Thoughts on the game

[cdumler7]

Just have to get this out there because honestly a little frustrated with Kubiak on this in I was really hoping Lynch would get a chance to play with the #1 unit for at least one series in this game. Instead he once again had to play with WR's that dropped passes and an OL that had him throwing off his back foot the entire game not because of bad mechanics but out of necessity because there was no pocket for him to step up into.

On that note when you look at Lynch's stats for the game they do not look pretty. That doesn't tell the tale of the game for him though. He made a few very close throws that went off the finger tips of WR's and had a couple of big 3rd down drops that really killed a lot of drives for him. He lead them on 1 touchdown drive though that sealed the victory so very nice to see.

Also again for Siemian don't look at the interception and think "oh here we go again." The interception was the right throw into 1-on-1 coverage on a deep ball that maybe could have been a bit further but Latimer needs to fight for the ball more and if you watch the replay it is pretty obvious the ball hit the ground. I have no clue what the officials were looking at.

The great thing though is Siemian bounced back I think the very next drive to lead the team on a touchdown drive where he capped it off with a nice easy touchdown pass to Green!

So all in all I thought both QB's looked decent. Not great but decent. Better protection for Lynch and maybe he goes crazy in the game but have to go off what I watched.

Now what I was interested in beyond the QB's was the OL. Honestly the 1st team unit struggled just a bit mostly in the run blocking more so than pass blocking department. Aaron Donald definitely deserves the recognition he gets because he blew up quite a few run plays in the backfield. As the game went on though this unit really settled in and looked decent. For the first time of them getting some extended action together they showed some promise. Really need our guys like Weems and Sambrailo to get healthy though as our back up situation is down right terrible. Need to start praying now that none of our starters go down any time soon.

WR wise Sanders and DT look in midseason form. Those guys were lights out and DT looks like he might just have his best season yet. Made a ridiculous 1-handed catch while the defender was holding onto his other arm then after catching it threw that defender to the side for some nice extra yards.



Defensively man we looked pretty darn good. Gave up a few chunk yard plays but when it mattered most in the red zone these guys clamped down and really made life difficult for the Rams. Also honestly our defense dropped about 4 pretty easy Interceptions. 2 of them would have been possible pick-6's. Also the great thing with our defense is they look as aggressive and hard hitting as ever. Got themselves a couple of personal fouls with both being pretty darn questionable. Talib hit the QB pretty hard along the sideline while the QB was still in bounds but they threw the flag anyway. Then Roby got one that I thought was ridiculous as the WR was bobbling the ball and Roby came in and laid the boom on the guy.

 

[cdumler7]

All in all a decent game. Not as clean as you would like but both sides of the ball showed some promise.

Individuals who stood out

Ronnie Hillman--As much as I keep thinking this guy is for sure gone he just keeps going out and having some pretty good games. He ran hard and found some nice holes.

Zaire Anderson--Just about every play with the 2nd unit you hear this guys name called.

Dakota Watson--If it isn't Anderson then it is this guy making the play. Honestly if he doesn't make the team I might be pulling some hair out as he has been dominant this preseason.


Couple of battles to note

Sanchez did not play a single snap in this game. Not sure what all that means as they might have just wanted to give Lynch as many opportunities as possible since they already know what they have in Sanchez but considering earlier in the week Kubiak had said all 3 QB's would get equal time I do think it means something is happening soon that Sanchez could be gone.

Riley Dixon handled all the punt duties tonight. Again this could be just wanting to give the kid an extended opportunity since you know what you have in Colquitt. Dixon did ok. Couple of really nice punts and a couple of really bad punts. Just not consistent at all. I'm still on the Colquitt train to be our punter this year even at his price. Also just a quick note the Broncos did approach Colquitt about restructuring his contract and maybe adding some years to his contract. From the sound of it though he turned them down. My guess is he knows he has won this punting job even at the price he has right now so why take the pay cut? Expect though to have either Colquitt or Dixon cut tomorrow or Monday. This competition will not drag out into next week.

Injuries

Latimer--He is having an MRI tomorrow. From the sound of it this is hopefully just a precaution.

 

[Duffman]

Sadat Sulleymanm really impressed me with 2 sacks including a sack fumble to end the game, we was playing against a bad LT but hopefully he did enough to make the 75 roster and we can see what we really have next week.

Really all of Denver's backup LB's looked great not only tonight but this whole Preseason. No doubt that Anderson and Watson make this team.

 

[cdumler7]

Sadat Sulleymanm really impressed me with 2 sacks including a sack fumble to end the game, we was playing against a bad LT but hopefully he did enough to make the 75 roster and we can see what we really have next week.

Really all of Denver's backup LB's looked great not only tonight but this whole Preseason. No doubt that Anderson and Watson make this team.

I agree. We have an embarrassment of riches at the LB position both inside and outside linebacker. Hopefully these guys can make it through the waiver wire and we can have them on our Practice Squad like that of Shaq Barrett a couple of years ago and let them build for a year and learn from some of the best in the game.

 

[Mingo]

Pedestrian, but serviceable performance by the team. The Ram Oline and Dline played physical and provide a good tuneup for the Broncos and the regular season.

 

[cdumler7]

Pedestrian, but serviceable performance by the team. The Ram Oline and Dline played physical and provide a good tuneup for the Broncos and the regular season.

Honestly up front on both sides they probably are the closest team to that of the Panthers in how they play so you are right good tune up for the guys. Honestly I didn't expect our OL to be world beaters today against a very good Rams DL especially since guys like Okung haven't taken but a couple of series worth of snaps coming into this game. I was impressed with the pass blocking of the unit. Siemian had some decent time to stand back and survey the field. Need to get a bit better push from the inside to help the run game.

Also defensively we did pretty decent considering Wolfe was missing this game and he is probably our best run defender on the DL. Got pushed back a couple of times and didn't have the best gap integrity at times but guys like Gotsis, Crick, Melton, and Kilgo actually did pretty well. All of them made plays at different times. Good bounce back after the 49ers game.

 

[SpiritOf77]

I remember OC wanting Aaron Donald prior to that draft like you wouldn't imagine

Props to the birthday boy


As for the game -

The Bad:

- I have some serious concerns about this offense, not simply Siemian, but the OL and the run blocking .. There wasn't a whole lot ( hole lot ? ) to be happy about until the Rams started putting in their second until ..

We start the game with two 3-and-outs, and all six plays were handoffs ..

- Virgil Green is the only NFL TE on this roster right now

- If Sambraillo and Heuerman are never going to get thru training camp, how can they be expected to play a regular season game ??

Overall, the first team offense just looks tentative and out of sync, with the exception of Sanders, who is, as always, a major asset ..... I'm concerned about the offensive struggles, the OL being overpowered and Kubiak going into "prevent a disaster" mode, being content playing a field position game

The Good:

- I like Dixon, and I hope he sticks ... He and McManus seem to be on the same page now on FGs, the Dixon has some serious hang time on his punts - which I think is a more important stat to look at than distance - there were some punts in which the Rams' returner was literally encircled with Broncos by the time the ball was caught ..

- Dekota Watson and Zaire Anderson - they are exactly what a Denver Bronco defender should be on this team ..

- McManus nailing a 50 yarder

- Kayvon Webster looked good

- Von Miller looked good

 

[cdumler7]

I remember OC wanting Aaron Donald prior to that draft like you wouldn't imagine

Props to the birthday boy


As for the game -

The Bad:

- I have some serious concerns about this offense, not simply Siemian, but the OL and the run blocking .. There wasn't a whole lot ( hole lot ? ) to be happy about until the Rams started putting in their second until ..

We start the game with two 3-and-outs, and all six plays were handoffs ..

- Virgil Green is the only NFL TE on this roster right now

- If Sambraillo and Heuerman are never going to get thru training camp, how can they be expected to play a regular season game ??

Overall, the first team offense just looks tentative and out of sync, with the exception of Sanders, who is, as always, a major asset ..... I'm concerned about the offensive struggles, the OL being overpowered and Kubiak going into "prevent a disaster" mode, being content playing a field position game

The Good:

- I like Dixon, and I hope he sticks ... He and McManus seem to be on the same page now on FGs, the Dixon has some serious hang time on his punts - which I think is a more important stat to look at than distance - there were some punts in which the Rams' returner was literally encircled with Broncos by the time the ball was caught ..

- Dekota Watson and Zaire Anderson - they are exactly what a Denver Bronco defender should be on this team ..

- McManus nailing a 50 yarder

- Kayvon Webster looked good

- Von Miller looked good

Good thoughts...Yeah I remember the draft Donald was in and people dropping him because of him being a bit undersized and all I kept thinking was this guy is just going to dominate offenses if he goes to the right system and can shoot the gap and make plays in the backfield. If he went to a Del Rio type system I don't think he would be quite the player he is since Del Rio mostly wants his DT's to take on blocks.

Right now I'm not going to worry too much about the OL and the run game considering we have so many new moving pieces that we should expect it is going to take some time for them to all gel. Yeah it will lead to some frustrations especially early on where they might have a few nice runs then get stuffed a few times in a row. I expect that to get better as the year goes on which then in turn should open up the passing game.

Just need our defense to hold up early on in the season and we could be a team cruising along by the end of the year.

 

[Duffman]

It'll be interesting to see if Siemian plays next week, normally the starters don't play in the final Preseason game but he's so inexperienced they may have him play just to get reps.

 

[cdumler7]

It'll be interesting to see if Siemian plays next week, normally the starters don't play in the final Preseason game but he's so inexperienced they may have him play just to get reps.

I doubt it. You don't want to risk injury at this point. You know he will be your starter so just get him as many snaps in practice as you can with the #1 unit and let Lynch get the entire game on Thursday to get as much experience as you can for him.

Honestly this is not completely the most ideal situation you want to find yourself in with these guys being so inexperienced and it taking until a week and a half before the season starts to figure out who your starter is. Thankfully as both of these QB's grow this year we have a team around them that should be able to keep games pretty close and give them some chances and maybe cover up even some of their mistakes.

 

[CEH]

Very bad 1st team Oline against their 1st team. 3 times failed to pick up a single yard on 3rd or 4th and less than 3. In fact lost yardage on all three plays to keep drives alive.

Only after Rams pulled their starters and Denver had 1s vs 2s did the running game look OK.
Would have been very interesting to see 1s vs 1s for 2+ qtrs and gauge if the Offense just needs time to get into the flow of the game.

And the Siemian INT was a TERRIBLE replay call as the ball hit the ground twice.

Lynch really didn't look very good on several routine throws throwing behind or above the WR from 5 yards away.

Defense looks great. Offense scores 1 TD.


Overall a pedestrian effort

Have concerns that the D will not hold up if the O does not pull its weight. These single score differential games may not go our way this year like last year or maybe they will and ppl continue to shake their heads as Denver wins again. I call them win-losses. Should have lost but wins.

 

[nflbronco]

D will need to carry team big time in the first 4 games while O gets better. I'm concerned about heat in TB and D getting worn out. Overall it was what I expected with little exp at QB.

For Clint Eastwood fans I expect Good Bad and Ugly early in 16.

 

[Orange Crush77]

One of my favorite movies

 

[58crash]

Our QB Play will be

I remember OC wanting Aaron Donald prior to that draft like you wouldn't imagine

Props to the birthday boy


As for the game -

The Bad:

- I have some serious concerns about this offense, not simply Siemian, but the OL and the run blocking .. There wasn't a whole lot ( hole lot ? ) to be happy about until the Rams started putting in their second until ..

We start the game with two 3-and-outs, and all six plays were handoffs ..

- Virgil Green is the only NFL TE on this roster right now

- If Sambraillo and Heuerman are never going to get thru training camp, how can they be expected to play a regular season game ??

Overall, the first team offense just looks tentative and out of sync, with the exception of Sanders, who is, as always, a major asset ..... I'm concerned about the offensive struggles, the OL being overpowered and Kubiak going into "prevent a disaster" mode, being content playing a field position game

The Good:

- I like Dixon, and I hope he sticks ... He and McManus seem to be on the same page now on FGs, the Dixon has some serious hang time on his punts - which I think is a more important stat to look at than distance - there were some punts in which the Rams' returner was literally encircled with Broncos by the time the ball was caught ..

- Dekota Watson and Zaire Anderson - they are exactly what a Denver Bronco defender should be on this team ..

- McManus nailing a 50 yarder

- Kayvon Webster looked good

- Von Miller looked good

are O will be way better this season OC . Our OL is already way better . Mikael S is way better If he some how starts I am fine with it . He looks Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better .

Siemian is going to play better than Oz this year . To the point we are going to very blessed next year with two Starting QB's on the team .. Draft picks I can smell them coming ..

 

[58crash]

We played a hell of a D mind last nigh .... We played bland football to keep it close ... Rams have one of the best DL in all of the NFL.

They get paid also ... we are fine.. This team will build though out the season but will be wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy better on O IMO .

 

[randymon]

I will say this....if Denver's offense can avg 18- 20 points a game and can win the time of possession battle in most games, I think the D this year will end up being one of the best all time. Think they have the attitude and deep talent to set some very prestigious records. Like fewest points allowed in a season. Just a gut feeling.