Loss

Denver 17 vs. J-Ville 24

Kyle Orton – 21 of 33 / 295 yards / 1 TD / 1 Int

Kyle showed some good stuff. I really liked the scramble he made on third down in the second half.   He had a good deep ball on the throw to Lloyd that was all Orton.  However, the issue with Kyle still comes down to the game being on the line in the fourth quarter.  He still doesn’t have what it takes to bring a team back.  Denver has to be protecting a lead for Orton to be effective.  Overall though Kyle had a solid game and wasn’t the reason the Broncos lost.  He is what he is.  Not a great QB, but a good QB who can manager an offense in the NFL.  As Denver pulls itself together Orton will have a better opportunity to win.  There were just too many things to overcome for Kyle to win in this game.

Running Backs –

Moreno –  15 att / 60 yards / 1 TD

Buckhalter – 6 att / 15 yards

Knowshon is an average back that got drafted way too high in the first round.   He showed this to be true again in Week 1.   He had a couple of good runs, but he was also underwhelming in his performance.   Part of this has to do with the O-line, but Moreno doesn’t have the special ability that you see in the top backs to make things happen with smaller openings.

The unit as a whole isn’t very good.  Buckhalter runs hard, but is a boom or bust type guy.  He will make a big play on one series.  Then he will either get hurt or fumble like he did in the first half.  The rest of the group are just a bunch of practice squad guys.  This is quite possibly the weakest unit on the team.

The Offensive Line – Allowed three sacks in the first half.

This was to be expected.  Most of the issues I believe have to do with the rookies.  Run blocking and pass protecting weren’t great through the entire game.  This was their first game and they didn’t get any favors from the J-vile defensive front.   Denver will struggle until Beadles and Walton acclimates to the NFL.  With Seattle coming to town they should do better.

Wide Receivers --

Lloyd 5 rec / 117 yards

Royal 8 rec / 98 yards

Gaffney 3 rec / 34 yards / 1 TD

I remember watching Lloyd when he was with San Francisco a couple of year back and thinking this guy could be a top WR.  He made acrobatic catches that made your eyes pop.  He never caught on I believe because he played with average QBs and the coaches didn’t give him the opportunity to succeed with their play calling.   Now in Denver he seems to have the opportunity to emerge as a legit threat.  He made Orton look good on a couple of plays where Lloyd stretched out to get underneath ball that wasn’t thrown on target.   Eddie Royal also had a nice game.  With Marshall gone Orton is forced to look his way. I think this is a good thing.  Jabar Gaffney is not a #1 wide receiver.  He is a good #3 or slot guy.  He is good on third down because he is good at finding space and better than many other teams nickel cornerbacks.   I would really like to see the rookies get a chance to play. As far as I am concerned they need to get a shot in three and four receiver sets.  The group as a whole though is a very strong and could be better as the season goes on.

Defensive Line –

Williams, Bannan, McBean, Thomas

The group did their job for the most part.  McBean actually had a decent day despite the penalties.  In a 3-4 though the D-line is mostly a group that are supposed to open up the lanes for the linebackers.  When the linebackers don’t do their job the D-line looks bad.  The stop on fourth down was the highlight for this group.  Jones-Drew was held under 100 yards.    Jamal Williams held his own and is an upgrade at Nose Tackle. 

Linebackers – 1 sack

Moss, Williams, Hunter, Haggan, Ayers, Woodyard

Ayers was the bright spot for this group.  He got his first sack and made key tackles and hurries.  DJ Williams played decent, but because the group has to play well as a unit Williams was asked to do more than his role and ability allowed.  DJ is just not fast enough to cover up for mistakes made by the outside linebackers.  Overall this group is slow and gets pushed around.  This is particularly the case on the left side where Moss and Hunter play.   Anyone notice how often the Jags ran and passed to that side of the field after the first half?  This is a unit that will continually get exposed throughout the year.  Pass coverage, pass rush, and outside runs will haunt the linebackers.  Really when Denver decided to switch to the 3-4 the argument for failure was that Denver didn’t have the personnel.  The biggest contributors to the 3-4 besides the Nose Tackle are the linebackers.  Denver will not be able to make a successful transition until they upgrade this unit.

Cornerbacks

C Bailey, Goodman, Jones, Cox, Thompson

Bailey and Goodman did their jobs very well in pass coverage.  Simms Walker is the Jaguars number 1 Wide Receiver.  He only had one catch.  The guy that torched Denver was Mike Thomas who was primarily covered by the nickel back or the outside linebackers.   Really most of this was on Nate Jones.  Though the play calling for the defense had hardly enough blitzing and way too many three man rushes with zone coverage. 

Safeties

Dawkins, Hill, Mcbath

This unit had a rough second half, but overall they played really well.  Run support was good and the safeties didn’t let receivers get behind them deep in the middle.

Special Teams

Both the kicker and punter were top notch players.  Prater nailed a 56 yarder.  Colquitt was very good  averaging 43 yards, and didn’t shank any punts.  The coverage units were horrible.   This was the biggest reason Denver lost the game.  Jacksonville had 11 drives.  They started six of those drive beyond the 30 and four of those drives beyond the 40 tough the last drive doesn’t really count as it was an INT. 

 Overall

 The 2010 Denver Broncos haven’t really shown to be that different then the 2009 version from last year.  17 points on offense.  The defense holds up until the second half.  The offense doesn’t score on their opening drive.  Another hard fought game where Denver didn’t have the horses to get it done on either side of the ball.  The special teams play wasn’t special.  The game was sloppy and the reason Denver got out to a good start last year was that they were disciplined and didn’t make big mistakes.  That isn't the case so far in McD year 2.  The playcalling was very conservative in the first half.  The defense needs to blitz a lot more and more creatively.

 Jacksonville plays a similar game to Denver.  So the close game was to be expected.  The other factors of an away game in the heat may have helped tipped the scales in this one.  Denver needs to get a win next week against Seattle in its home opener.  This season is already looking like a pickup from Week 8 - Week 17 of 2009.

Coming Attractions

Week 2 - Seattle

Week 3 - Indy

Week 4 - @ Tenn

Week 5 - @ Balt

Week 6 - NY Jets