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Denver Native (Carol)
09-27-2009, 10:42 PM
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post?id=4447

OAKLAND -- Vonnie Holliday had heard the stories about the Denver Broncos under young head coach Josh McDaniels when he was deciding whether to join the team a week before the start of the season.

McDaniels had almost attained villain status in Denver. He ran a Pro Bowl quarterback out of town. He fought with a Pro Bowl receiver. He traded a first-round pick in next year’s draft. He relied on his New England Patriots roots more than anything else as he built his roster. He didn’t add any recognizable names to his defensive front.

The Broncos, after 14 years of mostly good times in the Mike Shanahan era, were being questioned nationally. There were whispers about whether the kid from Canton, Ohio, would go one and done in Denver. There was arguably no coach in the history of the NFL who faced more scrutiny before walking the sideline for the first time than McDaniels.

“I heard all of that,” Holliday said Sunday. “But when I was talking to some coaches on this staff, guys who were much older and much more experienced than Coach McDaniels, they said, ‘Don’t listen.’ They said some good things were happening here. They said Coach McDaniels was special ... it didn’t take me long to realize they were right. There’s something about Josh McDaniels.”

Three games into McDaniels' NFL head-coaching career, and it’s difficult to argue with Holliday. There is something about McDaniels.

His Broncos dismantled the Oakland Raiders on the road in a 23-3 victory Sunday. They dominated every phase of the game as they raised their record to 3-0 against the shell-shocked Raiders.

If there's an early favorite for the surprise team of 2009, it has to be Denver, and McDaniels has to be considered an early candidate NFL coach of the year.

Of course, it has been only three games and Denver is now entering a brutal 10-game stretch: Dallas, New England, at San Diego, at Baltimore, Pittsburgh, at Washington, San Diego, the New York Giants, at Kansas City and at Indianapolis. Sure, the Redskins and the Chiefs don’t look like killers, but this a meaty schedule.

“Nothing gets better than 3-0. But we also know that we are very humble and we have got to understand that it’s a long way to go and a lot of things to improve on,” McDaniels said. “But we are happy to be 3-0.”

We’ll find out much more about Denver in the coming weeks. But what we know now is the Broncos are undefeated and look much better than they were expected to be. Quarterback Kyle Orton, acquired in the controversial Jay Cutler trade, is not terrific, but he is efficient and Denver is running the ball well.

Defensively, Denver is much improved from the past couple of seasons. The Broncos have allowed an NFL-low 16 points and one touchdown this season. They have created eight turnovers, five less than all of last season.

In addition to McDaniels’ impact on his new team, many around the league have wondered if New England’s unsteady offensive start has anything to do with playing without McDaniels, whose offense set records.

McDaniels said he does not feel vindicated after being questioned about his decisions during his first offseason.

“The people that we care about and their opinions are the ones in our building," he said. "We know what we are doing. We feel comfortable and confident in our players, with who we drafted and what we’ve done. I’ve never wavered from it for one minute and we aren’t now.”

So far, the Broncos couldn’t be happier with the decision to fire Shanahan and replace him with McDaniels, who turned 33 in April. Shanahan was fired because his message got stale. The Broncos hired McDaniels because they thought he’d bring energy and much-needed youthful zeal.

McDaniels is a guy who does television shows in jeans and Birkenstocks. He laughs with team employees in the building and he twirls his whistle in practice. When Holliday first visited the Broncos, he saw a young man sitting at a desk, wearing a sweatshirt and a hat pulled low to his eyes with his feet kicked up. He said he had no idea it was the coach.

“From our first meeting I knew [Denver owner Pat] Bowlen made the right decision,” Denver receiver Brandon Stokley said. “We’re lucky we have him. We’ve all bought into his plan.”

Several Denver veterans said what sticks out most about McDaniels is his belief that the Broncos are going to win every game. He oozes confidence. When I met with McDaniels in August, he made a point of saying he has never been part of a team that was even .500, dating back to his CYA basketball team when he was 9. He said he has always been a winner and has no plans of ever being a loser.

“He’s all about the details,” Holliday said. “He breaks down every potential game situation. He knows our upcoming opponent so well ... Take age out of this thing. He’s got football knowledge that goes way beyond his years. I really think something special is happening here.”

It’s early, but after three games it’s difficult to quarrel with what McDaniels has done in Denver.

NightTrainLayne
09-27-2009, 10:46 PM
I'm in love.

SR
09-27-2009, 10:51 PM
I'm in love.

You also beat me (more than likely) in fantasy football this week.

frenchfan
09-28-2009, 01:56 AM
I don't know if McDaniels is special or not... It's too early...
But I do think he's doing more than a decent job...

Fact is that our Broncos seem well prepared, as our coach said we would be.
Fact is our D is no more a mess... After all, Bengals weren't that bad...
Fact is that our players seem fired up... Things I haven't seen much those last years...

Sure, we'll know more in the next weeks... We'll have great tests...
May be we won't have a positive record... Who knows... We'll play some damn good football teams... But at least, I think we'll be competitive... We have a new spirit right now...

Things are not perfect yet... I think our O still has to improve... On positives are our running game and Orton's no mistake game... our pass protection (damn, Clady is a real beast)... Now, I'd like to see Orton's completion higher, more TDs, less dropped passes...
I want to see what our D will do against better opponent... But I guess no more O is drooling to play our D right now... May be it will be tougher than expected...

We're on the right way and IMO we got the better rookie coach of this class...

Go Broncos ! :defense:

Dirk
09-28-2009, 06:37 AM
What a great article for a change! Thanks Carol!!

As I get older, I find that there are indeed some younger people in my field that surprise me and make me think, Wow! That young man is smart and knows his ****!

Well, it would seem yet again there is a young man running the Broncos that knows his ****!

I am glad we got McD and not Spags!

claymore
09-28-2009, 07:49 AM
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post?id=4447

They said Coach McDaniels was special ... it didn’t take me long to realize they were right. There’s something about Josh McDaniels.”

In addition to McDaniels’ impact on his new team, many around the league have wondered if New England’s unsteady offensive start has anything to do with playing without McDaniels, whose offense set records.


Ive been wrong thus far. But the next 10 games is where we will see for sure how good this team that McDaniels has fielded is.

I am also excited about how NE has looked (poor). Dont know if that is a year of rust on Brady or JMCD being a Bronco.

Tned
09-28-2009, 08:03 AM
Ive been wrong thus far. But the next 10 games is where we will see for sure how good this team that McDaniels has fielded is.

I am also excited about how NE has looked (poor). Dont know if that is a year of rust on Brady or JMCD being a Bronco.

I hadn't thought about the loss of McDaniels. I guess since in my head he is the Broncos coach, I keep forgetting he was the NE OC and they could feel an impact from his loss (see our impact when Kubiak left).

Hard to say what impact losing McDaniels has, but one common thread I keep hearing from the NFL Analysts is that Brady just doesn't look comfortable in the pocket when pressure is coming. That could definately be a combination of coming off a major injury (made worse with the staff infection that slowed down his recovery) and having gone about a year without 300lb defenders rushing headlong at him.

He's a good QB and will settle down. Hopefully, around week 6 or 7.

frenchfan
09-28-2009, 08:21 AM
I hadn't thought about the loss of McDaniels. I guess since in my head he is the Broncos coach, I keep forgetting he was the NE OC and they could feel an impact from his loss (see our impact when Kubiak left).

Hard to say what impact losing McDaniels has, but one common thread I keep hearing from the NFL Analysts is that Brady just doesn't look comfortable in the pocket when pressure is coming. That could definately be a combination of coming off a major injury (made worse with the staff infection that slowed down his recovery) and having gone about a year without 300lb defenders rushing headlong at him.

He's a good QB and will settle down. Hopefully, around week 6 or 7.Nice thought indeed...

I've seen Bills vs Pats and it seemed like Brady was a bit rusty and didn't always trust his repaired knee (in many throws he didn't use very well his left knee : he didn't use it with full strength)... Most experts feels you need time to readjust after a lost season ... Like you, I think Brady will improve around mid season...

Add the fact he has to adjust to a new OC... I agree that losing a great OC isn't easy... We know that too after losing Kubiak...

broncofaninfla
09-28-2009, 08:30 AM
So far so good.......

nbenallo33
09-28-2009, 08:52 AM
Bring on them BOYS!

camdisco24
09-28-2009, 09:41 AM
I never trashed McD over the off season because I had a feeling he might be doing something right. Yes, I doubted him, but I really wanted to see what the method behind is madness was. My thought during the off season was, we are either screwed or sitting pretty with this new coach. So far, McD seems to be doing alot more right than wrong and I haven't been so exited to watch Bronco games in a while!

Our real test begins now. I think we have what it takes to stop the other teams, and if we can just get our O in smooth order we can, not only stop the big boys, we can run over them too.

IMO, its a great time to be a Bronco fan!

GEM
09-28-2009, 10:07 AM
Goosebumps.

shank
09-28-2009, 10:11 AM
the 3-0 start was exactly what we needed. without it, articles like this might not exist. the players seeing that the coach can win games and put them in the right places to succeed was the confidence boost we needed coming into this tough stretch of games.

we may not win them all, but i feel like we will always be competitive, and at the very least have a chance in all of them. at the same time, i feel like we'll surprise some people with some wins this season.

WARHORSE
09-28-2009, 10:46 AM
I sure hope McDaniels and company arent buying into this stuff.


Stay grounded and blue collar BRONCOS!:salute:

Denver Native (Carol)
09-28-2009, 12:32 PM
I sure hope McDaniels and company arent buying into this stuff.


Stay grounded and blue collar BRONCOS!:salute:

Buying into this stuff, as far as it going to their heads - NO.

But buying into this stuff, realizing that what they are doing is working, realizing that they have a plan, and it is working, having confidence in what they are doing, and confidence in how to do it - YES

silkamilkamonico
09-28-2009, 12:42 PM
Dudes on ESPN made a great point.

Is Denver winning their games in fashion to think the fanbase can believe they will be superbowl competitors this year? Probably not.

But Josh McDaniels and the coaching staff have not only done an excellent job in preparing and coming up with gameplans to help the players be successful, they have managed the course of the game and put Denver in a position to not only control the entire flow of the game, but have prepared the players in a position to execute throughout the course of the game and they have.

These are the kinds of coaches that don't lose a lot of games that they are supposed to win, and we're seeing that right now.

.....meanwhile, Spags is absolutely getting beat up in St Louis for the decisions he's made within the organization, and his inability to prepare the players and manifest gameplans. There's already a cry from the fanbase about the Rans lack of blitzing, which is allowing offenses to maintain these long and methodical drives wearing the defense out. Raheem Morris? I don't even wanna go there.

Tned
09-28-2009, 12:46 PM
Dudes on ESPN made a great point.

Is Denver winning their games in fashion to think the fanbase can believe they will be superbowl competitors this year? Probably not.

But Josh McDaniels and the coaching staff have not only done an excellent job in preparing and coming up with gameplans to help the players be successful, they have managed the course of the game and put Denver in a position to not only control the entire flow of the game, but have prepared the players in a position to execute throughout the course of the game and they have.

These are the kinds of coaches that don't lose a lot of games that they are supposed to win, and we're seeing that right now.

.....meanwhile, Spags is absolutely getting beat up in St Louis for the decisions he's made within the organization, and his inability to prepare the players and manifest gameplans. There's already a cry from the fanbase about the Rans lack of blitzing, which is allowing offenses to maintain these long and methodical drives wearing the defense out. Raheem Morris? I don't even wanna go there.

I think it was in the game day thread where someone posted that the Broncos have only trailed for something like 4 1/2 minutes. Now, that was brought up in the context of "lets see what happens when they have to pass the ball playing from behind" and that is a legit concern, but the fact is that the coaches have had great game plans to not only keep them in games, but dominate the two bad teams they played.

shank
09-28-2009, 12:52 PM
I think it was in the game day thread where someone posted that the Broncos have only trailed for something like 4 1/2 minutes. Now, that was brought up in the context of "lets see what happens when they have to pass the ball playing from behind" and that is a legit concern, but the fact is that the coaches have had great game plans to not only keep them in games, but dominate the two bad teams they played.

i think the best thing we can do is to never get into pass-happy-08-shanahan mode, even if we fall behind.

stick with what we do and make sure to get points with each drive, and never let games get out of hand, let our defense make a stop and just be sure to capitalize. don't ever let it get to the point where we NEED a big play or a quick score. keep controlling games and win turnover battles, time of posession. it's all doable IMO.

it worked this week against a "good" defense. we didn't punt until the 4th quarter. i like that.

honz
09-28-2009, 12:59 PM
the 3-0 start was exactly what we needed. without it, articles like this might not exist. the players seeing that the coach can win games and put them in the right places to succeed was the confidence boost we needed coming into this tough stretch of games.

we may not win them all, but i feel like we will always be competitive, and at the very least have a chance in all of them. at the same time, i feel like we'll surprise some people with some wins this season.
Yep, I think the first couple of games are key for any new coach. You either gain your players trust and respect or you lose the locker room. So far, I 'd say that McD, Singeltary, and Schwartz have their teams fully behind them. Mangini, Haley, and Spagnuolo have some work to do in order to earn the respect of their players.

Half of the battle is getting everyone to believe in each other and the system...something that Denver has lacked in previous years.

honz
09-28-2009, 01:01 PM
Dudes on ESPN made a great point.

Is Denver winning their games in fashion to think the fanbase can believe they will be superbowl competitors this year? Probably not.

But Josh McDaniels and the coaching staff have not only done an excellent job in preparing and coming up with gameplans to help the players be successful, they have managed the course of the game and put Denver in a position to not only control the entire flow of the game, but have prepared the players in a position to execute throughout the course of the game and they have.

These are the kinds of coaches that don't lose a lot of games that they are supposed to win, and we're seeing that right now.

.....meanwhile, Spags is absolutely getting beat up in St Louis for the decisions he's made within the organization, and his inability to prepare the players and manifest gameplans. There's already a cry from the fanbase about the Rans lack of blitzing, which is allowing offenses to maintain these long and methodical drives wearing the defense out. Raheem Morris? I don't even wanna go there.

Forgot about Morris in my previous post...yeah, not looking good in TB. And now they have a QB controversy on top of everything else.

Tned
09-28-2009, 01:02 PM
i think the best thing we can do is to never get into pass-happy-08-shanahan mode, even if we fall behind.

stick with what we do and make sure to get points with each drive, and never let games get out of hand, let our defense make a stop and just be sure to capitalize. don't ever let it get to the point where we NEED a big play or a quick score. keep controlling games and win turnover battles, time of posession. it's all doable IMO.

it worked this week against a "good" defense. we didn't punt until the 4th quarter. i like that.

In general, I agree, but there are times when you have to pass. The end of the Cincy game (Immaculate deflection) is a good example. Against some of the explosive offenses we are going up against, if we get down by a couple TD's, it's going to be tough to stick with the run first offense.

TXBRONC
09-28-2009, 01:03 PM
Ive been wrong thus far. But the next 10 games is where we will see for sure how good this team that McDaniels has fielded is.

I am also excited about how NE has looked (poor). Dont know if that is a year of rust on Brady or JMCD being a Bronco.

I thinks its a combination of the two. It's been just a little more than year since he was injured and he has a new offensive coordinator to get in sync with.

Dean
09-28-2009, 01:23 PM
i think the best thing we can do is to never get into pass-happy-08-shanahan mode, even if we fall behind.

stick with what we do and make sure to get points with each drive, and never let games get out of hand, let our defense make a stop and just be sure to capitalize. don't ever let it get to the point where we NEED a big play or a quick score. keep controlling games and win turnover battles, time of posession. it's all doable IMO.

it worked this week against a "good" defense. we didn't punt until the 4th quarter. i like that.

On offense, "what we do" has changed from week to week and to some extent it has to change. The main idea of coaching is to attempt to place your strengths in a position to go against your opponenet's weakness.

Denver Native (Carol)
09-28-2009, 01:26 PM
On offense, "what we do" has changed from week to week and to some extent it has to change. The main idea of coaching is to attempt to place your strengths in a position to go against your opponenet's weakness.

This is what impresses me with Coach McDaniels. So far, he has put together a great offensive game plan each week, and each has been very effective.

I can not imagine how an upcoming opponent can defensively game plan against the Broncos, as they see a different offensive game plan each week, and so far, they all have been totally different.

GEM
09-28-2009, 01:39 PM
This is what impresses me with Coach McDaniels. So far, he has put together a great offensive game plan each week, and each has been very effective.

I can not imagine how an upcoming opponent can defensively game plan against the Broncos, as they see a different offensive game plan each week, and so far, they all have been totally different.

I was thinking about that this morning on the way into work. No one single WR has been THE target. Last year, teams knew they had to double or triple Marshall. They don't have that luxury this year. Gaffney has stepped up, Stokely has stepped up. I would like to see Royal used some more, but my guess is that one of these weeks, we are going to see a Royal week. I love what this has done for our players, they all feel that they have an important position on this team.

Dean
09-28-2009, 02:19 PM
This is what impresses me with Coach McDaniels. So far, he has put together a great offensive game plan each week, and each has been very effective.

I can not imagine how an upcoming opponent can defensively game plan against the Broncos, as they see a different offensive game plan each week, and so far, they all have been totally different.

I would give him a 2 for 3 rating. I wasn't all that impressed with our offense week one.

Tned
09-28-2009, 02:19 PM
This is what impresses me with Coach McDaniels. So far, he has put together a great offensive game plan each week, and each has been very effective.

I can not imagine how an upcoming opponent can defensively game plan against the Broncos, as they see a different offensive game plan each week, and so far, they all have been totally different.

Supposedly, McDaniels (and New England) basically rewrites their playbook weekly. He, or a player, said that in an interview. Talking about the difficuly other teams have in game planning for New England/McDaniels, because they can look at game tape for the previous five games and basically see drastically different game plans, formations, etc. and therefore not really know how to prepare their defense.

shank
09-28-2009, 02:24 PM
I would give him a 2 for 3 rating. I wasn't all that impressed with our offense week one.

true... BUT: it was week one.:cool:

frenchfan
09-29-2009, 12:56 AM
I was thinking about that this morning on the way into work. No one single WR has been THE target. Last year, teams knew they had to double or triple Marshall. They don't have that luxury this year. Gaffney has stepped up, Stokely has stepped up. I would like to see Royal used some more, but my guess is that one of these weeks, we are going to see a Royal week. I love what this has done for our players, they all feel that they have an important position on this team.I really like the idea we will be unpredictable... I hope we'll do that too with the D...
I can remember years we started very well and finished really badly...

But I really like what McDaniels is doing right now... I like the physical approach of the game... I like the fact he wants our players to work hard, to play hard and to be smart... I like the way he'll change the gameplans evertytime making a hard time for our opponent (but for doing that, you must have smart and well prepared players... if not, you will confuse yourself :D)... I like the fact he involves everyone... First that confuses opponents... That motivates each players (they know they'll have their chance to shine)... Last, that brings a competitive spirit...

The only thing I didn't like about the last game was our red zone's low scoring... Something to improve IMO

Keep on the good work McD & co... :salute:

Go Broncos :defense:

Dirk
09-29-2009, 05:11 AM
And I'm sure the playbook hasn't been fully opened yet either. Just sayin....

gobroncsnv
09-29-2009, 07:12 AM
So you think the glove hasn't come off yet???