

Hillis is a tough, hard nosed runner. I like his style, and versatility.

Larsen played great for his first NFL start at MLB. He is already a huge improvement over Webster. I'm glad he finally got his chance to show it, which says tons about Niko. He must be pretty bad for the coaches not to let him play over a rookie that has spent most of the year playing and practicing at FB.

[JKcatch724]

I'm looking forward to a DJ, Larsen, Woodyard linebacker corps when DJ comes back.

[topscribe]

I'm looking forward to a DJ, Larsen, Woodyard linebacker corps when DJ comes back.

If Larsen keeps it up, like he did in college, he will be a fixture there.

-----

[Day1BroncoFan]

Looks like we turned the young guns loose on 'em and kicked 'em where it hurts.

[LordTrychon]

When DJ comes back, what do we do at LB? Thoughts? I haven't seen the game yet and I'm not skilled at breaking down the abilities between the spots. (I understand it in general, but there's so many really intelligent posters on the matter that I find it better to ask).

[G_Money]

We're gonna be in a bind when DJ gets back. Woodyard is a perfect Will, but that's where DJ is best. DJ would relent and play Mike if we demanded it, but that's the only place Larsen can play. We need a strong-side backer with the destruction of Boss, but DJ HATES the Sam and has pretty much said he won't go back there.

Woodyard's never played it that I know of and is small to be impactful there, but I'd rather play him at Sam than not have him on the field because he's backing up DJ.

It's gonna get weird.

~G

[topscribe]

We're gonna be in a bind when DJ gets back. Woodyard is a perfect Will, but that's where DJ is best. DJ would relent and play Mike if we demanded it, but that's the only place Larsen can play. We need a strong-side backer with the destruction of Boss, but DJ HATES the Sam and has pretty much said he won't go back there.

Woodyard's never played it that I know of and is small to be impactful there, but I'd rather play him at Sam than not have him on the field because he's backing up DJ.

It's gonna get weird.

~G

I don't know why people keep saying Woodyard is "too small." He's 6-1, 230.
Webster is 6-0, 232. Winborn is 5-11, 230. Even Boss is only 232, even though
he is 6-3. So how is it that Woodyard is "too small"? He hasn't seem to be
outmatched out there yet, has he?

I think Woodyard would do fine at SAM, once he is orientated to the spot.

-----

[Italianmobstr7]

I believe when Williams comes back the starting LB's will be Winborn, Larsen, Williams. Unfortunately Woodyard will go back to the bench. He's played very, very well, but I just can't see them replacing Williams or asking him to change positions again. Williams was leading the league in tackles before his injury. He's a phenomenal athlete. It wouldn't surprise me to see the 3-4 though just to keep Woodyard on the field in some phase. The guy has been a monster.

[topscribe]

I believe when Williams comes back the starting LB's will be Winborn, Larsen, Williams. Unfortunately Woodyard will go back to the bench. He's played very, very well, but I just can't see them replacing Williams or asking him to change positions again. Williams was leading the league in tackles before his injury. He's a phenomenal athlete. It wouldn't surprise me to see the 3-4 though just to keep Woodyard on the field in some phase. The guy has been a monster.

That's how I kind of expect it, regarding the 4-3, due to Winborn's experience.

I don't see much 3-4 this year, though. From his pressers, Shanny seems to
view it somewhat as a failed experiment.

-----

[Italianmobstr7]

That's how I kind of expect it, regarding the 4-3, due to Winborn's experience.

I don't see much 3-4 this year, though. From his pressers, Shanny seems to
view it somewhat as a failed experiment.

-----

I think if all of our LB's were still healthy, we'd still be running it. We only started using it because we were trying to find a way to get Winborn on the field. Because he's on the field, we have no reason to keep it. Well, we might once DJ comes back because of Woodyard, but I doubt they will. Woodyard will probably only be a backup on the team, which sucks because he's been showing good skills and great heart.

[MHCBill]

Anyone notice somebody finally wised up and took Elvis off the field on first down?

[Dirk]

Anyone notice somebody finally wised up and took Elvis off the field on first down?

Thank goodness! I love Elvis' heart, but we need a monster on the end in place of him. This theory of small but fast/athletic only goes so far. All the great defensive lines were full of meaty linesmen.

Woodyard is playing awesome! I hope they find some way to keep him on the field when DJ comes back.

[broncofaninfla]

Thank goodness! I love Elvis' heart, but we need a monster on the end in place of him. This theory of small but fast/athletic only goes so far. All the great defensive lines were full of meaty linesmen.

Woodyard is playing awesome! I hope they find some way to keep him on the field when DJ comes back.

Elvis hasn't done much this season, I would be suprised to seem he get less playing time because of it.

[LRtagger]

It was a great game and the guys played their butts off. The offensive and defensive playcalling was questionable (too many reverses, the reverse sweep on 3rd down to Royal?? 3rd and 1 and hand it off to Tater??...3rd and long, blitz 7 and play our DBs 10 yards off the LOS...it worked once with the INT which was more because Ryan pulled a Favre, but we also gave up several 1st downs on it) and we made some bonehead mistakes (Dropped passes, dropped INTs...cant get off the field on 3rd down, offsides on 4th and 1, offsides on 3rd and 9...etc).

It was a great win, but it was frustrating because we should have blown them out.

I'm glad we found some solid players on D even if it meant some guys had to get hurt. We still need safeties badly. Lowry is probably the softest tackler I have ever seen, which is a surprise because he is actually a pretty stout dude. He doesnt hit the ball carrier, he just wraps him up and falls backwards. The ballcarrier usually gets 4+ yards after Lowry hits him.

All-in-all it was a much needed and good win. I hope we can build on it. We finally were + in the TO ratio dept! We have some STUD rookies. Larsen, Hillis, Royal, Clady, Woodyard seem to be the heart and soul of this team.

[topscribe]

Thank goodness! I love Elvis' heart, but we need a monster on the end in place of him. This theory of small but fast/athletic only goes so far. All the great defensive lines were full of meaty linesmen.

Woodyard is playing awesome! I hope they find some way to keep him on the field when DJ comes back.


Elvis hasn't done much this season, I would be suprised to seem he get less playing time because of it.

You might watch Dumervil closely in games. In a defense that has had trouble
getting to the QB anyway, he has consistently been the closest to the QB in
the rush. One might argue that he hasn't done much this season, but the
others have done less, regarding the pass rush.

-----

[Dreadnought]

You might watch Dumervil closely in games. In a defense that has had trouble
getting to the QB anyway, he has consistently been the closest to the QB in
the rush. One might argue that he hasn't done much this season, but the
others have done less, regarding the pass rush.

-----

Agreed, but I think the point is that Engleberger did his bit to shore up that run defense. He played a very solid game yesterday, and against the Falcons having him on the field was pretty clearly the right answer. As much as I love Dumervil, he just simply is a liability in run defense.

I'm also not as big a DJ Williams booster as some folks here. He makes a lot of tackles, but rarely seems to make big plays. His posturing pisses me off, he couldn't handle the mental apsect of MLB, and he's not much of a leader. He's certainly no scrub, but the future of the defense does not depend on him being on the field.

[topscribe]

Agreed, but I think the point is that Engleberger did his bit to shore up that run defense. He played a very solid game yesterday, and against the Falcons having him on the field was pretty clearly the right answer. As much as I love Dumervil, he just simply is a liability in run defense.

I'm also not as big a DJ Williams booster as some folks here. He makes a lot of tackles, but rarely seems to make big plays. His posturing pisses me off, he couldn't handle the mental apsect of MLB, and he's not much of a leader. He's certainly no scrub, but the future of the defense does not depend on him being on the field.

The defense is presently proving that the Broncos don't need D.J. as badly as
we once might have perceived. All the sudden, they are doing better against
the run than they were when the starters were there. That is not to say
that these guys are better than the starters, but that there are some
things more important than who is in there. I think the starters had better
take note of that, don't you?

Regarding Dumervil: Yes, Engelberger is better against the run than Doom.
However, that isn't because of Doom's size. They are both about 260 lbs.
It is just simply that Engelberger is better against the run, as Doom is better
than Engelberger against the pass. It might benefit Doom to work hard this
offseason and next spring to add run defense to his portfolio . . .

-----

[gobroncsnv]

Yeah, it's hard not to like the kid, but right now, he's situational; if he learns how to hold an edge on the run, he'd be sensational.