Broncos Mtnman
12-10-2007, 09:11 PM
Doing something none of his predecessors have done since Craig Morton, Jay Cutler led the Denver Broncos to a series sweep of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jay Cutler joined Craig Morton as the only Broncos quarterbacks to win their first two starts against the Chiefs. Besides the obvious 2-0 record, Jay's performance outpaced every quarterback since Morton. Better than Plummer. Better than Griese. Yes, even better than Elway. His totals for those two wins?
56 att / 37 comp / 66.1% / 436 yards / 5 TDs / 1 INT / 111.9 rating
No matter how you slice it, that's impressive. Particularly against one of the better defenses in the NFL.
And speaking of defense, their performance yesterday was one for the ages. A Denver unit that has struggled to stop the run surrendered a grand total of 16 yards on 17 rushes. That's less than ONE YARD PER CARRY, and it's the third best performance in franchise history.
No matter who you're playing, that is an impressive performance. But it didn't stop there.
The defense only allowed Kansas City to convert 1 of 13 third down opportunities. They had 5 sacks. They forced 3 turnovers (2 fumble recoveries and an interception). They only gave up 7 first downs. They allowed an incredible low 2.9 yards per play.
Even the special teams got into the act, allowing only 27 return yards on three punts and 111 return yards on seven kickoffs.
This week's 4 downs.....
The Good Stuff
1st - Jay Cutler. He went 20 of 27 for 244 yards, 4 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions, resulting in an extremely impressive 141.0 passer rating.
"Probably his best game, statistically," admitted Mike Shanahan. Cutler agreed. I think I do too.
2nd - Selvin Young. He ran all over the Chiefs for the second time this season. 156 yards on 17 carries is the second best performance in franchise history for a running back with fewer than 20 carries.
3rd - The Killer B's. Both Brandons (Stokely and Marshall) accounted for 3 of Cutler's touchdown passes. Marshall reached 1000 yards for the season with his 115 yards on 10 receptions. Stokely only had one catch, but it was on a busted play with an injured knee.
4th - Tight End. With Daniel Graham getting more action than he has in any game this season, along with Tony Scheffler, the tight end position had 7 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. In addition, Graham was huge in stopping the play of Kansas City's sack leader, Jared Allen. He came to Denver with 11.5 sacks and left with 11.5 sacks.
More Good Stuff (no bad stuff this week)
1st - Run defense. As I stated earlier, they held Kansas City to 16 yards on 17 carries. Sure, Kansas City is struggling with the run this year, but in the NFL, you just don't hold another team to less than ONE yard per rushing attempt.
2nd - Pass defense. Champ caught his third interception of the season and the pass defense only allowed 132 yards. When you consider the hole Kansas City played in most of the game, holding any defense to such a low number speaks volumes.
3rd - Defensive line. This was the first game with the new defensive line. What was the result? Five sacks and three forced fumbles, along with being a part of the impressive run defense. I'm not confusing these guys with the Orange Crush of the 1970s, but this performance was clearly a great start to getting some of the defense's weaknesses addressed.
4th - Shanahan and his staff. I've been pretty critical of the coach and his assistants over the season. When they clearly put a total game together, you've got to give them their props.
When Shanahan creates screen plays with the tight end, when he puts Marshall in the backfield, when he creates a game plan that results in just under 500 yards and 41 points, you have to give the man a hand. That was simply beautiful.
Yeah, it's probably a little too late as far as this year's playoff picture is concerned, but in "lucky" week 13, the Broncos put together the best effort of the season. Considering the youth of the team, this bodes well for the seasons ahead.
"A complete game," proclaimed Shanahan. "You look forward to those types of games."
So do I, Mike. So do I.
BMM
Jay Cutler joined Craig Morton as the only Broncos quarterbacks to win their first two starts against the Chiefs. Besides the obvious 2-0 record, Jay's performance outpaced every quarterback since Morton. Better than Plummer. Better than Griese. Yes, even better than Elway. His totals for those two wins?
56 att / 37 comp / 66.1% / 436 yards / 5 TDs / 1 INT / 111.9 rating
No matter how you slice it, that's impressive. Particularly against one of the better defenses in the NFL.
And speaking of defense, their performance yesterday was one for the ages. A Denver unit that has struggled to stop the run surrendered a grand total of 16 yards on 17 rushes. That's less than ONE YARD PER CARRY, and it's the third best performance in franchise history.
No matter who you're playing, that is an impressive performance. But it didn't stop there.
The defense only allowed Kansas City to convert 1 of 13 third down opportunities. They had 5 sacks. They forced 3 turnovers (2 fumble recoveries and an interception). They only gave up 7 first downs. They allowed an incredible low 2.9 yards per play.
Even the special teams got into the act, allowing only 27 return yards on three punts and 111 return yards on seven kickoffs.
This week's 4 downs.....
The Good Stuff
1st - Jay Cutler. He went 20 of 27 for 244 yards, 4 touchdowns and ZERO interceptions, resulting in an extremely impressive 141.0 passer rating.
"Probably his best game, statistically," admitted Mike Shanahan. Cutler agreed. I think I do too.
2nd - Selvin Young. He ran all over the Chiefs for the second time this season. 156 yards on 17 carries is the second best performance in franchise history for a running back with fewer than 20 carries.
3rd - The Killer B's. Both Brandons (Stokely and Marshall) accounted for 3 of Cutler's touchdown passes. Marshall reached 1000 yards for the season with his 115 yards on 10 receptions. Stokely only had one catch, but it was on a busted play with an injured knee.
4th - Tight End. With Daniel Graham getting more action than he has in any game this season, along with Tony Scheffler, the tight end position had 7 catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. In addition, Graham was huge in stopping the play of Kansas City's sack leader, Jared Allen. He came to Denver with 11.5 sacks and left with 11.5 sacks.
More Good Stuff (no bad stuff this week)
1st - Run defense. As I stated earlier, they held Kansas City to 16 yards on 17 carries. Sure, Kansas City is struggling with the run this year, but in the NFL, you just don't hold another team to less than ONE yard per rushing attempt.
2nd - Pass defense. Champ caught his third interception of the season and the pass defense only allowed 132 yards. When you consider the hole Kansas City played in most of the game, holding any defense to such a low number speaks volumes.
3rd - Defensive line. This was the first game with the new defensive line. What was the result? Five sacks and three forced fumbles, along with being a part of the impressive run defense. I'm not confusing these guys with the Orange Crush of the 1970s, but this performance was clearly a great start to getting some of the defense's weaknesses addressed.
4th - Shanahan and his staff. I've been pretty critical of the coach and his assistants over the season. When they clearly put a total game together, you've got to give them their props.
When Shanahan creates screen plays with the tight end, when he puts Marshall in the backfield, when he creates a game plan that results in just under 500 yards and 41 points, you have to give the man a hand. That was simply beautiful.
Yeah, it's probably a little too late as far as this year's playoff picture is concerned, but in "lucky" week 13, the Broncos put together the best effort of the season. Considering the youth of the team, this bodes well for the seasons ahead.
"A complete game," proclaimed Shanahan. "You look forward to those types of games."
So do I, Mike. So do I.
BMM