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West
12-14-2009, 02:24 AM
I had a chance to cool off from the game so I decided to post some observations of mine..

-Our interior line is still struggling. Do not for a second blame Knowshon for his lack of yards. There were simply no holes to be found in the line. It really hurts an offense when it can't get the 3-6 yards on 1st down through the running game. We tried to do it but we just couldn't. Our guards and center really struggles getting off the ball and getting a push. IMHO, the interior lines (on both sides of the ball) are whats holding this team back from becoming one of the league bests. Which brings me to my next thing..

-I don't know if anyone noticed or not but what the hell was our DTs doing lining up 2 yards off the ball in the second half? I sure as hell don't know. It REALLY cost us at the end of the game when Indy was chewing clock. Indy's OL instantly had a 1-2 yard push off the ball because of it. That really hurt.

-Our LBs struggled today in pass coverage and run support. Our LBs are not anywhere good enough to compensate for our lack of an above average interior DL; they just aren't. I saw numerous times where Haggan and Woodyard missed crucial tackles that had an effect on the drive/game. You can't have stuff like that and expect to win.

-Woodyard just looks lost out there. He misses tackles, misses assignments in pass defense, he just needs to stay on special teams. Its BLATANLY obvious that our weak link on our defense is our front 7 outside of DJ and Doom. We need to address this in the coming off-season or its going to be more of the same for next year.

-We need to start capitalizing on turnovers/mistakes. We had a total of 3 points off 3 turnovers. UNACCEPTABLE!!!! It was very frustrating to see our secondary basically carry our entire team the 2nd half of the game and we can't reward them with some points put up on the board. It partly goes back to not being able to get solid yardage on 1st down but it also has a lot to do with our other receivers not stepping up. The injury to Scheffler was huge, IMO. When we got into a crucial down, or in the redzone, everyone in the stadium knew where we were going; Brandon Marshall. Can't have that, fellas. We need to see Royal, Stokely, Gaffney, and Scheffler step up.

-I don't really blame McD for the offensive struggles. He is doing the best he possibly can with the personel on the team. I think we are going to see some major changes on both the interior lines next year, as well as the linebacking core. I just don't think Woodyard and Haggan are going to be able to get it done on a championship consistent basis. It would not shock me at all to see us take a MLB or NT with our 1st round pick in the upcoming draft. Now let me say this though, our LBs would be playing a lot better against the run if we had some DL to keep the blockers off of them. But the missed tackles and poor pass coverage are inexcusable.

-Overall, we should have won. We need to start capitalizing on mistakes and take advantage of the chances we are given.

Go Broncos

The Glue Factory
12-14-2009, 02:29 AM
All I've got to say is that it's McD's first year. The Broncos are definitely a work in progress. In the next two years I would be shocked if things aren't significantly improved. Just give it some time and remember what he's done with the team this year.

JDL
12-14-2009, 05:32 AM
Orton - yes it is cute that Marshall is an unstoppable force, but he had WRs running free all over the field... he CANNOT continue to be so focused on one guy. That red zone INT was a HORRIBLE throw and I understand why he isn't as open to throwing to the smaller Royal who requires a more accurate throw. He overall played a nice game though.

OL - pass blocking was fine. I know 3 sacks, but Orton is such a sitting duck in the pocket when he tries to move around, it is just something we have to live with. Run blocking was TERRIBLE. Everyone got abused along the line at one point or another.

RB - It really may not seem that way but I really like Moreno, but you are fooling yourself if you think he didn't leave yards on the field. There were certainly times he was getting nailed on those short runs, but other times he just had no one around him and was so hesitant and didn't know where to take the ball. He looked really REALLY uncomfortable He needed a rest for sure. It would have been nice to at least try Hillis and give Moreno a bit of a breather as he has never played a season this long. Big thing on Moreno is he needs to get comfortable... Buck isn't afraid to bounce things outside, but Moreno NEVER really tries (probably coaches telling him 1 cut and go, but at some point he needs to see the hole and stop forcing it into the back of OL.) That is why Buck gets more big runs than him, despite his great elusiveness. I think eventually he will get more comfortable and make those same type runs.

BTW - we suck at running screen passes... how can one of the most athletic lines in the league year after year suck at running screen passes?

TEs - there were TEs on the field? I didn't even notice.

DL - They came out slow, finished strong. They got a good rush later in the game with 4-5 players and forced Manning into uncomfortable throws that gave us a shot.

LBs - I would like to complain more, but when only 2 were on the field you can understand giving up a few big runs... but sheesh, even I KNEW Indy was running it on virtually all 2nd and 10s!!!! WAKE UP PEOPLE! Otherwise, it was hard to expect more from this group, Williams made his presence felt though.

DBs - Terrible 1st quarter, gave us much hope for a possible later meeting. Only real terrible coverage after the 1st quarter was Alphonso Smith blowing his coverage and giving up a big 1st down play (I don't get why he can't seem to stay close to NFL WRs... he was a pretty solid one on one guy in college and showed those skills, if a bit small for the outside in the NFL, but right now he is NOT getting the job done, we keep hearing his name called for the wrong reasons.)

P - hey Berger... you might have figured out how to punt again... Bravo. about f-ing time (but you still need to do a better job landing it inside the 20!)

K - Oh Prater, just when I was starting to believe in you!!! ugh... that hurt!


Dumb Plays - why do they keep haunting this team?!!! McDaniels seemed to have a way of correcting those earlier in the season but they keep showing up.

Orton's INT in the end zone - loss of 3pts
Reid's taking his helmet off cost us - loss of 3pts (imo)
Prater's short FG - obviously
Coach going for it on two 4th down and 1s inside Indy territory (1st down sets up a likely FG) - both times failed?

I mean seriously, the D came up with BIG BIG turnovers and they did almost nothing with them. Sigh. That's the real failure!

If Lamont Jordan is supposed to be the short-yardage back ... where is he? Injured? well, he has been all year, get someone in here who isn't then! Obviously he doesn't have faith in Hillis, but geez, how many more 3rd/4th and shorts does Moreno's slighter frame have to fail to pick up before we at least try someone else in that situation?!!! That is McDaniels stubborness and it is just plain frustrating.

gobroncsnv
12-14-2009, 07:45 AM
Gotta say that this is the closest we've stayed with Indy in a game that mattered in quite a while. No doubt, we're still suffering from lack of dline play. 0 sacks against Manning just won't work. Same with missed tackles.
It's interesting that with the Pats, you didn't have the "all-star" WR, every route was a viable option in their passing game. Orton only looked in one direction. Don't get why we don't go more to Stokes, Royal, Scheff... Just plain wierd, like we've abandoned the main theory that was brought into our new offense. Spread the ball around.
But just to say it again, we had our closest meaningful game against the Colts, in the Manning Era, ever... You can definitely see that we've moved forward from where we've been. Many things to correct, but I do take heart in that.

claymore
12-14-2009, 07:48 AM
-I don't really blame McD for the offensive struggles. He is doing the best he possibly can with the personel on the team.

Cherry picking your post, but this is what stood out the most.

I do blame Josh McDaniels. Its his team. He is a supposed Offensive Genius that has above average talent on offense.

His lack of adjustmants were mind boggling. The defense stopped the run and made Orton beat us.

I cant believe Marshall got 22 receptions. that is just sickening QB play and coaching.

Scheff, Royal, Graham, Moreno, Stokley, Gaffney, Buck/Hillis....... 22 receptions? Give me a break.

CoachChaz
12-14-2009, 08:44 AM
Here we go again

Lonestar
12-15-2009, 03:37 AM
Now I did see the first 3 qtrs.

But here are a few thoughts the stats I saw. At one point Manning was 8 out 10 throwing the ball. Hard to beat a hot QB like that.

Yet by the end of the Game he was under 50%. So the D started to get agresive in the later part of the game.

While I did not see any sacks there were 4or5 plays he was not at all comfortable in the pocket. And was on his ass quite a few times.

Orton is unable to step up into the pocket was harassed by the DE's and the reasons I saw was the DT's were pushing the middle of the OLINE into the pocket. As good as Casey is he is flat to small tio be effective at pass blocking.

Why Hillis did not get the rock a few times in thoise uber short 3rd and 4th downs I do not get.

It seems to me that he has fresher legs than does Moreno, as well as the D was keyed on Moreno.

Sometimes yoiu just have to throw a change up or curve ball to keep them honest.

I'm hoping there is more to it than he is to. Valuable to get hurt.

We need major up grade at OG and center next year. Need at least 10 pounds per man across the line with center about 20 pounds and I do not mean sloppy fat but 320+ at the gaurds and 335 at tackles would be big enough to win the LOS battle we have been losing in the red zone for nigh on a decade now.


Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel.

West
12-15-2009, 06:24 AM
Some solid points but i'd like to point out a couple things from your post...


-Casey is not good at all. He missed a big blocking assignment on a 3rd down that caused a sack and he gets ZERO push on the line.

-It wouldn't have mattered if Hillis was in there or not on the short yardage plays... Our OL struggles so bad at getting a good surge that it wouldn't matter if the Frig was back there.

claymore
12-15-2009, 08:20 AM
Some solid points but i'd like to point out a couple things from your post...


-Casey is not good at all. He missed a big blocking assignment on a 3rd down that caused a sack and he gets ZERO push on the line.

-It wouldn't have mattered if Hillis was in there or not on the short yardage plays... Our OL struggles so bad at getting a good surge that it wouldn't matter if the Frig was back there.

And Orton has to spread it around. I have a hard time believing that Royal, Stokley Sheff etc... werent open......

Lonestar
12-15-2009, 09:16 AM
They may have been indeed open but while I did not see the entire game the plays I did see BM was also open and he did not really force the ball to him.

Perhaps the mismatch was so great he felt considering his YAC he was the best option.

I suspect that Josh will indeed discuss that in film study time.

Once again I'd love to be a FLY on the wall to get the real scoop.


Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel.

Dreadnought
12-15-2009, 09:23 AM
And Orton has to spread it around. I have a hard time believing that Royal, Stokley Sheff etc... werent open......

Agreed totally with this. You abso-freakin'-lutely need to spread that ball around to other receivers, If only to keep Marshall in your pocket when you really need him. The over focus on Marshall had me so mad I was ready to spit nails. Between that and watching Moreno fail on short yardage carries I can't remember a game that pissed me off as much as this one since the Bears game in '07. Wins in some games just aren't going to happen, e.g. the second Bolts game last year, but this one was there for the taking and we flubbed it.

claymore
12-15-2009, 09:45 AM
They may have been indeed open but while I did not see the entire game the plays I did see BM was also open and he did not really force the ball to him.

Perhaps the mismatch was so great he felt considering his YAC he was the best option.

I suspect that Josh will indeed discuss that in film study time.

Once again I'd love to be a FLY on the wall to get the real scoop.


Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel.

I would say that the majority of the balls thrown to him were behind the line of scrimage. He was wide open 3 yards behind the LOS.