Elway was Right and Built a Team that Kicks and Screams

[WARHORSE]

He recognized the fortitude or lack thereof in the Bronco team two years ago, and vowed to build a team that would have to be drug off the field "kickin and screamin". He sensed then that the mentality began with his head coach, but gave the man another season to prove himself. Then when he heard Fox with his predictable "we didnt have that bad a season, pretty good in fact" answer after being put out by an inferior team, Elway pulled the trigger. Good riddance Fox.

I love this team and considering where its at we could not have hoped for a better situation.


DEFENSIVELY

Our defense is literally a pitbull. They will not give up and will injure themselves trying. They will be there snarling on gameday, eager to be released. We need two healthy safeties.


OFFENSIVELY

The offense has the pressure on it. Especially the offensive line. And our best pass blocker wears the number 18.

In this game, Im sorry Kubiak, but you need to PUT THE GAME IN THE HANDS OF MANNING. He needs to be able to walk to the LOS, read the defense, and put them in the best play. That play will either be a run, or a short pass directed to the best matchup.

Peyton can then get rid of the ball quickly over and over, taking the pressure OFF the Oline and tiring the defensive front. Every receiver we have will need to catch the ball. Against this Carolina defense, it will still be hard to score, but imo this is the best chance of offensive productivity we have.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Our special teams coverage has been stellar. Lattimer is a BEAST. I hope we can get him on the field more offensively.
McMoney is money. Colquitt........sigh. Return game pedestrian. We just need for special teams to not give up detrimental plays.

COACHING

The gameplan will be huge. I loved what we saw yesterday. We put the game on the defense.....our strength. As I said, I hope Kubes puts the ball in Peytons hands.......his MIND is his best weapon and Carolina will not expect it.



Good thing about Carolina and Cam......they havent experienced the pressure of the big game. We need to jump off on them the way Seattle jumped on us a couple of years ago. If our defense can get an early sack fumble for a score or a pick six, then I think we get into the mind of Cam. If we let them score early he may relax and play his best.

[silkamilkamonico]

Really love the resiliency of the team.

This defense I believe has changed Manning's perspective on the game. He was engineering his offense earlier in the year and forcing some throws that ended up getting the team in trouble. I think his regular season, coupled with the benching, he could see that this team is a defensive animal and to stay out of its way. Since he has come back he has roped himself in and conceding plays/drives that aren't there because he knows how dangerous this defense is.

In 2 weeks we could really have that team that wins the SuperBowl because their defense is that good. Wade Phillips has been the best coaching hire in the league since I can't even remember the last time a coach/coordinator came in and completely revamped and revolutionize what was already a top 10 unit.

[wayninja]

As good as the defense is, it's not going to beat Carolina alone. The best thing the Defense can do is to not allow Carolina to start hot. We need to keep it tight and never play down more than 1 score. The offense is going to have to keep moving the ball and at the very least keep Carolina off the field for as long as possible.

If we can do that, we have a shot.

If I'm being honest with myself though, I think it'll take a miracle for us to beat Carolina. They are consistently strong on both sides of the ball, and we just aren't. I'm not trying to be a debbie downer, just don't want to get set up for a let down. I'm proud of the boys, and will still be proud of them if they lose, which would not be a huge surprise.

[Cugel]

The difference in attitude has been enormous since last year.

Last year Fox, Gase and Del Rio all wanted to leave immediately and couldn't wait for the off-season. Fox made sure to have his pet reporter Adam Glazer issue a press-release about how he "might be available" after the Broncos exited the playoffs - and it was published the morning of the Colts playoff loss ("Don't hire anybody Bears, because Fox might soon be available. Hint, hint.")

Del Rio could only have lost his job opportunity if the Broncos went to the SB. The Raiders would have had to wait another 3 weeks to interview him, and meanwhile all their other coaching candidates would be signing elsewhere. Teams can't afford to wait that long, so he might not have gotten the Raiders job after all. Better for him to lose quickly and get an immediate red-eye flight to Oakland.

He had ZERO incentive to do anything to game plan correctly for the Colts and he didn't.

Gase was not going to stay with Fox gone, so he didn't do anything right for that game either.

That has been the biggest change from last year. Kicking and screaming begins with the coaching staff. Last year's staff couldn't have cared less about winning in the playoffs. They actually all had incentive to lose as quickly as possible and they did.