Understanding A Reverse

by Brian Shrout on Dec 14, 2009 8:16 PM MST

The Quarterback takes the snap and quickly drops five steps behind the line. He meets the Running back just in time to hand the ball off. The speedy runner flashes off to his left, racing for the end of the offensive line, the defense in full pursuit. As this is happening, the Wide Receiver on the left side of the formation, races to his right, and as he passes, the running back . . .

Oh. Wait. That's not the kind of reverse I was thinking about.

More after the jump

    Isn't it terrible how our absolutely awesome defense has to put up with such a mediocre offense? I mean, c'mon, the offense really stunk it up Sunday versus the Colts. The O-line was horrid, missed blocks, clogged gaps, ridiculous penalties. The play calling was atrocious. What's with all those runs up the gut? I mean, c'mon, there's got to be better options. Moreno couldn't seem to hit a hole to save his life, Orton was making bad throw after bad throw. Marshall was the one bright spot -- after all, he got to set an NFL single game record. And McDaniels, don't even take me there.

   Then look at our Defense (with a capital D!). It was awesome. It totally limited Manning. It picked him off three times. They looked sooooooo goood . . .

   Am I missing something here? Wasn't that "awesome" defense the same one that allowed the Colts to march the field and score on three of their first 4 drives? I mean, c'mon, let's strive for a little honesty here:

Indianapolis Drive #1 (after opening kick off): 13 plays, 80 yards, 5:54 off the clock, Touchdown. Manning going 8/10 for 76 yards. 3 rushes for 4 yards. The Colts going 3 for 3 on 3rd downs.

Indianapolis Drive #2 (after Denver went 3 & out): 7 plays, 56 yards, 2:24 off the clock, Touchdown. Manning going 2/4 for 35 yards. 3 rushes for 21 yards. The Colts going 2 for 2 on 3rd downs.

Indianapolis Drive #3: a punt.

Indianapolis Drive #4: 11 plays, 71 yards, 1 defensive penalty, 5:03 off the clock, Touchdown. Manning going 3/6 for 33 yards. 5 rushes for 23 yards. 1 Unnecessary Roughness penalty for 15 yards against the defense. 1 for 1 on 3rd downs. Giving up a 22 yard play on 4th and 4.

Oh, and let's not forget the drive that followed Denver's 11 play, 68 yard drive that burned 4:44 in the 4th quarter to bring the score to 21-16:

Prater kicks the ball 9 yards deep into the end zone -- touchback.
3-10-Ind20 Manning completes a 23 yard pass.
2-11-Ind42 Manning completes a 20 yard pass.
1-10-Den38 Addai runs up the middle for 11 yards.
2-8-Den25 Manning completes an 11 yard pass.

14 plays, 80 yards, 7:19 off the clock, Touchdown, score 28-16.

So tell me again how awesome the defense was . . .

   The intent of this post is not to defend an offense whose execution can at best be called inconsistently poor, nor to bash a defense which worked hard to overcome its early missteps. It is rather to note how perception of the Broncos has reversed in the last year.

   Last year, we had an offense that bordered on being deified saddled with a defense which was often vilified. I heard a lot of "If only. . . " type statements. "If only we had had an average defense, we would have made the playoffs," etc. There was a general perception that the Broncos failures of 2008 were pretty much rooted almost entirely in the defense. It was not until after the traumatic events of January to May that we began to be offered some insights into how shortcomings on both sides of the ball, and in the special teams all contributed to the state of affairs that has brought us to where we are today.

   Now this year, the situation has apparently become a total reverse play. We perceive our team as having a dominant defense that is being hamstrung by an inept offense running strange and sometimes incomprehensible play-calling. Maybe I'm just odd, but it seems like we've made a 180 degree turn here. I'm not sure I can truly wrap my mind around what appears to me to be an oversimplification of a complex game. It just seems to me too easy an answer to lay the credit/blame for any game result on a single facet of the game.

   When the Broncos win, it is a result of the coaches totally preparing the players for the game and making in-game adjustments; it is every guy on the offense doing his job exactly as he's supposed to; it is every defensive player covering his assignment; it is the kickers getting the ball to the spot it's supposed to go to.

   I remember seeing McDaniels quoted in several places as saying something to the effect of "We win as a team, and we lose as a team" (I'm sorry to say that I don't have the exact quote). For I'm of the opinion that there is no truer saying for a football team. The play of the offense can no more be separated from the play of the defense or the special teams, than the successful play of a quarterback's pass can be separated from the job done by his receivers and offensive line.

   I find the reversal of opinion to be a rather amusing example of human perception, expressed through an attempt to understand what is happening to a team that we all care very deeply about. Kinda makes me wonder what we'll find fault with in 2010.

   For myself, while I am in no way happy that we have lost 5 games, I find myself to be encouraged by the things that we've done right and by the wins we have recorded. These things, IMHO, bode well for the future.

   In watching a new culture of team, a overhauled roster, new coaches, new offensive/defensive schemes, be put into place, we've been put in the position of parents watching their toddler begin to walk. We've seen 6 steps forward, cringed as 4 steps went backwards, rejoiced at the next two forward steps were taken, and now reached out to support as another backwards step appeared.

   Take heart, we are moving forward, and will, IMHO, continue to see more and more great things from the Broncos in every facet of the game.

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

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Comments

Great Read B

giving it a rec. I did predict 9-7 this year. 10-6 was a stretch which looks like we might make it. So from that vantage point I could say we are right on schedule at where i thought we would be. Could we be better yes we could. I am not happy at the losses but they are part of the game. Your right we are watching a new offense and defense scheme unfold and I think the player are having good days and bad days in both. That is one of the reasons that I felt that 10-6 was a stretch this year. Next year I would expect to see the team beat those we lost to this year. I try not to bash or place blame on anyone for the reasons that all of this is new not only to the team but to us as fans also. Yes we can get frustrated but need to remember that we are learning at the same time the team is learning. (If that makes any sense).

by papasteven on Dec 14, 2009 8:39 PM MST reply actions

makes perfect sense

for us as fans, the frustration is that we are learning more slowly because we don’t have access to all of the teaching/information that McD is imparting to his players.

"Never give up! Never surrender!" Captain Peter Quincy Taggert in "Galaxy Quest"
"The best defense is a good offense. Or is it the other way around." Wolverine
Pray for the best, prepare for the worst, and know you will come down somewhere between the two.
Livin' in La La Land and Lovin' It

by Brian Shrout on Dec 14, 2009 8:51 PM MST up reply actions

I agree with that

I think that is why as fans we get more frustrated with play calling etc. because we don’t have all the info or access to the teaching information that the team gets. That was a great point.

by papasteven on Dec 14, 2009 9:03 PM MST up reply actions

Tell me B for the sake of it, how many positions did our offense have?

I haven’t really kept track but, I think it was 6 or 7 between the 21 poits and their last score. I can’t put myself in the position of saying, it was the defenses fault or it was the offenses fault. All we have is the evidence of our offense not scoring, 16 points. When playing a team like the Colts you aren’t going to win with 16 points on 70% of the games. It isn’t going to happen, OK. The offense has enough self inflicted issues that need to be repaired, one way or another. Whether it is play calling on the coaches part or the players on the field, it has to be rectified if they want to win. The defense struggled at first sure, and that is not an exceptable view to be placed upon thereselves. They [the defense]plain sucked in the first qtr and the start of the second qtr, but, when they settled down [and this is what separates the men from the boys] the offenses job is to get back in the ball game. We see it happen so many times in college football but, not so often in the NFL and this really bugs the heck out of me. Teams sometimes seem to get behind the eightball and give up or go into a mode of self destruct. I don’t know the answer, but by golly the offense had the opportunities to win the game and didn’t. The offense failed in every court of law I have tried them in…Being fair.

by bfree2bronc on Dec 15, 2009 12:04 AM MST reply actions

"how many possessions" for crying out loud.

by bfree2bronc on Dec 15, 2009 12:05 AM MST up reply actions

allow me to repeat myself

The intent of this post is not to defend an offense whose execution can at best be called inconsistently poor, nor to bash a defense which worked hard to overcome its early missteps.

I’ve never claimed that the offense doesn’t have a tremendous amount of work to do, nor growth to achieve. The offense has been horribly inconsistent while the defense, for the most part has played purely inspired football. The Indy game highlighted this in a dramatic way. Our offense is not yet at the point where it can consistently overcome huge deficits. Right now, our offense is totally dependent upon superior play by the defense. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that in the first 20 minutes or so last Sunday. As I noted above, we did manage to outscore the Colts once the defense began clicking on all cylinders. Problem was we were already in a deep hole by that point — I fail to see how failing to stop the Colts on consecutive touchdown drives can be laid on the offense. Irregardless of whether or not we score in between, the defense should be able to stop a team during the first quarter, IMHO.

The point of the post was the fact that I find it intriguing that just as many people were willing to overlook the shortcomings of the offense in 2008 and blame the woes of the team on the defense, there now seems to be a move to overlook the shortcomings of the 2009 defense and lay all of the woes of the team on the offense.

I didn’t find such a view to be fair and/or totally valid last year, nor do I find it to be so this year. All the facets of the game have to support one another, or the team will, at worst, fail, or at best struggle to eke out wins.

by Brian Shrout on Dec 15, 2009 5:06 AM MST up reply actions

I apologize if I sounded brash, B. And, I agree totally with what you wrote, word for word.

Right now, our offense is totally dependent upon superior play by the defense. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that in the first 20 minutes or so last Sunday

In another light of what this team reminds of is, on defense they are willing to let the big dog chew on their ankle until they get enough of it and then decide to go to work. The offense on the other hand plays like their bark is bigger than their bite. I believe the offense had 12 possessions in the Indy game, that averages out to 1.3 point per possession. My only gripe is when the offense get’s the ball, they score, that’s all. I believe this defense will follow the offeses lead.

by bfree2bronc on Dec 15, 2009 5:33 PM MST up reply actions

I totally agree bf2b

the offense has not held up their end of the bargain, much more so than the defense.

The offense needs to step it up and start with scoring points on their first drive. Something that we’ve only done twice (vs Pittsburgh and vs Washington).

Even so, the defense needs to not give up points early on to the other team either.

by Brian Shrout on Dec 15, 2009 7:10 PM MST up reply actions