Week 5 v. AZ

[MrDoc420]

I met him once at a tailgate party with my Dad's company. He surely doesn't remember me, nor did he put it together (or care for that matter LOL) that it was me he was conversing with last week.

He's really a super nice guy though.

 

[randymon]

Seems to me there was this guy that said Denver should have Ward or Moore shadow Wilson after what A. Smith did to them, before their game with Seattle. Sure should of happened in OT. Just sayin (JK)

 

[cdumler7]

I think the one play of that game that still upsets me is the one in overtime where we had them 3rd and 3 from the 29 yard line...Del Rio honestly called the perfect play with a blitz up the middle where the guy went untouched. The problem on the play is unfortunately Miller got sucked inside and lost outside contain. Miller holds that outside edge and Wilson has no where to go with a guy coming at him full speed for the sack and possibly taking them out of field goal range. It was a great call for the situation just poor execution. I would love now that Trevathan is back to see a lot more of those aggressive calls like that as we have the coverage guys to hold up. Hopefully Del Rio has been watching some of the Arizona tape of what they do on defense and saying "We can do that!"

 

[WalkerBoh]

Interesting...Yeah Marshall is not the guy I would have had spying on him. If nothing else use one of our safeties. I thought that was what Ward was brought in to do was lay some big hits. He has the speed to keep up with Wilson and above everything else the intelligence to know how the play is developing in front of him to make a quicker reaction.


And thank you for sharing the conversation! Always enjoy reading especially the thoughts of such iconic legends like Karl.

Well ordinarily it does make sense to have a LB to play the spy in such cases, and it's very possible that was Marshall's job. Roby as a spy doesn't make much sense, as he'd be best utilized in coverage. Maybe Ward, but he would probably be on the TE.

Maybe this will be one of the things that improves with the return of Trevathan.

 

[TDs3nOut]

 

[cdumler7]

Well ordinarily it does make sense to have a LB to play the spy in such cases, and it's very possible that was Marshall's job. Roby as a spy doesn't make much sense, as he'd be best utilized in coverage. Maybe Ward, but he would probably be on the TE.

Maybe this will be one of the things that improves with the return of Trevathan.

Trevathan definitely makes sense as I do think he has the speed and more importantly the smarts to diagnose those types of plays. As good as Marshall has played in his absence Trevathan is one of those irreplaceable players on our team.

 

[Broncosr0k]

I think Trevathan's leadership alone is going to do wonders for this defense. I would not be surprised to see them have some very dominant performances the next few games. I think we go less zone and more man which will pay off big.

 

[cdumler7]

Been a long time since I have been able to say this but every Bronco actually participated in practice yesterday. A few were limited but good to see this team finally healthy.


On the other side Palmer again missed practice and with each passing day looks less likely to actually play. Looks like Stanton is starting.

 

[randymon]

I see a Denver D getting 4 sacks, one forced fumble and two pks vs Stanton and Cards. Arizona D will limit Manning and offense production so thinking a 24-10 Bronco win. Running game will not impress again vs a very tough front 7 but the turnovers will give Manning the ball with some short fields. There will be a DT sighting as he does score 1 td.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Been a long time since I have been able to say this but every Bronco actually participated in practice yesterday. A few were limited but good to see this team finally healthy.


On the other side Palmer again missed practice and with each passing day looks less likely to actually play. Looks like Stanton is starting.

That's bad news. After all, Stanton's just as athletic and mobile as Wilson.....

 

[TDs3nOut]

Here is the much maligned Bleacher Report's preview of the game.

Arizona Cardinals vs. Denver Broncos: Complete Week 5 Preview for Arizona | Bleacher Report

A few snippets I found interesting:

"Cooper Could Start Right guard Paul Fanaika is a question mark for Sunday. If he cannot go, we would see Jonathan Cooper get his first start after 19 missed games due to injury and benching."


Apparently, if Cooper does start he will play left guard and the normal left guard, Ted Larsen, will switch to right guard.


"

Jerraud Powers vs. Wes Welker
Don’t let his Week 1 interception of Philip Rivers fool you—Jerraud Powers has been abused this season. He has allowed more than twice as many yards after the catch (76) as Antonio Cromartie has allowed total yards (30), according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Combined, Cromartie and Patrick Peterson have allowed 12 receptions on 25 targets (48 percent) for 101 yards (4.04 yards per target) with 20 yards after the catch (1.8 yards after the catch per reception). Powers has allowed 11 receptions on 20 targets (55 percent) for 157 yards (7.85 yards per target). He has allowed 6.9 yards after the catch per reception.
This is Wes Welker’s dream matchup.

Offensive Tackles vs. Edge Rush
The matchups are as follows: Jared Veldheer vs. DeMarcus Ware and Bobby Massie vs. Von Miller.
Ware and Miller could be the best pass-rushing teammates the Cardinals face all season, and Stanton holds the ball longer than Palmer does. On paper, that is a bad combination. But Veldheer and Massie together have allowed three quarterback pressures on 158 pass-blocking snaps over the past two games with Stanton behind center, again according to PFF.
This is definitely one to watch on Sunday."


Reads as if Welker, Miller and Ware might all be in for big days.


"Cardinals’ X-Factor of the Week: Andre Ellington
The Cardinals are 9-0 when running back Andre Ellington carries 10 or more times. Does that mean Ellington should be force-fed the ball as often as possible against the Broncos?
Well, yes, but within reason. Getting the second-year back 15 to 20 carries and another three to five opportunities in the passing game would dramatically increase the chances of Arizona pulling off the upset.
Through 18 games to start his career, Ellington is averaging 6.03 yards every time he touches the ball. Be it on a carry or a reception, he makes things happen. Feeding Ellington against the Broncos will keep Manning off the field, which helps the defense."


Run defense will have a bit of a challenge. Fortunately we will have Travathan and perhaps the DTs can take advantage of any personnel changes in the interior of the AZ o-line.

 

[cdumler7]

So just watched the Cardinals game against San Fran from a couple of weeks back. Here are a few of my observations...




Cardinals on defense
Cardinals defense is probably the most aggressive defense we will see by a wide margin. These guys are not afraid to send everybody after the quarterback. Peyton and the OL are going to have to be on their game in this one otherwise Peyton could be taking a couple of big shots.


Because of this aggressive defense though I do think it gives us some major chances at some big plays. Our screen game might have its best game of the season with getting 2-3 blockers out in front of DT with only a couple of people in his way from scoring a touchdown. San Fran tried to do some of this with some success but they just don't have the experience we do at running the screen game.


If the Broncos are going to have success running the football the best place to attack is actually the outside edges of the Cardinals defense. Up the middle with the DT's and ILB's there might not be a better team in the league at stopping the run. The DE's and OLB's though are just not quite as good. San Fran did some of this and found some very good success running to the outside. This is where JT is going to have to actually commit to blocking though.


The other place for the Broncos to attack is in the passing game is straight up the middle. As good as those ILB's are for them in the run game they are terrible against the pass. Throw in the Slot Corner probably can't keep up with Welker so if you have Welker and Julius in fantasy football start them this week.


Cardinals on offense
My guess is the Cardinals will try to run a similar game plan to that of the Chiefs of run the football and keep the ball away from Peyton. Ellington is definitely dangerous so if he has a big game we could be in trouble.


Stanton essentially in the San Fran game only knew 2 kinds of throws...The short outlet throw to the RB and the deep throw especially to Floyd. The 5-15 yard range he has no touch on and the Broncos need to force him to throw into this area as he just tries to rocket it in and has quite a few overthrows that are ripe for the picking.


Overall the Cardinals are a very solid team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes. They are well-coached and they maximize their talent. Broncos definitely need to be ready to come but there are some major weaknesses that they can exploit.

 

[WalkerBoh]

One of the reasons I think they're playing more aggressivly is due to lack of depth. They lost some LB depth to start the season. I wonder if this AZ D could be another version of Broncos circa 2009....

 

[cdumler7]

One of the reasons I think they're playing more aggressivly is due to lack of depth. They lost some LB depth to start the season. I wonder if this AZ D could be another version of Broncos circa 2009....

My guess is the aggressive style of blitzing involves two parts. The DC is known as a very aggressive coach. No DC has blitzed as much as him over the last 2 years in the NFL. The second part of that is losing some of the players they have to work to generate pressure. They lost Dansby and Abraham who were the top two of the top three sack guys on the team from last year. Campbell finished 2nd last year with 9 but he is the only one left still on the team or at least not hurt.

You look at this year and even with all the blitzing they still only have 3 sacks on the season. All have come from different guys so they don't have that one guy that they know can get home to the quarterback on a regular basis.

This usually does force teams to have to play more aggressive or go in the complete opposite direction and play very conservative hoping for the other team to make a mistake along the way. If it was me I would be doing what the Cardinals are doing in playing aggressive and forcing teams to beat them. Plus they have the secondary that can hold up in man coverage better than most.

 

[MrDoc420]

Just saw.....Stanton will be the starter on Sunday. Kind of glad actually. I have a feeling we're gonna make life hell for him.

 

[cdumler7]

Just saw.....Stanton will be the starter on Sunday. Kind of glad actually. I have a feeling we're gonna make life hell for him.

There is good and bad for both. Stanton offers a bit more with his legs but is limited on his passing ability compared to that of Palmer. I would still rather face Stanton as I do think if we can build a first half lead Stanton just doesn't have the arm skills to help them get back in it against our defense.

 

[WalkerBoh]

There is good and bad for both. Stanton offers a bit more with his legs but is limited on his passing ability compared to that of Palmer. I would still rather face Stanton as I do think if we can build a first half lead Stanton just doesn't have the arm skills to help them get back in it against our defense.

Drew Stanton has 14 yards rushing over his two games. It doesn't appear he offers that much more with his legs.

 

[MileHigh64]

Drew Stanton has 14 yards rushing over his two games. It doesn't appear he offers that much more with his legs.

Not Russel Wilson legs but he's able to move around in the pocket to buy time. I've also heard he has a big arm. The Cardinals haven't even really targeted Fitzgerald yet so if they do connect, look out.

Cardinals DC blitzed the shit out of Phillip Rivers and had him pretty rattled. It's their MO. Gonna be a helluva game in my opinion but Broncos should come out on top.

MH64

 

[randymon]

I guess a few here have never watched Stanton play. He is as far away from Russell Wilson as Pluto is from earth. His best comparison would be Orton but with a lot more toughness.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I wouldn't call him mobile, but Stanton can take some hits... one thing he does well is avoid getting sacked in the first place though, so he's kind of mobile while in the pocket, but he won't be getting much yardage on the ground.

He's pretty much a game manager, which is all we need. Limit turnovers and it should be a close game.