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Denver Native (Carol)
10-13-2009, 03:51 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13547639

In most conversations, uttering the phrase "last year" around Dove Valley is akin to dropping a dirty word in front of your grandmother.

Except, maybe, when it comes to the Broncos' receiving corps.

Saying that Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and Tony Scheffler are producing as they did in 2008 can mean only good things for the undefeated Broncos.

The young trio became Jay Cutler's favorite targets a year ago in the AFC's top-rated passing offense, combining for 235 receptions and 2,890 yards.

Those three players were supposed to be one of the strengths of Denver's offense this season, but early on it didn't show.

Royal had only eight catches in the first four games, Marshall was benched for part of the second game and Scheffler had only one catch each in the first three games.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels preached patience and said each receiver (or tight end) would in time get his due.

Sunday in the 20-17 overtime win against New England, the trio combined for 22 catches for 199 yards. Royal caught a team-high 10 passes, Marshall caught both of the touchdown passes and Scheffler had a season high in catches (four) and yards (45).

"The good thing is, we have people who can get open," McDaniels said. "So when they cover four of us, and the other guy is open . . . that's how a productive pass offense works. I think our guys understand that now and are really into it, and it was fun to see."

The fans at Invesco Field at Mile High on Sunday seemed especially thrilled to see Royal's re-emergence. Each of his 10 catches elicited cheers that were surpassed in fervor only by Marshall's touchdowns and Matt Prater's winning 41-yard field goal.

"I was real happy for Eddie. He has worked extremely hard," quarterback Kyle Orton said. "I don't know the reason why we weren't able to get him the ball the first three or four games. We knew it was coming. He continued to grind and work and run his routes hard."

Six of Royal's catches Sunday came on Denver's two touchdown drives. On the first, he connected with Orton three times for 36 yards, including once on third down. He had 24 more receiving yards on the 98-yard, game-tying drive and drew a taunting penalty against Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather on an incompletion in the red zone. Marshall scored on the next play.

"It's great to have the ball in your hands and be able to make plays," Royal said.

Much of Royal's success Sunday, and possibly Scheffler's too, could be a credit to Marshall, who is drawing more attention from opposing defenses.

"You can double Brandon and leave Eddie and Jabar (Gaffney) and Tony and our backs," Orton said. "You could leave everybody one-on-one. It is tough to do."

McDaniels on Monday praised Scheffler for his patience too. Scheffler is continuing to find his role in this system as a receiver and not just as a blocker in the two-tight end sets with Daniel Graham, who has caught 12 passes for 146 yards.

"We liked the matchup where we had Tony out there on a linebacker. Tony did a nice job of exploiting that," McDaniels said. "He caught a few balls last week and the week before. He's kind of been building and building."

Increasingly productive

The Broncos' Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and Tony Scheffler combined for 2,890 yards on 235 receptions in 2008 from Jay Cutler. It has taken time to get all three similarly involved this season. Each player, though, had season highs in catches Sunday against the Patriots, helping the Broncos stay undefeated.

Brandon Marshall — 2008: 104 catches, 1,265 yards, 6 touchdowns; Sunday: 8 catches, 64 yards, 2 touchdowns; season: 24 catches, 283 yards, 4 touchdowns.

Eddie Royal — 2008: 91 catches, 980 yards, 5 touchdowns; Sunday: 10 catches, 90 yards; season: 18 catches, 148 yards.

Tony Scheffler — 2008: 40 catches, 645 yards, 3 touchdowns; Sunday: 4 catches, 45 yards; season: 10 catches, 116 yards, 1 touchdown.

SOCALORADO.
10-13-2009, 04:04 PM
Whats so great is that Orton has an open guy every time.
When brady was at his best in NE, he would throw to like 8 or 9 recievers including Faulk throughout a game, and they were just unstoppable.
Spread the wealth, and get it into the red zone, where the real game game changers like Marshall, Royal, Scheffler and Moreno can put it into the end zone.
MCD isnt even running at 100% yet, either. I still think he has more twists for Royal, ala Welker.

The great aspect of our schedule, even though its going to get difficult, is that those
1st 3 games were very much like a continuation of the preseason ONLY! in that MCD was able to get any lingering issues and kinks out of the offensive scheme in time for DAL/NE. I guess the same could be said for Nolan and 2nd half adjustments on defense as well.