USA Today on Broncos Defense

[Morpheus]

Usually don't care for the articles on Sports in USA today, they are fluffy and not very insightful.

But they do put forth the notion that the Broncos will finally have their full starting defense on the field this Sunday Night and should be much better, especially with Miller in the lineup.

Broncos defense finally whole


It's almost as if they interviewed some of the posters on this board, the points are very similar to what a lot of us have said the last 2 weeks.

 

[cdumler7]

So excited to see what this defense can do with the full arsenal on display. I think this defensive unit should be about hitting its stride right after the bye week which is perfect with 3 out of 4 of those games being divisional games and the other being New England.

 

[xBxtxDx]

This is possibly the worst statement in the article:

But Miller's return is the one that could matter most for a team that has not been able to generate a consistent pass rush, with 17 sacks, through the first six games. The Broncos are ranked last in the NFL in pass defense.

What they do not mention is that those 17 sacks are currently tied for ninth in the league along with our opponent Indianapolis. Yes, the pass rush is down this year with Von being gone, but really? 3 out of the 6 QB's we have faced are in the top 10 most mobile QB's in the league and we are facing another one Monday night. Yes, we have been stymied at times, but I am willing to bet over half of the league would probably love to be in the position we are in with our pass rush. That is just lazy journalism.

 

[WalkerBoh]

This is possibly the worst statement in the article:



What they do not mention is that those 17 sacks are currently tied for ninth in the league along with our opponent Indianapolis. Yes, the pass rush is down this year with Von being gone, but really? 3 out of the 6 QB's we have faced are in the top 10 most mobile QB's in the league and we are facing another one Monday night. Yes, we have been stymied at times, but I am willing to bet over half of the league would probably love to be in the position we are in with our pass rush. That is just lazy journalism.

Ironically, it's mobile qb's that tend to get sacked more often, on average. Fairly well documented phenomenon.

 

[xBxtxDx]

Ironically, it's mobile qb's that tend to get sacked more often, on average. Fairly well documented phenomenon.

Interesting and you are right as currently we have 10 sacks against more mobile QB's and 7 against pocket passers. Huh, learned something new.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Interesting and you are right as currently we have 10 sacks against more mobile QB's and 7 against pocket passers. Huh, learned something new.

Here's a link to a good summary of this if you're interested:

http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/24-01-923.pdf

 

[xBxtxDx]

Here's a link to a good summary of this if you're interested:

http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/24-01-923.pdf

Very interesting and informative, thank you.

 

[randymon]

From what I`am hearing, Woody and Ayers are still iffy and Phillips was light practice with groin. So.....they just might not be FULL strength this Sun.

 

[cdumler7]

Woodyard has said that he will play for sure. Phillips I am pretty sure has said the same thing. Ayers is the only one I haven't heard speak up about what he will be doing. I think the whole them being limited at practice is more to make sure they don't take more hits than they have to during the week so that they can be ready for Sunday.

 

[depraved]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

 

[cdumler7]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

I understand your thoughts but disagree with many of them. You can claim to be an objective outsider giving their perspective but at the same time it also means you haven't watched as much Bronco football as probably almost all of us have.

First your thoughts on Champ are about as far off as can be. Champ last year graded out as the 7th best Corner in the NFL only giving up 1 touchdown all season until the playoffs. He also had one of the lower completion percentages against him in the entire NFL and that was with going against #1 receivers all season mostly on an island. Now yes he is another year older but my guess is with DRC on the other side Champ will receive a little more help this season than in past seasons so it should help him to have a good season.

Second you could be right at this is a mediocre defense but when you consider this defense has played a great deal already without Champ, Von, Woodyard, and Ayers now they have held together pretty well. They have given up a ton of yards but other than the Cowboys game have actually held teams in check until garbage time. Von's return should be huge as he is one of the 3 best Defensive players in the NFL and changes the whole way the Broncos play defense. They have played a ton of zone this year to limit the big play a little more since they knew the pressure up front would be inconsistent. Last year with Von they played a lot more press man which is what I am guessing they go back to and what most of the players are more familiar with and enjoy playing. This defense was ranked top 3 in almost every defensive category last year and the only player that hasn't returned that made a significant impact was Dumervil who has been replaced by Phillips who has more sacks on the year already. DRC was added as well as Ihenacho to the safety core. Throw in Knighton to add a big body up the middle which has this defense ranked #2 against the run and that is not just in yards per game.

I do agree this team cannot rely on Peyton to just outscore every team as they get to the playoffs they will need the defense to step up. Now that they are starting to get healthy I guess we shall see what kind of defense they really are. Like I said last year they were ranked I think 3rd in the NFL in defense and they have added a lot of pieces plus being 2nd year under the same Defensive Coordinator should help to see this defense get back to being a top 10 defense at least.

 

[WalkerBoh]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

This is a lazy comparison at best. You DO realize the ONLY thing in common with the Broncos and the Colts is Manning, right? Otherwise, you have different coaches, different GM/VP and they have different ways of doing things and different philosophies on how to build a team.

Maybe take a much longer look at what Denver has done and is trying to do on defense and then come back to discuss. Will make for a more informative discussion, and a better response.

 

[Broncosr0k]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

I don't pay much attention to the texans but they are nothing special. They're offense is abysmal. Foster is having a quiet year. Andre Johnson is terrible, obviously injuries are wearing on him. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Word of advice, if you don't know much about the topic being discussed, stay out of the discussion. This applies to more than just football and I am not trying to be a homer about this. I mean you start off with "I don't pay much attention to the broncos..." and then go in-depth about what is wrong with this team.

In comparing the current broncos with Manning colts you missed that the broncos have as good or better running offense, better special teams, better run defense, better receiving corp compared to the past few years with the colts. So it comes down to pass defense, the same one missing its leading pass-rusher, the same one that has seen several injuries and we now have everyone back. If the colts shred the defense for a lot of points, not just yards, then I think the defense is probably going to be a big question mark all year.

It is amazing that the defense gets blown up at Dallas, playing with half the starters missing, and now we have issues. Then all the people that have not watched Denver all year watch them against the Jags and see the jags put up 300+ yards and believe the defense is in trouble. I guess they ignored the fact that the broncos gave up only 13 points on defense.

 

[Morpheus]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah.

Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah.

 

[KwitYerWhinin]

Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah.

Blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah-blah blah-blah. Blah blah blah.

lol...thats similar to what I read too.

 

[iknowftbll]

I don't pay much attention to the Bronco's and I know they are slowly getting healthy but I don't see them as anything spectacular. Everyone mentions wait until Bailey gets back, he's just another year older and after last years playoffs I wouldn't bet the world that he's going to make that big of a difference. Miller coming back will make the biggest difference. However, having lived in Indiana for the whole Peyton Manning era, I can say this looks like all of his teams that were always lighting up the scoreboard. Excellent Offense and only a so-so to awful Defense. I always heard it from Colts fans "well we will just put more point up than the other team even if it is a shootout, we will win because we have Manning." I have heard it many times, so I would be cautiously optimistic about the new and improved healthy defense. In Indiana for many years it was wait until Bob Sanders gets back and gets healthy just wait, just wait our defense will be awesome. It happened once during their SB run. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but just trying to look at it from an objective perspective that the Bronco's can be stopped and I only see an average defense moving forward.

Walker called this a lazy analysis and I agree. It's an oversimplification of the Colts teams under Manning and even the explanations fans gave for what to expect when the defense got healthy.

First off, as a unit this group of WRs, TEs, and RBs who can catch out of the backfield is BETTER than anything Manning ever had in Indy. The biggest amount of criticism against Manning's Colts teams is that they were all finesse. These Broncos are far from that and any defender that has gotten run over by one of the Thomas Twins or stiff armed by Decker, or stood up by Moreno while trying to rush the passer knows this. This is by far the most physical offense Manning has worked with. Ever. Welker is the closest thing to a "finesse" player as it gets in this offense. And the results are evident. The Broncos are cashing in points at a rate unmatched by any Colts team Manning ever led. In fact, they are doing so at a rate unmatched by even the 2007 Patriots, who currently hold the title as the league's highest scoring and most productive offense.

Secondly, the defense has not played a single down at full strength. If you think that missing one of the top 3 defensive players in the league is not going to make a difference...well all I can say is those years in between the Houston Oilers and the Houston Texans may have damaged your ability to look at football and recognize greatness when you see it. Miller is going to propel this defensive unit into a top 10 unit through the last 10 games of the season. Top 5 is not out of the realm of possibility.

Lastly, you have forgotten one last X factor: Special teams. The Broncos special teams are a legitimate scoring threat with Trindon Holliday. I know Texans fans should be familiar with this guy. And even when he is kept away from the end zone, he is usually good enough to trim 10-15 yards off any given Broncos offensive series. With the offense this Broncos team has, defenses need all the wiggle room they can get, and Holliday goes a long way toward undoing that, even if he doesn't score.

So it is fair to be unimpressed with the Broncos and say they are nothing spectacular. Just know that you do so in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

 

[depraved]

Just wanted to throw this out there, your defense has looked great great especially Bailey! Also I know my team is awful and I'm ok with it. I don't need a Payton Manning for me to hop back on the bandwagon!

 

[iknowftbll]

I don't need a Payton Manning for me to hop back on the bandwagon!

This implies we Broncos fans have been off the band wagon to begin with, which is a non sequitur.

 

[Malibu]

When the offense struggles can you count on the defense? Not right now so far in the Colts game.

 

[Morpheus]

When the offense struggles can you count on the defense? Not right now so far in the Colts game.

Man, you seem to just thrive on being negative.

And right after you post this, defense comes up with a fumble recovery and it's a 6 point game.

Keep posting stupid shit, we may just win.