a ray of hope ...... i believe,do you?

[T.K.O.]

Ready For War: The Broncos Schedule Uncovered. (Game One) by Ryan Ayars Ryan AyarsScribe
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Scribe Written on June 02, 2009 (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) The Broncos have a brutal schedule this year.

Despite playing in one of the least competitive conferences (on paper) this year, the Broncos have some heavy hitters to contend with.

In this article series, I will summarize the strengths, weaknesses, and key additions of each team on the Broncos schedule and how they will match up with Denver. I do not need to rehash their AFC West rivals, which I have already covered in the following articles:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/175108-broncos-primed-for-a-playoff-run-a-look-at-the-afc-west-division

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/176840-denver-broncos-primed-for-a-playoff-run-a-look-at-the-afc-west-part-2

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/177991-denver-broncos-primed-for-a-playoff-run-a-look-at-the-afc-west-part-3



Game 1, Sunday 9/13, at Cincinnati

The Bengals' strengths last year came from their defense. Although not a complete power house, they were able to end the season ranked 12th overall in the NFL for yards allowed.

Look for draft picks Rey Maualuga and Michael Johnson to give the defense another boost up the ranks. Key free agent additions Roy Williams and Tank Johnson will add a veteran presence and will make this defense a formidable squad.

Maualuga is an energetic player that tackles like a steam roller. He will definitely bring some intensity to the Bengals' defense.

Michael Johnson is a physical freak. I'm very interested in how he will turn out playing in the NFL. He should bring some speed off the edge and break the focus of quarterbacks for years to come.

The offense was dismal. It was one of the worst offenses in the NFL last year, ranking no higher than 29th in all major offensive categories. Carson Palmer did get injured four games into the season, but in my opinion it was the play of the offensive line that lead to their poor showing.

The offensive line let through 51 sacks last season. For a comparison, the Denver Broncos only allowed 12.

This is most likely why the Bengals drafted Andre Smith, the massive tackle from Alabama, with the sixth overall pick in this year's draft. Hopefully, this guy can accomplish what Levi Jones was not able to do: stop the pass rushers.

The Bengals added Laveranues Coles, the veteran wide receiver from the Jets. He should give them an awesome 1B receiver to go along with Ochocinco at 1A. As long as Palmer comes back healthy, the Bengals shouldn't be ranked as low as they were last year.

Cedric Benson should return healthy and now he has a good complementary running back in the speedy sixth-round choice Bernard Scott. With added depth in the offensive line, these backs should be able to get 1500 yards combined.

The Bengals lost one of their star players, in wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh. He was a big play-maker, but I think the signing of Coles should make up for most of his absence.

I see the Bengals as better than last year, and they should win at least six or seven games this year.

Unfortunately for the residents of Cincinnati, this will not show in their opening season game against the Broncos.

With their offense ranked as low as they were last year, this complements Denver's low ranking defense of last year.

Both team's squads have a long way to go, according to the rankings. If both squads only manage to get marginally better, then they are equally matched on this front.

The Broncos' offense was highly ranked, but, with the loss of Jay Cutler, they definitely have some questions going into the season. The Broncos still have their superb offensive line. With the addition of Knowshon Moreno, they should have no problem running over opposing defenses for the next decade.

The Bengals defense is better this year than last year, but it won't be enough to stop the Orange and Blue's rushing and spread passing attacks.

Broncos 21, Bengals 13

The official Team statistics can be found at the following link:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/cin/stats;_ylt=AlvquESXk57Rd..8BtMRbD.B2bYF

[broncofaninfla]

I forgot that they got Roy Williams, we need to target that scrub safety all game long. Good week for Orton to show he can throw a deep ball.

[CoachChaz]

I forgot that they got Roy Williams, we need to target that scrub safety all game long. Good week for Orton to show he can throw a deep ball.

Why? Williams will fall for the play action EVERY TIME and if you force him to cover a receiver...he'll be open after 5 yards

[T.K.O.]

i happened across a bengals site while looking up info on the opener and several people were saying that williams was gonna ...."introduce " moreno to the nfl.....ooooooooh !;)
moreno should juke him out of his cleats !!!!or fly over him:beer:

[broncofaninfla]

Why? Williams will fall for the play action EVERY TIME and if you force him to cover a receiver...he'll be open after 5 yards

I agree, Williams is arguably the worst safety in football when it comes to coverage.

[broncofaninfla]

i happened across a bengals site while looking up info on the opener and several people were saying that williams was gonna ...."introduce " moreno to the nfl.....ooooooooh !;)
moreno should juke him out of his cleats !!!!or fly over him:beer:

Williams will be this years Deangelo Hall :beer:

[underrated29]

THE bengals are going to score a lot more than 17 points. Our defense is NOT that good. And their Offense IS that good. Their only weakness on offense is their OL. Specifically LT and C.

Doom should have a good day and i suspect some sacks, but lets be real. 85,coles, Henry- that is awesome and Palmer IMO is a top 5 QB if not higher. If we cant get to him, they put up atleast 4 tds on us. And thats not including the new found benson.

I stil think we win, but it will be a high scoring game, me thinks......As long as we win and Carson Palmer throws a couple TDs to 85 (have them in FF) i will be happy.


Go Broncos.

[CoachChaz]

THE bengals are going to score a lot more than 17 points. Our defense is NOT that good. And their Offense IS that good. Their only weakness on offense is their OL. Specifically LT and C.

Doom should have a good day and i suspect some sacks, but lets be real. 85,coles, Henry- that is awesome and Palmer IMO is a top 5 QB if not higher. If we cant get to him, they put up atleast 4 tds on us. And thats not including the new found benson.

I stil think we win, but it will be a high scoring game, me thinks......As long as we win and Carson Palmer throws a couple TDs to 85 (have them in FF) i will be happy.


Go Broncos.

I'll disagree. Johnson is overrated, Coles is merely a slot guy at this point in his career and Henry has proven nothing. The line is a shamble and Benson scares no one. Palmer is good, but even he can only do so much.

The defense has improved, but Tank Johnson isnt what he use to be, Michael Johnson is the next Jarvis Moss and the secondary is full of spares. The LB's are the best thing they have going for them.

[underrated29]

I'll disagree. Johnson is overrated, Coles is merely a slot guy at this point in his career and Henry has proven nothing. The line is a shamble and Benson scares no one. Palmer is good, but even he can only do so much.

The defense has improved, but Tank Johnson isnt what he use to be, Michael Johnson is the next Jarvis Moss and the secondary is full of spares. The LB's are the best thing they have going for them.


i agree about the defense. But on offense, we are always suseptable to the pass. And hove not proven otherwise. Even if coles is a slot guy, he still can catch and get open. Henry has always produced as the 3 when not in jail. He will be going up against jwill or phonz- both are short. Not saying they cant cover him, but its no cake walk.

85 is overrated but he is still good and still among the best. But more importantly is palmer. He is accurate and he doesnt need a big window to throw into. So we have to have TIGHT coverage and i am just not sure that we are that accomplished yet.

I think benson will get 1200+ yards and about 10 tds this year. ( am not a benson or bengal fan for the record)

[CoachChaz]

i agree about the defense. But on offense, we are always suseptable to the pass. And hove not proven otherwise. Even if coles is a slot guy, he still can catch and get open. Henry has always produced as the 3 when not in jail. He will be going up against jwill or phonz- both are short. Not saying they cant cover him, but its no cake walk.

85 is overrated but he is still good and still among the best. But more importantly is palmer. He is accurate and he doesnt need a big window to throw into. So we have to have TIGHT coverage and i am just not sure that we are that accomplished yet.

I think benson will get 1200+ yards and about 10 tds this year. ( am not a benson or bengal fan for the record)

I figure, Champ is locking down Johnson, Goodman has Henry and Fonzie and Williams have Coles with safety help. Add a much better pass rush against a bad line and I likes our odds more than I have in the recent past.


Unless that line improves drastically, I dont see Benson averaging more than 3.6 per carry. JMO

[underrated29]

CHAMP locking down johnson was my initial thought too. but champ only ever lines up on the left side. Cincy will most likely move 85 around and try to put him on goodman.

Now i dont know if Jmd will move champ too. That would be smart, but lately that hasnt been the case.

so i think it would more than likely look like.

85 on goodman with saftey
coles on champ
henry- phonz/jack with saftey

I like our odds to, and like i said their OL is weak, but i still dont think we keep them under 24 pts.

As for Benson, its my opinion that we have struggled against the bruiser types. We can handle the soft quick guys, but guys that run with leverage and or power seem to tear us up. Coffee of SFO was a good ex. JJ of sea was an example of how we contain.

I think if cincy spreads us out and pounds benson up the gut or off guard. I think we will still hold them down but when teams run right at us we struggle.

This is what i would do if i was cincy.

To me this is a battle of offenses. Inwhich we will prevail. Still i think its like the NO or San diego game (aside for hochuli) last year.

Unfortunately i am out of town so i wont be able to see it. But your way of thinking is certainly what i would prefer. I just dont think it will be so easy.

[Lonestar]

throw everything out we know about DEN from years past and Pray we have seen improvement from preseason..

the D is a complete unknown the O should be good but we have not seen anything against a real defense, not sure the bungals are good but better than we have seen this year so far..

I still think an early game on the "east" coast will do us in.. and Palmer gets hot it could get kinda ugly..

Traditionally Defenses are more in rhythm than Offenses are early in teh year.. and at least they all know each other while our guys are seiing meeting the coach.. so I'm giving the bungal the odds on to win..

if moreno plays we have a better chance but not sure if he would be effective and still hurting..
Hope I'm wrong but that is how I see it right now..

[broncofaninfla]

Didn't Champ have one of his worst games ever as a pro against Johnson a couple of years ago on Monday night football?

[broncofaninfla]

throw everything out we know about DEN from years past and Pray we have seen improvement from preseason..

the D is a complete unknown the O should be good but we have not seen anything against a real defense, not sure the bungals are good but better than we have seen this year so far..

I still think an early game on the "east" coast will do us in.. and Palmer gets hot it could get kinda ugly..

Traditionally Defenses are more in rhythm than Offenses are early in teh year.. and at least they all know each other while our guys are seiing meeting the coach.. so I'm giving the bungal the odds on to win..

if moreno plays we have a better chance but not sure if he would be effective and still hurting..
Hope I'm wrong but that is how I see it right now..

I sure hope we don't see the dink and dunk offense that stuck up the preseason.

[Ravage!!!]

I rmemer the last time Champ "locked down" on 85, and Champ came out the loser. RIght now, for those of you putting down Henry.... had looked REALLY good. Coles 'merely' a slot (like stokely???) that is a serious weapon when you have the other two on the outside. Benson is looking solid.

Their OL is suspect, but so is our DL.

[Ravage!!!]

Didn't Champ have one of his worst games ever as a pro against Johnson a couple of years ago on Monday night football?

yes...

[Lonestar]

I sure hope we don't see the dink and dunk offense that stuck up the preseason.

did you not get the memo? the dink and dunk is here to stay that is what makes the NE offense go..

[Ravage!!!]

did you not get the memo? the dink and dunk is here to stay that is what makes the NE offense go..

Hmmm....

[claymore]

did you not get the memo? the dink and dunk is here to stay that is what makes the NE offense go..

Dink and dunk with big plays thrown in to keep the defense honest.

If we cant make the big play threat, it will be the dink, dink, dink, punt offense.

[CoachChaz]

I rmemer the last time Champ "locked down" on 85, and Champ came out the loser. RIght now, for those of you putting down Henry.... had looked REALLY good. Coles 'merely' a slot (like stokely???) that is a serious weapon when you have the other two on the outside. Benson is looking solid.

Their OL is suspect, but so is our DL.

The Bengals fans are multiplying around here

[broncofaninfla]

Dink and dunk with big plays thrown in to keep the defense honest.

If we cant make the big play threat, it will be the dink, dink, dink, punt offense.

Marshall could be huge in this offense if he applys himself. Without that threat our offense won't scare anybody. I sure hope who ever our QB is can deliver the deep ball accuratly.

[CoachChaz]

Anyone have any numbers on how many deep balls (20 yards +) the strongest armed QB's in the NFL throw in a game? What's the average? 2 ...maybe 3? Sure that average goes up when Cutler plays, but I'm referring to the rest of the NFL.

[nevcraw]

I do like our chances with our fairly aggressive D against their bad ankled statue at QB and suspect OL and TE group.

[nevcraw]

Anyone have any numbers on how many deep balls (20 yards +) the strongest armed QB's in the NFL throw in a game? What's the average? 2 ...maybe 3? Sure that average goes up when Cutler plays, but I'm referring to the rest of the NFL.

If you do not have the ability to stretch the field or even threaten to - they can stack up against the run and the short passes with the same defenses.. we've seen it before here and it was ugly...

[WhatEver!!!]

This better not be like the Miami game a few years back. We suck at early East Coast games. I would hope Coach would take them to Cincy a day early to get accustom to the playing field.

The game itself -- This preseason reminded me of last year. We moved the ball between the 20s but could not finish. WE CAN NOT WIN WITHOUT TOUCHDOWNS.

Defense -- I think we will be OK on D. We played Warner and Fitz a good part of the first half. What did they score?? Nothing. We picked Warner who is a very accurate passer (Top 10 QB in the league)

Offense -- dink and dunk only works with a smart, accurate passer. Orton is missing two of those aspects. Tommy B is a rookie who showed more presence than Orton has.

[EMB6903]

Didn't Champ have one of his worst games ever as a pro against Johnson a couple of years ago on Monday night football?

yes he did... Johnson burned Bailey that game... but last time they met in 2006 Champ shut Johnson down and actually had an INT right over Johnson.

[nevcraw]

champ just slipped that game..

[Lonestar]

If you do not have the ability to stretch the field or even threaten to - they can stack up against the run and the short passes with the same defenses.. we've seen it before here and it was ugly...


and with which weapons did we have at the time..

I do not think we had fast Eddie type nor a Moreno, nor Hillis, nor Stokely, nor Scheffler or Graham.. or for that matter gaffney and the newbie Mc Kinley..

Plus we had Griese the last time this was used.. or the last time I remember it..

I just do not see it the issue those that think the only way you can win is having a bombardier at QB.