Takes both sides of the ball to win.

I made a mention to this line of thinking in Styg’s Post about “17 2 minute drives, 1 field goal.”

You hit it right on the head! Points mean everything, offensive and defensive. The Broncos were in the bottom half of the league in scoring offense. Let’s not forget, too, Cutler was personally responsible for 20 turnovers (18 picks, 2 lost fumbles). Poor ball control by the offense killed way too many drives, and that’s not reflected in total yards, either. Combine that with the dismal defensive play and you have a recipie for disaster.

McD is doing exactly what needs to be done to fix this team!

People confuse prolific with efficient. Maybe it’s fantasy football, but people seem to put more and more stock in yardage as opposed to points and that’s just silly.

The were certainly prolific in some respects but not when it really mattered. They produced yards but were not prolific in points or more importantly wins. I am feeling positive that they will improve on that this year.

Very interesting article to say the least. Agree with Kerry Byrne or not, his numbers usually spark a spirited debate.

That’s right: the 2008 Broncos moved the ball up and down the field nearly as well as the offense many consider the greatest in the history of the game. On a per-play basis, the 2007 Patriots and 2008 Broncos were statistical equals.
 
But when it came to the two results that actually mattered – turning those yards into points and victories – the two teams could not have been more different. The 2007 Patriots boasted twice as many victories and outscored the 2008 Broncos by better than two touchdowns per game.
 
The 2008 Broncos, in other words, were an extraordinarily inefficient offense.

That’s right, they lost in the SB because their prolific offense got hammered by a better defense. Seems like everyone is forgetting that point. New England won SB not because of the offense, but because they had a solid defense and an offense that could keep the game close and score in the final two minutes due to their QB.

The Giants combined a man passing defensive scheme with an excellent front 7defense that contantly got to and hurried Brady, sacking him 5 times. The O line could not hold them back, and that weakness showed up in 2008 as well, giving up 47 sacks. The Giants should be congratulated. The difference in the game was clearly the Giant defense, but the weaknesses in the NE O line were exposed .

An emphasis on who should have rushed or passed is one part of the puzzle. Certainly, the NE attack had been incredibly effective all season and post-season. But the Pats threw for only 229 yards and the rushing attack also stalled. Neither worked, so saying that one or the other was the issue may not be the full answer.

Yards mean jack when you don’t score.

Great post.

we are a lively bunch, who do LOVE our Broncos, and do enjoy a debate now & then.
     Again welcome, rec’d
GO BRONCOS

May have been a borrowed idea, but your personality rings through in your presentation. Nice work, can’t wait to see what you come up with next time. The brain teaser angle is a nice one!

Thanks for the warm welcome. I really enjoy this site and have been reading it for a while but just finally joined. I always appreciate the differing viewpoints and mutual respect. I hope to add what little I can to the discussion.

Here is a link. This is a good interview if you can stand Scott Hastings for fifteen minutes.

The use of stats was a great way to integrate and compare the Pats & Broncs, but I think you missed the entire point.

Let’s use stats, as you like to use, with the Saints & Titans. The Saints were the most prolific offense in 2008, including scoring 54 touchdowns in the red zone vs. 37 for the Titans. Guess who went to the AFC Championship game and who didn’t make the playoffs? Scoring is important, but stopping the other team from scoring is as important.

Stats is one thing, but having an over-all and well-rounded team is another. The Titans was a well-rounded team with both defense and offense. Now, imagine if the Broncos defense was ranked in the top 10 last year, how awesome would they have been?

Yes, we had the 2nd ranked offense “overall” – But you cannot dump your best player to improve those stats. Tweek the offense and use your weapons in that offensive system (Patriots) would have been awesome. NOT blow everything up on offense and leave the defense alone. That’s not how you improve a team.