FanPost

We've Seen this Before... The End of a Gimmick


I would like everyone to remember the first six games of the 2009 season. The Broncos were 6-0, the world thought Josh McDaniels was a legitimate head coach, Bowlen was a genius for taking a risk on the young man, and the Broncos had one of the top defenses in the NFL. The rest of that season would prove everyone wrong. So what can we learn from this?

I would like to propose the idea that 6 games is the length of time it takes for the league to figure out a gimmick. The 2009 Broncos defense was a well thought out gimmick that had enough variety for the coaches to provide a new wrinkle for about 6 games. After that, the people who get paid good money to figure gimmicks out, earned their keep and exposed the man behind the curtain. Another great example is the wildcat formation used by Miami. Great for a handful of games, but after that it becomes less effective, and teams have to go in new directions.

The offense installed to better utilize Tebow's unique skill set is also a gimmick, and it has been figured out. Not all teams may have the required personal to pull it off, but it doesn't seem to require a rare mix of players. From what I can tell, all you need is a secondary that can handle man to man coverage on our rookie receivers, a D-Line that manages the middle of the line well, and a linebacker capable of keeping an eye on Tebow. This allows the D to stack 8 in the box, making the running game difficult. The last piece is to be able to get up by two scores. Eventually this will force our offense into throwing more as the 3 and outs mount. As we've seen the last 2 weeks, we don't do well against above average secondaries. Whether you want to blame the QB, the WRs, the play calling, it doesn't matter. The gimmick is done. The wrinkles have all been ironed out. Either come up with a new one to last you the next 6 games, or focus on getting this team to play strong fundamental football. Although some progress has been made, the latter is going to take time, and it probably means we miss the playoffs this year, maybe next year too. However, once it is achieved, it will last a lot longer than 6 games.

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