TXBRONC
11-04-2009, 09:08 AM
http://www.denverpost.com/premium/broncos/ci_13707474
Defense ready for no-huddle from Steelers
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
Posted: 11/04/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
There is a common rule in offensive game-planning around the league. If the quarterback has had some success and he likes a specific set of plays, the offense is going to run those plays on game day.
So the Broncos can expect to see the Steelers in the no-huddle offense some Monday night.
"Oh, yeah . . . I like when we do it," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "I just try to make the right choices."
With the Broncos substituting liberally on defense, the Patriots, Cowboys and Ravens all have played some version of the no-huddle to try to make that more difficult. In the Steelers' version, the team often lets Roethlisberger call the plays instead of relaying them from the sideline.
Sunday, the Ravens ran the offense without a huddle but weren't always in a hurry to do it, even waiting at times for the Broncos to put their defensive replacements on the field before calling their play.
"Really didn't cause much, it wasn't in the hurry- up," Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. "As a matter of fact, they waited on us . . . until we put our people on the field."
"We kind of anticipate that," safety Brian Dawkins said.
Do your job.
The Broncos have lived by the mantra of doing what you're supposed to do on defense and not straying from the plan, but Dawkins said when the Ravens started to run the ball with some success in the second half Sunday, the Broncos may have forgotten that lesson.
"Sometimes when you try to do too much instead of just what we do, we try to do a little something extra and sometimes that causes things to happen," Dawkins said.
The Ravens rushed for 90 yards in the second half Sunday, which was more than the Broncos had surrendered in any game up to that point. Dawkins said players may have started to press some as Baltimore kept pounding away.
A year later.
In 2008, the Steelers finished at the top or near the top of virtually every major defensive category, including No. 2 in rushing defense.
This year, while teams have thrown the ball with a little more success, the Steelers are slightly ahead of their '08 counterparts in run defense, having allowed only 76.6 yards rushing per game, compared with 80.2 ypg in '08.
The Vikings' Adrian Peterson gained only 69 yards in Pittsburgh's last game before its bye.
"That's what we're about," Steelers safety Ryan Clark said.
Footnotes.
Quarterback Kyle Orton may show up on the Broncos' injury report this week because of a twisted left ankle he suffered in Sunday's loss in Baltimore. Orton was hit by Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs in the second quarter and played the rest of the way with the ankle wrapped. Orton received treatment on the ankle Monday and Tuesday. . . . The Steelers sent running back Willie Parker home earlier this week because he was ill, but he is expected to be available to play Monday. . . . The Steelers are one of just eight teams to have thrown for at least 2,000 yards this season and one of just five teams to have done it in seven games. . . . Because of the 30 points the Broncos surrendered in Baltimore — seven came on special teams — Denver is now second in the league in scoring defense at 13.7 points allowed per game, just behind Indianapolis at 13.0. The Broncos are No. 1 in fewest yards allowed per game. . . . The Broncos released running back Darius Walker from their practice squad and placed defensive lineman Everette Pedes- cleaux on the practice squad/injured list. The team signed running back Lance Ball and defensive tackle Carlton Powell, a 2008 Broncos draft pick, to the practice squad.
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post
Defense ready for no-huddle from Steelers
By Jeff Legwold
The Denver Post
Posted: 11/04/2009 01:00:00 AM MST
There is a common rule in offensive game-planning around the league. If the quarterback has had some success and he likes a specific set of plays, the offense is going to run those plays on game day.
So the Broncos can expect to see the Steelers in the no-huddle offense some Monday night.
"Oh, yeah . . . I like when we do it," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "I just try to make the right choices."
With the Broncos substituting liberally on defense, the Patriots, Cowboys and Ravens all have played some version of the no-huddle to try to make that more difficult. In the Steelers' version, the team often lets Roethlisberger call the plays instead of relaying them from the sideline.
Sunday, the Ravens ran the offense without a huddle but weren't always in a hurry to do it, even waiting at times for the Broncos to put their defensive replacements on the field before calling their play.
"Really didn't cause much, it wasn't in the hurry- up," Broncos defensive coordinator Mike Nolan said. "As a matter of fact, they waited on us . . . until we put our people on the field."
"We kind of anticipate that," safety Brian Dawkins said.
Do your job.
The Broncos have lived by the mantra of doing what you're supposed to do on defense and not straying from the plan, but Dawkins said when the Ravens started to run the ball with some success in the second half Sunday, the Broncos may have forgotten that lesson.
"Sometimes when you try to do too much instead of just what we do, we try to do a little something extra and sometimes that causes things to happen," Dawkins said.
The Ravens rushed for 90 yards in the second half Sunday, which was more than the Broncos had surrendered in any game up to that point. Dawkins said players may have started to press some as Baltimore kept pounding away.
A year later.
In 2008, the Steelers finished at the top or near the top of virtually every major defensive category, including No. 2 in rushing defense.
This year, while teams have thrown the ball with a little more success, the Steelers are slightly ahead of their '08 counterparts in run defense, having allowed only 76.6 yards rushing per game, compared with 80.2 ypg in '08.
The Vikings' Adrian Peterson gained only 69 yards in Pittsburgh's last game before its bye.
"That's what we're about," Steelers safety Ryan Clark said.
Footnotes.
Quarterback Kyle Orton may show up on the Broncos' injury report this week because of a twisted left ankle he suffered in Sunday's loss in Baltimore. Orton was hit by Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs in the second quarter and played the rest of the way with the ankle wrapped. Orton received treatment on the ankle Monday and Tuesday. . . . The Steelers sent running back Willie Parker home earlier this week because he was ill, but he is expected to be available to play Monday. . . . The Steelers are one of just eight teams to have thrown for at least 2,000 yards this season and one of just five teams to have done it in seven games. . . . Because of the 30 points the Broncos surrendered in Baltimore — seven came on special teams — Denver is now second in the league in scoring defense at 13.7 points allowed per game, just behind Indianapolis at 13.0. The Broncos are No. 1 in fewest yards allowed per game. . . . The Broncos released running back Darius Walker from their practice squad and placed defensive lineman Everette Pedes- cleaux on the practice squad/injured list. The team signed running back Lance Ball and defensive tackle Carlton Powell, a 2008 Broncos draft pick, to the practice squad.
Jeff Legwold, The Denver Post