Super Bowl 50

[Mingo]

I read this somewhere - but no link to offer:

Oz was asked "if there was one big game - who would you pick to the the QB - John Elway or Peyton Manning?"

Oz says - "I'd pick me."

I like that kind of attitude in a ball player.

 

[CEH]

What a cool story.

That will be Taylor’s big Super Bowl moment, running routes on the field at Levi’s Stadium hours before any of the television cameras turn on and the fans fill the stands. But it’s already been a memorable week, one that started with his packing dilemma before the team left Denver.

It was Taylor’s first road trip of the season, because practice squad players don’t travel, and he realized he didn’t own a suit suitable for the team’s charter flight to San Jose.

So he texted Manning.

“Do you have any old suits?” Taylor asked.

Both Manning and Taylor are 6-foot-5, and though Manning is 20 pounds heavier, Taylor figured he could make do with a hand-me-down.

“He texts me back and all he said was, ‘I’ll get you set up,’” Taylor told USA TODAY Sports. “I didn’t know what that meant.”

What it meant was Taylor was about to receive his first custom suit. Manning’s suit guy showed up at the team facility in Englewood, Colo. the next day and took all of Taylor’s measurements. The suit and a pair of shirts and ties arrived in time for the team’s Sunday departure, and Taylor proudly wore the fitted gray suit – complete with an orange-and-blue tie and blue-and-white pocket square – on the team flight.

“He may have been one of the best dressed players on the team coming out here,” Manning said. “I just appreciate his help, and I’m excited about his career. He’s a tall receiver, maybe the Eddie McCaffrey, Eric Decker-type mold, and I really think he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

At Super Bowl 50’s Opening Night on Monday, Taylor milled around the floor at the SAP Center in San Jose in his league-issued white pullover, his long curly blond hair pulled into a ponytail and tucked under a ball cap.

He kept gazing around the area, and up at the big screen to watch Broncos stars such as Manning and pass rusher DeMarcus Ware at their podiums.

It was just another surreal moment in what has been a unique rookie year, thanks in large part to Manning.

The bond between the 39-year-old future Hall of Fame quarterback and the 23-year-old undrafted wide receiver began last spring, when Manning invited Taylor to join him and some friends at a U2 concert. But it was cemented on the practice field, as Manning learned he could trust Taylor in practice nearly as much as star receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

And as much as Taylor helped Manning in those weeks Manning was sidelined, Taylor believes his game improved too, something that should help as he tries to make the Broncos’ 53-man roster in 2016.

“While he was rehabbing and trying to get himself better, he was critiquing my routes, my technique, my knowledge of the offense," Taylor said. "He definitely helped me out."


http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...l-50/79710070/

 

[SpringStein]

Awesome story, Chris! Thanks for sharing.

 

[randymon]

Awesome story, Chris! Thanks for sharing.

Absolutely!. Heard and saw some nice things about Taylor in preseason and am excited to see him this year and just maybe he can be a big asset for this team going forward. I like his chances. He seems very humble and appreciative of Peyton and their relationship.

 

[megalodon30]

Go Broncos!

 

[58crash]

Andrew Mason ‏@MaseDenver 5h5 hours ago

Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward are expected to practice "full time" today, Gary Kubiak said.

 

[cdumler7]

Andrew Mason ‏@MaseDenver 5h5 hours ago

Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward are expected to practice "full time" today, Gary Kubiak said.

This is huge! We need both of these guys to be able to play the entire game. Safety might be the one position on defense we don't have depth. This to me was made harder in was listening to an interview of Bruton yesterday and he said his leg is actually fully healed now but because we put him on IR he can't play obviously. Makes me wish we could have found a way to just stick him on the inactive list for the past 4 games. He would be perfect to match up with Olson and if nothing else be some great depth.

 

[CEH]

I think CAR is closer to Pittsburgh than NE with chunk plays.

Pittsburgh gained 225 yards on only 6 plays. Can be problematic for Denver.

 

[cdumler7]

I think CAR is closer to Pittsburgh than NE with chunk plays.

Pittsburgh gained 225 yards on only 6 plays. Can be problematic for Denver.

That is true but at the same time I don't think they have the receiving core that Pittsburgh has/had even without Brown in the lineup. I do think the Broncos will pretty much tell Harris, Roby, and Talib we need you guys to go one on one and win so that we can commit to stopping the run and hitting Newton. To me if we can hit him a few times in that 1st quarter where he has only taken a high of 6 hits all year I think we could really rattle him. That means committing more guys to getting in there and hitting them though as they do like to play a lot of max protections.

 

[CEH]

That is true but at the same time I don't think they have the receiving core that Pittsburgh has/had even without Brown in the lineup. I do think the Broncos will pretty much tell Harris, Roby, and Talib we need you guys to go one on one and win so that we can commit to stopping the run and hitting Newton. To me if we can hit him a few times in that 1st quarter where he has only taken a high of 6 hits all year I think we could really rattle him. That means committing more guys to getting in there and hitting them though as they do like to play a lot of max protections.

I agree Pittsburgh has a better WRs crew but both Ginn and Brown have big play ability

Tennessee this year had one of the best defensive games against Carolina sacking Cam 5 times . They did so with mostly a 3 man rush and sometimes with a mush rush.

Stopping the run and option play has to be priority 1,2, and 3. Force Cam to throw

 

[cdumler7]

I agree Pittsburgh has a better WRs crew but both Ginn and Brown have big play ability

Tennessee this year had one of the best defensive games against Carolina sacking Cam 5 times . They did so with mostly a 3 man rush and sometimes with a mush rush.

Stopping the run and option play has to be priority 1,2, and 3. Force Cam to throw

I'll have to go watch that game. I've watched I think 6 of their games (not including the playoffs) so far. Seems like teams have tried a lot of different things to try and stop them. Atlanta the one loss the Panthers had all year hardly blitzed at all. The little they did blitz was usually a spy who did a delayed blitz. So you might be on to something about rushing very few and forcing Cam to have to sit in there and look through traffic to find somebody. He is actually more prone to throwing into bad coverage than people think. He has actually gotten a little lucky his interception total wasn't higher.

 

[randymon]

That is true but at the same time I don't think they have the receiving core that Pittsburgh has/had even without Brown in the lineup. I do think the Broncos will pretty much tell Harris, Roby, and Talib we need you guys to go one on one and win so that we can commit to stopping the run and hitting Newton. To me if we can hit him a few times in that 1st quarter where he has only taken a high of 6 hits all year I think we could really rattle him. That means committing more guys to getting in there and hitting them though as they do like to play a lot of max protections.

I don`t think Newton handles pain so well. Even though his ribs are healed and fine,he`s been wearing the mega protective flack jacket to protect his ribs that even a bus couldn't get thru if it hit him. If he was man enough he`ld take that vest off and show he isn't afraid to get hit and can handle anything Denver`s D can throw at him. Just shows me he`s vulnerable and worried about taking hits there. Actually, now he isn`t worried because he`s so wrapped up. Guy is 6`5 260 and he covers himself up like the Michelin man. Even 39 yr old Peyton doesn`t protect himself from pain like that guy. Need to take off the kiddie gloves Cam and man up.

 

[MileHigh64]

I don`t think Newton handles pain so well. Even though his ribs are healed and fine,he`s been wearing the mega protective flack jacket to protect his ribs that even a bus couldn't get thru if it hit him. If he was man enough he`ld take that vest off and show he isn't afraid to get hit and can handle anything Denver`s D can throw at him. Just shows me he`s vulnerable and worried about taking hits there. Actually, now he isn`t worried because he`s so wrapped up. Guy is 6`5 260 and he covers himself up like the Michelin man. Even 39 yr old Peyton doesn`t protect himself from pain like that guy. Need to take off the kiddie gloves Cam and man up.

Sounds like the Panther's QB is more Clark Kent than his alter ego. Smash him. Smash Clark Kent into the ground. Go Broncos!

 

[cdumler7]

I agree Pittsburgh has a better WRs crew but both Ginn and Brown have big play ability

Tennessee this year had one of the best defensive games against Carolina sacking Cam 5 times . They did so with mostly a 3 man rush and sometimes with a mush rush.

Stopping the run and option play has to be priority 1,2, and 3. Force Cam to throw

Alright I just watched the Tennessee game and honestly I think I have just changed my whole thought on how to stop the Panthers. @CEH I would go back and watch the game again because what actually worked the best was the exact opposite of what you are saying. The Titans started the game in that mush rush and sometimes only sending 3 guys way. It did not work very well. Big plays were all over the field and Cam just had all day to throw. The 2nd half though or really the 3rd Quarter was probably the most I have seen Cam frustrated in any game I have watched. What the Titans did was send pressure. 4 of the 5 sacks came when the Titans blitzed and blitzed heavy. They forced Cam to have to make a very quick decision and when he has to do that he makes very inaccurate throws or takes the sack. I'm also now more for what we have been doing all year of doing our attacking 1-gap style of defense to stop the run game. The Titans did this as well and were really able to contain the run game when they did this because again it made Cam have to make a quicker decision than he wanted and because somebody was in the backfield it didn't allow the RB (Stewart) to get his momentum going forward. Also if Cam took the ball it forced him to have to go more sideways allowing the speed of our defense to get him instead of allowing those huge chunks of yards.

I'm honestly thinking Broncos should blitz more than usual now. I would have the Corners play more deep coverage and play maybe a more Cover-4 style defense to stop anything over the top and then have one of our Linebackers drop into coverage over the middle to help out with Olson. This will force the Panthers to have to chip their way down the field which is not Cam's style of play. This also allows us to send 6 on most plays to help stop the run and get after Cam to force him to speed things up. Cam if I remember right had the 3 longest snap to throw ratio of any QB in the league this year. He is not used to having to make quicker decisions as his OL hasn't faced many great pass rushes (only faced 2 in the top-12 this season). To me you sell out on trying to make him uncomfortable especially early in the game.

 

[cdumler7]

Also if you get a chance watch the "Inside the NFL" show today. For the first time in a very long time Phil Simms gave a raving review of the Broncos. Said if the Broncos win this game the Broncos defense should go down as one of the best ever. He said that while people keep saying the Panthers ripped apart the Seahawks and Cardinals in the playoffs he said they don't come close to comparing to what the Broncos have and what Cam will be seeing this Sunday.

 

[randymon]

Also if you get a chance watch the "Inside the NFL" show today. For the first time in a very long time Phil Simms gave a raving review of the Broncos. Said if the Broncos win this game the Broncos defense should go down as one of the best ever. He said that while people keep saying the Panthers ripped apart the Seahawks and Cardinals in the playoffs he said they don't come close to comparing to what the Broncos have and what Cam will be seeing this Sunday.

I watch Rich Eisen every morning,NFL Insiders, Nfl Network,Nfl access, etc and 90% of all the analyst,guests, former players and coaches are just kissing Carolinas butt and think Denver has no chance in this game. I love it. I`ve never wanted Denver to completely rip a team a new one as bad as I as want this to happen in this game. It`s unbelievable. I don`t believe that Denver will be able to pull off a blow out and that a win will be extremely difficult but not as unfathomable as all these others think. In a perfect world I would just LOVE to see all those guys tripping over their tongues and eating crow on Monday. Especially Eisen ( who is a bonifide NE homer), Kurt Warner, Irvin,Faulk, Robinson and Burleson, so many others. That would be my best Denver moment ever I think. The more the hate, the more I want them to just crush Cam and Panthers. I got nothing against Carolina players at all. It`s the media I want to eat shi# after the game. Go Denver and make it happen one way or the other!!!

 

[CEH]

Alright I just watched the Tennessee game and honestly I think I have just changed my whole thought on how to stop the Panthers. @CEH I would go back and watch the game again because what actually worked the best was the exact opposite of what you are saying. The Titans started the game in that mush rush and sometimes only sending 3 guys way. It did not work very well. Big plays were all over the field and Cam just had all day to throw. The 2nd half though or really the 3rd Quarter was probably the most I have seen Cam frustrated in any game I have watched. What the Titans did was send pressure. 4 of the 5 sacks came when the Titans blitzed and blitzed heavy. They forced Cam to have to make a very quick decision and when he has to do that he makes very inaccurate throws or takes the sack. I'm also now more for what we have been doing all year of doing our attacking 1-gap style of defense to stop the run game. The Titans did this as well and were really able to contain the run game when they did this because again it made Cam have to make a quicker decision than he wanted and because somebody was in the backfield it didn't allow the RB (Stewart) to get his momentum going forward. Also if Cam took the ball it forced him to have to go more sideways allowing the speed of our defense to get him instead of allowing those huge chunks of yards.

I'm honestly thinking Broncos should blitz more than usual now. I would have the Corners play more deep coverage and play maybe a more Cover-4 style defense to stop anything over the top and then have one of our Linebackers drop into coverage over the middle to help out with Olson. This will force the Panthers to have to chip their way down the field which is not Cam's style of play. This also allows us to send 6 on most plays to help stop the run and get after Cam to force him to speed things up. Cam if I remember right had the 3 longest snap to throw ratio of any QB in the league this year. He is not used to having to make quicker decisions as his OL hasn't faced many great pass rushes (only faced 2 in the top-12 this season). To me you sell out on trying to make him uncomfortable especially early in the game.

Thanks.

Selling out is what most of the NFL ppl are saying. We have the DB to cover .2 weeks is an eternity in the NFL to gameplan. I think Wade will come up with a great gameplan.

Cam wants to hit the big play so he'll wait longer than most just like Big Ben.

I saw a stat about CAR and Denver when starting at the 20. Both averaged about 6 plays per drive and 30 yards. CAR scored about 6% more than Denver. Considering how anemic Denver's offense is, its incumbent to not give up the big plays.

 

[cdumler7]

Alright final game plan. Listening to other players talk and watching the actual games here is what I would do.

Offensively--Players of other teams said that they had the best success when they spread the Panthers out. Look at the top-2 teams scoring wise against them in the Giants and Saints in they are teams that can spread the Panthers out and get those one-on-one match ups all over the field. It also makes it easier to read as the QB what the defense wants to do. Now I know people always say do what got you here but to me it is worth the gamble to change up our offense a little from the 2-TE set to a more 3 or 4-wide set. Not like our offense has been anything special. it would surprise the Panthers and either force them to take Thomas Davis off the field and put in another Corner which is their weakest position on the defense or have Davis try to cover a WR like Fowler/Latimer/Norwood. So gives us some favorable match ups and keeps the Panthers from being able to blitz as much as they would like. Also gives our RB's easier reads of when to cut back with fewer players in the box.

Defensively--I got 50/50 man/zone. We have actually played a ton of zone here in the playoffs and well it has helped hold 2 of the best offenses in the league to way below average point totals. Now I know against the Steelers there were some blown coverages the players said the crowd noise actually caused some miscommunication. At a Super Bowl the noise shouldn't be as much of a concern plus they have had 2 weeks to plan this. To me when doing zone you run some zone blitz schemes. Confuse the OL where the pressure is coming from and especially confuse Cam of where to throw the football. Could lead to a huge interception. Calling it now that Talib has a huge interception for us off the Zone Blitz concept. When playing Man I would put Roby on Ted Ginn Jr. Roby has the speed and honestly I trust him almost as much as I do Harris and Talib in coverage. He is just a better match up. I also then stick Talib on Olson. He has done well handling a bigger TE in the past. I then have Harris in man coverage on the other side with Stewart playing Cover-1 over the middle of the field. This then allows 7 guys to try and stop the run and get after Cam in different ways and coverages. Mix up who is coming and from where and I think we can really get into the head of Cam just like we did Brady 2 Sunday's ago.

Special Teams I really hope our Coordinator is telling Colquitt do not punt it to Tedd Ginn Jr. He can completely turn a game on a single play. He did this quite a few times this last year with some huge returns. I would rather have a 40 yard punt that goes out of bounds every time than try to boot it 50 yards and risk him getting a chance to return one.

Anybody else have a game plan they would do differently?

 

[TDs3nOut]

Thought this kind of a fun read: Snoop Dogg crashes Super Bowl interviews as guest correspondent

Excerpt:
"The iconic rapper floated around, asking players questions and posing for pictures, while also requesting a 50% Papa John's discount from quarterback Peyton Manning, who owns several of the pizza chain's franchises, the next time he visits Colorado (get it?).

“Absolutely,” Manning said."

Were I superstitious, I might even think it good luck, since my Houston Cougars led a rather charmed life after associating with rapper Paul Wall.

 

[randymon]

This is huge! We need both of these guys to be able to play the entire game. Safety might be the one position on defense we don't have depth. This to me was made harder in was listening to an interview of Bruton yesterday and he said his leg is actually fully healed now but because we put him on IR he can't play obviously. Makes me wish we could have found a way to just stick him on the inactive list for the past 4 games. He would be perfect to match up with Olson and if nothing else be some great depth.

Obviously some people ( media ) didn't see or acknowledge was what happens with those guys not on field. Just look at Pittsburgh games and that last scoring drive by NE in AFC Championship. Brady didn't do shit except for Hilman miscue that lead to short field for Brady and then end of game when those two were out. Ward and Stewart are extremely essential in Denver beating Carolina. 100% !