FanPost

Calling Spades: Week Two

One thing I like about this site is that it allows you to be critical without calling your fandom into question.  Most of us aren't critics for criticism's sake, and we are more than willing to give credit when credit is due, or even admit when we misrepresented a player (as I will do later here).  It's nice that most of the frequent posters here are fans but not sell-out homers, fans who will root for their team but not make excuses for them.  To this, I credit not only the smaller size of this community, but also the level of perception and understanding of the game that you see here.  If only other well traveled boards could take such an attitude, and it is those boards that I've used to fuel some of my points for this week's addition of blunt observations.

-In the future, Al Wilson should just shut up and play.

If you're going to call out the top active runner in football, make sure your game steps up to your mouth.  For a player that missed as many tackles as he made, Wilson was in no position to make the comments that he did regarding Johnson.  I'm still a big Wilson fan, and consider him a top three linebacker, but he had a big hand in the struggles of the run defense today.  Too many attempted kill shots and not enough fundamental tackling.

-The raw individual numbers might not be there, but the run game is still fine.  

Keep in mind that Kansas City was effective in slowing Rudy Johnson last week, so today's effort from the Bell's was satisfactory, especially when you consider that the Broncos' rushing numbers were almost identical to Kansas City's, and many fans feel that our run defense was absolutely picked apart.  Making matters tough for the running game was how predictable it was early.  Shanahan and co. get credit for some innovative and gutsy calls in the running game to give the offense the tiny spark it needed.  If the passing game will ever come around, I think we'll start to see big things from these backs.

-Blocking was improved this week (Tamba who?)

The running lanes weren't overwhelming, but they were enough against a front that often included eight or nine defenders.  No sacks were allowed, but Jake did have to escape pressure on occasion, however, he wasn't running anymore than he would in any other game, and most pressures came on our sloppy screen plays.  Hali had four tackles, but was not an impact player for the second week in a row, so why do we still have to see him featured every week?  I was an outspoken critic of drafting an "effort" guy like Hali last season on BM, and he did little today to convince me that he can be more than an average playmaker.

-Defense was frustrating at first, but really came on in the second half.

It's still a bend-don't-break style, but one done with good athletes and active corners that give receivers little room to run after the catch.  Johnson got his touches, his yards, but not his signature big plays, and Denver waited for Kansas City to make mistakes.  It's a frustrating concept to watch, but one that ends up being pretty effective.  Myers, Lang, and Gold were the most consistent performers today.

-Despite my distrust in his total ability, Chuckwurah had a big game today.

Making cameos on third down, Chucky outplayed several of his every-down counterparts, and really gave Turley fits, keeping separation to bat down passes, or drive low, hard, and fast on a bull rush to Huard.  He's not my first choice for nickel rusher, because I'm still not sold on his fluidity and pass rushing skills, but his edge/bull rush was pretty effective today, and he's redeemed himself for last week's special teams gaffe.

-This defense misses Courtney Brown.

As readers of FP will tell you, Denver's run defense was at its best when teams attacked Brown's side of the line.  He may not be a great pass rusher, but Brown rarely gets knocked back and almost always re-directs runs inside or makes the play on his own.  Ekuban and Lang both struggled on the left side in running plays, sometimes in single blocks by TE Dunn.  It also didn't help that Warren wasn't sure if he wanted to play hard every down, and when he doesn't command a double team, it puts pressure on the undersized Myers and whichever end is manning the left side in Brown's stead.

-At this rate, the quarterback controversy will be in full swing during the bye week.  

I initially thought Plummer's performance was just bad, but looking back on several plays today, he was quite awful once again, and while you shouldn't single out individual players in a team game like football, Plummer's struggles weigh so heavily into the struggles of the offense.  The review of the missed touchdown pass to Scheffler in the one on one end zone situation showed that the pass was pretty bad, and probably wouldn't have been caught if Tony was able to get a better jump, because of how far over his head and behind him.  The biggest problem was that Bell was totally clueless and would have no play on Scheffler, so why put that ball so far out of reach?    

What really got me today was that the offense looked as if it had little confidence in its passing game.  To many short, safe passes that had little impact, running in passing downs, etc.  The pick thrown was once again an unforced error and should little awareness of downfield defenders.  His size and release also were a factor today, as too many balls were batted down or floated downfield.

I've seen the complaints that receivers weren't open, but I don't agree with them.  Part of the problem is that Jake has poor velocity on balls thrown downfield in the pocket.  Any cushion created is closed when a ball floats or waddles to the target area.  Teams can live with poor velocity or floating passes if the accuracy and timing is good, but how many balls did we see go behind or too far in front of receivers today?  

Finally, I'll say it again, why use the "rookie quarterback" excuse when you have a veteran that performs like a rookie?  It isn't Cutler time yet, but a bye week loss and another 50's or below QB rating, and it will be time to see if the hot shot rookie can translate his pre-season to the regular season.  More Broncos fans need to stop with the excuses, the team can't succeed with the current version of Plummer.

-The receiving core received a scare today, but they're in luck for the future.

The last point is a prelude to this week's draft observations, where we start to see how deep the receiver position really is in the college game right now.  As many as ten receivers could get first round grades, depending on how thinks shake out in the coming weeks.

This is a Fan-Created Comment on MileHighReport.com. The opinion here is not necessarily shared by the editorial staff of MHR.