Broncos/Week One Pre-Season - The JareBear's Blog

The JareBear's Blog

Broncos/Week One Pre-Season

Posted on August 10, 2013 at 12:06 PM.

Random Thoughts:

I know it was just a limited amount of play time but I thought Von looked great as well.

The o-line is definitely a large concern for me at the moment. I find it hard to accept anyone's criticisms of Brock or Zach because quite frankly the backup o-line was next level bad. Yeah, on a couple of plays maybe Brock needed to step up and pull the trigger but bottom line is he needs to be protected better to see what he can do with the ball. Starting line was, I mean, without Clady out there it was obvious they missed him. That play where Aldon Smith got to Manning and give him the butt slap was just a case of an all-pro player beating a backup tackle like a drum.

I know it is just once half against backups but from what I saw, I would rather have CJ Anderson than Lance Ball. I honestly think Lance is getting cut. Admittedly, I have already said on here, other than his special teams play I don't think Lance brings anything special and I can't stand when he's on the field during close games, so, I am biased. I have heard some locals calling in radio shows and blasting both Hillman and M-Ball but I don't quite understand why, they weren't out there very long at all. I didn't expect either of them to pull a Chris Johnson and get a 56 yarder out of just a couple attempts. One guy was like "its clear Ball was used up in college and is already tired." A little harsh, IMO.

Duke was definitely, in my eyes, the player of the game. Adams INT was pretty nice but that was pretty much just fielding a punt, all he really did on that play was not be Rahim Moore. I mean, don't get me wrong, he obviously played it great, but that's where he was supposed to be. Honestly I think they have tough decisions in the secondary. All I know is I didn't see Jammer in the game until the 4th QTR and when he was in there I saw Tolzien throw right at him. This guy has been getting lit up like a Christmas tree for years in SD. I understood the point of trying him out at safety when they signed him but with the much more physically gifted and younger players ahead of him in our secondary I don't see him making the team right now. Honestly I felt our secondary looked great.

I am not trying to overreact and call Duke Ihenacho the next Troy Polamalu but after hearing a lot of great things from guys covering camp it was cool to see him out there just pinballing around the field making plays.

I don't want to get too down on the d-line based on one series. San Fran is a dominant team up front and they definitely moved our 1's off the ball with ease on that first drive. Again, I realize it's just one series of game one in the pre-season, just listing my observations. I tried to watch Sylvester a lot when I saw him in there but I didn't notice anything stand out one way or the other, he seemed to hold his own and didn't get bulldozed or make an outstanding play.

I thought Shaun Phillips looked good in a Broncos uniform. I liked him a lot at Purdue and was glad when the Bolts drafted him way back. I think he's a good guy to have around and adds quality depth

Maybe someone with more info can fill me in on what was going on with Stuart Bradley out there with the first team defense over Nate Irving? Am I wrong to have been under the impression Nate Irving was our starting Mike-backer? Are they putting Stuart out there in case Von gets suspended and Nate needs to move to Sam? Seems like Phillips isn't being looked at as a backer and is going to be used as a full-time end. All I know is Bradley looked slow as hell and couldn't cover to save his life. Quite frankly he couldn't do much at all. As Big Al said perfectly "he spent a lot of time on the ground." Can't say I am excited to see him out there starting again based on that performance. He was my low-point of the game, next to the o-line issues.

Looking forward to seeing more first team action in game 2 and 3.

-------------------

I just watched the Skins game. Those guys look good. A healthy Orakpo and Kerrigan are dangerous. Cousins might end up being one of the more brilliant draft picks in Shannies career. At worst, he's an awesome backup and great insurance policy on RG3. At best, he is going to command trade value and end up making up for the picks they gave away to draft RG3. Win-win situation. He's a great player.

I know it's very early, but I really hope the Broncos didn't miss on the Osweiler pick. He really needs to pan out, especially when they could have drafted Doug Martin in the first round that year instead of trading back because they were in love with Brock. Considering that Cousins, Foles (who I think can really play), and Russ Wilson were all drafted behind Osweiler, the Broncos better hope he can lead the team after Manning retires. I am def looking at the Skins to make a lot of noise this year

------------------------------

I think the Chargers are already an insanely improved team. McCoy and Whisenhunt know their stuff. I thought Larry English was a bust but he looked good against Seattle. As far as I am concerned, the Chargers 1's beat the Seahawks 1's and that's a good start. Corey Liuget is on the verge of stardom.

A very common mistake amongst football followers is the infatuation with the number of sacks in the stat line. The two defensive ends for Carolina last year had a decent number of sacks but also had an INSANE amount of pressure consistently. Pressure can be just as good as a sack, as we saw with English moving Russ out of the pocket. Elvis Dumervil is a prime example of this. He had double digit sacks last year but rarely showed up in big games and would disappear for long stretches of game time. I would much rather have either of Cincinnati's ends or Carolina's ends over Elvis. The loss of Elvis was nowhere near as huge as people made it out. I expect him to have a sub-par year in Baltimore. They are only using him as a pass rush guy, he's not even on the field on running downs. If English is gonna be in the backfield as much as he was the other night, he is going to be a solid player

---------------------------------------

Kyle Orton has to be the best backup QB in the league. Not sure why this guy isn't starting in a place like Jacksonville or Minnesota. Imagine Minnesota with a QB who can get the ball downfield.