Thread: Menelik worse week 2 than awful week 1

I think the line is better at run blocking this season but I'm not going to start freaking out like everyone else just yet. Anderson will also slow down or get injured like he does, here's hoping Booker has something.

Originally Posted by BroncoJoe

When did Anderson get hurt last year?

Week seven, I think. We were pretty much terrible from that point on running the football. I just mean that even with CJ in there, we started off great in weeks one and two, and were bad in the next couple of weeks. We need to be consistent before we declare that it's working.

Did you guys know Orlando Franklin is a free agent?

Originally Posted by BeefStew25

Did you guys know Orlando Franklin is a free agent?

Verizon kiosk?

Originally Posted by weazel

Verizon kiosk?

Nah, Office Depot...his customer service is off the charts, fam.

He was a guard. I guess he signed with the saints this summer and lasted all of 5 days. Ouch.

IF the line prevents gang tackles, CJ will be healthy; if not, not. You can't drop half a ton of humanity on a guy a couple dozen times each week and expect him to last more than a couple months. It was the same with Ball, Moreno and McGahee; the only notable exception was Hillman, who avoided multiple hits by the simple expedient of collapsing on the spot on the very first hit. Pretty straight forward, and old news.

Put me down as a fan of Garcia-->McGovern and Watson-->Barbre; the pass protection couldn't possibly be worse, and the run blocking looks like it would be comparable.

Originally Posted by VonDoom

Week seven, I think. We were pretty much terrible from that point on running the football. I just mean that even with CJ in there, we started off great in weeks one and two, and were bad in the next couple of weeks. We need to be consistent before we declare that it's working.

Well see, for sure.

Last year, we opened against Carolina with 148 yards rushing, Indy with 134. Then, against Cincinnati, Tampa, Atlanta and the Chargers, we got 52, 89, 84 and 84 respectively.

This year, through two games it's been 140 and 178.

I'm not too worried, but we need more games before being excited or throwing in the towel for sure.

Originally Posted by VonDoom

I don't know about all that. I will caution people not to think that the OL is "solved" with such a small sample size, though. Remember way back to weeks 1 and 2 of last year? We ran the ball really well. Take a look:

2016 (first 2 games): 60 carries, 282 yards, 4.7 YPC
2017 (first 2 games): 75 carries, 318 yards, 4.24 YPC

We fell off a cliff soon after that. So let's see if we can keep this up this time around. Having a big injury on the line already will be a test, starting this week.

You bring up a good point, HOWEVER, to counter that point. The first two games of last season were against defenses that were poor against the run. This years numbers were against legitimate run stoppers.

You may still be right in this instance, but that's just something additional to consider.

Originally Posted by Freyaka

You bring up a good point, HOWEVER, to counter that point. The first two games of last season were against defenses that were poor against the run. This years numbers were against legitimate run stoppers.

You may still be right in this instance, but that's just something additional to consider.

The Cowboys D isn't a "legitimate" anything, except maybe charity case: Again, it's Sean Lee+DeMarcus Lawrence+9 JaGs. They gave up the least rushing yards last year, but that's only because they allowed the least rushing attempts, which was in turn because their OFFENSE averages just under 4TDs/gm and blew out opponents by an average margin of almost 2 TDs. Meanwhile, their rushing Ds average PER ATTEMPT was an 11th best 3.9 yds, or about a ball-length below the 4.2 NFL average.

Let's revisit this during the bye (i.e. ¼ of the way through the season) or, better yet, Week 9 (i.e. halfway.) Right now it's impossible to be sure.

They got stronger up front, so of course they're better at running the ball. Watson is a seriously large person. But, this does not translate to better in pass-protection of course.

Watson is the weak link on this unit. He's actually a worse tackle than Barbre at LT. At least so far, we haven't seen Barbre against Justin Houston or Kalil Mack yet. That should be unfun.

If we take a look around the league, it sure seems OL is a common problem. Does anyone recall so much poor OL play? Ask the Giants etc. I think there is a real possibility that the lack of practice time due to the relatively new CBA may have real effects on the OL. I don't know where I heard that this week, but I think it is true. It is really reflecting on poor OL play all around the league.

We may also need to realize that in this hard cap era, it is literally impossible to be great at every aspect of a team. Bottom line is this team is on top of the league with rushing offense, and the Broncos are averaging 33 points per game.

If this team could average over 25, there is a distinct possibility this could be a super bowl team.

Originally Posted by Broncoknight30

If we take a look around the league, it sure seems OL is a common problem. Does anyone recall so much poor OL play? Ask the Giants etc. I think there is a real possibility that the lack of practice time due to the relatively new CBA may have real effects on the OL. I don't know where I heard that this week, but I think it is true. It is really reflecting on poor OL play all around the league.

We may also need to realize that in this hard cap era, it is literally impossible to be great at every aspect of a team. Bottom line is this team is on top of the league with rushing offense, and the Broncos are averaging 33 points per game.

If this team could average over 25, there is a distinct possibility this could be a super bowl team.

There's been some discussion of that here and elsewhere the past few seasons, but I'm more persuaded by arguments it's the radical difference between pro and amateur football. Most college teams have always run more than the pros and still do, and good college teams can usually count on beating up on nearly their whole conference, which secures the bowl berth that keeps the coaches employed (even if their bowl opponent blows them out by 50.)

All that lets college teams get away with sandlot offense demanding no more of "blockers" than just knocking over whoever's in directly in front of them. That garbage won't "fly" in the pros (just ask Chip Kelly) where EVERYONE'S an elite athlete who doesn't just play and practice seat-of-their-pants football for a few years in between classes and parties, but eats, sleeps and breathes PROFESSIONAL systematic football for a decade or more.

The gap between college and pro blocking may be larger than ever, hence all that spread and other amateur idiocy works great for the few college teams loaded with recruiting talent their conference "rivals" can never hope to match, but fails miserably in the parity-rich NFL world.

While we're on the subject, something's been bothering me for a while. Maybe it's just me and I'm slow to notice, but the big thing that's leaped out at me the past few years is how consistently NFL blockers on pass plays lean back with their hands at their hips until the snap, but take a classic three-point stance on running plays. And if I've noticed from my couch, you can bet NFL DCs have noticed from the sideline and film room.

Elway has missed with his offensive line signings. Okung, Stephenson, Watson. Same with the draft with Sambrailo, and Schofield. If Watson continues to play like he has I see no reason why Stephenson shouldn't start, especially considering their salary. Trading for a tackle doesn't sound like terrible idea at this point.

Originally Posted by CrazyHorse

Trading for a tackle doesn't sound like terrible idea at this point.

Other than dialing up Cleveland and we know they wont part with Thomas, I see few options out there.