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View Full Version : One Streak Ends – Another Continues



Broncos Mtnman
12-08-2008, 12:34 AM
Using some of the best offense they have played at home in nearly two months, the Broncos ended their three-game home losing streak by beating the Kansas City Chiefs 24-17. At the same time, they have continued another one.

You may remember I covered an interesting stat after last week’s convincing road victory against the NY Jets. The Broncos have NEVER lost a game this season when they committed one or fewer turnovers. They also have NEVER lost a game this season when the defense holds the opposing team to 20 points or less. Both of these occurred yet again in today’s matchup against the woeful NFL franchise from Kansas City. I believe that this is proof positive that this team can’t be beaten by anyone but themselves.

Sadly, today’s fine performance may have come at great cost. Peyton Hillis would leave the game with an injury to his hamstring. According to Shanahan’s post game interview with KOA radio, he will be out for 4-6 weeks. They will know more after an MRI gets done, but it doesn’t look good for last week’s FedEx Ground Player of the Week and Pepsi’s Rookie of the Week. If he is indeed out, he will become the SIXTH running back to go down for the Broncos this season. The Broncos also lost Brandon “slot machine” Stokley to an ankle injury that might sideline him for a few weeks.

Still, there’s plenty to be impressed with this week. Here are the HIGHS and LOWS…


HIGHS :2thumbs:

1 – Jay Cutler. While he made the game interesting after giving up a pick-6 interception in the first quarter, Jay took control of the offense and successfully led the team on two 80-yard and one 95-yard drives, all for touchdowns. He would complete a very impressive 80% of his pass attempts (32/40) for 286 yards, two touchdowns and the interception. That’s a QB rating of 102.70.

2 – Peyton Hillis / Tatum Bell. Hillis could have had a career day today had he not gotten hurt. He already had rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown when he went out in the second quarter. He also had an 11 yard reception.

However, when Hillis went down, Bell would show to be more than up to the task. He rang up 52 yards on 11 carries. His performance was vital to the Broncos chances of winning when Hillis went down. The only running back left if Tatum went out was Spencer Larsen, who could be seen on the sidelines going over some of the plays with Selvin Young, who was inactive again this week.

3 – Brandon Marshall. B-Marsh would be Jay’s favorite target this game. His 91 yards on 11 catches would put him over the 1000-yard mark for the season. He hauled in two touchdowns on Red Zone passes of 12 and 6 yards.

Marshall told a story this past week about a meeting he had with Michael Irvin about how to be a great wide receiver. According to Brandon, Irvin told him that in order to be great, Marshall had to “impose his will” on the other team, regardless of how opposing defenses play him. In today’s matchup, it appears Marshall heeded his advice.

4 – Tony Sheffler / Daniel Graham. This duo of tight ends would haul in 9 passes for 91 yards. Tony would carry the lion’s share for the tight ends (5 passes for 61 yards), which would be the second week in a row for such a strong performance. Now that Tony is healthy, he has returned to his vital role of a reliable receiver for Cutler. Since returning to duty 5 games ago, Tony has been the recipient of 17 passes for 255 yards.

5 – Defense. I don’t think the improvement of this unit can be underestimated any longer. The Broncos (with many backups starting again) held Larry Johnson to 36 yards on 11 carries. They held the entire team to less than 100 yards. Tyler Thigpen went 34 yards on 6 carries and Jamaal Charles had 13 yards on one additional carry. That’s a grand total of 83 yards on 18 carries, an impressive effort against a team than ran for over 200 yards in their first matchup.

In addition, this rag-tag unit would keep Thigpen to a very mediocre 17 of 32 for 187 yards and a touchdown. To put this in perspective, Thigpen has been putting up an average of 224 yards and 1.88 touches coming into today’s matchup.

Perhaps the most impressive play by these guys was on the Chiefs last drive of the game. On that drive, the Chiefs had the ball first-and-goal on the Broncos 10-yard-line, yet the boys in predominantly orange would keep them from reaching the endzone on four attempts, stopping them at the 1-yard-line.

Combined, the Denver defense held the Chiefs to a total of 260 yards of offense.

6 – Wesley Woodyard. I know he’s part of the defense, but I felt this impressive rookie deserved special recognition for his team leading 8 tackles (7 solo – 1 assist). He also came within a hair of hauling in what would have been his first interception. Replay over-ruled his pick, but his play is making it tough on Broncos coaches when DJ Williams comes back from his injury.

7 – Offensive Line. What can you say? Once again, they surrendered ZERO sacks. While it’s something we are getting used to, I don’t want to let it become so “common” that we forget how impressive their work has been in protecting JC’s backside.

An interesting stat: with today’s performance, the Broncos offensive line has gone three consecutive games without a sack for the first time since 1995.


LOWS :2thumbsdown:

1 – Defensive Playcalling. I know I just got done complementing the play of the defense, but some of the playcalling was soft in my opinion. Particularly weak was the play calling on Kansas City’s only scoring drive in the second quarter. The defense allowed KC to convert 4 of 5 third downs (allowing a 4th down conversion on the one stop they had). To their credit, they got it done a bit better in the second quarter, but playing cornerbacks 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage on 3rd and short situations allowed the Chiefs offense to go right down the field.

2 – Special teams. The Broncos lost the battle for field position. On their three touchdown drives, the Broncos had to go 80 yards twice and 95 yards once. Matt Prater only had one touchback on his five kickoffs. In addition, he would once again struggle as he missed his second field goal attempt in today’s game, which would have given the team the lead if he had completed it. He is now officially struggling and it’s a serious concern as the Broncos fight to win the division and prepare for the playoffs.

3 – Injuries. Peyton Hillis, Brandon Stokley and Mario Haggen. Hillis’ looks to be the most serious, but this team can ill afford to lose many more players to the injury bug. On the other hand, some of the best play has come from the second and third string players.

_____________________________________

Today’s win was Shanahan’s 154th of his coaching career. It ties him with Marv Levy for 15th on the all-time list.

Today’s win was Jay Cutler’s 7th fourth quarter comeback in his young career and the 4th of this season.

With today’s loss, the Kansas City Chiefs have NEVER won at Invesco Field. They are now 0-8 at the new digs.


The Broncos are on the threshold of winning the AFC West for the first time since 2005. If they can keep their turnover and defense streaks alive, there’s no reason to think they won’t do that, and a lot more.

BMM

CoachChaz
12-08-2008, 09:22 AM
LOWS :2thumbsdown:

1 – Defensive Playcalling. I know I just got done complementing the play of the defense, but some of the playcalling was soft in my opinion. Particularly weak was the play calling on Kansas City’s only scoring drive in the second quarter. The defense allowed KC to convert 4 of 5 third downs (allowing a 4th down conversion on the one stop they had). To their credit, they got it done a bit better in the second quarter, but playing cornerbacks 10-15 yards off the line of scrimmage on 3rd and short situations allowed the Chiefs offense to go right down the field.




I was officially done with Slowik in the 4th quarter. KC is driving late and Dumervil gets a sack. KC is in a 2nd and 20 and the next defensive call is a 3 man rush and a soft zone. Thigpen had all day and the result was a 19 yard reception to Bowe. In a situation where you can go for the jugular, Slowik chose to play prevent and it almost cost us.

NightTrainLayne
12-08-2008, 10:19 AM
I was officially done with Slowik in the 4th quarter. KC is driving late and Dumervil gets a sack. KC is in a 2nd and 20 and the next defensive call is a 3 man rush and a soft zone. Thigpen had all day and the result was a 19 yard reception to Bowe. In a situation where you can go for the jugular, Slowik chose to play prevent and it almost cost us.

Slowick might as well have walked out on the field and kicked Dumervil in the balls. To have his play almost immediately erased by a terrible defensive play-call had me steaming.

topscribe
12-08-2008, 11:31 AM
Great analysis, as usual, Mtnman.

On that 4th down stop at the goal line, I thought it would be good to mention
Dré Bly there. After the hammering he has taken this season (not necessarily
from you), that was a fantastic, textbook stop on a player much bigger than
Bly. He deserves some props for that, and I would list him as one of the highs
for this game.

-----

LordTrychon
12-08-2008, 11:50 AM
I was officially done with Slowik in the 4th quarter. KC is driving late and Dumervil gets a sack. KC is in a 2nd and 20 and the next defensive call is a 3 man rush and a soft zone. Thigpen had all day and the result was a 19 yard reception to Bowe. In a situation where you can go for the jugular, Slowik chose to play prevent and it almost cost us.


Slowick might as well have walked out on the field and kicked Dumervil in the balls. To have his play almost immediately erased by a terrible defensive play-call had me steaming.

As horrible as that play call was (and just as sad that I EXPECTED it)... I can't simply throw Slowick under the bus and assume that he's been locked out of the defensive meetings over the past few weeks, in which I have seen improvement in a number of ways... including not ALWAYS giving up huge cushions. Can't fault him for one thing and not accept the things that he's done well.

Maybe he'll learn from this mistake as well. :beer:

horsepig
12-11-2008, 06:31 PM
Good point Trychon, Slow pisses me off a lot but, I like the really aggressive approach on D. Slow seems to be coming around slowly (pun intended) and they're much more fun to watch lately. Great post, as usual, Mtnman.