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View Full Version : Muscle, not finesse, makes Broncos go



Denver Native (Carol)
09-22-2009, 12:40 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13390107?source=rss

editor's note: NFL reporter Jeff Legwold analyzes the Broncos' 27-6 victory over the Cleveland Browns and looks ahead to Sunday's game at Oakland:

There was a time when longtime offensive coordinator Ron Erhardt would stare at the images dancing across the screen and offer a clear, concise and unobstructed view of offense at its roots.

"You get your guys to block their guys and run it into the spots where you won," he would say, his eyes betraying there was much more going on behind them.

Peel away the misdirection, modern-day paranoia and camouflage, and professional football still is a game in which the smart can succeed but the strong still survive.

Sunday, the Broncos muscled up in the run game, especially late, and were able to slam the door on the Browns.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels uses a three-wide receiver look as his base offensive formation — 23 times in the first half Sunday, by far the most of any formation before halftime — and often lines up quarterback Kyle Orton away from the line of scrimmage in the shotgun.

Some believe this can make a team predictable if it cannot find a way to run out of the look from time to time to give the defense something else to think about.

With the Browns committing their safeties to the line of scrimmage, the Broncos had trouble running out of the three-wide look, with only one carry for more than 3 yards to go with a no gain and a minus-2 run in the opening half.

In the second half, the Broncos went to far more two-tight end and three-tight end looks and wore down a Browns defense that had cracked against the run in the second half the previous week.

The extra tight ends pushed out the edges of the Broncos' offensive formation, and the Browns had less success running plays down from the outside in. As a result the Broncos rushed for 133 of their 186 yards in the second half, with Correll Buckhalter going 45 yards for a touchdown in a two-tight end set. Knowshon Moreno also ran for 17 yards out of a two-tight end formation to go with a 14-yarder with three tight ends.

"We got tight ends that can block, they're aggressive," Moreno said. "(The Browns) knew we were going to run the clock out. They put as many people down there as possible. We broke some runs on that."

Key matchup with Oakland. When the Broncos began making former defensive ends into linebackers as they moved to a 3-4 defense, those players discovered they still could comfortably rush the passer. And they could bow up and play the run when they were asked to.

"But dropping into coverage, we all had to learn that," outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil said. "I've never gone backward before in my life. I always lined up and went after the quarterback."

This week, those converted linebackers get their chance to prove what they have learned. The Raiders' most accomplished and most reliable receiver is tight end Zach Miller, and quarterback JaMarcus Russell is far more accurate in the middle of the field. That routinely puts Miller in his field of view and makes him a more available option.

It would be a lot to ask for any of the team's outside linebackers to play Miller man-to-man, so they may have more of a zone look underneath with the bigger guys dropping into the passing lanes to obstruct Russell's view.

The Broncos have used a safety in years past on opposing tight ends, with mixed results. They gave up a 100-yard game to Kellen Winslow Jr. last season to go with four other games of at least 64 yards receiving to opposing tight ends.

Tight ends also caught five touchdown passes against the Broncos last year — two by Winslow, two by the Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez and one by the Jaguars' Marcedes Lewis.

Only two starting quarterbacks have lower passer ratings than Russell's 46.6 after two weeks, so Miller's impact has been muted somewhat. He is tied for the team lead with six receptions and is averaging 16 yards a catch.

If the Raiders get any kind of running game going, Miller is just the kind of receiver to send down the middle of the field with a little play action against a defense rolled up to the line of scrimmage to stop the run.

T.K.O.
09-22-2009, 03:11 PM
yuck ! miller has more yards than royal or marshall....we better get that fixed this week !:salute:

FanInAZ
09-22-2009, 04:27 PM
yuck ! miller has more yards than royal or marshall....we better get that fixed this week !:salute:

I'm not worried. Yes, neither Marshall or Royal are performing as well as expected up to this point. However, both Stokely and Gaffney are exceeding expectations.

Stokely: 6 Catches-153 Yards-1 TD
Gaffney: 6-107-0
Marshall: 7-61-0
The rest of the Broncos: 17-181-1

Murphy: 6-113-1
Miller: 6-96-0
McFadden: 4-45-0
The rest of the Raiders: 5-80-0

Not only is Stokely our leading receiver, but he also leading all of the Raiders Receivers as well. Furthermore, our 1-3 are out producing their 1-3.