Denver Broncos vs Chiefs: Breaking Down The O-Line Film

by Bewsaf on Nov 14, 2011 10:15 AM MST

Week #10

The Denver Broncos win another big game on the road against a division rival, Kansas City. Denver put up only 17 points against the Chiefs but it was enough as the defense shut down Matt Cassel.

At the beginning of the year, Bronco fans were questioning what the identity of the 2011 Denver team. Well...now the Broncos have an identity.

Run, run, and more run!

J.D. Walton doesn't have the highest assignment grade against the Chiefs, but he does have the best power score (+3). And he did, IMO, have the best day run blocking. Walton ends up with a 84% assignment grade and a +3 power score in the running game. shows some movement on his blocks that he hasn't really shown this year, and has an all around solid performance.

If you are interested in the offensive line cumulative grades and rankings in the AFC West then go here, LT, LG, C, RG, RT.

Virgil Green has a good day blocking against the Chiefs. As always, tight end and backs blocking grades are, here.

Let's take a look at the rest of those grades...

Team Run Blocking		Power Blocking		Power Blocking Score		2nd Level Blocks
Did the lineman get the job done or not? These grades are good for understanding value for a team and not necessarily for comparing across teams. A game in the mid 80s to 90% is a decent score.		How often did the offensive lineman dominate the block or how often did he get dominated? These scores are good for comparing across teams and finding the most dominant lineman in the league.		Anything over zero is a good score. The more over zero the more the lineman dominated the defender. Each lineman is scored a minus for being dominated, a zero for a draw, or a plus for dominating the defender.		The number of successes over failures for the lineman when blocking linebackers and safeties on the second level. The lineman must be athletic to accomplish a high second level score.

Run Blocking Grades

Percent

Grade Bar

Power

Pull

2/Level

Grade

http://profootballspotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/100-rating-run-bar.png

Blocking

Blocks

Clady

84%

http://profootballspotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/80-rating-run-bar.png

Beadles

75%

http://profootballspotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/70-rating-run-bar.png

-1

-3

Walton

84%

Kuper

86%

Franklin

79%

-1

Clark

98%

http://profootballspotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/90-rating-run-bar.png

Run Blocking Notes:

At 10:00 in the 1st quarter, Chris Clark gets beat on the backside of a run play. But the thing I like is that he stayed with his block and didn't give up. Good energy and recovery to at least stay with the defender so he doesn't get a free shot at the running back.
Chris Kuper drives the Kansas City nose guard down field at 10:00 in the 1st quarter.
At 7:37 in the 1st quarter, Chris Kuper attempts to move to the 2nd level and falls down. The linebacker he was heading toward to block, trips over Kuper and falls down...Tebow scores. Nice.
The Broncos flipped Ryan Clady a few times during the game and used in as an extra tackle on the right side of the formation. 3:56 in the 1st quarter is an example.
Kuper and J.D. Walton drive the nose guard 4 yards at 4:39 in the 2nd quarter. The Broncos were able to get nice movement on their blocks most of the day.
Zane Beadles doesn't do very well at the 2nd level against the Chiefs. He ends the day with a -3 second level score. He got to the LB but he couldn't appear to stay engaged.
At 12:27 in the 3rd quarter, the Broncos run a read option on an inside defense tackle. Beadles is unable to get to the linebacker on the play...or it would have went for big yards. Then at 2:49 in the 3rd quarter, they come back to it, pick up the linebacker, and Tebow gets 7 yards and a 1st down.
Kris Kuper and Orlando Franklin team up to drive a defender 5 yards at 1:33 in the 3rd quarter.
On a short yardage situation at 10:44 in the 4th quarter, J.D. Walton gets nice movement on his block and Kuper picks up a key 2nd level block for a key 1st down.
At one point, the announcer says Chris Clark had come in and replaced Clady. But he was wrong. In fact, Clady was in on the play he said he had been replaced. Chris Clark was only in as an extra tackle.

Team Pass Blocking		Passing Power Blocking		Pressures		Combo Help
Did the lineman get the job done or not? These grades are good for understanding value for a team and not necessarily for comparing across teams. A game in the 90% is a good score for pass blocking.		How often did the offensive lineman dominate the block or how often did he get dominated? Each lineman is scored a minus for being dominated, a zero for a draw, or a plus for dominating the block.		How often did the offensive lineman give up pressure on the quarterback? Every once and a while a lineman can do his job but give up pressure on the QB. This stat will help glean more info from the line grades.		How often did the offensive coordinator provide help for a tough defender or a struggling lineman. Yea, two lineman ended up with the same grade...but how much help did either of them get?

Pass Blocking Grades

	Percent	Grade Bar	Power	Pressures	Sacks	Combo
	Grade		Blocking	Allowed	Allowed	Help
Clady	98%		+1	0	0	1
Beadles	98%		0	0	0	3
Walton	80%		-1	1	0	2
Kuper	98%		0	0	0	1
Franklin	98%		0	0	0	1

Pass Blocking Notes:

The passing grades really aren't worth much since the Broncos didn't even reach double digits in attempts.
Funny, when you throw the ball only 8 times (includes shovel passes), don't throw the ball until the 15th play of the game, I don't end up with a lot of passing notes.
Here is my Tebow notes...run, run, run, pass one deep for a touchdown, run, run, run.
You can check out the line performance in past games, here.

Check out the Tight Ends & Backs Film Breakdown!

(click it)

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

;o)

Keep making holes to run through and we are happy for the moment.

It is better to keep silent, and appear to be wise, then to ramble on and remove all doubt! The Wisest Man, Solomon.

by metalman5050 on Nov 14, 2011 10:30 AM MST reply actions

I feel the improvement of our run blocking is significant. Opponents will have to honor our ability to run block, but more importantly, it really feels good for an O Lineman to tee off and go after somebody to block. When you have to retreat and pass block 40 times a game it really wears on you. Kuper’s +6 on second level blocks speaks volumes and I would be willing to wager that, if interviewed, Kuper and his gang is saying football is fun again.

Great write-up and rec’d.

It all starts in the trenches - HT 11/11/08
Leave the hateful vitriol to the uninformed - HT 3/16/09

by firstfan on Nov 14, 2011 10:38 AM MST reply actions

Amen

I am sure everyone remembers how bad we were last year in the run game. I would almost prefer a 3rd and medium to a 3rd and short because I knew we would pass instead of try and run into a brick wall.

It is amazing how the same line outside of Franklin is doing this. HUGE PROPS big fellas!! Also to the coaching staff, the running backs, and of course Tebow….this improvement has been a team effort!

by Mile High ThundaDownUnda on Nov 15, 2011 3:26 PM MST up reply actions 1 recs

yep, just shows how steep the NFL learning curve is...

tough being a rookie in the League!

by cjfarls on Nov 16, 2011 9:29 AM MST up reply actions

Man, you got this one up quick this week!

I’ve been very critical with the OL this year and am definitely seeing improvement each week. Thanks for you part in helping me get there.

Thursday will be a good test to see where they’re at.

The glass is usually twice as big as it needs to be.

by BaldMatt on Nov 14, 2011 10:42 AM MST reply actions

"your part"

The glass is usually twice as big as it needs to be.

by BaldMatt on Nov 14, 2011 10:43 AM MST up reply actions

It seems the better our run game is the lower grades they get.

Last week only one guy had 90% and it was 90%, the rest were low 80’s. 300 yards rushing suggests there is a flaw in your system.

It feels the same this week. I don’t know, but my eyes are telling me something different. Much like Tebow’s 102 passer rating doesn’t seem right to me.

Still, I find your post interesting…just not sure how the grades correlate to success.

Follow @MHR_TimLynch

by Tim Lynch on Nov 14, 2011 12:16 PM MST reply actions 1 recs

I don’t think you can (with consistency) predict production from individual grades. I’m glad you can’t, though. If you could then I’m doing this for nothing. I started doing this because I thought the offensive lineman got the short end of the stick when people just looked at the stats to decide how the line did. The offensive line, and the running game, is so much more complicated than that.

I’ll say this about this game. The lineman blocked at an 80% clip when the Broncos ran the ball 55 times and the defense knew they were going to run. When someone knows you are going to run the ball…that makes them harder to block.

I also think the coaches need to be congratulated for hitting a rhythm and a scheme that has won them the last 2 games. That play calling rhythm in the run game is huge.

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by Bewsaf on Nov 14, 2011 1:06 PM MST up reply actions

I agree with this

And I think the both lines should receive more credits on each game. The OL, specially, goes unnoticed if don’t playing crappy and giving up a lot of sacks and pressure. That’s sad, because I think the OL is the key for any offense to succeed.

That said, Tim is right also about the stats. They don’t tell the whole story sometimes, and this game OL numbers are a great example about it. The % are not correlate to success or failure. At least not veeeeery much.

This signature was sacked by Von Miller.
I bleed Orange & Blue.

by Fabio Broncos on Nov 14, 2011 4:13 PM MST up reply actions

Great post as always. I look forward to this every week. Look slike our O-Line is really coming together.

by Jbronc on Nov 14, 2011 4:09 PM MST reply actions

Great post, as always. Awesome job and thank you, bewsaf

I don’t get how Beadles and Franklin could be so low % this week (compared to other weeks) on the running plays. We were so effective that I really expected to see all the 5 if a great number there.

This signature was sacked by Von Miller.
I bleed Orange & Blue.

by Fabio Broncos on Nov 14, 2011 4:09 PM MST reply actions

I think this comment deserved to be alone...

..so let me thank you also for THESE TABLES.

It shows us consistency and a much better idea of all the OLinemen during the season.

This signature was sacked by Von Miller.
I bleed Orange & Blue.

by Fabio Broncos on Nov 14, 2011 4:16 PM MST reply actions

Good analysis

I have been critical of JD Wlaton and Beadles, but these past two games, they are starting to prove me wrong, thankfully. I still see some struggles with Walton when he has to face one on one pass blocking, especially against more powerful guys, but when you can be so dominate in the run blocking aspect, the play action pass blocking becomes very easy.

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by Broncoman on Nov 14, 2011 6:37 PM MST reply actions

These articles make me feel some shame for how little I know about O-line play.

Good to know Walton is showing up.

Tim Tebow's career record is 4-3. He is the worst 1st round pick EVER! He is an embarrassment to the NFL! Did I say that with enough conviction to get a job with ESPN?

by McGeorge on Nov 15, 2011 7:23 AM MST reply actions

Same here...

if it wasnt for the colors I still wouldn’t know what the hell was going on.

by Triz06 on Nov 16, 2011 7:15 AM MST up reply actions

Thanks again for these analyses

I love the fact that on the majority of our running plays we are generating push on all of the opposing D lineman. That coupled with a back who can read blocks can win you ball games even in the NFL.

Win the individual battles at the LOS - all else flows from that.

by DE_BroncoFan on Nov 15, 2011 7:53 AM MST reply actions