Defense proves rightful concern
Preseason play not up to expectations
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/27/2007 12:19:11 AM MDT
Expectations were way beyond what the Broncos' defense has shown.
Remember, it was determined through the firings of three coaches after last season that finishing eighth in scoring defense wasn't good enough. Last year is looking better every day.
Through roughly 1 1/2 games worth of preseason play this year, the Broncos' first-string defense has allowed 44 points and 574 yards of total offense.
And two of the Broncos' three preseason opponents were the San Francisco 49ers, who ranked 26th in the 32-team NFL in total offense last year, and the Cleveland Browns, who ranked 31st. Fitting nicely between them is the Buffalo
Bills, who ranked 30th last year. The Bills host the Broncos to start the regular season Sept. 9.
For the sake of avoiding a clinical depression outbreak in Broncoland, would this be a good time to relay the reminder everything regarding the preseason should be essentially blown off?
"I don't think you blow it off," Broncos safety John Lynch said after his team's 17-16 loss Saturday night to Cleveland. "Coach Bob Slowik always says it doesn't count, but it does matter. We need to have some success just for the confidence thing going in there. We all believe we're going to be a very good unit. We haven't shown it yet.
"So is there some concern? Absolutely. Is there belief we're going to get this thing down? Yeah."
Denver's offense has played pretty much as expected. Once again, the Broncos have proved to be a running machine regardless of whether Chris Myers or Ben Hamilton is at left guard, Erik Pears or Chad Mustard is at right tackle, or Travis Henry or Selvin Young is at tailback.
Second-year quarterback Jay Cutler has fluctuated between missing an open checkdown receiver on one pass, only to come back the next play and zip a 20-yard completion down the seam. Such inconsistency from their quarterback, though, was incorporated into the Broncos' Super Bowl plan this year.
According to the Broncos' winning formula for 2007, Cutler's brushes with brilliance, along with a solid defense and running game, would outweigh the youthful mistakes by game's end.
It is the Broncos' defense that has put some wince into this preseason. There does seem to be a logical explanation for its dreary start as the defense is adapting to the new personnel and new scheme employed by a new coaching boss, Jim Bates.
Modern defenses must have measures of sophistication or else the complicated offenses would turn the NFL into the Arena Football League. Transforming sophistication into execution, though, requires patience.
The hope for the Broncos' defense is that short-term suffering will lead to long-term reward. The ease in which opposing offenses have moved the ball, however, has caused Broncos fans to wonder: "How's Al Wilson's neck doing, anyway?"
Against the 49ers, little- known running back Maurice Hicks and former Penn State quarterback Michael Robinson rushed for 40 yards on seven carries in one quarter. The Dallas Cowboys, behind their dynamic duo of Julius Jones and Marion Barber III, had 97 yards on 21 carries in one half.
The combined passing stats of quarterbacks Alex Smith, Tony Romo, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn against the Broncos' first-team defense: 32-of-45 for 372 yards. In the first half against the Cowboys through the first quarter against the Browns, the Broncos saw 10-of-12 third-down plays converted against them.
How can a unit with all-pro cornerback Champ Bailey on it become so promiscuous?
"I think anytime you talk about a unit, you have to talk about 11 guys going in the same direction and if one guy is just a little bit off, it can make you look average pretty quickly," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "So we have a couple weeks to straighten out those things and hopefully we can get there."
Staff writer Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or
mklis@denverpost.com.
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Defense proves rightful concern
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