Denver Broncos defense looks to gel amid big changes once again

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Some things are better left unsaid.

"The good teams do the big things and the little things well," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "They know what's expected. They can line up, look at each other and just know what needs to happen; nobody has to say anything. You just know. That's what we're doing now. We're building that trust in what we do."

To that end, the Broncos will open their second set of full on-field organized team activities (OTAs) today at their Dove Valley complex.

The first three sets of OTAs are considered voluntary by the terms of the league's collective bargaining agreement. Still, most of the Broncos participated last week and are expected to be on the field again this week. Notable exceptions last week were defensive tackle Ty Warren and kicker Matt Prater.

rest - http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_20737595/broncos-defense-looks-gel-amid-big-changes-once

[vandammage13]

I hope they do gel, because our #20 ranked Defense could use some improvement...Especially if we're hoping to make a SB run anytime soon.

[Ravage!!!]

it will help now that we won't be punting 14 times a game

[Northman]

If our offense can go from 10-17 points a game to 30-35 that will do wonders for the defense.

[Chef Zambini]

what was our ranking against the run?

[vandammage13]

it will help now that we won't be punting 14 times a game

Leading the league in rushing helped balance that out by eating up the clock...

We'll be scoring a lot more points which should help, but I see us being in a lot of shootouts next year. We won't be grinding it out and eating the clock to protect both our QB and our suspect defense this year.

Manning should be able to get build us some leads if things go like we hope, but it will be up to the defense to hold the leads, and I'm not so sure that they can.

Our D was downright exposed by Brady and Co. last year....I don't think any lead is going to be safe (even Christian Ponder chopped us up) unless McGahee can churn out yards on the ground once we get a lead.

I think not turning over the ball and our strong rushing game protected our defense a lot last year...It was really the only recipie for success given the personel we had.

[vandammage13]

what was our ranking against the run?

#22...Not abysmal, but not very good either.

[Ravage!!!]

Leading the league in rushing helped balance that out by eating up the clock...

We'll be scoring a lot more points which should help, but I see us being in a lot of shootouts next year. We won't be grinding it out and eating the clock to protect both our QB and our suspect defense this year.

Manning should be able to get build us some leads if things go like we hope, but it will be up to the defense to hold the leads, and I'm not so sure that they can.

Our D was downright exposed by Brady and Co. last year....I don't think any lead is going to be safe (even Christian Ponder chopped us up) unless McGahee can churn out yards on the ground once we get a lead.

I think not turning over the ball and our strong rushing game protected our defense a lot last year...It was really the only recipie for success given the personel we had.

we were the worst at converting 3rd downs. I dont see how htat eats as much clock. We punted a TON of times.... more so than I've ever seen one team punt. We were punting 13 times a game.

Converting 3rd downs, extending some offensive possessions to more than 3 and outs, and actually putting poits on the board where the OTHER teaam actually has to score... will help our defense. Just as it did in Indy.

[vandammage13]

Improving in the Takeaway department would help some too...We only ranked #28 in takeaways last year.

Both units were unspectacular last year...Which is why most of the games we won could have went the other way...We just weren't very good.

Luckily we made plays when they had to be made, which most stats don't account for the timeliness of a play.

[vandammage13]

we were the worst at converting 3rd downs. I dont see how htat eats as much clock. We punted a TON of times.... more so than I've ever seen one team punt. We were punting 13 times a game.

Converting 3rd downs, extending some offensive possessions to more than 3 and outs, and actually putting poits on the board where the OTHER teaam actually has to score... will help our defense. Just as it did in Indy.

Simple, when you run 3 straight plays (as we often did) the clock continues to move. This would eat more clock than going 3 and out with 2 passing plays.

Even when you go 3 and out the clock is still running, thus shortening the game..We only passed like 10-15 times a game, so the game was significantly shortened even with all of the 3 and outs. Part of the reason for all the running was no faith in the QB, the other part was protecting our D which had been at or near the bottom for the previous 2 seasons.

[MOtorboat]

Simple, when you run 3 straight plays (as we often did) the clock continues to move. This would eat more clock than going 3 and out with 2 passing plays.

Even when you go 3 and out the clock is still running, thus shortening the game..We only passed like 10-15 times a game, so the game was significantly shortened even with all of the 3 and outs. Part of the reason for all the running was no faith in the QB, the other part was protecting our D which had been at or near the bottom for the previous 2 seasons.

Yes, thankfully, Denver now has a capable NFL quarterback who can throw more often and score more points, and even more importantly, get first downs.

Last year was brutal, even if we did get lucky in a few games.

[Chef Zambini]

#22...Not abysmal, but not very good either.why run the ball when you can throw against goodman?

[Chef Zambini]

we were the worst at converting 3rd downs. I dont see how htat eats as much clock. We punted a TON of times.... more so than I've ever seen one team punt. We were punting 13 times a game.

Converting 3rd downs, extending some offensive possessions to more than 3 and outs, and actually putting poits on the board where the OTHER teaam actually has to score... will help our defense. Just as it did in Indy.Colquitt deserved consideration as our team MVP ! ironicly our kicking team may have been our best team, punts and FGs.

[Ravage!!!]

Simple, when you run 3 straight plays (as we often did) the clock continues to move. This would eat more clock than going 3 and out with 2 passing plays.

Even when you go 3 and out the clock is still running, thus shortening the game..We only passed like 10-15 times a game, so the game was significantly shortened even with all of the 3 and outs. Part of the reason for all the running was no faith in the QB, the other part was protecting our D which had been at or near the bottom for the previous 2 seasons.

This is such a blatant twist of how things go. How about actually CONVERTING 3rd downs to keep the clock running? Guess what, converting 3rd downs by passing, keeps the clock running. Running 8 plays on offense will run the clock more than three and a punt. Not being able to convert on 3 downs is how you give the ball to the other team 8 times more than you should.

You do NOT "protect the D" by punting to the other team so many times. Thats how you put a defense in danger, which is what our complete inept offense did last season. Continue to put the ball in the other team's hands, and continue to put our defense on the field.

Our running game was not meant to protect the Defense, it was designed to protect Tebow. Don't throw, don't turn over, punt the ball, play field position and let the defense keep the game close. If it wasn't for our defense keeping games close, we would have been murdered with our lack of offense.