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Retroram52
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Hello all. Tonight was the anticipated exposure of some our new weapons and at least in the first half of the game, we got a glimpse of what may or may not be during the season. Both first round picks did not disappoint and in an evening which had lots of vanilla on both sides of the ball, we had five outstanding performances that brought a smile to Fisher's face. That would be Tavon Austin, Jared Cook, Alec Ogletree, James Laurinaitus, and Greg Zuerlein. But there were many more as you'll see shortly.
Overall we had a vanilla night on offense with a pedestrian 198 yards of total offense compared to 446 total yards of a pretty talented football team and against Peyton Manning. Overall our defense played in a vanilla fashion as Manning exploited a 5-7 yard gap underneath all evening to march up and down the field at-will that was never adjusted for. Our special teams played splendidly highlighted by Greg Zuerlien's kick-offs that always went out of the back of the end zone and he had another 58-yard field goal that is routine for Greg. Special teams were also highlighted by an opening 81-yard punt return by Tavon Austin in the first quarter. The reporting of an increase in team speed is no joke as Austin demonstrated his blazing speed by nearly out-running his teammates on the same return. If it was more coordinated at the end of his run, he would have scored.
Sammie's first offensive series was a simple jump pass to Jared Cook who towered over the defender and it was quickly 7-0 because it started on the Broncos three yard line. Sammie finished the night at a vanillish 9/16 for 110 yards and a TD. Our running game never got going and the offensive line played decently with a couple of false starts by Saffold and Long which got messy right before the half. O-line pass protection was good and penalties were held to a minimum. Jared Cook is the real deal as he is a big physical receiver with speed for a man his size. That was a very good FA acquisition. Givens and Austin got a couple of catches as did Pettis. Richardson and Pead both had a low production night and we did not do a very good job of run blocking. C. Williams has won the left guard spot over Shelly Smith who I hope they cut on Tuesday as he looked krappy tonight.
On defense, we demonstrated that we could bring at will but played vanilla type defense. James Laurinaitus was everywhere and Cortland Finnegan took his frustration with Manning and the receiver out on Manning with a delayed blitz that ended in a nice hit on Manning for a near sack. Manning avoided Janoris Jenkins all evening and TJ McDonald and Rodney McCloud had a great night. Also, kudos to Ray Ray (1 sack) and Darren Woodard (1 INT) who are going to make this team. Cody Davis had a pretty good night as well when he was in. But the real show was Ogletree. If this guy plays this way all season, we have a bona-fide bad-ass LB corp when Dunbar returns. Let's see, a rip fumble returned for a TD, an interception, an almost second interception, and Alec was around the ball ALL night. What a pick and I take back what I initially said about either of our first-round picks.
On Special teams. The night belonged to Zuerlein-AGAIN! Kick-offs that always went through the back of the end-zone and another routine 58 yard field goal. Pretty good punt coverage that helped Austin blaze through the field on an 81-yard punt return and real good coverage on kick-offs because there were no run backs because of Zuerlein.
But the real story that is continuing to be a mainstay is the fact that our offense continues to not score points or produce yardage which is really has been our problem for a very long time. Granted, I get the fact that this is a pre-season game, but 68 yards total mid-way through the second is not going to get it done in the regular season. I'll give the team a pass until the regular season but this was the pattern last year and we struggled on offense as well. The second unit has less good players and our O-line and the RBs are the two major holes we still have to address in future drafts. So, we shall see as we play the last game whether we have solved our offensive woes going into the regular season.
Overall we had a vanilla night on offense with a pedestrian 198 yards of total offense compared to 446 total yards of a pretty talented football team and against Peyton Manning. Overall our defense played in a vanilla fashion as Manning exploited a 5-7 yard gap underneath all evening to march up and down the field at-will that was never adjusted for. Our special teams played splendidly highlighted by Greg Zuerlien's kick-offs that always went out of the back of the end zone and he had another 58-yard field goal that is routine for Greg. Special teams were also highlighted by an opening 81-yard punt return by Tavon Austin in the first quarter. The reporting of an increase in team speed is no joke as Austin demonstrated his blazing speed by nearly out-running his teammates on the same return. If it was more coordinated at the end of his run, he would have scored.
Sammie's first offensive series was a simple jump pass to Jared Cook who towered over the defender and it was quickly 7-0 because it started on the Broncos three yard line. Sammie finished the night at a vanillish 9/16 for 110 yards and a TD. Our running game never got going and the offensive line played decently with a couple of false starts by Saffold and Long which got messy right before the half. O-line pass protection was good and penalties were held to a minimum. Jared Cook is the real deal as he is a big physical receiver with speed for a man his size. That was a very good FA acquisition. Givens and Austin got a couple of catches as did Pettis. Richardson and Pead both had a low production night and we did not do a very good job of run blocking. C. Williams has won the left guard spot over Shelly Smith who I hope they cut on Tuesday as he looked krappy tonight.
On defense, we demonstrated that we could bring at will but played vanilla type defense. James Laurinaitus was everywhere and Cortland Finnegan took his frustration with Manning and the receiver out on Manning with a delayed blitz that ended in a nice hit on Manning for a near sack. Manning avoided Janoris Jenkins all evening and TJ McDonald and Rodney McCloud had a great night. Also, kudos to Ray Ray (1 sack) and Darren Woodard (1 INT) who are going to make this team. Cody Davis had a pretty good night as well when he was in. But the real show was Ogletree. If this guy plays this way all season, we have a bona-fide bad-ass LB corp when Dunbar returns. Let's see, a rip fumble returned for a TD, an interception, an almost second interception, and Alec was around the ball ALL night. What a pick and I take back what I initially said about either of our first-round picks.
On Special teams. The night belonged to Zuerlein-AGAIN! Kick-offs that always went through the back of the end-zone and another routine 58 yard field goal. Pretty good punt coverage that helped Austin blaze through the field on an 81-yard punt return and real good coverage on kick-offs because there were no run backs because of Zuerlein.
But the real story that is continuing to be a mainstay is the fact that our offense continues to not score points or produce yardage which is really has been our problem for a very long time. Granted, I get the fact that this is a pre-season game, but 68 yards total mid-way through the second is not going to get it done in the regular season. I'll give the team a pass until the regular season but this was the pattern last year and we struggled on offense as well. The second unit has less good players and our O-line and the RBs are the two major holes we still have to address in future drafts. So, we shall see as we play the last game whether we have solved our offensive woes going into the regular season.