Official Denver Broncos Thread

[Broncos86]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

Bottom line: Tebow couldn't make the plays, and the coaching staff knew it. It's evident in the play-calling, and it's evident in the passes Tebow attempted. He missed a multitude of reads and was very late with his decision-making. The offensive line gave him an incredible amount of time.

I can't help but think back to when I was griping about Tebow not getting enough experience on the field due to the option offense. I was refuted by several individuals who said they liked what the Broncos were doing. I said the offense would get solved and we'd be back to square one. Surprise.

I don't know why you're blaming the coaches, Jonsco. Do you believe play-calling would make Tebow more accurate? Make better reads? The play-calling was a reaction from Tebow's ability, not the other way around.

That all being said, he's young, and he needs time. He needs experience and he needs to make mistakes. I said months ago, and I'm still saying it now. You cannot run a one-dimensional offense that depends on tricks and expect it to fool the league in the long run.

How they played yesterday is EXACTLY the kind of team we are. Good defense, good running game, terrible passing game. That's precisely what we are because those areas match up to the strengths and weaknesses of our players. Sunday's game shouldn't be anything more than a confirmation of what kind of team we are. Skeeter, you want to harp on the coaching, but the coaching staff is dealing with what they have. Pittsburgh will kill us next week, but it's not because our coaching staff isn't playing to win. It's because we're not the same caliber team that the Steelers are. Our roster isn't ready. We're in the playoffs because of luck.

You want confirmation as to what happens when the coaching staff decides to air it out? Just look at the Bills game and the 4 turn overs by Tebow. That should tell you plenty about why McCoy and Fox do not want to put the ball in his hands.

[SkeeterJD]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

Skeeter, you want to harp on the coaching, but the coaching staff is dealing with what they have. Pittsburgh will kill us next week, but it's not because our coaching staff isn't playing to win. It's because we're not the same caliber team that the Steelers are. Our roster isn't ready. We're in the playoffs because of luck.

You want confirmation as to what happens when the coaching staff decides to air it out? Just look at the Bills game and the 4 turn overs by Tebow. That should tell you plenty about why McCoy and Fox do not want to put the ball in his hands.

You seriously want to sit there and tell me that what the coaching staff rolled out onto the field against Kansas City was a direct product of working with what they have? Denver's offense is so predictable it's sickening. And what's more sickening is that they just barely scratched the surface of what the read option offense can be. Read option left/right, throw on 3rd down is not an offensive gameplan I would put out there. Especially when you are playing at home to get into the playoffs! If you think Denver has exhausted the entire scope of what that sort of offense can do...fine, but you're wrong. You can toot you're own horn about saying this offense isn't sustainable, but if I were to trot out a Tecmo offense each week I can see how that would get solved pretty quickly too.

And they aren't playing to win. If you believe that Denver has a "good defense", why not try a 57 yard field goal in a game you know is going to be low scoring, with the best 50 yard kicker in the NFL? Fox also opted to punt twice in the fourth quarter when they were on the Kansas City side of the 50. Fox was not the aggressor in that game. That game against Kansas City was a VERY winnable game and I didn't see anything to tell me that they were trying to win it.

I am laying a lot on this on Tebow, but the coaching staff is doing nothing to help the kid. Where are the short slants? Screens? Anything to give Tebow confidence?

In the Bills game, they had the opportunity to go up by two scores, but after the first TD you saw the coaching staff pull back hard on the reins. But don't say that they lost that game because they decided to go a different route and "air it out" all game. Tebow (and every young quarterback) will have that type of quick sand game. They became one dimensional in the passing game, Tebow pressed and had one of his worst games.

[Jonsco28]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

I don't know why you're blaming the coaches, Jonsco. Do you believe play-calling would make Tebow more accurate? Make better reads? The play-calling was a reaction from Tebow's ability, not the other way around.

I disagree. They have had success when they come out and mix things up both running and throwing - keeping the defense guessing. What a concept! They did it in the first quarter against the Patriots and in the opening drive of each half against the Bills. Then for whatever reason, they abandon what has been successful and they get into their non-creative, overly conservative playcalling ways and they begin to go three-and-out (stretch play right, read-option left, Tebow scramble up the middle, punt). I'm putting a large part of the blame on the coaches because their playcalling is more often than not uninspiring and predictable. Yes, Tebow needs to perform better, but the coaches aren't doing him any favors. I don't think they know how to truly handle Tebow. Screens, designed roll-outs, etc., are not utilized. There is a lot more that could stem from the read-option, and they don't do it. They have a handful of 'go to' plays and that's all they run. The creativity pretty much stopped following the introduction of the read-option.

A prime example of stuff they should be doing to help Tebow is a play they ran to Fells against the Chiefs. It was a read-option play where Tebow kept the ball and then threw it to Fells. The throw was late, but it was still completed. They need to do more of that. It seems all the receivers do is run out-routes and fly patterns. Look at the middle of the field sometime during the replays - it's wide open. They should be using the read-option to control the linebackers and calling plays based on how they react. They could do more, but they seem to be limited in imagination on how to expand on what they have. Quit playing scared and conservative. Be the aggressor. Try no-huddle to shake things up. Anything.

Skeeter, I think you pretty much nailed it.

[Broncos86]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

/shrug Okay then.

[Jonsco28]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

Very happy with that performance. That was exactly what I've been waiting to see from the offense. I loved the roll-outs, and they really mixed it up well. Tebow played a really good game. That last pass to Thomas was pretty. It was great to see that fire back in him.

I was a little disappointed in the defensive approach with all the three-man rushes. It worked out in the end, but I thought if Denver would have kept up with their pressure, Pittsburgh wouldn't have come back.

It feels good to knock the Steelers out.

[Broncos86]

Excellent performance.

[SkeeterJD]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

How funny is it that one of the most hated men in Denver got us the two guys that won the game today? I'd love to see that connection between Thomas and Tebow grow to new heights the rest of this year and next.

I thought the gameplan was A LOT better this time around. I was glad to see that they finally exploited the fact that Pittsburgh's safeties were creeping up to stop the run on first down and they throw it for the winning score.

I'm not sure why they continually rushed 3 when it seemed like they were getting adequate amounts of pressure on Roethlisberger when they rushed/blitzed 4+.

I should be getting used to wins like this, but that last play was flat out awesome.

[Broncos86]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

Play-callling didn't really change, fellas. This time, the offense executed and Tebow made the reads he needed to make. Then, he was able to deliver and allow Thomas to go into beast mode.

[SkeeterJD]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

I saw them be far more aggressive on offense last night. They threw a lot more on first and second down and kept the Steeler off balance. That touchdown pass to win happened because the Steeler were playing the numbers and thought they were going to run. If you're not predictable, it's amazing the success you can have.

They looked like they wanted to win last night. I thought they could've kicked that 57 FG to put even more pressure on Pittsburgh, but I thought all in all, they went after the Steelers instead of sitting on a lead (despite the Steelers coming back on them).

[kehlis]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

They ran it 21 out of 22 time on first down in regulation.

[SkeeterJD]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

True...it wasn't as high as 21 (maybe 19), but throughout the course of the game they did throw it more on 1st and second down (14 times total) than they have in the past. Before it was run on 1st and 2nd, throw on 3rd.

[kehlis]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

True...it wasn't as high as 21 (maybe 19), but throughout the course of the game they did throw it more on 1st and second down (14 times total) than they have in the past. Before it was run on 1st and 2nd, throw on 3rd.

It was 21 out of 22. I'm not guessing, I've read it at multiple places.

They passed much more on second down than they have in the past but the first down playcalling was the same it has been all year. They showed better execution on 2nd down than we have seen in a while.

[SkeeterJD]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

I just quickly went through the play-by-play on the Denver Post and counted less than 21.

I agree on all your other points.

Edit: I may be counting plays that were negated by penalties.

[Broncos86]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

From http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/201201...yze=playbyplay

I counted 22 times on first down the Broncos ran the ball.

[Jonsco28]

Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread

Their offense was the same (it's who they are), but the gameplan was most certainly different - regardless of what they did on first down. Fox himself said in an interview (NFL Total Access - heard it on Sirius Radio)that they had to come out and be less conservative with a more aggressive gameplan.