The Denver defense and offense is coming full circle - they are finally accomplishing the things that most of us predicted they would after the bye week.  I took the liberty of crunching some numbers and posting them and will provide my opinion on their breakdown because commentators are useless.  Unless they have their media guides in front of them and have their month old talking point, the commentators are about useless.  To be honest, I'm tired of hearing about the horrible, horrific, terrible, ugly, and terrible defense that Denver has; when in fact there has been a vast improvement in the last 3 games.

There are a couple things that I have noticed - the most obvious of which is turnovers.  Denver has not won a game in which it lost the turnover battle by more than 2.  In fact, the only game we won where we had a negative turnover ratio was the New Orleans game and that was a squeaker.  Does this mean that Jay Cutler has to protect the ball more?  Sure.  But it also means that the defense has to force turnovers whether it be fumbles or interceptions.  We already know why we haven't been able to come up with interceptions this year (only 4) and that is due to our inability to stop the run; however we need to be able to come up with more fumble recoveries and stripping the ball.  Whether this involves sacking the QB more and going for strips or swarming to a running back and stripping the ball - it needs to happen more.

On the turnover issue, we had a turnover differential of -9 in the first half of the season; since the bye week we have a -1 turnover ratio.  Granted we have only played 3 games since the bye week and do not have a large sampling but it does look a lot better than the first half of the season.

The defense has been pretty rough this year but rightfully so.  We all knew that defense was going to be an issue for the Broncos in the offseason - the only difference is that we are experiencing it now.  It's very similar to the bailout our economy is facing now - many people say "Screw 'em; they shouldn't be bailed out" and while I am also in this school of thought, it's a lot easier to say that when it's not affecting you.  We knew the defense would be bad this year with no big splashes in free agency or the draft taken but when you see our defense giving up 408 yards per game it's a little different.  However, we came out of the bye week much improved giving up 371 yards per game.

Our rush defense has been our Achilles Heel this year.  In the first 7 weeks before the bye we gave up an average 155 rushing yards per game - ouch!  So far after the bye we have only given up 115 rushing yards per game which is vastly improved.  Surprisingly, our passing offense has not degraded much with the loss of Champ Bailey.  Before the bye with Champ, opposing offenses threw against us for an average of 254 yards per game; without Champ we are averaging 256 passing yards per game.  Granted neither of these numbers are very good but not as bad as many doomsayers were saying it would be.

Finally we get to the basic explanation of it all - making chicken salad out of chicken !@#$.  I think our defense is awesome and here is how I justify this.  The top three defenses in the league are the Steelers (237.6 ypg), the Giants (265.8 ypg), and the Ravens (267.9 ypg).  Now let's look at what each of these teams has invested in their defenses: 

• The Pittsburgh Steelers have 5 first day draft picks invested in their defensive starters with an average 7 years of experience per player.
• The New York Giants have an average 6years of experience amongst their defensive starters and have 5 first day draft picks invested in their defensive starters.
• The Baltimore Ravens have an average 7 years of experience amongst their defensive starters with 6 first day draft picks spent.

Compare these numbers to the defense that Denver started last week at Atlanta:  Denver fielded a starting defense that had an average experience of 4 years experience and 3 first day draft picks.  While the differences in the statistics do not seem that much different, the difference between 7 years of experience and 4 is huge as is the lack of 3 other first day picks.  Also, Denver only had 1 first round pick starting on defense, Ebenezer Ekuban.  None of the top three defenses have rookies starting for them and throw in the Denver had Larsen (the Stormin' Mormon) and Wesley Woodyard starting and Josh Bell playing considerably. 

Like many of you all predicted the defense is playing better football in the second half.  The long runs seem to be disappearing, sure tackles are being made, and the defense is not over pursuing as much.  Throw in the fact that it looks like we picked up some good defensive players in the offseason and things are starting to turn around defensively.

Spencer Larsen played well on Sunday; while he did or does nothing great, he seemed to do everything well.  I saw him directing players around pre-snap, he kept his head up when shedding blocks and not committing to a lane until the runner did, and he always seemed to be around the ball.  I would like to see him get as many reps at MLB as possible and lose his FB responsibilities.  I was never really impressed with his lead blocking skills (only average) or receiving skills (below average).  A couple MHR faithful have been clamoring for him to be the starter at MLB but I'd like to see how he does throughout the season - I definitely think he earned some playing time.

Wesley Woodyard seems to be a beast and is sneaky fast.  I watched him on a couple plays, specifically on a run to the outside, and he got there in a hurry forcing the ball carrier out of bounds around the line of scrimmage.  I think Woodyard's problem will be finding him a place on the defense.  He seems perfect for a WLB and if we did not have DJ Williams I think he would be the starter.  But I don't think he would be a good MLB and I'm not too sure about him on the Strong Side.  What if Woodyard slimmed down and moved to Strong Safety?  That may be interesting.  I think he would have excellent range and would be a pretty big hitter for Safety while maybe not as much for LB.

I've been pleasantly surprised with what I've seen with Josh Bell so far as well.  Granted I don't think he would be anything more than a nickel back when we have our starters healthy but he did well for what he had to work with on Sunday.

Basically, our team is finding ways to win right now with 2 good ones on the road.  The defense is stopping teams when they need too - granted the two last minute drives tried against them were led by rookies (one actual, one essentially), but our defense fielded a bunch of rookies too.   Pretty soon these commentators will start to play catch up and talk about the improved Denver defense.  Again, they will always be one step behind us as we predicted the defense would play better the second half of the season and now they are.