Key match-ups: Raiders @ Broncos - week 1

Yesterday afternoon we saw what happens to a team losing the turnovers battle. They were a weak prey for the Ravens as they gave up the ball 6 times and got any!!

So if we can hold their OL we will avoid turnovers… and on the other hand if we can stop their rushing game we can force them to throw and our secondary to make some plays and recover a few balls. Then we win the turnovers battle and consequently the game.

But I don’t think they are thaaaat good, altought they aren’t dumbs as well. Moore is probably playing as their slot actually, with DHB and Ford as their starting WRs. Let’s be honest, he has no chance against Bailey…

DHB and Ford are two guys who worries because they are both fast and athletic players. But as we know their OL struggles to keep a pocket for Campbell to throw safely, they won’t resist too much against our passing defense with 2 elite rushers reaching the QB… So if we can stop the 1-2 punch rushing game, I can’t imagine a way to lose this game for their passing plays.

If not all the games, at least 2 of them really surprised me: the Steelers completely tramped. I was expeting a low score game with big parity. But wow.. how many turnovers! They lost the game losing the ball that much. This is a lesson to all the franchises… the season began, we can’t play in preseason rhythm as they did, or we will be crushed. Focus, focus and focus…

The other game was the huge score of the Falcons facing the Bears. The Falcons were suposed to have a better attacking game, and on the other hand the Bears a better defensive game. I couldn’t watch the game, but I intend to do it soon to see what happened there.

But I really don’t want any surprise tonight. I think we have a big chance to win, and so be it!

thinks about the turnovers.

Fortunately with him, we’ll probably find out. :)

You know I’m big fan of you and the way you understand this game. I learn a lot here every single day. I wish I could have more time to read and talk in all the posts, but I don’t have it. So be sure you are the one I never miss a post, besides the home posts. Thank you.

And btw, aren’t you in facebook my friend?

I think they must be much more worried with their left side of the line. They a 2nd year LT on Veldheer and they have a rookie LG on Wisniewski. Veldheer is a tall guy, which in this case is a disadvantage for them. Dumervil is undersized and this way he have a big leverage facing him, and he will be forced to play low. If a stud LT playing his normal suffers against Doom, could you imagine the damage of Doom facing a tall 2nd year one!?

Actually I do agree about the right side of their OL. I just think the left one is even weaker… But we can’t underrate it. They are poor in pass protection but they are very good pushing runs and this new scheme for their rushing game is helping them to increase their power.

Their whole defensive line is very strong. And for me the right side is veeery talented. And I do agree is one of the best in the league. We also know Orton’s competence to throw the ball if he has enough time. That’s why I realize this is our offense key match-up to win the game: nullify their OL to protect our QB and avoid turnovers.

And on the other hand we have their offensive line as one of the weakest on the league. And this is the golden path to make a lot of big plays. But for this to happen, we first need to stop their rushing game. When we talk about pushing the runs, their OL is very good at the job… So this is the other key match-up for us to win this game: nullify their rushing game to provide us the advantage of forcing them to throw the ball.

Thanks for the adds here.

Closing the edges will be an important hole to stop their rushing attempts. And this is where our DTs must be competent as their RBs will be forced to the middle. They had a carrer game against us last season in Denver, but I don’t think it can happen again ever. But, althought it’s not likely to repeat, stablishing an effective rushing game is likely. I agree their backs are not suspect… quite the contrary, they are proven guys.

I don’t fear the screen passes of their offense. I do agree (and hope) that additional work has gone into these plays… and they can’t use it for the entire game, as our LBs will improve defending it play by play. The most they use it, the less it works.

Before the preseason opener against the Cowboys, I wrote a post about a few points to watch closely… and one of them was this new “sophisticated running scheme”. I didn’t see it in preseason too, but I do saw a very improvement here, with a huge upgrade landing McG in Denver and rushing the ball very well. This is a good way to disrupt their OL, and I’m confident McCoy will explore it properly.

Nice score predicted… And I hope you to hit the target in the middle =)

Let the show begins…

And no way I’m saying Bunkley will change it completely, my friend.

But what I’m saying is that a tbig amount of changes will transform this stat completely. I have no doubt that with Ty Warren hurt, Bunkley is our best DT. He is a very stud guy, great run stuffer and surprised me a bit rushing the passer fairly in preseason. So he was a big upgrade to our interior defensive line.

We also have a new defensive coach… a very good one: Dennis Allen. He knows what he is doing, and besides the defensive system change and big improvement, we are not suposed to see bad play callings agains, as we are used to se with Don Martindale running our defense.

We can add here our pass rushing back with the return of Mr. Elvis and the addition of Mr. Von. This is a key upgrade to give our defense with more weapons.

We upgraded our LBs too, drafting 3 of them, and they will help a lot against defending the run. Add our 2 box-safeties who can hit really hard (Mr. Brian and Mr. Quiton) and we are not anymore that fragile defense we were last season.

This is what I’m saying here, Nate.

I understand we had critical injuries last year – Doom being the most obvious. But our defense was POOOOORLY coached. It was chaos. Wink was very weak, McD over bearing. Our guys were confused and out of position more often than not. By mid season there was no fight or fire left in them. Bunkley is not the only addition to this defense. Doom and Goody are back. Miller and Moore are substaintual upgrades. Vaughn and Mays took huge advantage of Dawkins work outs and have elevated their play. Champ moving to the nickle takes away one of our biggest weaknesses and turns it into a strength.

Most importantly – gone is the stupid idea that some jedi coach can so out scheme the opposing offense that player performance becomes a secondary consideration. I like the idea of simply lining up and beating them physically, with a scheme that supports the players.

and they just held the best rushing attack last year to 7 points. So its pointless to hang your hat on what happened last year

Get used to the double standard. I remember an ‘over the hill’ John Elway going against superman Bret Farve.

We are going to be pleasantly suprised with how well we play against the run tonight. With the additions of Rahim Moore and Von Miller, I think we’ll be able to cover tight ends this season. I am excited by the potential I see on the defensive side of the ball. The key for the defense tonight is going to be first and second down. We need to force third and long and go after Campbell. On offense, the Broncos need to bring a balanced attack and try to get an early lead. That will help to mitigate the Raiders potent running attack.

And i can’t believe the media love Tavaris Jackson gets…

I agree in some parts…

I don’t think we don’t have a chance if we can’t stop their rushing game. Ok, it’s half of the game and we do need to do that, and the earlier the best. But with a better balance beetwen passing and rushing, our offense can do it. It’s very unlike that our defense suck completely like last season. We have a new system, new mentality, new coaches, new and better players on this side of the ball, etc. So we are not suposed to be entirely sold this way, even if we struggle to stop them.

On offense our running game will be an important hole to disrupt their strong OL. And when it happens, they are done. We have a very strong passing game when we can protect the passer… And it can equalize some struggling against the run that our defense can have.

But even considering those possibilities, I think we will be able to stop them very fine and win this game on the offense side!

Your note is something I thought very funny too yesterday when I saw some comments on the highlights of all the games… No problem for me, the media can say anything that it wouldn’t change my mind about Timmy!

for the comment and for the adds above.

I’m very anxious to the initial kickoff. I’m on countdown since I waked up.