TXBRONC
09-14-2009, 08:56 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13331013
McDaniels, Nolan put the D back in Denver
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Posted: 09/14/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
CINCINNATI — Wearing a sharp, brown suit, roller bag in tow, Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler was thumbing through his high-tech phone.
"I score a touchdown and I might get two text messages," Scheffler said. "I get a pick and I get 17 texts."
Scheffler did what Cincinnati defensive back Leon Hall couldn't — prevent a Hail Mary pass from becoming an answered prayer. As an offensive player, Scheffler's interception on the last play of the game was befitting of the Broncos' defensive performance Sunday.
"We have an offensive defense," Broncos inside linebacker D.J. Williams said. "We're trying to score while we're out there. We're not sitting back and letting the offense dictate what we need to do. We're going to make our calls as a defense."
That D in McDaniels apparently is for defense. In his first game as the Broncos' head coach, Josh McDaniels' defense held the Bengals scoreless for more than 59 minutes of a 60-minute game.
McDaniels may be rooted on the offensive side of the ball, but the Broncos' 12-7 victory in their season opener showed he may be onto something with his belief in the 3-4 defense.
"Our defensive staff had a great plan," McDaniels said. "There was some stuff that we went back and forth with this week that we had had some success with against this team in my previous games against them defensively."
During the Broncos' collapse last season, when they blew a three-game AFC West lead with three to play, nearly all blame was directed at a defense that surrendered 112 points during that span — an average of 37.3 points a game.
Back-to-back years of horrific defense ended the 14-year reign of head coach Mike Shanahan. Along came a baby-faced kid who knows how to coach smash-mouth football.
When Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and his right-hand man, Joe Ellis, set their sights on McDaniels, they saw not just a young offensive mind with impressive credentials as a play caller.
If that's what they wanted, they would have kept offensive assistant Jeremy Bates. Instead, Bowlen and Ellis became smitten with a young mind who they saw had unlimited potential as a well-rounded coach.
"Defense is the first thing he addressed," Ellis said of McDaniels' interview. "We thought he was the complete package. But, hey, it's one game."
Yes, but it ended with a much-needed win. Soon after McDaniels got the Broncos' head coaching job — before his every accreditation became buried beneath the avalanche of attention that was his public divorce with quarterback Jay Cutler — the former New England assistant coach would occasionally point out he spent his first three seasons working on the defensive side of the ball.
It was the experience in coaching defense that McDaniels felt helped him attack as an offensive coordinator. One of his first decisions as a head coach was to hire Mike Nolan as Denver's defensive coordinator.
Together, the McDaniels-Nolan era has allowed seven points
McDaniels, Nolan put the D back in Denver
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Posted: 09/14/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT
CINCINNATI — Wearing a sharp, brown suit, roller bag in tow, Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler was thumbing through his high-tech phone.
"I score a touchdown and I might get two text messages," Scheffler said. "I get a pick and I get 17 texts."
Scheffler did what Cincinnati defensive back Leon Hall couldn't — prevent a Hail Mary pass from becoming an answered prayer. As an offensive player, Scheffler's interception on the last play of the game was befitting of the Broncos' defensive performance Sunday.
"We have an offensive defense," Broncos inside linebacker D.J. Williams said. "We're trying to score while we're out there. We're not sitting back and letting the offense dictate what we need to do. We're going to make our calls as a defense."
That D in McDaniels apparently is for defense. In his first game as the Broncos' head coach, Josh McDaniels' defense held the Bengals scoreless for more than 59 minutes of a 60-minute game.
McDaniels may be rooted on the offensive side of the ball, but the Broncos' 12-7 victory in their season opener showed he may be onto something with his belief in the 3-4 defense.
"Our defensive staff had a great plan," McDaniels said. "There was some stuff that we went back and forth with this week that we had had some success with against this team in my previous games against them defensively."
During the Broncos' collapse last season, when they blew a three-game AFC West lead with three to play, nearly all blame was directed at a defense that surrendered 112 points during that span — an average of 37.3 points a game.
Back-to-back years of horrific defense ended the 14-year reign of head coach Mike Shanahan. Along came a baby-faced kid who knows how to coach smash-mouth football.
When Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and his right-hand man, Joe Ellis, set their sights on McDaniels, they saw not just a young offensive mind with impressive credentials as a play caller.
If that's what they wanted, they would have kept offensive assistant Jeremy Bates. Instead, Bowlen and Ellis became smitten with a young mind who they saw had unlimited potential as a well-rounded coach.
"Defense is the first thing he addressed," Ellis said of McDaniels' interview. "We thought he was the complete package. But, hey, it's one game."
Yes, but it ended with a much-needed win. Soon after McDaniels got the Broncos' head coaching job — before his every accreditation became buried beneath the avalanche of attention that was his public divorce with quarterback Jay Cutler — the former New England assistant coach would occasionally point out he spent his first three seasons working on the defensive side of the ball.
It was the experience in coaching defense that McDaniels felt helped him attack as an offensive coordinator. One of his first decisions as a head coach was to hire Mike Nolan as Denver's defensive coordinator.
Together, the McDaniels-Nolan era has allowed seven points