Week 6: Broncos @ Browns

[randymon]

Then I guess I put this more on the coaching staff than before. If teams are blitzing us that much then it should leave the middle of the field wide open. We need to be running more hot routes so as to get the ball out of Manning's hands in a hurry and sorry 58Crash I don't mean more Screen passes. I do think the RB screen needs to happen a bit more but not the WR screen. I mean more quick slants as both DT and Sanders have that kind of speed. That is how you counter the blitz. The WR's have to win those battles at the LOS against press man coverage.

Well you hit nail on the head,sort of. Denver IS being forced to throw short slants,etc over the middle and those plays are being well anticipated by the D`s. They are daring Manning to go deep and Denver to run. Manning is avg 6.7 yds per pass play. Worst ever since rookie year. You even posted ystrdy that Denver wrs aren't getting separation except Sanders once in awhile. Manning's success his whole career has been based almost solely on hitting his 2nd and 3rd reads because he`s had the time. That`s his forte. Take that away,especially at his age and def lack of using his legs to extend plays, is recipe for disaster. The play calls are not terrible. The O-line is. I do agree that the wrs need to man up more as well. Their getting pushed around as well as those "boys" on that line.

 

[58crash]

Interesting take and stats from Bill Polian on NFL insiders today. Polian who is a very respected former GM with Colts ( most notably ) and analyst for Insiders and very knowledgeable IMO when asked if Denvers offensive woes were due to Manning. he said " absolutely not, its the offensive line. He then read some interesting stats.... Manning has been pressured 23 % of time compared to 14% last yr. He`s been blitzed 41% this yr compared to 28% last yr. Here`s a very telling stat by espn stats expert Doug Klaus ( not sure of spelling ) that shows the Denver O-line has the least amount of movement ( push from scrimmage ) than any of the top teams in the NFL. Pretty obvious to me that it is the main prob and others as well but many are putting blame on Manning and Rbs which I think is not warranted.

I hjate to say bad things about our OL Coach ..I will anyways he is not a OL coach ! he sucked the last time we had him as the OL Coach ...Elway needs to realize this ! We need real OL coaches .. I( do like him as a TE or QB coach just fine ... look at how great our DL is playing! I get why Elway thought we could get away with this Dennison ! but I am sorry it did not work out ! You need to be a great Coach for OL and DL that is all there is to it !

 

[Mingo]

It will all come together my brothers - have faith.

 

[CEH]

It will all come together my brothers - have faith.

Hope so because right now defenses know exactly how to defense Manning.

 

[Mingo]

Hope so because right now defenses know exactly how to defense Manning.

The football version of Rope-A-Dope Chris.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Ware, Sambrailo officially ruled out for Sunday.

 

[nflbronco]

Biggest concern about this game is 11 am start.

 

[randymon]

I hjate to say bad things about our OL Coach ..I will anyways he is not a OL coach ! he sucked the last time we had him as the OL Coach ...Elway needs to realize this ! We need real OL coaches .. I( do like him as a TE or QB coach just fine ... look at how great our DL is playing! I get why Elway thought we could get away with this Dennison ! but I am sorry it did not work out ! You need to be a great Coach for OL and DL that is all there is to it !

There a very good chance Dennison is not the man for the job. There's also the case that this line is not talented enough to be coachable also. Hope something comes together in near future.

 

[Broncosr0k]

There a very good chance Dennison is not the man for the job. There's also the case that this line is not talented enough to be coachable also. Hope something comes together in near future.

Maybe. I do think that this line has not had enough time to build together on top of being raw (new guy).

Harris - limited in talent department
Vasquez - pretty good talent, system has changed on him
Paradis - Riding pine last year, new to starting NFL, system change
Mathis - brand new to team, system, and coming off injury if I remember
Sambrailo - rookie, new to system, injured

Polumbus - limited talent

I think there is a lot here affecting the offensive line. If they get better as the year goes on we will know it is just a gelling thing. If they struggle we can begin to pinpoint talent and coaching.

Either way, there is not a lot the team can do about it now. We can scheme a little more in hopes that fixes some shortcomings or we can maybe break the bank trying to find some better pieces but those options are going to carry a lot of costs.

 

[randymon]

Good comments BroncosrOk. There is a lot of truth to the fact that lineman coming out of college are lacking a great deal of technique coming into the NFL and now because of the new CBA rules, these guys are just not getting the time to develop.Unfortunately especially in Denver they've been thrown to the wolves before that happens. All teams are in the same position now and it's the ones who have the better talent to begin with ( and coaching ) that are going to learn faster and contribute sooner. Not sure where Denver falls but at least at this point,the majority of them need the extra time and coaching for them to progress. I don't see the raw talent in these guys so could be a rough go this year for them. IDK? Hope they figure some out before reg season ends.

 

[cdumler7]

Alright so watched now 3 of the games for the Browns...Here is what I have seen.

Defensively for the Browns the strength of the team is the defensive backfield. With Joe Haden out though I do wonder how that changes things. The front 7 in my opinion is the worst we have played up to this point. They are slow. They have very little pass rush and end up having to blitz to get to the QB. Against the run they are not that great at fighting through blocks. Our offense definitely has a chance to get going in this one. They are also very inconsistent tackling wise.

How I would attack them would be the left side of the DL and run our inside zone plays with a couple of stretch plays thrown in at opportune moments. I would also put Sanders in the slot and let him work more over the middle as I think he could have a huge game doing just that.

Offensively the Browns have a great OL. I mean this is probably the best OL we will play all year type of OL. At least when it comes to pass blocking. Run blocking they are a little more shaky. McCown honestly I am left unimpressed. He is very streaky and can make some really dumb decisions. They do have some speedy receivers though that can pick up some big chunk yards. That is why his numbers get inflated as that deep ball is something he does on a very regular basis. They also throw it a ton since the run game doesn't do a whole lot. Our blitzers are going to have some major opportunities and our corners to make some plays. I see a couple of interception opportunities. Beyond the deep ball they probably run more WR screens than we do. They do not like the intermediate passes. Almost everything seems to be the quick within 5 yard pass or the over 20 yard pass. I think honestly if we play a bunch of press man or short off man coverage with 2 deep Safety play over the top we should do well against this offense. I also honestly don't blitz a ton in this game. This OL does a great job of picking up the blitz which allows for the big plays down the field since they have time to let them develop. I stick with creative 4 man pressure in this one with some timely blitzes here and there.

 

[randymon]

What a difference a year makes . If this was last yr we wouldn't even be concerned or sizing up Cleveland. We knew we would be able to run the ball and Manning and the passing game would wreck havoc on them. The D even though not as awesome as they are now, would be licking their chops with McCown back there. Now because of the offensive struggles, they're worthy of concern. Funny and sad. With this D and an offense like last year, we'd already be talking about Denver's opponent after bye week.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Patience. We improve the OL play and the offense should improve. Plus, now the Patriots have to deal with the #1 QB curse, and not us.

 

[CEH]

Alright so watched now 3 of the games for the Browns...Here is what I have seen.

Defensively for the Browns the strength of the team is the defensive backfield. With Joe Haden out though I do wonder how that changes things. The front 7 in my opinion is the worst we have played up to this point. They are slow. They have very little pass rush and end up having to blitz to get to the QB. Against the run they are not that great at fighting through blocks. Our offense definitely has a chance to get going in this one. They are also very inconsistent tackling wise.

How I would attack them would be the left side of the DL and run our inside zone plays with a couple of stretch plays thrown in at opportune moments. I would also put Sanders in the slot and let him work more over the middle as I think he could have a huge game doing just that.

Offensively the Browns have a great OL. I mean this is probably the best OL we will play all year type of OL. At least when it comes to pass blocking. Run blocking they are a little more shaky. McCown honestly I am left unimpressed. He is very streaky and can make some really dumb decisions. They do have some speedy receivers though that can pick up some big chunk yards. That is why his numbers get inflated as that deep ball is something he does on a very regular basis. They also throw it a ton since the run game doesn't do a whole lot. Our blitzers are going to have some major opportunities and our corners to make some plays. I see a couple of interception opportunities. Beyond the deep ball they probably run more WR screens than we do. They do not like the intermediate passes. Almost everything seems to be the quick within 5 yard pass or the over 20 yard pass. I think honestly if we play a bunch of press man or short off man coverage with 2 deep Safety play over the top we should do well against this offense. I also honestly don't blitz a ton in this game. This OL does a great job of picking up the blitz which allows for the big plays down the field since they have time to let them develop. I stick with creative 4 man pressure in this one with some timely blitzes here and there.

I'd love to see Denver commit and stay with the run but will not hold my breath.

 

[Mingo]

I'd love to see Denver commit and stay with the run but will not hold my breath.

On this we agree 100% - you can't get your run game going if you don't call running plays.

 

[iknowftbll]

What a difference a year makes . If this was last yr we wouldn't even be concerned or sizing up Cleveland. We knew we would be able to run the ball and Manning and the passing game would wreck havoc on them. The D even though not as awesome as they are now, would be licking their chops with McCown back there. Now because of the offensive struggles, they're worthy of concern. Funny and sad. With this D and an offense like last year, we'd already be talking about Denver's opponent after bye week.

Cleveland's offense has been pretty good though. Their passing game, at least. This will be a good test for our defense because they have a good O-line and McCown has been slinging it. They've put up some points too. I am looking forward to this one. The Browns are not a pushover by any means.

 

[Mingo]

If there is a trap game for these Broncos - this is a good test. The rest of their division is off to poor starts - out of town game - johnny football circus - early start - supposedly a mediocre opponent. This is a good test to see if John Elway is going to get his "scratch and claw" emotional pitch - throughout the entire season and playoffs. This is one of the reasons why Kubiak rests his veteran players and reps his newer players. There are lots of things to watch for in this game.

 

[WalkerBoh]

Cleveland's offense has been pretty good though. Their passing game, at least. This will be a good test for our defense because they have a good O-line and McCown has been slinging it. They've put up some points too. I am looking forward to this one. The Browns are not a pushover by any means.

Cleveland is ranked 30th overall in sacks allowed and 29th in QB hits allowed. So their pass protection up to now has been rather lacking. This is something we can take advantage of.

 

[iknowftbll]

Cleveland is ranked 30th overall in sacks allowed and 29th in QB hits allowed. So their pass protection up to now has been rather lacking. This is something we can take advantage of.

I like our corners on their receivers too. McCown is having a good year but he's by no means a QB this secondary fears.

Offensively I really am hoping to see the ground game get it going. The Browns defense is giving it up on the ground and even though they've scored 30PPG the last two weeks, they've also allowed 30PPG in that same two games. This is an opportunity to get it rolling.

I picked a score of 26-16 on the score thread. I think it's a realistic prediction given the way the offense has struggled. I'd consider it a successful game if the offense doesn't turn the ball over, Manning passes for ~250 and a pair of TDs, and the Broncos run it for ~125-150 and a TD. That would be 21 points. The other five are a FG and a safety. I think the defense adds a safety this week. Just a guess.

 

[cdumler7]

Cleveland is ranked 30th overall in sacks allowed and 29th in QB hits allowed. So their pass protection up to now has been rather lacking. This is something we can take advantage of.

I think this number is a bit misleading. It is not so much the protection that is lacking. I would say it is more Cleveland relies a lot on the deep ball being a part of their offense. They are willing to take the sack in the hopes of getting the big play. I actually would say their OL has been great. They are in the top-3 in least amount of pressure actually on the QB this season. The problem is when they do give up pressure it usually results in a sack because they are waiting for the play to develop. AT least this is what I saw when watching their games earlier this week.