Denver Broncos: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly -- A Look at Complementary Football

     We often see comments by the coaches and players of winning teams talking about how their team played "complementary" football and ascribing the win to that. Complementary football is not a new idea, nor is it a particularly complex one.

     At its simplest, it is used to refer to a well-balanced team, one in which the offense, defense and special teams are in balance, each supporting the other units in an effective way. I would like to suggest that we expand that basic view a bit.

After the jump, we'll set a basic paradigm for complementary football and then take a look at the Broncos' first two games.

     Complementary football, as was noted above, is often used to refer to the idea of a well-balanced team. That is well and good, in so far as it goes. The idea being, of course, that the offense raises the level of play of the defense by scoring points, and the defense raises the level of play of the offense by denying opponents points while the special team contributes by giving the offense a short field to traverse while pinning the opposing team deep in their own territory.

I would like to add to that view by suggesting that complementary football also includes the following ideas:

1)The Good -- when one unit has done something good, its counterpart responds by also doing something good. Such as, when the offense scores, the defense responds by forcing a punt or a turnover on the next possession. A variation of this is when the defense does indeed force a punt or turnover, the offense turns that opportunity into points. One further variation on this is when one unit struggles -- such as the offense is forced to punt -- the other unit "steps up" its game to make stop or other big play. Finally this would include the notion of when one unit makes a mistake, the other reaches deep and does something good.

2)The Bad -- this is when one unit misfires -- i.e., the offense punts or turns the ball over, or when the defense gives up a score -- and the other unit is not able to reclaim the momentum by doing something good -- i.e., after an opposing team's score the offense punts on their next possession, or after the offense scores, the defense gives up a score on the opponent's next drive.

3)The Ugly -- this is where both sides fail miserably. For example, the offense turns the ball over and the defense gives up a score. Another example would be when the defense has given up the score and the offense turns the ball over on their next possession.

     With these three categories in mind, let's review the drives from Denver's first two games. Now, I feel that I should point out that you will notice there are way more drives listed than actually occurred in the game. This is because each drive is being looked at in terms of what happened with the drives on either side. For example, in the Oakland game, Denver received the opening kickoff and had its first drive end a punt. So that first drive would be noted as:

Team	Drive	Team	Drive
Oakland	Kicked Off	Denver	Offense punted

That punt, however, will also show up in relation to what came next:

Team	Drive	Team	Drive
Denver	Offense punted	Oakland	Lost a fumble

Also, please note that these drives, being divided as they are into three categories do not necessarily show the precise chronological flow of the game. Clear as mud? Probably. Bear with me, though, and take a look at the examples of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Games 1 and 2.

Team	Drive	Team	Drive
Denver	offense punted	Oakland	lost a fumble
Oakland	lost a fumble	Denver	scored a field goal
Denver	scored a field goal	Oakland	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Oakland	forced to punt
Denver	kicked off	Oakland	forced to punt
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	returned punt for touchdown
Denver	scored a touchdown	Oakland	forced to punt
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	scored a field goal
Denver	scored a field goal	Oakland	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Oakland	forced to punt
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	scored a touchdown
Cincinnati	kicked off	Denver	scored a touchdown
Denver	scored a touchdown	Cincinnati	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	forced to punt
Cincinnati	scored a field goal	Denver	scored a field goal
Denver	scored a field goal	Cincinnati	ran out of time at the half
Denver	kicked off	Cincinnati	forced to punt
Cincinnati	forced to punt	Denver	scored a touchdown
Cincinnati	scored a field goal	Denver	scored a touchdown
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	turned the ball over on downs
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	turned the ball over on downs
Cincinnati	turned the ball over on downs	Denver	ran out the clock to end the game

This set of drives show places where the offense and defense -- and in one case the special teams -- played compelementary football. There are several instances where the defense rose up when the offense struggled and had to punt and the defense forced a punt on the opposing team's next possession. There were also a number of cases where, after the defense had gotten a stop, the offense was able to put points on the board.

Team	Drive	Team	Drive
Oakland	kicked off	Denver	forced to punt
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Oakland	scored a touchdown
Oakland	scored a field goal	Denver	forced to punt
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	missed a field goal
Denver	missed a field goal	Oakland	scored a field goal
Oakland	scored a touchdown	Denver	forced to punt
Cincinnati	forced to punt	Denver	forced to punt
Cincinnati	forced to punt	Denver	forced to punt
Denver	scored a touchdown	Cincinnati	scored a field goal
Cincinnati	scored a field goal	Denver	forced to punt
Denver	forced to punt	Cincinnati	scored a touchdown
Denver	scored a touchdown	Cincinnati	scored a touchdown
Cincinnati	scored a touchdown	Denver	forced to punt
Cincinnati	forced to punt	Denver	forced to punt
Cincinnati	turned the ball over on downs	Denver	forced to punt

     This set of drives show some places where the Broncos were less successful with their complementary play. These are mostly cases where, after the defense got a stop, the offense sputtered and ended up punting. There are a couple of cases where the offense was not able to respond with points after the defense had given up a score. There were also two cases where the defense gave up a score on the drive following a Denver score.

Team	Drive	Team	Drive
Oakland	scored a touchdown	Denver	fumbled the ball
Denver	fumbled the ball	Oakland	scored a field goal
Oakland	scored a field goal	Denver	threw an interception
Denver	threw an interception	Oakland	scored a field goal
Oakland	forced to punt	Denver	fumbled the ball
Denver	fumbled the ball	Oakland	scored a touchdown
Denver	scored a touchdown	Oakland	ran out the clock to end the game
Cincinnati	forced to punt	Denver	fumbled the ball
Denver	fumbled the ball	Cincinnati	scored a field goal
Cincinnati	scored a touchdown	Denver	fumbled the ball
Denver	fumbled the ball	Cincinnati	scored a field goal

     This is the most frustrating category of all. Perhaps the majority of the responsibility lies on the offense for creating untenable situations for the defense through turnovers that gave the defense a very short field to try to protect, and/or making turnovers after the opposing team had scored. Five times in two games, the offense has turned the ball over. That number represents 21% of all of Denver's drives in those two games.

     By the same token, the defense has given up points on every single drive which has followed a turnover by the offense. Perhaps one of the most devastating moments for the defense came when, late in the Oakland game, after the offense had brought the deficit to 3 points with 3:43 remaining in the game, the defense gave up 26 yards rushing, 9 yards passing and 3 first downs which allowed Oakland to run out the clock.

     Personally, I believe that the onus is on the offense to significantly reduce their turnovers and to finish more drives with points. The defense, however, must also step it up a level and not let things like the end of the Oakland game, or allowing Cincinnati to score a touchdown immediately after the Broncos had scored one late in the game, continue to happen.

The good news is that there is nothing in these first two games which is not fixable. So, here's to seeing more of the Good, and less of the Bad, and especially less of the Ugly.

Go Broncos!!!!