Re: Official Denver Broncos Thread
In cold weather, the ball becomes hard and slick. It's ripe for fumbles, and we saw it. Fumbles don't equate to going ultra conservative. In fact, the Broncos' game plan never changed. What changed were turnovers. Let's not forget that the Patriots put themselves in the hole early on. 17 points in the first half came from fumbles on the Patriots' side of the field.
What you saw out of the Broncos was a game plan designed around keeping Tom Brady off the field. I think the game plan was sound, and I liked how we approached it. The Broncos had over 400 yards of offense in total, including 280 on the ground. Moreno ran the ball for 224 yards, and averaged 6.1 yards per carry! The Broncos executed a fine offensive strategy. But bad turnovers cost the Broncos the game, just as it almost cost the Patriots the game.
Montee Ball has fumble issues, there is no doubt about that. But on the flip side, Moreno is a stud for us right now. Don't forget, he's only 26 years old. I didn't mind the running game, as I thought throwing into a 20 MPH wind would be stupid. Peyton doesn't throw a hard pass; a lot of his throws are timed touch passes. That's tough in a cold wind like that.
Also, Carnal: let's bear in mind that the only running back to fumble was Montee Ball. Ball carried 7 times. Moreno never fumbled the ball, so the idea that the RBs fumbled because they were beat up isn't accurate. Also, Carnal, I'm tired of your defeatist attitude. You've come into this thread, and the other Broncos game threads, and spewed this anti-Manning junk all season. The Broncos are still 9-2. The game plan was sound. If you want to discuss in this thread, get off this BS attitude towards the coaches, Manning, and the team. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you spew forth a bunch of junk, especially when it's poorly thought out. We've lost a total of two close games. You're being a drama queen, and I'm sick of the childish whining.
In the end, football can be a game that's decided on a bad bounce. If the ball takes a different bounce and doesn't hit Carter, we might be sitting here talking about how Manning led the charge once more and how Brady and Co. were snake-bitten by fumbles. As it happens, the bounce went the wrong way for us. Weather games like this, it can happen. A slip here, a bad bounce there, and you lose. It doesn't mean you're better or worse, it just means you lost. I knew, before this game even started that funky stuff was going to happen, because that's just what happens when the elements play a major role. The cold alone can make the ball slick and hard, then you add in a frigid 20 MPH head wind? It took 15 - 20 yards off of Prater's kickoffs.
This is a game where you just have to understand that we didn't get the breaks we needed. The game plan looked good offensively. On defense, you just have to hope for turnovers against Tom Brady, and we got them. So IMO, the defense did all that it could. He's Tom Brady! He'll make the best defense in the league look terrible. So for us to get 17 points off turnovers is a bonus.
The disconcerting aspect is that Montee Ball hasn't solved his fumbling issues. We now have two young RBs with fumbling issues, and one RB who is absolutely willing our running game forwards. Montee Ball got his chance because Ronnie Hillman fumbled it away. CJ Anderson now has the same opportunity. If Moreno says one thing to Anderson, I hope it's to protect the ball. You can see just how important it is to Moreno. I think he might've been able to stiff-arm a guy and go for the TD on several of his big runs, but he made the smart play and covered the ball up.
In cold weather, the ball becomes hard and slick. It's ripe for fumbles, and we saw it. Fumbles don't equate to going ultra conservative. In fact, the Broncos' game plan never changed. What changed were turnovers. Let's not forget that the Patriots put themselves in the hole early on. 17 points in the first half came from fumbles on the Patriots' side of the field.
What you saw out of the Broncos was a game plan designed around keeping Tom Brady off the field. I think the game plan was sound, and I liked how we approached it. The Broncos had over 400 yards of offense in total, including 280 on the ground. Moreno ran the ball for 224 yards, and averaged 6.1 yards per carry! The Broncos executed a fine offensive strategy. But bad turnovers cost the Broncos the game, just as it almost cost the Patriots the game.
Montee Ball has fumble issues, there is no doubt about that. But on the flip side, Moreno is a stud for us right now. Don't forget, he's only 26 years old. I didn't mind the running game, as I thought throwing into a 20 MPH wind would be stupid. Peyton doesn't throw a hard pass; a lot of his throws are timed touch passes. That's tough in a cold wind like that.
Also, Carnal: let's bear in mind that the only running back to fumble was Montee Ball. Ball carried 7 times. Moreno never fumbled the ball, so the idea that the RBs fumbled because they were beat up isn't accurate. Also, Carnal, I'm tired of your defeatist attitude. You've come into this thread, and the other Broncos game threads, and spewed this anti-Manning junk all season. The Broncos are still 9-2. The game plan was sound. If you want to discuss in this thread, get off this BS attitude towards the coaches, Manning, and the team. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you spew forth a bunch of junk, especially when it's poorly thought out. We've lost a total of two close games. You're being a drama queen, and I'm sick of the childish whining.
In the end, football can be a game that's decided on a bad bounce. If the ball takes a different bounce and doesn't hit Carter, we might be sitting here talking about how Manning led the charge once more and how Brady and Co. were snake-bitten by fumbles. As it happens, the bounce went the wrong way for us. Weather games like this, it can happen. A slip here, a bad bounce there, and you lose. It doesn't mean you're better or worse, it just means you lost. I knew, before this game even started that funky stuff was going to happen, because that's just what happens when the elements play a major role. The cold alone can make the ball slick and hard, then you add in a frigid 20 MPH head wind? It took 15 - 20 yards off of Prater's kickoffs.
This is a game where you just have to understand that we didn't get the breaks we needed. The game plan looked good offensively. On defense, you just have to hope for turnovers against Tom Brady, and we got them. So IMO, the defense did all that it could. He's Tom Brady! He'll make the best defense in the league look terrible. So for us to get 17 points off turnovers is a bonus.
The disconcerting aspect is that Montee Ball hasn't solved his fumbling issues. We now have two young RBs with fumbling issues, and one RB who is absolutely willing our running game forwards. Montee Ball got his chance because Ronnie Hillman fumbled it away. CJ Anderson now has the same opportunity. If Moreno says one thing to Anderson, I hope it's to protect the ball. You can see just how important it is to Moreno. I think he might've been able to stiff-arm a guy and go for the TD on several of his big runs, but he made the smart play and covered the ball up.
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