The AFC is wide open and even playing exactly the way they are now the Broncos have as good a shot as any at getting to the SB…Clearly the goal would be to improve the defense and increase your odds at doing so. If the Defense gets to the middle to upper third of the pack in the NFL there is no team in the AFC that will be able to beat the Broncos in my opinion…how many would have guessed the Ravens, Bills, Broncos and Titans would be the division leaders at this point and if you had heard that how would you have felt about the Broncos chances come playoff time. A lot can change and it’s still very early but this team is in a good spot. I guess the next question and perhaps the tougher one to answer because it doesn’t really matter until the last game of the year is can this team with the defense it has shown through three weeks compete with some of the NFC teams that appear to have both sides of the ball in working order.

ton of topics in the article we can hit on…

I don’t argue with results…the offense has gotten results. GREAT results!!!! I’m happy.

The defense, on the other hand, has been a disaster. No excuses. However, I think there is hope…and I think this defense can play much better than they have. The more I think about it…the more I like the idea of running a 3-4 regularly. It seems to fit our personel much better than a 4-3. Hell…I would support a 5-2 or a 6-1 (if it works then put all LBs out there). Get Woodyard out there! Larsen! Winborn! Let’s get a LB rotation and bring them flying from every angle. Let’s give K2 a chance to be in there at the same time as Webster (who I think has played very well). Point is…I think we are clearly stronger and deeper at the LB position so we might as well play a system that caters to that. We need to create chaos…DEVASTAT!!! Let’s make it rain linebackers!

The most intriguing point of your entire post came at the end when you brought up a possible departure from the basic philosophy our team has adhered too for the entire tenure of the Mike Shanahan era. We were pretty wide open with the playbook at times during the waning years of the Elway era, but it always came down to pounding the ball with TD. We ran the ball to set up the big passing plays, where now it seems we are using the big pass plays to set up the run.

I also see where this change is failing our team. We are too successful throwing the ball. In the normal way of the world, our passer would complete a deep pass and we’d run the ball a few times and then we’d pass successfully and run the ball. However, we are throwing the ball successfully on nearly every drive and it’s turning into touchdowns. We end up being forced by our own success to throw the ball so much to jump out to that huge lead, then when we try to slow the play of the game down we fail because the other team knows we want to run the clock down. The result, a shootout because our defense can’t stop the pass and our offense can no longer run with authority.

I hope our offense works on the running game the next two weeks because that game against the Buccaneers is going to be a brutally physical game, no matter how much we throw the ball. We got to be able to pound the rock so to speak.

If I didnt know any better I thought I was on a site that has a team thast winless. How can a team be too good throwing the ball. MAYBE the HC is playing to his offenses strenght and the the defense he is playing that weeks weakness? Does the fact that 2 of the 3 opponents Denver has faces has been a top 10 offense the past THREE years even matter? Does anyone think that denver has changed defensive philosphy for the 2nd time in 2 years? Like it or not that does take in one offseason? How about the biggest complaint was that Denver could not stop the run last year and now they can. Let me tell ya if you want to win games by forcing the opposition to have to be able to pass is going to eventually work out to the Broncos advantage.
Complaining that they are not running enuff is ludicris. They are averaging 130+ yards per game.
Man, what is gonna happen here when they do lose a game. Will there be the sky is falling? I understand the concern on the pass rush. Remember Elvis has a broke pinky, Moss and Crowder are 2ND year players and Slo is trying different things becuz the Broncos have had at least 17 point leads in EVERY game this year. How did Denver get those leads without the Defense doing something correct? D
Do I wish Denver would win games 38-7 sure do, but it isnt gonna happen in the NFL. Comparing Denver to Indy is not fair. Indy has had a rash of injuries on the OL with no capable back up. On the NE front this team was old with their LB’s lst year and losing Samuel has made them older in the back 8. This is a young team with at leat 7 new starters on defense. Why dont we take a deep breath and see where this team is after the bye week.

While im not sure where the phrase came from or its definition, it seems like it applies here. Yes, we are winning, but we wont win if the offense has problems if we cant fix the defense. As long as we can get the defense going as a whole i think we will be just fine.

This week I learned that Mike Shanahan hasn’t really called the plays on offense for 9 years. I think we’re seeing the Bates offensive system fully supplant the Kubiak system we had during the Superbowl years (forget about Heimerdinger, that was just a mess). We talk about having the players to run a certain system, we also have to have the coaches to run a system as well. The Spread offense is as effective as any other system, but it seems that Jay needs to check down sometimes (for passing clock-killing drives). That said, I think our run game will come around a little bit more, it usually takes a few years for players to learn our ZBS, we have many new faces on the OL. If we’re still not grinding it out in the 4th quarter in game 12, then I’ll be worried.

Frankly I haven’t a clue what we’re trying to do on defense other than to not get beat by the run. I don’t think our D coaches expected to have to gameplan stopping a shootout. After last year, I think they were trying to get some fundamentals into our D so we wouldn’t get gashed on the ground again. Now they’ve got their hands full trying to change the D around to what our offense is going to give them. All 3 games our D has looked awesome in the first part of the game, where both teams are trying to establish their O. It’s only when we’ve gotten out to the big leads that our D has been breaking down. Against NO, we saw the coaches trying to switch it up, it failed, but they tried. Don’t ask me what the solution is, if I knew that, I’d be in Dove Valley getting paid….

Look, here are a couple of truths-
1/ We have played 2 HIGH POWERED offenses.
2/ Our defense performed admirably and then we dialled it and dumbed it down, played prevent (I know you said it was not but it was). With the 3 -4 look we need 2 good pass rushers from the outside, and all the Saints did was double team Doom. We started sitting on a lead instead of attacking.
3/ I feel we have the personnel to be average to above average, but VERY bad scheming has been the reason for blow outs becoming close games.
Our offense is aggressive, and that attitude needs to be held on defense as well. I would much rather have a HUGE hitter at safety that gives away the odd 15 yarder (Personal foul) than this milly mouthed contain defense that we fall back into. We have NO pass rush when playing this way, and we are as predictable as the sun comng up tomorrow morning.
I heard so much about how Slowik was aggressive and a schemer and a blitzer. So far, I could not be LESS impressed with how predictable he is.
There are maybe 4 teams out there that can match or out score us, but we can not rely upon our offense ALWAYS blowing teams out. All it will take is one game in the snow, the rain, the mud where we will be in a defensive battle and we will lose a game to someone we should not have.
I am not buying into how much better we have got against the run. Thats unproven as no one has run against us as we are always in a shoot out.
Just think the difference in the games vs San Diego and New Orleans if our defense had stopped a 3rd and long once or twice….we win those games by 14-20 points.
We need to get the defense going now! We will make the play offs but will not be a threat unless we can batten the hatches occasionally.
Great thread and comments guys!

Bates made adjustments for his defense by getting rid of some good talent. He also brought in some not so good talent that got cut. How much of that is the defense still recovering from?

That was a very good team (the Chargers) that we dominated in the first half, and eventually beat, two weeks ago. I think both the Raiders and Saints are better than the may be getting credit for, also.

And because I’ve posted the same sentiments before, I’ve rec’d boydy’s post. We’re at our best when we’re aggressive. That goes for both sides of the ball. We tank when we try to “manage the game.”

Witness Rivers going deep to V. Jackson on MNF on third down when they’re already up by three scores. That’s what I’m talking about: pile it on for 60 minutes until the final whistle blows. Playaction in short yardage; blitz when we’re ahead; dominate and stay sharp.

that they reviewed what last yera’s successful teams were doing and made some adjustments. If you recall, The Patriots came out early gunning the ball and really running up the score, with minimal focus on the running game. But when the winter and bad weather began settling in, they started to balance their game with more running. It’s possible that this is what the offensive philosophy is right now- throw while you can, keep the RBs fresh for later in the season when they will be needed even more. Also on this note, our O-line is rather inexperienced, with more of that experience in the pass protection game. This philosophy gives the O-line time to gel and gain the necessary experience needed for the zone-block-run game to be truly successful later in the season.

A for the D, your guess is as good as mine. One question I have for HT- perhaps the answer needs a seperate column???- What exactly is a run-blitz vs a standard pass rush/blitz? If the D focus right now is to stop the run, can a run-blitz scheme also keep pressure on the QB when he drops back to pass? Right now, we seem to be dropping a lot of players into zone coverage to protect against the deep pass, but at the expense of putting pressure on the QB. It seems to me that Champ and Bly are better at man coverage and can make more plays on the ball if the QB is pressured into bad/hurried throws.

it’s close enough, no? no workhorse back, the revamped o-line, and the talent at all receiving options pointed to this in the preseason. royal really has made a huge contribution to this, and bates, too. i am still pleasantly surprised at both of those. the running game i have no concerns with in this offense. “we will have that together by mid-season, then this offense will be UNSTOPPABLE”. ok, i blew that one, they already are! ahead of schedule, never mind. but we are going to need the run in bad weather games, and especially against the elite defensive teams. keep in mind s.d. was banged up in our game, and merriman was out. n.o. and oak. are average run d’s. but we are working the run in, and we will be fine. st’s have shown improvement, and so has the defensive play. as you know, it’s the 3-man thing i have a problem with, but i’ll keep this comment positive. cutler’s passing is a thing of beauty, did you see him threading the needle repeatedly? his receivers were covered well, but it doesn’t matter. if torain can contribute this season, there is no d that can stop us, except our own

Sounds like there is growing consensus that the 3-4 against NO wasn’t a one-game aberration. Not sure if everyone saw this, but Scouts Inc. had a very interesting take on what the Broncos are attempting to do on D this year.

Scouts’ take on this is quite intriguing — that the Broncos are looking to shift in and out of the 3-4 ala NE Patriots. . That certainly explains why they kept so many LBs this year, which some of us probably chalked up to “How do you ever replace an Al Wilson?” Looking at the upside, to shift in and out of 3-4 at will seems like it would give you a ton of flexibility for game planning any opponent, and making adjustments in the second half. What do you guys think?

On a slightly more frightening note, Scouts indicated that are not completely comfortable in the system yet. Bailey indicated communication issues still need to be worked out. As I recall, this was the same cause for the poor adoption of Jim Bates’ defense last year. As much as I’d love to let that go as long as we’re racking up W’s, I just don’t know. Scouts and the RNM indicated that no one is pressing the panic button yet, but we all remember how quickly we hit that tipping point last year. Here’s hoping the players remember life under the Bates system and put in the extra effort to get what Slowik is trying to do.

My last thought just makes me smile. Of all the teams that had difficulty overcoming NE’s defense this decade, the Broncos are not one of them. It’s very cool to think that we could field a defense that really only our team is able to consistently defeat.

Anyway, I sure love them Broncos. And MHR is sure a breath of fresh air compared to the snipey crap in the DP threads. Keep up the awesome work, everyone, and keep supporting your team! Let me know your thoughts!

C in MT

Does anyone remember how we used to rest some of our starters in the 4th quarter during our second Superbowl run? Wow, would that be nice to see again someday!!

but the o-line needs to improve in this area, also. we are just going with what works right now, and the rushing attack should improve alot by the stretch run with more experience. let’s hope torain can be the feature back we need in the winter months to ice games away. but i don’t see a dominant running game on par with the passing game with where we currently are skill-wise, there. but it should be good enough to keep putting up points in tougher games, and keep teams off-balance, at the very least. we’re just going to have to roll with that for now. against k.c., however, i expect to see a more impressive running game start to develope, already