Broncos concerns debunked via Reddit poster

[artie_dale]

Hey folks. I was surfing Reddit.com and came across this post in their NFL subreddit. I find it reassuring and figured it might put some of you at ease as well if any of you had any doubts that our Broncos have only played bad defenses which is what has made our offense look so great. Take a gander.

http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1o6yz2/is_denver_only_playing_well_against_bad_defenses/

[Thnikkaman]

Good analysis. I agree that it's not definitive proof, but it does shine more light on how good our Offense actually is.

[Broncolingus]

Hey folks. I was surfing Reddit.com and came across this post in their NFL subreddit. I find it reassuring and figured it might put some of you at ease as well if any of you had any doubts that our Broncos have only played bad defenses which is what has made our offense look so great. Take a gander.

http://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/1o6yz2/is_denver_only_playing_well_against_bad_defenses/

We need Von back to compete in the postseason, and I think last week was a fluke where we came across QB who had the game of his life and our secondary wasn't sharp at all...

...if Denver's defense plays like that on a 3-4 game stretch consistently, then I'll be concerned, but otherwise, meh for now...

With the offense Denver has, all this defense needs to do is just be solid with the front seven (stop run and pressure the QB) and we should be fine...

[artie_dale]

We need Von back to compete in the postseason, and I think last week was a fluke where we came across QB who had the game of his life and our secondary wasn't sharp at all...

...if Denver's defense plays like that on a 3-4 game stretch consistently, then I'll be concerned, but otherwise, meh for now...

With the offense Denver has, all this defense needs to do is just be solid with the front seven (stop run and pressure the QB) and we should be fine...

I hear ya. But what I'm reminded of is, there have been stretches for the Patriots where their Defenses were known to be great. But, during those times, their offense scored so fast and so much, it made their opponent one-dimensional forcing them to stop running the ball and rely only on the pass. Those Patriots defenses held their own against the pass. They were, and everyone knew it, horrible against the run, but because their offenses were so good, they didn't have to play against the run.

Our Broncos offense is as good as it gets, but when I expect our Defense to be much better against the pass and not have to worry about the run, they end up being horrible against the pass and great against the run. I know not having Von and Champ these first 6 games will factor in that so I do hope (and am somewhat confident) that getting them back will get this pass defense on point.

By the way, I'm not toting the Pats horns by bringing them up. But, that was the case for them during those runs. Just the easiest comparison for me is all.

[underrated29]

Our defense has had every team aside from dallas and NY to under 20 points when you take out garbage time. Lets not forget also that during that garbage time we put in brock or started running and being predictable to kill clock. Had the starters remained we would have those 80 yard 5-7 minute drives....Thus keeping the other team from scoring again. Instead, we pull our starters, run the ball and play it safe. Which is totally fine. But it just leads to a few late TDs by teams that dont matter.


When our defense is playing the game regular they are shutting it down rpetty well. Subtract our injuries and we are good. Add in a top 5 player in the NFL and another top 50 player- who is top 5 at his position and our defense Turns into Hulk mode once again.


Even the dallas game our starters before injury held them to 17 points. It was only after we lost 3 HUGE players that they were able to move the ball on us at will.


I for one am not even slightly worried about our defense. And we get champ back this week and von back the next. Plus, we have a bye in 3 more weeks and by week 10 we should have our entire defense on the field and intact for the FIRST time all season. I tell you things are going to be real sexy for us then.

[Ravage!!!]

Our Broncos offense is as good as it gets, but when I expect our Defense to be much better against the pass and not have to worry about the run, they end up being horrible against the pass and great against the run. I know not having Von and Champ these first 6 games will factor in that so I do hope (and am somewhat confident) that getting them back will get this pass defense on point.

.

Statistically we will be "weak" against the pass and strong against the run all season long. As you said, teams are going to be put on their heels early...ESPECIALLY in the second half of the game, and they will have to throw a LOT just to keep up. The way the rules are set, there is no way we can stop a QB from throwing a ton of yards when they are putting up a ton of attempts.

That's just another example as to how the numbers never tell the whole story. Its why statistical rankings don't really tell you how good a person, or team, truly is.

[CoachChaz]

We've seen the Saints, Packers and Pats win Super Bowls with defenses ranked in the bottom 5. That alone should tell how important a top defense is when you have a strong offense. How many more games should we expect to play without 5 of our best defensive players? Because that's what it seems to take to make games close with us. If our defense stays remotely healthy and keeps teams under 30 points...we're fine

[G_Money]

They kick a few field goals, we score touchdowns, game over. Stop the loooong pass play, tighten up the red zone, and we're right where I wanna be. Our offense will continue to put up points. Even if it's close before halftime, it shouldn't be close for long into the 3rd quarter.

Just gotta get a healthy defense out there. Although Green Bay was a M.A.S.H. ward when they won their Super Bowl, so maybe we don't even need that.

~G

[NightTrainLayne]

Even the dallas game our starters before injury held them to 17 points. It was only after we lost 3 HUGE players that they were able to move the ball on us at will.


Not sure that's a great argument there. .. . before we lost 3 HUGE players, Dallas "only" scored 17 points. . .

That's 17 points on 3 drives. TD, TD & FG. Three consecutive, drives from the opening, they scored on us.

That's 17 points with only 5 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter.

Yeah. .. . they weren't slowing down Dallas even before the injuries.

[Ravage!!!]

Not sure that's a great argument there. .. . before we lost 3 HUGE players, Dallas "only" scored 17 points. . .

That's 17 points on 3 drives. TD, TD & FG. Three consecutive, drives from the opening, they scored on us.

That's 17 points with only 5 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter.

Yeah. .. . they weren't slowing down Dallas even before the injuries.

Remember one was off a short field due to a fumble. They scored only 2 FGs in the 2nd Quarter. Our defense was holding up. Dallas has a lot of talent...

[NightTrainLayne]

Remember one was off a short field due to a fumble. They scored only 2 FGs in the 2nd Quarter. Our defense was holding up. Dallas has a lot of talent...

***One of those Field-Goals was in 46 seconds after a kick-off as time expired. . .

Come on guys. I love our team, but our defense is our weak spot. We'll likely be okay as we get Champ and Von back, but bragging on our defense is bordering on irrational.

[Ravage!!!]

***One of those Field-Goals was in 46 seconds after a kick-off as time expired. . .

Come on guys. I love our team, but our defense is our weak spot. We'll likely be okay as we get Champ and Von back, but bragging on our defense is bordering on irrational.

I think that you are basing your claim off of ONE game. Other than the ONE game, where is it that you are not being 'irrational' in claiming that our defense is a "weak spot?" If you mean its going to be weaker than our offese, yes it is and will always be. So by that definition, yes, its a "weak spot." But if you are saying our defense is "weak" purely because Dallas had a good performance against us...then perhaps you might be over reacting.

I haven't seen "weak" at all in the other 4 games.

[Northman]

Not sure that's a great argument there. .. . before we lost 3 HUGE players, Dallas "only" scored 17 points. . .

That's 17 points on 3 drives. TD, TD & FG. Three consecutive, drives from the opening, they scored on us.

That's 17 points with only 5 minutes gone in the 2nd quarter.

Yeah. .. . they weren't slowing down Dallas even before the injuries.


Yea, people are hanging too much on the injury thing. Dallas was moving the ball at will on us long before some of the guys starting getting hurt.

[Northman]

I think that you are basing your claim off of ONE game. Other than the ONE game, where is it that you are not being 'irrational' in claiming that our defense is a "weak spot?" If you mean its going to be weaker than our offese, yes it is and will always be. So by that definition, yes, its a "weak spot." But if you are saying our defense is "weak" purely because Dallas had a good performance against us...then perhaps you might be over reacting.

I haven't seen "weak" at all in the other 4 games.


But lets not pretend that the opposition before Dallas was stellar either. Bmore is struggling on offense due to the loss of Boldin, Oakland? I mean really? Eli put up some points on us, luckily their defense is far worse and Eli is having a meltdown of epic proportions this year. Vick? Not impressed. We will see how the rest of the season goes but our defense is ranked 30th right now for good reason. Luckily our offense is scoring 40 points a game.

[Joel]

It's Reddit, not Elias. The larger issue though is that OFFENSE isn't our main worry; a team averaging nearly 50 pts/game against NFL opponents has a darned good offense whoever they played: The problem is our DEFENSE giving up 27.8 pts/game (26th best overall) and only winning because our offense is so good. Now, obviously the 48 pts against Dallas skews that average a bit, but we can normalize by just as the Reddit poster did: Subtracting that from the total (139-51=88) and divide by 4 games instead of 5 (88/4=22.) That's still not great; it leaves us tied with Baltimore for 19th overall.

Even if we win tomorrow, the knock will be "6-1, but they haven't beat a winning team" unless we beat Indy. Yeah, I know: The slumping Ravens are 3-2; they play GB tomorrow, so we'll see....

Reality check, Denver fans: As long as KC keeps winning (and their schedule's pretty soft till they face us) we're one loss away from being second place in our DIVISION, let alone the league.

[Joel]

But lets not pretend that the opposition before Dallas was stellar either. Bmore is struggling on offense due to the loss of Boldin, Oakland? I mean really? Eli put up some points on us, luckily their defense is far worse and Eli is having a meltdown of epic proportions this year. Vick? Not impressed. We will see how the rest of the season goes but our defense is ranked 30th right now for good reason. Luckily our offense is scoring 40 points a game.
To be fair, and despite my previous post, our stats are a bit skewed: #1 against the run, dead last against the pass. Those and the yardage stats don't mean much with opponents spending most of the second half running Two Minute Drills against our Prevent. Our 26th ranked 27.8 pts/game is more troubling (though somewhat subject to the same mitigating factors.) Eventually, our offense will have an off day for one reason or another; if we give up 4 TDs that day we'll probably lose, so let's hope it gets better when we're at full strength or it just doesn't happen in the playoffs (it's not like there are any good offenses there, right?)

[Simple Jaded]

If you take out of the equation the loss each undefeated team hung on their opponents the Saints opponents have an 11-9 record, the Chefs 7-13 and the Broncos 9-11. The Saints have more games vs teams with winning records but more teams with losing records, the Chefs same amount of opponents with winning records and more teams with losing records.

In summation; the Broncos are a big reason for their opponents current record.

[Joel]

If you take out of the equation the loss each undefeated team hung on their opponents the Saints opponents have an 11-9 record, the Chefs 7-13 and the Broncos 9-11. The Saints have more games vs teams with winning records but more teams with losing records, the Chefs same amount of opponents with winning records and more teams with losing records.

In summation; the Broncos are a big reason for their opponents current record.
No, even subtracting losses to unbeatens so the Eagles and Cowboys are .500 teams, we and the Saints both beat two losing teams. The difference is they beat three winning teams (even WITH losses to NO) and the only winning team we beat is the 3-2 Ravens (whom Miami nearly made the 2-3 Ravens; NO destroyed Miami two weeks ago.) On paper, the Saints look better because their offense is nearly as good but, at least until we get all our starters back, their D looks much better: 11th vs. 29th in yds/game, 4th vs. 26th in pts/game.

We'll find out how good we are relative to KC next month; assuming neither drops an always dubious divisional game, their only real challenge before then should be Houston, ours, Indy, so it's quite possible we could both come into that game unbeaten (IF we do our job against Jax, Indy, Washington and SD.)

That Indy game is starting to look huge, especially if Ayers and/or Woodyard are still hurt. I can't respect a Colts D whose best players I didn't respect when they were young, but their offense is for real, and you KNOW there's gonna be a big home crowd for Manning vs. Luck. I just hope the teams not as focussed on that game as I am—yet; if/when we beat Jags we better get ready for a shootout.