FanPost

The Counter Puncher's Problem


Having seen the past 6 Broncos games, I truly think the thing that is holding us back is what I call the John Fox Counter Puncher Syndrome. This team is not built like last year's team, yet the coaching philospy remains the same in most respects. Follow me after the jump.

Last year's Bronco's team was built on the flys so to speak, after an early change at QB the team was retooled so to speak mentally and physically to play the Tim Tebow way, which is to say, be as conservative as possible, don't make mistakes, and see what the other team is doing and make adjustments. In general this philosphy worked well if the Defense could keep it "close" and allow Tebow as many oppurtunities to have possession of the ball and try to play the game of field position. When this didn't work was when teams came out and blasted the Broncos early and often and forced Tebow to beat them with his arm. But this is the counter puncher approach, take a shot and keep hitting them back.

It's 2012, a new QB, a defense predicated by playing best with a lead, and we still have the same approach. Fox, McCoy, and Del Rio need to take the reigns off early and allow the team to play with more reckless abandon. Force the action against the opposing team early, blitz early and often, take some chances. I know there is a fear of getting hit with a big play, but this offense is more than capable of moving on any defense and scoring if McCoy takes the reigns off Peyton early. McCoy needs to realize that the best offense coordinator on the Broncos is lined up behind Center. Time to allow Peyton to run the show and help give input and suggestions. Continueing to try to be conservative early because you are afraid of making a mistake doesn't work for this offense. Likewise, Del Rio needs to be able to attack early and often and not hope that the other team makes mistakes. It's time to become the aggressor in every facet of the game. This team is built to get a lead early and build and allow the defense to attack the QB and not worry about the run.

I truly expect coming out of the bye week that Elway is going to have this same discussion with the coaching staff. Elway's greatest success was when Shanahan employed a similar philosophy of attacking early, building the lead, and letting the defense loose.

As great as this past win was, continueing with the same conservative game plans is going to lead to the same results of Manning and Co digging themseleves out of holes in the 2nd half.

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