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View Full Version : Broncos' O'Brien arranges pieces of special-teams puzzle



BroncoAV06
12-23-2008, 08:45 PM
I found this artical to be very interesting. Yes the special teams unit has been short of special the past couple of years but you don't realize how much injuries hurt you in more then one place at times. Saw Bell on kick coverage last week in the 2nd half and you have to think that played a huge role as well in throwing the ball 45 times.


http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/23/broncos-obrien-arranges-pieces-special-teams-puzzl/

ENGLEWOOD — A sprained ankle here, a sore knee there — pretty soon, you're talking about a real limp.

And other than the Broncos' bandaged backfield, nowhere have their injuries had a bigger effect than on special teams. Because, in many ways, a team's special- teams units are the rainy-day fund. And, this season, the Broncos have used up plenty of their vocational savings.

"When they need a guy on offense or defense, they're coming to special teams," Broncos long snapper Mike Leach said.

"That's where you get affected the most is on special teams," coach Mike Shanahan said. "Lose a starter, and usually the backup players are the specialists. So they move into a new role as a starter, and now somebody else has to come in on special teams.

"But if that player who's now a starter plays on three or four special-teams units, now you're talking about filling three or four spots because of one thing that happened on offense and defense."

So, do the math. The Broncos have had far more than one or two things happen on offense. They now have 14 players on injured reserve, having moved running backs Selvin Young and P.J. Pope there Monday.

And six of those players have started games this season.

That has put Scott O'Brien, the Broncos' special-teams coordinator, into mix- and-match mode on a week-to-week basis. So much so that O'Brien said he couldn't even hazard a guess how many combinations he has played this season. Tight end Jeb Putzier played on two of the special- teams units against Buffalo, and Putzier had signed only two weeks earlier.

Safety Herana-Daze Jones also played on special teams against the Bills, and he had signed only a week earlier.

When tight end Nate Jackson went to injured reserve with a hamstring injury last month, he had played on all the Broncos' kickoff- and punt-coverage units. And the Broncos couldn't simply move another tight end, like Chad Mustard, into Jackson's position because Mustard already was on some special-teams units and, besides, Jackson is faster, so he plays a different role.

So it took more than one player to cover just Jackson's special-team slots.

When the Broncos were down to one running back against Kansas City after Peyton Hillis' hamstring injury, they had to take Tatum Bell off special teams to play only offense for the remainder of the afternoon and, thus, found themselves trying to fill Bell's slots on the fly.

Shanahan said the situation even has affected how the team arranges the depth chart for practices during the week and made it more difficult to decide which 45 players will be in uniform on game day.

"That's a ripple effect and the ripples get bigger every time it happens," Shanahan said. "Usually you've got an idea on Tuesday what your 45 is going to look like, so you can figure out how you're going to put people in position to practice, who's going to work with the starters for the week. But this year it's been a little different — there have been more question marks through the week about who is going to be able to play.

"So, instead of either this guy or that guy, it's been an or, or, or kind of deal."

It's significant for a team like the Broncos, who have so many first-year players. Often, a player good enough to make the jump from college to the NFL had not been asked to play on special teams because of his standing on his college team.

So the learning curve can be steep, especially in terms of maintaining discipline in coverage.

"It takes a little time for guys to get good on special teams," Shanahan said. "So you're always kind of juggling what personnel can play what percentage of the time."

It's also significant this week, with the AFC West title on the line at San Diego, because awaiting the ball on punts and kickoffs likely will be Chargers running back Darren Sproles.

And Sproles is a king-sized problem in a 5-foot-6 package. The Broncos were leading 21-3 in the teams' Sept. 14 meeting at Invesco Field at Mile High when Sproles returned a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown to pull the first thread that unraveled the Broncos' effort.

Sproles also opened the second half with a 41-yard kickoff return, and eight plays later, San Diego had another touchdown that cut the Broncos' lead to seven with more than a quarter and a half to play.

"We have the effort, and we haven't had breakdowns ... more often because somebody's been new," Leach said. "But absolutely we've had more turnover out there this year, and it only takes one guy to be out of position for something bad to happen.

"But there are no excuses, though — who's ever in there has to perform. That's the expectation this week and every week."

ETC.: The Chargers are 8-0 in December games under Norv Turner. That total includes five wins in December last season to go with the team's current three-game winning streak. ... Chargers nose tackle Jamal Williams has a sprained foot and could miss some practice time this week, but he is expected to play Sunday. ... The Broncos on Tuesday officially signed running back Cory Boyd to their active roster from the practice squad and also signed running back Alex Haynes. Haynes had been with the team for two weeks in November.

dogfish
12-23-2008, 09:02 PM
adios, tuten!

Denver Native (Carol)
12-23-2008, 09:07 PM
Thanks BroncoAV06 for posting this. I don't really think we fully realize how this whole team has been patched together this year, and still gave us a respectable year, and I am going to say - I DON'T THINK WE ARE DONE YET :salute:

Greatspirits
12-23-2008, 09:48 PM
I just don't understand why Prater can't kick it into the end-zone! It seems like every visiting kicker that comes here does a better job then him. That was the main reason we let Elam go.

BroncoAV06
12-23-2008, 10:00 PM
Weather and a being afraid of McKelivn played a large role in the awful special teams outcome last week. I have also noticed that when the kicks go in a certin direction at Invesco they seem to go shorter in one direction then in the other. I belive it is when they are kicking south, right to left on TV.

Lonestar
12-23-2008, 10:24 PM
well looks like another scape goat card for mikey to use at his EOY press conference..

Denver Native (Carol)
12-23-2008, 10:38 PM
well looks like another scape goat card for mikey to use at his EOY press conference..

Scape goat card - check out the following and let me know how any one could have done any better. :tsk:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/den/injuries

Lonestar
12-24-2008, 12:15 AM
Scape goat card - check out the following and let me know how any one could have done any better. :tsk:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/den/injuries

I stand by my assertion at the EOY press conference the IR card will be played and we all know that much of the "sick time" could have been avoided by proper conditioning..

By it will by mikey another year at trying to get this act together..

Not saying mikey should go but much of his "power" should be dispersed to others to become more efficient..