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View Full Version : The Broncos Offensive Line Surrendered ZERO Sacks to the #1 Passing D.



Joel
01-08-2012, 11:43 PM
I've raised a LOT of Hell with them this year over that, even more than their run blocking, so it's only fair I give them props now for VERY good blocking. Tebows mobility helped some, undoubtedly (he ran for 50 yards and a TD,) as did his willingness to "pull the trigger" (a phrase I'm sure he was tired of hearing, though he used it himself last week.) However, he was plenty mobile in several earlier games where he ate 5+ sacks anyway. Our offensive line took VERY good care of our QB (far better than Pitts did) and that was among several factors vital to our victory.

So hats off to Ryan Clady, Zane Beadles, J.D. Walton, Russ Hochstein and Orlando Franklin. We truly could not have done it without ya'll. :salute:

OrangeHoof
01-09-2012, 12:02 AM
Tebow extracted himself from a couple of tackles (including one uncalled facemask grab) and the Steelers were admittedly missing two of their down linemen. While the o-line still deserves credit, it wasn't like Tebow never felt the rush.

Joel
01-09-2012, 12:30 AM
Tebow extracted himself from a couple of tackles (including one uncalled facemask grab) and the Steelers were admittedly missing two of their down linemen. While the o-line still deserves credit, it wasn't like Tebow never felt the rush.
True, but they're 3-4 linemen, so the LBs get most sacks while they hold the line against the run and push the pocket so the QB can't step up to throw. I definitely realize Casey Hampton (one of the top two 3-4 NTs in the League) missed the whole second half (although most of our scoring was in the second quarter,) but, by the same token, we were missing Chris Kuper ALL game, and I'd begun to think he was the only decent pass blocker we had at guard. Also, though my crappy stream kept me from verifying he was in the game, Hamptons backup Chris Hoke is a GREAT NT in his own right.

I expected Tebow to be running for his life all day: instead he threw for 2 TDs and 316 yards, averaging a hair over 15 YPA, and never got sacked once. Like I said, his elusiveness and prompt delivery helped some, but he's still the same guy who got sacked 5 times in three different games I can remember just off the top of my head. The #1 pass D and the horde of marauding sack machines it has at LB couldn't even get ONE today. A lot of the credit for that goes to the line; on many of Tebows deep completions he stood still, pumped once or even twice and STILL had time for his man to get open. Our offensive line was a BIG part of why, though obviously not the only part.

jhildebrand
01-09-2012, 12:34 AM
Early on they had DL in the backfield right at the snap. I thought we would be business as usual.

Also, the left side of the line did well today. After I, and Elevation, spent days saying we cant run to the left, some of the biggest runs came to the left!

Joel
01-09-2012, 01:57 AM
They were due? :tongue:

Also, could some helpful mod please merge my thread into this one:
http://www.broncosforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=337926

I didn't see it on the first page of the forum or I wouldn't have made another one, but zero penalties (by the line; Willis had a critical one, IIRC) is nearly as big as zero sacks. BOTH, against THAT D, is jaw dropping. :salute:

bcbronc
01-09-2012, 02:56 AM
I don't think the penalty on Willis ended up being a holding call...I think they ended up calling it either offensive pass interference or illegal blocking downfield.

so no holding calls! :beer:

(unless I'm wrong about that)

Elevation inc
01-09-2012, 06:51 AM
I've raised a LOT of Hell with them this year over that, even more than their run blocking, so it's only fair I give them props now for VERY good blocking. Tebows mobility helped some, undoubtedly (he ran for 50 yards and a TD,) as did his willingness to "pull the trigger" (a phrase I'm sure he was tired of hearing, though he used it himself last week.) However, he was plenty mobile in several earlier games where he ate 5+ sacks anyway. Our offensive line took VERY good care of our QB (far better than Pitts did) and that was among several factors vital to our victory.

So hats off to Ryan Clady, Zane Beadles, J.D. Walton, Russ Hochstein and Orlando Franklin. We truly could not have done it without ya'll. :salute:




The OL played its best game of the last 2 years as a group. Walton and Beadles had their best games in pass protection in their careers, and Beadles downright had his best game of his career as well.....we see the potential...it just needs to be consistent, I will stop hating...lol......guys that werent making plays the last few weeks, The OL, TE's, WR's the QB etc...well they told everyone shut your mouth and watch the game bizznitches...lol


Zero sacks, and I counted 2 pressures the whole game....combine that with 135 yds on the ground against the steelers defense, alrighty then.....awsome!


oh and hats off to fells who also had his best game as a bronco....

Elevation inc
01-09-2012, 06:53 AM
Early on they had DL in the backfield right at the snap. I thought we would be business as usual.

Also, the left side of the line did well today. After I, and Elevation, spent days saying we cant run to the left, some of the biggest runs came to the left!

The OL came to play...I watched walton smash 2 players on there ass at the same time today...I watched Beadles Absolutely Pancake casey Hampton it was classic.......we had some good runs to as well to left for sure, and clady also had a great game....it was great execution by all....

If we do tht next week and tighten up our secondary lapses in communication....we have a chance in NE as well

chazoe60
01-09-2012, 06:55 AM
The holding penalty by Willis wasn't really his fault. It was a screen pass and the timing got screwed up so Willis was blocking while the ball was in the air.

rcsodak
01-09-2012, 07:28 AM
True, but they're 3-4 linemen, so the LBs get most sacks while they hold the line against the run and push the pocket so the QB can't step up to throw. I definitely realize Casey Hampton (one of the top two 3-4 NTs in the League) missed the whole second half (although most of our scoring was in the second quarter,) but, by the same token, we were missing Chris Kuper ALL game, and I'd begun to think he was the only decent pass blocker we had at guard. Also, though my crappy stream kept me from verifying he was in the game, Hamptons backup Chris Hoke is a GREAT NT in his own right.

I expected Tebow to be running for his life all day: instead he threw for 2 TDs and 316 yards, averaging a hair over 15 YPA, and never got sacked once. Like I said, his elusiveness and prompt delivery helped some, but he's still the same guy who got sacked 5 times in three different games I can remember just off the top of my head. The #1 pass D and the horde of marauding sack machines it has at LB couldn't even get ONE today. A lot of the credit for that goes to the line; on many of Tebows deep completions he stood still, pumped once or even twice and STILL had time for his man to get open. Our offensive line was a BIG part of why, though obviously not the only part.
Hampton went out in the 1st qtr, didnt he? As well as grizz?
And it looked like Lebeau had them playing contain most of the time, vs constantly rushing.
It was all about catching them in run D and throwing(completing).

Attrition definitely played a part.

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threefolddead
01-09-2012, 08:00 AM
It helped the O-line that Tebow wasn't running backwards at signs of pressure or getting scared. He stepped up in the pocket or ran around it like a big time QB. Our O-line was handelin them though.

Joel
01-09-2012, 08:03 AM
I don't think the penalty on Willis ended up being a holding call...I think they ended up calling it either offensive pass interference or illegal blocking downfield.

so no holding calls! :beer:

(unless I'm wrong about that)
I'll take your word, since I didn't get to see it after my feed fell apart like it has all weekend. :( We had a false start at one point, too, 'cos I remember we got back to 2nd and 10 with a 5 yard run, but, while annoying, those are a lot more surmountable than drive killing holding penalties.

The OL played its best game of the last 2 years as a group. Walton and Beadles had their best games in pass protection in their careers, and Beadles downright had his best game of his career as well.....we see the potential...it just needs to be consistent, I will stop hating...lol......guys that werent making plays the last few weeks, The OL, TE's, WR's the QB etc...well they told everyone shut your mouth and watch the game bizznitches...lol

Zero sacks, and I counted 2 pressures the whole game....combine that with 135 yds on the ground against the steelers defense, alrighty then.....awsome!
It was pretty stunning how the whole offense stepped up, but the solid play from the line may have had a lot to do with that, because that makes everything so much easier.

oh and hats off to fells who also had his best game as a bronco....
Really been hoping for a while that Fells can be our next Scheffler; he took big steps toward that against Pitt. For that matter, I can't ever recall seeing Scheff get that deep before catching a pass.

The holding penalty by Willis wasn't really his fault. It was a screen pass and the timing got screwed up so Willis was blocking while the ball was in the air.
Makes sense, and I can't fault him doing what he's supposed to do. I think Willis has potential, but would still prefer we used Fells more as our #1 receiving TE than Willis as our #3 WR. If Royal can put together a few more games like that one he's much better suited, though with Decker out the line up for next week looks like Thomas, Royal and Willis, with Fells or Rosario at TE. Fells, right now; a guy has a game like that, you leave him in, both for production and as incentive/reward. Reminds me of watching some old Oilers highlights on YouTube yesterday and they showed Gary Brown (the first and really only good RB the Run 'n Shoot Oilers had:)

"This is hard, coach, can I go back to special teams?"

"Nah, you have to prove yourself on offense first." :lol:

Hampton went out in the 1st qtr, didnt he? As well as grizz?
Honestlly not sure; they snuck it by me if they did, because I lost my feed right when our offense showed up, and don't recall them leaving earlier, but I might have just missed it. I consider Hampton and Hoke practically interchangeable though, so I might just not have noticed. I was a lot more worried about the LBs from the start though; I know EVERYONE'S fast in the NFL, but I would expect Tebow to outrun a 3-4 NT. :tongue:

And it looked like Lebeau had them playing contain most of the time, vs constantly rushing.
Plausible enough, the way everyone's made a big deal out of NOT blitzing Tebow so you don't get burned on his runs like the Jets and others have, but if consistently performs as a good pocket passer that just means "no pass rush" and plays into his hands a different way, while making our lines job easier, so I'll take it with a smile. REALLY wish I could've seen all of that second quarter instead of just hearing some of it.

It was all about catching them in run D and throwing(completing).

Attrition definitely played a part.
Double edged sword though; if we'd had Dawkins that game's over by half time, if we'd had Kuper I wouldn't have been wetting myself all week over their LBs and we were down 6-0 when we lost Decker.

One guy I missed: Jeremiah Johnson. I thought he and Fells were the real secret weapons in this game, and one of them definitely was, but I'd love to see Johnson tear up the Pats for 100 yards rushing and 100 more receiving next week.

It helped the O-line that Tebow wasn't running backwards at signs of pressure or getting scared. He stepped up in the pocket or ran around it like a big time QB. Our O-line was handelin them though.
He made it easier on them, fer sure; I think he knew he screwed up big time last week but, like they say, you often learn as much or more from failure as from success, and he seems to have diagnosed and corrected his errors last week. If he keeps it up he could start in the big leagues some day. :tongue:

NightTrainLayne
01-09-2012, 10:40 PM
Today on Sirius Pat Kirwin mentioned that there were only 6 holding calls in all of the wildcard weekend games together. And 5 of those came in the Giants/Falcons game.

Apparently either everybody did a great job, or there was some kind of communique passed down to the refs.

I know I saw three plays where I was surprised we didn't get flagged, and several instances of the Steelers holding. I think the refs decided to let them play.

Joel
01-11-2012, 12:23 AM
Today on Sirius Pat Kirwin mentioned that there were only 6 holding calls in all of the wildcard weekend games together. And 5 of those came in the Giants/Falcons game.

Apparently either everybody did a great job, or there was some kind of communique passed down to the refs.

I know I saw three plays where I was surprised we didn't get flagged, and several instances of the Steelers holding. I think the refs decided to let them play.
Makes me wonder what, precisely, they called on Willis then. That's fine as long as they are consistent and don't let teams get away with EVERYTHING, but if they keep calling it that way we have no hope of getting to Brady; the Pats line is DARNED good (did we have ANY sacks last time except for Dooms late one?) and one of our top two pass rushers has a hand in a cast. And we already know their TEs are invisible to our weak secondary, so our only hope is to keep pounding the rock into the end zone and only give NE the ball for 10:00 per half.

Elevation inc
01-12-2012, 12:33 AM
Franklin and Hochsetin gave up 2 pressures apiece and JD walton gave up 1, no QB hits or sacks which is awsome though.....especially against woodley and harrison....

NightTrainLayne
01-12-2012, 01:44 AM
Makes me wonder what, precisely, they called on Willis then. That's fine as long as they are consistent and don't let teams get away with EVERYTHING, but if they keep calling it that way we have no hope of getting to Brady; the Pats line is DARNED good (did we have ANY sacks last time except for Dooms late one?) and one of our top two pass rushers has a hand in a cast. And we already know their TEs are invisible to our weak secondary, so our only hope is to keep pounding the rock into the end zone and only give NE the ball for 10:00 per half.

Willis was called for pass interference if I remember right. He was blocking for a screen pass downfield, but Tebow had to scramble around, and the screen never happened. So, it was illegal contact downfield.

bcbronc
01-12-2012, 02:05 AM
Willis was called for pass interference if I remember right. He was blocking for a screen pass downfield, but Tebow had to scramble around, and the screen never happened. So, it was illegal contact downfield.

that's correct, I watched Replay today and watched for it. Officially, pass interference.

Joel
01-12-2012, 05:20 AM
Franklin and Hochsetin gave up 2 pressures apiece and JD walton gave up 1, no QB hits or sacks which is awsome though.....especially against woodley and harrison....
I'll take it, though I do think LeBeau bizarrely helped out by buying into that whole "don't blitz, keep Tebow in the pocket till he implodes" theory all game. Small chance NE will make that mistake; they didn't last time.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying our line didn't still do a bangup job, just that they may be challenged more this weekend (ironic since we're going from the #1 passing D to the #31.)

Thanks for the confirmation, btw, bc and NTL.

Chef Zambini
01-12-2012, 08:54 AM
regarding the willis PI call:
isnt it LEGAL for a receiver to block downfield if the pass is completed behind the line of scrimmage?
This is my understanding.
am I wrong?

NightTrainLayne
01-12-2012, 12:39 PM
regarding the willis PI call:
isnt it LEGAL for a receiver to block downfield if the pass is completed behind the line of scrimmage?
This is my understanding.
am I wrong?

Yes. But a pass was not completed behind the line of scrimmage. Willis was blocking > 10 yards down the field in the end zone if I remember right.

Ravage!!!
01-12-2012, 12:44 PM
Huh. Maybe the OL isn't nearly as bad as so many around here have been trying to say it is.

Joel
01-12-2012, 05:43 PM
Huh. Maybe the OL isn't nearly as bad as so many around here have been trying to say it is.
We'll know more Saturday. LeBeau kept his guys back in Tebows running lanes, because the conventional wisdom says: Keep him in the pocket, make him pass and Tebow will implode. Instead, he completed 3 passes for 50+ yards, another for 40 and the game winner in OT for 80 (no idea why LeBeau didn't change his approach.)

Belicheat didn't play us that way LAST time, and has added incentive not to THIS time. Last time, I can think of three separate plays off the top of my head when one or more Patriots were roaming our backfield:

1) A second half play when they rushed 5 and 4 of them met at the QB,

2) A third quarter (I think) play when Tebow saw a blitzer coming from his left, tucked it away and ran out of the back of the pocket to his right--straight into ANOTHER Patriot who immediately sacked him,

3) The second quarter fumble on what looked like an option, when Tebow saw an unblocked defender but couldn't get rid of the ball before the hit and strip.

New England KNOWS their pass D is worse than anyone but Green Bays, and will try to compensate in the traditional manner of defensive minded coaches like Belicheat: Hit the QB. If our line prevents that, as they failed to do last time, and we put up huge rushing numbers again, I won't be so insistent on drafting a G early next year. That would be three solid weeks of good blocking, the first two against excellent defences (the blocking was great against KC; Tebow just didn't take advantage of it.)

The issue is the same for our second year QB, Gs and WRs: Consistency. Last week they were all on at the same time, and beat the #1 D (it helped that Pitts offense was so weak, but we still put 29.5 points on the top defence.) If we get technical, however, it is more accurate to say they were all on IN THE SECOND QUARTER and ONE PLAY in OT. Otherwise, they scored 3 points. If they played the whole game like the second quarter we'd STILL be scoring.

If/when they play whole games like that weekly we'll be a CB away from Super Bowl contention for the next decade.

HORSEPOWER 56
01-12-2012, 05:56 PM
Yes. But a pass was not completed behind the line of scrimmage. Willis was blocking > 10 yards down the field in the end zone if I remember right.

The pass was completed and Royal picked up the first down, the problem was Willis was blocking too far downfield (10 yards) WAAAAAAYYYY early. They never call it within a yard or two of the LOS or a bubble screen would never work. 10 yards downfield before the receiver catches the ball is excessive.

rcsodak
01-12-2012, 07:51 PM
True, but they're 3-4 linemen, so the LBs get most sacks while they hold the line against the run and push the pocket so the QB can't step up to throw. I definitely realize Casey Hampton (one of the top two 3-4 NTs in the League) missed the whole second half (although most of our scoring was in the second quarter,) but, by the same token, we were missing Chris Kuper ALL game, and I'd begun to think he was the only decent pass blocker we had at guard. Also, though my crappy stream kept me from verifying he was in the game, Hamptons backup Chris Hoke is a GREAT NT in his own right.

I expected Tebow to be running for his life all day: instead he threw for 2 TDs and 316 yards, averaging a hair over 15 YPA, and never got sacked once. Like I said, his elusiveness and prompt delivery helped some, but he's still the same guy who got sacked 5 times in three different games I can remember just off the top of my head. The #1 pass D and the horde of marauding sack machines it has at LB couldn't even get ONE today. A lot of the credit for that goes to the line; on many of Tebows deep completions he stood still, pumped once or even twice and STILL had time for his man to get open. Our offensive line was a BIG part of why, though obviously not the only part.
Honestly, if you cant see where LeBeau played them differently, youre only kidding yourself.
They didnt attack, like NE did. Why not? I dont know...i'm not dick lebeau.
And having the better dlinemen out WILL hurt the lb's. Howso? Look at denvers failed attempt at the 34, with shit Dlmen.

I highly doubt NE copies Pitts plan. And i anticipate TT running for his life, again. Prolly worse, since kuper's out.
Its going to be up to the run game, getting into the endzone, and most importantly, STOPPING NE's RUN GAME!

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Elevation inc
01-12-2012, 08:39 PM
Huh. Maybe the OL isn't nearly as bad as so many around here have been trying to say it is.

nope it is.....

Joel
01-12-2012, 08:52 PM
Honestly, if you cant see where LeBeau played them differently, youre only kidding yourself.
They didnt attack, like NE did. Why not? I dont know...i'm not dick lebeau.
And having the better dlinemen out WILL hurt the lb's. Howso? Look at denvers failed attempt at the 34, with shit Dlmen.

I highly doubt NE copies Pitts plan. And i anticipate TT running for his life, again. Prolly worse, since kuper's out.
Its going to be up to the run game, getting into the endzone, and most importantly, STOPPING NE's RUN GAME!
I thought I'd covered, here and elsewhere, why they didn't attack: LeBeau bought into the standard approach against Tebow: Don't blitz or he'll run free downfield for a big gain; park guys in his running lanes, keep him in the pocket and wait for him to implode. That's worked many times this year, so it's no wonder LeBeau did it; the puzzler is why he KEPT doing it all game despite Tebow hitting 50 yard passes repeatedly in the second quarter. Maybe he thought when we didn't keep doing it in the second half it was just a fluke (three of them, in one quarter,) but no one with a two score second half lead will throw lots of passes (especially after the Cowboys blew a 27-3 fourth quarter lead on Detroit.)

I completely agree NE won't do that though because, as you say, they didn't do it last time, and last week gave them incentive to bring more pressure. They were already inclined that way; their weak secondary makes that the only effective way to defend the pass and defensive coaches like theirs usually prefer blitzing to lots of coverage anyway (both of which apply to us also.) This weeks game will tell us a lot more about the state of our line than last weeks. That they were not aggressively challenged much does not diminish the fine play they did perform, but Saturday will almost certainly be a greater challenge and thus indicator.

I pretty much said all of that in my LAST post in the thread; did you just not see it? I know it can be easy to miss stuff in long threads, but this one's barely two pages. And, yes, I agree we should run our legs off, for various compelling reasons copiously stated elsewhere.