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Thread: The Broncos Defense is Taking Championship Form

  1. Default The Broncos Defense is Taking Championship Form

    Allowing an average of 87 yards per game on the ground is no small task in the NFL, in fact it is good enough for fourth in the league.

    Consider that the New York Jets hold the number one overall defense and they allow just 73.8 rushing yards per game - a very small difference. The Broncos are just one great game away from having that number one spot.

    That’s all well and good, but statistics do not tell the whole story.

    The Broncos are ranked 30th in average passing yards allowed with 287.9 and their 26 sacks this season tie them for 14th overall. Neither stat is something to brag about but what you don’t often hear about is their league leading 13 interceptions or that they also have 70 deflected passes this season. In fact, the Broncos have had more passes attempted against them than any other team this year, so it’s no wonder they have given up the most yards. Not to mention that they just recently became healthy and put the core together on the same field.

    Some of that can be looked at as yards in “garbage time” and the explanations for what they've given up can even be looked at as an excuse, and maybe that’s true. But in a league that takes pride in the term, “what have you done for me lately” the Broncos certainly have an adequate response.

    This team has recorded seven sacks in their last two games, has handed RGIII the worst game of his career after he had put down almost 400 total yards the week before, and even held Phillip Rivers to one touchdown pass with barely 200 yards passing.... CONTINUE READING
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    the secondary has been improving. it's like those guys are all on the same page lately.

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  4. #3

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    It's hard to say anything with certainty since our:

    1) Best LB only played the last 3 games,
    2) Starting MLB went out at HT against Dallas and wasn't 100% even when he came back two weeks later,
    3) HoF CB has been in and out of the lineup (mostly the latter) all year and
    4) First month was full of blowouts that forced teams to throw lots of passes that inflated our Ds passing totals.

    Inflated in every sense; a generation ago, The Hidden Game of Football noted the axiom that the guy with the most picks usually isn't very good, else QBs wouldn't throw at him so much (though they also noted the glaring exception to the rule: UDFA Night Train Layne had more Ints as a rookie in a 12 game season than ANYONE else has had, even in 16.) It seems safe to say our D is better than they were in week 1, certainly better than when Dallas put 4 TDs on us in the second half after three starters joined two others on the bench. How MUCH better... not sure yet.

    The 'Skins game stands out; it was our Ds best of the year, against a top ten offense. They owned that game, especially in the second half; the only blot on their record is the 12 Men penalty at the end of the first half that let a long drive that was already getting a FG turn it into a TD. The 5 turnovers and forcing a three-and-out that led to a shanked punt and gave us the ball at the Washington 35 more than make up for that.

    The Colts game was less noticeably good, better than most seem to think; it's not our Ds fault our offense handed Indy 12 or 19 pts (depending how one counts their TD after the safety.) Even if we only count the 12 pts undeniably on our offense, holding the Colts offense to 27 at home matches what Seattle did, and most agree their D is quite good. Indy would've scored more, but after Orange Julius' non-block forced a PFM pick, our D actually pushed Indy BACK ~5 yds before an easy FG expanded their lead.

    The Bolts game was stellar in the first half, allowing a good offense only FGs on a pair of drives that kept our D on the field all but 40 seconds of the first quarter. Del Rios 3rd and long TO at around our 11 at the end of the half was GENIUS: Not only could we spare a first half time out (it left us two,) but it let him craft the ideal play to prevent a conversion, leading to a sack, then a FG that would've been good without the sack, and a 2:00 drill to take a 21-6 HF lead with an extra possession; another TD on the second halfs opening drive was all we needed to win.

    The D did look a bit fatigued in the second half of that game, as SDs ball control drives combined with our turnover and multiple quick punts wore down Denver. Still, SD quickly stifled Denvers attempt to run out the clock with Moreno and Ball, our D came up with another quick stop to give our offense another chance to close out the game, which it did, albeit at a cost to PFMs already shaky ankles.

    It's still not clear where that leaves us, and probably won't be until (at least) after the road game against Brady. KCs offense won't test anything but our run D (which, as BSN notes, has been statistically good, if helped as much as our pass D is hurt by the opening month blowouts.) It's a good, solid D though (see my "Is our D better than our offense now?" thread,) whose only real weaknesses are FS and the lack of a backup Will (since our starter playing Mike well promoted his backup, who's also done well.)

    The biggest thing, IMHO, is Millers return, not for him alone, but for the opportunities he gives others by drawing doubleteams. The Brandon Spano Network was also the place that noted Derek Wolfe was doubleteamed on 42% of snaps through his first 7 games; that number must almost inevitably go down now, and his sack totals are already climbing as a result. Teams have several options, but no good ones:

    1) Double Miller AND Wolfe, with one guy each on Vickerson, Knighton and Phillips/Ayers, for a total of 7 blockers, leaving their receivers outnumbered 2:1 by a good secondary and quality coverage LBs.

    2) Take their chances leaving Miller and/or Wolfe one-on-one, or

    3) Leave someone unblocked (e.g. Phillips/Ayers, who go back and forth as team sack leader despite ROTATING WITH EACH OTHER.)

    That's if we only rush 5; if we blitz even a second LB or a safety, SOMEONE likely has a free shot at the QB. It doesn't matter if Miller gets sacks, hits and hurries as long as SOMEONE does.

    The resulting improvement far exceeds one man alone, even the former DRoY. Prior to Millers return, a lot of our sacks were coverage sacks (although a coverage sack is STILL a sack,) and a lot the passing yards we gave up were because even the best DBs can't cover everyone forever: Give NFL QBs and WRs enough time and SOMEONE will get open. Get a pass rush and suddenly DRC's high-stepping to the end zone.
    Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. Jaded

    Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
    Love can't be coerced. —Me

  5. #4

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    ...I think the next three games are excellent test's to see if the defense is ready for postseason play.

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  7. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Broncolingus View Post
    ...I think the next three games are excellent test's to see if the defense is ready for postseason play.
    Not so sure; NE, yeah, but the Chiefs offense is awful. Charles should tell us whether our run D is as good as its stat sheet, but Alex Smith throwing to Bowe and McCluster isn't what keeps me awake nights.

    24th in yds/game, 27th in passing yds/game, 12th in rushing yds/game, 14th in pts/game (with a lot of them from defense, not offense.) http://tinyurl.com/n4h2wmx Without Charles they got nothin'.
    Last edited by Joel; 01-18-2014 at 09:09 PM.
    Oh, valid point. I thought you meant all starters, you should take the time to be more descriptive, don't be shy. Jaded

    Never confuse frustrated candor and disloyal malice.
    Love can't be coerced. —Me

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