Reality Check

I've decided to take my comments and extrapolate them into a fanpost about Kyle Orton, Josh McDaniels and the lack of running game...follow me after the jump...

One thing first off. I think we need to aknowledge that Kyle Orton doesn't make excuses for himself, so let's not make excuses FOR him...one thing to be admired about Orton is his willingness to take the blame and work to learn. It really is admirable

1. As I've stated before, Orton is who he is. An average, perfectly competent, game manager qb with a good knowledge and intellect of the game. There is nothing wrong with that. However, it seems like people want to make him into either a GREAT quarterback or a HORRIBLE quarterback...when quite frankly neither of which is true. Orton has never pretended to be a great, playmaking quarterback. We've got what Kyle is. Game manager.

The problem the Broncos and Orton are having is....quite frankly....Kyles inability to "make plays". Tonight we saw Ben Roethlisberger scramble out of a very heavy pass rush and make a great pass downfield in the 3rd quarter. When Orton was forced to scramble he made some very sketchy throws and he looked, for lack of a better word, nervous. The Steelers forced him from his comfort zone and really took advantage of Orton's nervousness in the second half. In fact, in the first half Orton ran himself into a sack (grrrrrr Ben Hamilton) when he looked completely out of sorts. The o line actually was prepared for the blitz but...

2. .....since our running game wasn't working, it was very clear to me that the Steelers were daring the Broncos to throw it over the top of the "bunched" coverages in the middle. It was also very clear to me that the Steelers knew the Broncos wouldn't try it. Thus, we have the tried and true "down field" problem. I'd like to say that Kyle can throw it down field, but it's happened so infrequently (less than I've ever seen during a Broncos season)  that I'm not even sure it's in the playbook. When the running game has broken down you MUST throw down field a couple times to stretch the clogged middle of the secondary. If you don't then all the defense has to do is blitz, blitz, blitz....which is what the Steelers did.

This seemed to be a very rigid game plan. The offense didn't adapt to what the defense was giving them for the second straight week. That's on McDaniels. I hope to see more flexibility next week agains the Redskins. The Defense was SENSATIONAL tonight and got worn down by being on the field all the time. That's the Offenses fault.

3. Which brings me to my final point. Zone Blocking. People have said that zone blocking went out with Mike Shanahan....this is not true. In the first three games the Broncos sprinkled in zone blocking with their new power running formation. In fact I believe they did a majority of zone blocking during the Raiders game. I think McD has been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. This O line is essentially built FOR the zone blocking scheme, and they get overpowered by large D lines when lined up in power formations. They know how to do it, and I think it's a simple enough adjustment that Dennison and Turner can work out. Just a thought

All in all, I'm not ready to jump ship. I think, however, adjustments need to be made now. If we make it to the playoffs we will seee these physical teams again. Now it's time, I believe, for McDaniels to show why Bowlen gave him him big bucks because this is the first time he's faced adversity on the football field as a head coach. I'm nervous and excited to see what he does.

thanks for reading :)