Broncos Mtnman
11-20-2007, 09:36 PM
When he was catching passes for the Broncos, Shannon Sharpe earned the moniker of "Big Play Shay" for the frequency in which he would show up BIG right when the Broncos would need it most.
I think last night's performance by "Big Play Jay" (ok, the rest of the team helped too, but this rhymed... lol) would make even Mr. Sharpe blush with pride for his former team.
Much to the surprise of many (not me - but who's braggin'? ;) ), the Denver Broncos handed the Tennessee Titans their 4th loss on Monday Night Football. But it wasn't so much that the Broncos won, but HOW they won.
They did it with the Big Play. Follow along....
48 yard TD pass to Brandon Stokley (clearly the best Free Agent signing by the Broncos this past offseason).
41 yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall (what "sophomore jinx?")
80 yard TD punt return by Glenn Martinez (named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week by the NFL just moments ago). By the way, it was the first punt return for a TD by a Bronco since 2003.
62 yard TD run by Andre Hall (filling in for Selvin Young after he was hurt).
THAT'S 231 YARDS IN JUST FOUR PLAYS!!
But that's not all. The defense came up with big plays to match the performance of their teammates on offense and special teams.
Interceptions by Dre Bly and Ian Gold.
THREE forced fumbles (we recovered one of them).
133 total yards rushing (when you factor out the scrambles by Vince Young from busted plays, the Broncos only surrendered 59 yards rushing).
Now, all was not perfect in Broncoland yesterday. There was a muffed punt by the same Glenn Martinez that ran 80 yards for a touchdown. The muff gave Tennessee great field position and resulted in a TD.
There was the issue of time outs and when to use them. Shanahan tried the old "freeze" timeout again. Just before Rob Bironas' kick sailed wide left on a 56 yard attempt, Shanahan called a timeout just before the snap. On the second attempt, Bironas nailed it right down the middle.
Shanahan also used a timeout due to some confusion on the defense just before Vince Young took the snap on a 3rd and goal situation where he had run for a loss of 3 yards. Because that play never "officially" happened, it allowed Jeff Fisher to successfully challenge a previous play where Young appeared to have scored a TD, but was ruled out at the 1 yard line. Upon review, it was ruled a touchdown.
Two timeouts = 10 points for the Titans.
Still, when it is all said and done, the Broncos now find themselves in that enviable "control your own destiny" situation that is spoken of so frequently. The one difference being, this time it's really true!!
Here's this week's 4 downs...
The Good Stuff
1st - Jay Cutler. For the 3rd time in the last 4 games, he performed his job without an INT. Not only that, but he had the best statistical game of his short career, completing 76% of his passes (16/21) for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. His passer rating for the evening was a very impressive 137.00.
In addition, he showed great poise in the pocket, made plays when things broke down (the TD pass to Stokley being great examples) and continued his impressive play converting 3rd downs (he's ranked 4th in the NFL).
2nd - Running game. Due to the early exit of Selvin Young, the running game involved him and Andre Hall. Together, they ran for a very impressive 143 yards against the #2 ranked defense in the NFL. Going into Monday Night's game, the Titans had only surrendered an average of 77.1 ypg.
3rd - Special Teams. Besides the obvious 80 yard TD return by Martinez, the battle of field position was owned by the Broncos. Add to that Jason Elam's 2 field goals. By the way, Elam moved into 5th place in the NFL in scoring after last night.
4th - Defense. These guys took alot of flak from fans for the 185 ypg they were surrendering with their run defense. However, since the bye week, they are averaging just a little over 100 ypg, and they continued that improved play last night. Add to that 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Most Glaring Weaknesses
1st - Fumbles. Once again, the team had multiple fumbles (2), losing one of them for what turned into a touchdown for the Broncos.
2nd - Red Zone playcalling. I don't know how long it will be before Shanahan figures out that he doesn't have Jerome Bettis in the backfield when it's goal-to-go. Part of this is execution by the players, but Shanahan needs to be a little more creative with his playcalling. Fortunately for the Broncos, their big plays made Red Zone offense a small concern.
3rd - Tackling, or lack thereof. There were numerous missed tackles by the Broncos linebacking corps. Speed is great, but if you don't take down the guy with the ball, what good is it?
4th - I don't have a 4th. The game was THAT good.
It's been reported that John Lynch and Rod Smith held a team meeting this past week to "motivate" a few of the younger guys. Whatever they said appears to have worked.
I hope they hold another meeting this week.
BMM
I think last night's performance by "Big Play Jay" (ok, the rest of the team helped too, but this rhymed... lol) would make even Mr. Sharpe blush with pride for his former team.
Much to the surprise of many (not me - but who's braggin'? ;) ), the Denver Broncos handed the Tennessee Titans their 4th loss on Monday Night Football. But it wasn't so much that the Broncos won, but HOW they won.
They did it with the Big Play. Follow along....
48 yard TD pass to Brandon Stokley (clearly the best Free Agent signing by the Broncos this past offseason).
41 yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall (what "sophomore jinx?")
80 yard TD punt return by Glenn Martinez (named AFC Special Teams Player Of The Week by the NFL just moments ago). By the way, it was the first punt return for a TD by a Bronco since 2003.
62 yard TD run by Andre Hall (filling in for Selvin Young after he was hurt).
THAT'S 231 YARDS IN JUST FOUR PLAYS!!
But that's not all. The defense came up with big plays to match the performance of their teammates on offense and special teams.
Interceptions by Dre Bly and Ian Gold.
THREE forced fumbles (we recovered one of them).
133 total yards rushing (when you factor out the scrambles by Vince Young from busted plays, the Broncos only surrendered 59 yards rushing).
Now, all was not perfect in Broncoland yesterday. There was a muffed punt by the same Glenn Martinez that ran 80 yards for a touchdown. The muff gave Tennessee great field position and resulted in a TD.
There was the issue of time outs and when to use them. Shanahan tried the old "freeze" timeout again. Just before Rob Bironas' kick sailed wide left on a 56 yard attempt, Shanahan called a timeout just before the snap. On the second attempt, Bironas nailed it right down the middle.
Shanahan also used a timeout due to some confusion on the defense just before Vince Young took the snap on a 3rd and goal situation where he had run for a loss of 3 yards. Because that play never "officially" happened, it allowed Jeff Fisher to successfully challenge a previous play where Young appeared to have scored a TD, but was ruled out at the 1 yard line. Upon review, it was ruled a touchdown.
Two timeouts = 10 points for the Titans.
Still, when it is all said and done, the Broncos now find themselves in that enviable "control your own destiny" situation that is spoken of so frequently. The one difference being, this time it's really true!!
Here's this week's 4 downs...
The Good Stuff
1st - Jay Cutler. For the 3rd time in the last 4 games, he performed his job without an INT. Not only that, but he had the best statistical game of his short career, completing 76% of his passes (16/21) for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns. His passer rating for the evening was a very impressive 137.00.
In addition, he showed great poise in the pocket, made plays when things broke down (the TD pass to Stokley being great examples) and continued his impressive play converting 3rd downs (he's ranked 4th in the NFL).
2nd - Running game. Due to the early exit of Selvin Young, the running game involved him and Andre Hall. Together, they ran for a very impressive 143 yards against the #2 ranked defense in the NFL. Going into Monday Night's game, the Titans had only surrendered an average of 77.1 ypg.
3rd - Special Teams. Besides the obvious 80 yard TD return by Martinez, the battle of field position was owned by the Broncos. Add to that Jason Elam's 2 field goals. By the way, Elam moved into 5th place in the NFL in scoring after last night.
4th - Defense. These guys took alot of flak from fans for the 185 ypg they were surrendering with their run defense. However, since the bye week, they are averaging just a little over 100 ypg, and they continued that improved play last night. Add to that 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Most Glaring Weaknesses
1st - Fumbles. Once again, the team had multiple fumbles (2), losing one of them for what turned into a touchdown for the Broncos.
2nd - Red Zone playcalling. I don't know how long it will be before Shanahan figures out that he doesn't have Jerome Bettis in the backfield when it's goal-to-go. Part of this is execution by the players, but Shanahan needs to be a little more creative with his playcalling. Fortunately for the Broncos, their big plays made Red Zone offense a small concern.
3rd - Tackling, or lack thereof. There were numerous missed tackles by the Broncos linebacking corps. Speed is great, but if you don't take down the guy with the ball, what good is it?
4th - I don't have a 4th. The game was THAT good.
It's been reported that John Lynch and Rod Smith held a team meeting this past week to "motivate" a few of the younger guys. Whatever they said appears to have worked.
I hope they hold another meeting this week.
BMM