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View Full Version : Anatomy of a Play: Marshall's emotional touchdown



Denver Native (Carol)
10-07-2009, 03:17 PM
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81339d3c&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true

(video on link)

After his 51-yard touchdown helped defeat the Cowboys last Sunday, Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall called the play one of the "most emotional" of his career.

It was a 13-second eruption of athleticism from one of the biggest physical freaks in the NFL. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Marshall simply overmatched 5-foot-11, 195-pound cornerback Terence Newman and cut through Dallas with ease.

If anyone else was asked to describe the play in a word, they might say "ridiculous," "amazing," or "electric," but probably not "emotional."

For Marshall, though, the play had a back-story and was the culmination of a long, tumultuous offseason.

As the season approached, Marshall's contract dispute got ugly and public. Meanwhile, new coach Josh McDaniels was determined to build a win-now team with strong veteran leadership and unselfish, hard-working players. So when the team's disgruntled receiver was airing his dirty laundry for the world to see, and intentionally dropping passes at practice, McDaniels suspended him.

It was a hard-line precedent that served as a wake-up call for Marshall and the Broncos. Their new coach wasn't going to tolerate bad behavior or a rotten attitude and there was a stiff price to pay if anyone separated themselves from the team-first mold.

After Marshall was back from suspension, McDaniels didn't feature him in the offense. A guy who caught 206 passes over the last two seasons was left out of the starting lineup twice in 2009. And before his touchdown in Week 4, Marshall was a non-factor in the Dallas game.

How many teams get better by not including their most explosive offensive player in the game plan? Not many, but Denver did. Its 4-0 start has shocked a lot of people and given credence to McDaniels' approach.

When Marshall walked up to the line with two minutes left in a tie game and saw Newman in press man-to-man coverage, he was ready to show McDaniels exactly what he was worth.

Newman is a good cover guy, but he should have thought better than to jam Marshall, who has longer arms and superior strength. Marshall won at the line of scrimmage, grabbing Newman by the shoulder and propelling himself forward. By NFL standards, he was wide open.

The Cowboys blitzed, rushing six defenders, and the Broncos had six players to pick them up. The key block was made by rookie running back Knowshon Moreno, who read the blitz and aggressively cut-blocked linebacker Keith Brooking.

Secure in the pocket, quarterback Kyle Orton simply put the ball up in the air in the direction of Marshall and allowed his massive target to do the rest.

All Marshall needed was a chance at the ball. He snatched it out of the air and made countless Cowboys whiff as he danced through the Dallas secondary on his way to the end zone.

The fans went berserk. Marshall and McDaniels embraced. Emotions ran high. All was forgiven.

Bronco Warrior
10-07-2009, 03:28 PM
Total theivery of my article I posted here the other day (See my Sig)!! Damn I'm good...NFL.com writers are stealing from me now! :throwrock: JUst kidding but the premise i kinda coincidental don't you think?

dogfish
10-07-2009, 07:10 PM
i don't know if it was the hip injury or a loss of confidence after he lost a few fumbles, but the incredible open-field running that marshall displayed his first two seasons was largely missing from his arsenal last year, and seeing it return in such an explosive fashion could be a GREAT omen of things to come. . . this offense relies on a lot of short-to-intermediate passing, and quite frankly, orton hasn't shown a lot of ability to connect when we do throw it down the field-- maybe that will improve as he gets his timing down better with our receivers, and gets the glove off (no one knows, although i bet someone will want to assure me that it's going to get better, based on nothing besides their orange and blue optimism :laugh: ), but either way, this offense doesn't hit on all cylinders unless guys can make plays running after the catch. . . marshall's one of the very best i've seen at it, and it'll be huge for us if he gets back to breaking tackles, selectively reversing field, piling up the yards after catch and turning those little drags, hooks and outs into big gainers. . . .

SR
10-07-2009, 07:11 PM
Get over yourself BW.


Good article Carol. Thanks for posting!

Bronco Warrior
10-07-2009, 07:20 PM
SeeingRed: I was being funny about the similarities. Did you even read my article? Thought not!

SR
10-07-2009, 07:31 PM
Sure did.

TXBRONC
10-07-2009, 07:44 PM
i don't know if it was the hip injury or a loss of confidence after he lost a few fumbles, but the incredible open-field running that marshall displayed his first two seasons was largely missing from his arsenal last year, and seeing it return in such an explosive fashion could be a GREAT omen of things to come. . . this offense relies on a lot of short-to-intermediate passing, and quite frankly, orton hasn't shown a lot of ability to connect when we do throw it down the field-- maybe that will improve as he gets his timing down better with our receivers, and gets the glove off (no one knows, although i bet someone will want to assure me that it's going to get better, based on nothing besides their orange and blue optimism :laugh: ), but either way, this offense doesn't hit on all cylinders unless guys can make plays running after the catch. . . marshall's one of the very best i've seen at it, and it'll be huge for us if he gets back to breaking tackles, selectively reversing field, piling up the yards after catch and turning those little drags, hooks and outs into big gainers. . . .

Marshall has taken alot criticism for what he's done off the field and what he did at in camp (rightfully so I might add) but he always plays hard when it's game time.

Lonestar
10-08-2009, 01:07 AM
i don't know if it was the hip injury or a loss of confidence after he lost a few fumbles, but the incredible open-field running that marshall displayed his first two seasons was largely missing from his arsenal last year, and seeing it return in such an explosive fashion could be a GREAT omen of things to come. . . this offense relies on a lot of short-to-intermediate passing, and quite frankly, orton hasn't shown a lot of ability to connect when we do throw it down the field-- maybe that will improve as he gets his timing down better with our receivers, and gets the glove off (no one knows, although i bet someone will want to assure me that it's going to get better, based on nothing besides their orange and blue optimism :laugh: ), but either way, this offense doesn't hit on all cylinders unless guys can make plays running after the catch. . . marshall's one of the very best i've seen at it, and it'll be huge for us if he gets back to breaking tackles, selectively reversing field, piling up the yards after catch and turning those little drags, hooks and outs into big gainers. . . .

that is what this Offense is designed to do get the ball to that open man and allow them to get YAC because they are in open space.. it is not a long ball O.. never was and most likely will not be a huge vertical game..

frenchfan
10-08-2009, 01:44 AM
I also liked the part about Moreno... It's funny the rookie RB that we shouldn't have drafted to go for the D made a key block that gave the opportunity to make the play...

I think we'll see a different BM now and that's good news ! :elefant:

Go Broncos.
:defense:

SoCalImport
10-08-2009, 07:04 AM
(no one knows, although i bet someone will want to assure me that it's going to get better, based on nothing besides their orange and blue optimism :laugh: )

Bingo! but now I don't even want to say it. Ya stole my "orange and blue" thunder.

CoachChaz
10-08-2009, 11:46 AM
But Dallas players and fans will still insist that Marshall pusshed off of Newman.


On another note...my son wore his Marshall jersey to school the other day and one of the coaches basically gave him hell about supporting a player that beats his girlfriends and is always in trouble with the law. Needless to say...I'll be speaking with the coach