A system that could be applicable NOW

With the admissions of DJ and Champ that have come to light since the NE meltdown, many members of MHR, Hoosier in particular, have discussed the lack of a recognizable system and identity for our beloved Broncos.

The reasons for this lack of identity can be speculated and hypothesized until we all turn blue in the face but quite frankly I don't think we will ever know for sure because we are not inside the franchise. We are not at the meetings. We don't all play catch in Cutler's backyard.

So instead of going back and forth about why this apparent system meltdown has occurred, let's get into something we can discuss; 

What system can Denver run NOW?

Let's look at the Offense this time around and the defense next week

Offense through 7 weeks:

In the first 3 games of the season Denver came out swinging for the fences. They're offense was so dynamic people started talking about the second coming of the Joe Montana 49ers days. Denver's pass attack was so frighteningly talented that teams were forced to concern themselves solely on that aspect. As a result Denver was able to run at-will producing the NFLs highest YPA average on the ground. Why was this?

Denver came out throwing A LOT! Of course it worked well. Besides the fact that we have a talented QB and receivers, WHO WOULD THINK DENVER WOULD BE A PASS FIRST TEAM!? Of course it worked. When you think of Denver, you think of running. No where else in the NFL is the sentiment "My grandmother could get 1,000 yards behind that line" more applicable then Broncoland. So when we come out gunning, defenses are caught off guard. By the time they figure it out, we're up by 3 scores.

But after week 3 teams took a different approach. They started running a conservative cover 2 on us, forcing Cutler to throttle back his attack and take the dink and dunk throws. This stole much of Denver's offensive momentum. We were still a really good offense, but the 40+ point games were gone. Add in injuries and turnovers and all of a sudden the rocket ship that was our offense now appears to be sitting on the launch deck, waiting for the clouds to pass.

So what now?

Many here among us, again HT in particular, have noted the lack of a solid running game. HT and others have made the point multiple times that a solid running game would help to solidify the offense, set up the passing game, and give the defense a chance to breathe.

I think Hoosier (and others) is correct. 3 years ago we had a dominant 13-3 team with an offense that carried us (along with solid defensive play) to the AFC championship (where hippy-boy layed an egg).

That offense was run on a well-run stretch / zone block running game led by a <strong>RB TANDEM</strong> of Anderson and Bell who ran for 1,014 yards and 921 yards respectively. This stretch running game was then further utilized by the play action bootleg where a mobile QB in Hippy-Boy could get out of the pocket, find the open receiver or run it (or throw an INT, depending on which Plummer decided to show up that week). That offensive scheme worked extraordinarily well. By the end of the 2005 regular season Denver was averaging a whopping 360.4 Yards per game (5th in the NFL). They key to this system was confusion and efficient application. Denver has long prefered smaller, faster OLmen to run their zone block running game. Now add in the stretch and the defensive front 7 are at an extreme disadvantage. Now once you get that running game humming and defences are caught in the run-stop, start throwing in play action bootlegs. Get the defense going one way then have the QB run the other. The defences front 7 have over committed to the stretch and are out of position. The defences' backfield bit on the play action and are out of position. So now your QB is away from pressure and receivers are open. Worse case scenario the DBs didn't bite and your receivers are covered? No problem! The QB tucks it in and runs for 6-12 yards. Genius!

Now let's compare the cast of 2005 that ran that offense with the cast of 2008 and imagine the differences if were able to succesfully go back to that system.

QB - In 2005 the Broncos were headed by a gunslinging, 4th quarter comeback type in Plummer. Plummer had a reputation for big plays and big mistakes. In 2008 we are headed by a gunslinging, start out white hot and stay white hot type in Cutler. Cutler is creating a reputation for Huge plays and some mistakes. Plummer was below average in the pocket and great out of the pocket and on the run. Cutler is good-to-borderline-exceptional in the pocket and extraordinary out of the pocket and on the run. Can you even imagine cutler running the offense of 2005 with defences running around confused and Cutler running around burning holes in the secondary?

Advantage? Duh- not hippy-boy

RB - In 05 the guys in the backfield were Anderson and Bell. If you will recall 2005 was when the general NFL buzz started talking more and more about the advantage of a solid 1-2 punch tyoe of RB tandem, as opposed to the single play-maker type,  and much of that discussion was sparked by the Denver backfield who ended the regular season just 79 yards shy (Bell) of being one of only 2 or 3 teams in NFL history to have two 1,000 yard rushers in a single season. They were a solid match with Anderson being the bruising between the tackle runner who could also break a few big ones and Bell who was a quick, slash and dash style change up. You almost felt sorry for the defensive coordinators scheming against these two guys. In 2008 we see the same consensus style of running back stable, albeit less defined. In pittman we find an aged counterpart to Anderson's role, a strong, smash-mouth, between the tackles type with outstanding second effort. And the similarities between Young and Bell are almost eerie. Both were taller, underweight, slim slash and dash style runners with great speed. Bell fumbled more then Young. Young is hurt more then Bell. The main differences here being that the Pittman-Young duo has not been utilized due to depth chart issues (Pittman was not considered a true starter type until the Jax game) and Injury issues. Also enter the Torain factor who is an unknown coming off a broken arm who should see playing time after the bye. Personally I won't say much on Torain because I have never seen anything from him and all this "Torain will save the season!" hype has put me in a "show me something first" frame of mind.

Advantage? Anderson / Bell* (Note the asterick. I think that if Young can get healthy and Torain can live up to half the hype then the 2008 squad gets the nod here. But I don't go on if's)

OL- 2005 starters; LT Lepsis, LG Hamilton, C Nalen, RG Myers/Carlisle RT Foster. 2008 Starters; LT Clady, LG Hamilton, C Weigman (sp) RG Kuper, RT Harris.  Now, you WILL NOT hear me say that the rookie Ryan Clady is better now then the 2005, tail-end-of-his-prime Lepsis. Ask me again in a year or two. What I will say is that overall I like our OL now better then that of 05. The same outstanding LG, a C who has suprised us all in being just an ever-so-slight drop from Nalen (which is saying A LOT), a significant upgrade in RG and a possibly over-performing  RT as opposed to the old under-acheiver that was eventually sent packing to Detroit. I think over all the 2008 OL is slightly better then the 2005 OL if for no other reason then Clady's solid performance and an upgraded right side. My only question would be how capable would this young, inexperienced OL be in picking up the stretch / zone scheme run so well in 2005? We know the guys now are doing a great job running the spread / zone scheme which is a little less mobile of a system. A little less complex. But if they could pick it up, can you imagine the possibilities?

Advantage? The current crew by a hair (when you take into consideration the overall higher skill of the current squad contrasted by their lack of repetional exposure to the stretch / zone that the 2005 crew did day in and day out)

WR / TE: All I can say is WOW. What a difference 3 years makes. 2005 will be remembered, at least in part, as the year of the under-performing WR. With the exception of Rod Smith, every other WR was shown the door not long after 2005 came to a close. Lelie, potentially one of the biggest draft dissapointments in recent bronco history, led the NFL in Yards per catch. Why then, you may ask, was he a dissapointment? Because the deep route was the ONLY thing he could do. Nobody could explain his dissapearance in anything other then the deep route. He couldn't catch the ball if he wasn't in full sprint with nobody between him and the end zone. He has since gone to that big home in the NFL where all underacheivers go to retire, Oakland. Behind him was Darius "Dont-hand-me-your-baby-cause-I'll-drop-it" Watts. He was lightning fast. Amazingly fast! One of the quickest guys on the field. He couldn't catch a loaf of bread if you handed it to him. Behind him? David Terrell, perennial under-performer from the big Chi, Charlie Adams (a larger, slower version of Watts) and Todd Devoe (who? exactly). On the TE side we had Mr. Tackling Dummy, Jeb Putzier (My god did that guy get laid out a lot! But he sure did have heart.) followed closely by Mr. Im-a-national-television-commercial-star-although-I've-never-done-anything-on-the-field-of-any-importance, Stephen Alexander. Then there's Wesley Duke, the failed Antonio Gates wanna be (I will say that in Madden 06 my Wesley Duke was an absolute STUD! Shame He couldn't hit the triangle button enough in real life) and Mike Leach, who will never take an NFL snap on anything other then 4th down EVER because he is the NFL's best long-snapper.

I don't even need to go into the current roster. We all know who we have at WR/TE. Now, can you imagine 2005's offense with 2008's WR/TE roster!?!?!? W O W.....

Advantage? WOOOWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!

Now, having said all of this, you may say "But ECB, other then turnovers, the offense isn't the problem! It's those bums on Defence!" And to you, my friend, I say "Eehhh, kinda. Kinda not" Yes, the defense has many problems (which many have gotten into and I will get into when I continue this post next week) but let me ask you this: Imagine what our Defense would look like if you gave us back say even half of the TOs our offense has produced? Denver is currently second worst in the NFL in TurnOver Differential. (Both us and the Texans are at -9 but Houston has played 1 less game so they get first place) What would our defense look like if our offense wasn't ranked 25th in the NFL in average Time-Of-Possession Per Game? What would our defense look like if our offense's running game was able to pound out the last half of a game and demoralize the opponent while eating up the clock? What kind of confidence would our defense have if they knew that once we captured a lead in the game, our offense would go out there and successfully grind it out? So while I agree the defense needs a major overhaul, the offense is entitled to it's fair share of the blame.

It seems to me if we could take this amazing 2008 offensive squad and get them running that stretch / zone scheme that has worked so well for so long before, a lot of the problems that our team faces would suddenly dissappear.

But that's just my take. What's yours?