Denver Broncos Discussion

[njx9]

i still really don't like hillman. he's about as useful as moreno in the run game, and he can't pass block. what was the upside?

we HAVE to stop running that ******* wide receiver screen so much. i can call it out nearly every time we run it, and it's just not effective anymore. it's just going to lead to more ints.

it would be awesome if we could go a game without fumbling.

i love von and i love peyton.

[Timbathia]

Hillman looks a lot better when he is coming in to spell McGahee. He looks awful when he is there for an obvious run situation.

Am I the only one who is EXTREMELY nervous every time the ball is kicked to Holliday? Obviously once the ball is in his hands and he has started running he looks great, but he looks so suspect judging and catching the ball. I am worried he will cost us an important game at the end of the season.

Decker has disappeared the past two weeks. Is he playing hurt?

[gpngc]

Watched the whole game.

Decker is not hurt he's just not getting many looks. No big reason. He's still blocking like a beast on crackbacks.

Why do you think Holliday got cut? lol he's a huge risk-reward back there.

The WR screen was the reason for the Stokley TD and I think another fake screen was a big play but I may be misremembering.

This team, to me, is the favorite for the Super Bowl. Good HC, GOAT QB, pass rushers. I'd be shocked if they didn't make it to AT LEAST the AFCCG.

I wonder what McGahee's injury is.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by gpngc

The WR screen was the reason for the Stokley TD and I think another fake screen was a big play but I may be misremembering.

it worked well 6 weeks ago. now everyone is sitting on it, as we nearly saw twice today.

Originally Posted by Timbathia

Hillman looks a lot better when he is coming in to spell McGahee. He looks awful when he is there for an obvious run situation.

he doesn't even look that good then, unless the hole is 12 feet wide. i think his vision is suspect, and he apparently can't make the first guy miss. i know he's a rookie, but nothing he's done has been impressive so far.

Am I the only one who is EXTREMELY nervous every time the ball is kicked to Holliday? Obviously once the ball is in his hands and he has started running he looks great, but he looks so suspect judging and catching the ball. I am worried he will cost us an important game at the end of the season.

yup. i love him, and in spite of his early fumbles, i still think he's a million times more valuable than leonhard's catch the ball and fall over approach. but i do hold my breath at times.

[Diehard]

Originally Posted by njx9

he doesn't even look that good then, unless the hole is 12 feet wide. i think his vision is suspect, and he apparently can't make the first guy miss. i know he's a rookie, but nothing he's done has been impressive so far.

Right now, he's just a speed guy. He tries to bounce everything to the outside... which is usually a sign that he's not really reading his blocks. He's young and a rookie - he'll put on some weight over the next few years and the game will slow down for him. Then we'll see.

Atm, though, the Ball/Hillman combination pushes us too much toward the passing game. Our bread-n-butter run plays are inside the tackles - whether zone blocking, having a pulling OG lead or multiple double teams on the DL... that's where McGahee really earned his yards. Ball is okay in the zone scheme but still doesn't pick his way through the interior trash enough to be a reliable option.

[njx9]

i dunno, like i said, i don't want to write him off. but a running back who doesn't even have vision coming into the league? how many running backs have looked that bad to start, then been good later? 2 over the last 30 years? eh.

ball is way too slow to be a regular option in the running game, but i'd rather have him in, since at least then teams don't know we're going minimum protection on a pass play every single time.

but i hated hillman when we picked him, so i'm already biased.

[Diehard]

We need another power back with vision. I honestly can't understand why that is so difficult to evaluate - those things should be apparent from the game tape. The trick is, you've got to avoid being dazzled by the plays where a back takes a quick pitch and races for an 80-yard TD... or the OL is so dominant that the holes are big enough for a truck to drive through.

As for Ball vs Hillman, obviously Ball gives you more options at this point even if he lacks any real impact ability. Neither is really a great option, though. I'm thinking we'll see your favorite sauced HB activated this week...

[Diehard]

McGahee - torn MCL and leg fracture. Out 6-8 weeks. Pretty much sticks a fork in his season.

https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora

Looks like we're going to be working out some RB's... I guess the FO doesn't like our depth much either.

[Diehard]

The positives:

* We won

* Moreno ran pretty well subbing for McGahee

* The defense handled the Chiefs' meager passing game easily

The negatives:

* Kuper should not have been playing. He got pushed around bigtime. I know Manny Rameriez (sp?) is a poor substitute, but better to play him than have Kuper underperform and risk further injury.

* Manning didn't have his best day. The pick was a terrible decision and he held the ball far too long on multiple occasions.

* Drops by the receivers. It's just painful to watch.

* Run defense. We knew they were going to run to protect Quinn... why the **** were we playing so many nickle looks and light fronts?

* Prater... seriously WTF? Two missed FG's and a knuckleball kickoff. I hope Fox read him the riot act.

[njx9]

what a god awful game.

we still can't stop the run, and if daboll wasn't an idiot, we'd have lost badly. instead, he kept letting quinn throw. we desperately need better DTs and better LBs. wolfe is absolutely not ever a run-down DT. washed out constantly by a terrible o-line.

wrs couldn't figure out how to get open against a mediocre secondary. awesome.

the o-line was bad, but i don't think they were really as bad as they looked. if the wrs had been open, i think the pressure is far less relevant. then again, maybe we were just running stupid routes.

moreno is still garbage (and would've been exposed by a decent team), but it was nice to see him actually make it to a hole every so often. it'd be even nicer if he'd consistently hit the hole a bit harder, but it was a substantial step up from hillman/ball.

[Diehard]

Originally Posted by njx9

what a god awful game.

Speaking of god awful - your sig is a revolting eyesore. Tell me you aren't going to be sporting that for long...

Despite all the tough talk about playing a division opponent, the Arrowhead challenge, and other blahblah - the Broncos came out flat and lacked focus. It's pretty clear they were looking past this one. Stupid? Yes. Entirely predictable? Yes. I'm sure Fox is frustrated - getting these guys motivated to bring their A game every week is apparently a very tough task.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by Diehard

Speaking of god awful - your sig is a revolting eyesore. Tell me you aren't going to be sporting that for long...

yeah, it's hideous. it makes me happy i have to keep sigs turned off for work anyways.

Despite all the tough talk about playing a division opponent, the Arrowhead challenge, and other blahblah - the Broncos came out flat and lacked focus. It's pretty clear they were looking past this one. Stupid? Yes. Entirely predictable? Yes. I'm sure Fox is frustrated - getting these guys motivated to bring their A game every week is apparently a very tough task.

yup. it was back to the old days of the classic broncos 'play-down-to-an-inferior-team' mindset. was really hoping we were done with that.

[vidae]

Originally Posted by Diehard

Speaking of god awful - your sig is a revolting eyesore. Tell me you aren't going to be sporting that for long...

That is what happens when he bets against me. And that sig is a masterpiece.

Originally Posted by njx9

yeah, it's hideous. it makes me happy i have to keep sigs turned off for work anyways.

<3 :)

[Diehard]

Originally Posted by vidae

That is what happens when he bets against me. And that sig is a masterpiece.

Definitely calls for sigs to be turned off, except the damage has already been done... that which has been seen cannot be unseen.

[Diehard]

We really need help at RB. The lack of any kind of reliable play at that position is dragging down the offense. The inside running is the key - we've had our most success when we can pound the rock between the tackles and spread the D out with our receivers.

[njx9]

this is really appalling.

[Timbathia]

Originally Posted by njx9

this is really appalling.

At least it got better.

[njx9]

true enough.

the team in the first half was awful. totally agree with diehard on the rbs. outside of mcgahee, we don't have a single rb who should (based on present play) be on the roster next year.

[Timbathia]

It will be interesting to see if we start to use Hester. Surely a fullback will be useful enough in our offense. When Peyton checks into a run - hit the hole as hard as you can and keep your legs moving til a knee hits the ground. Much better than tip toe to the line of scrimmage, pause behind a o-lineman and then cautiously step out from behind him into the waiting arms of a defender.

What the **** is going on with Prater? While generally we are playing well, there are so many small things that are far from ideal, and he is one of them at the moment.

[njx9]

at least he's not mason crosby.

[Diehard]

Originally Posted by Timbathia

It will be interesting to see if we start to use Hester. Surely a fullback will be useful enough in our offense.

In the absence of McGahee, we need someone who can run between the tackles in short yardage situations. If Hester shows he can do that, then we'd might as well see how effective he'd be on the various stretch runs we've been using. I think a big, strong back is the best complement to what we do in the passing game.

What the **** is going on with Prater? While generally we are playing well, there are so many small things that are far from ideal, and he is one of them at the moment.

Prater is definitely struggling. He's always been an odd case where he's good at long range but misses more intermediate range kicks, but the last few weeks have been ugly. He needs to get his head screwed on right... an erratic kicker is exactly what we don't need going into the playoffs.

[brat316]

Lets go Donkeys, superbowl bound with your horse face GM!!!

[Diehard]

Well, another win... that's the good news.

The bad news is that we should've *buried* the Raiders. It sure seemed like the Broncos took their collective foot off the pedal after grabbing an early lead. I know that Fox is ultra-conservative, but it seemed that was taking it a little too far.

[njx9]

didn't see the game, but it looked like a pretty 'meh' effort, from the play-by-play and box score. at least we haven't lost yet to a team we should've beat. that's a massive step up from... well... most of the last two decades.

[Diehard]

Originally Posted by njx9

didn't see the game, but it looked like a pretty 'meh' effort, from the play-by-play and box score. at least we haven't lost yet to a team we should've beat. that's a massive step up from... well... most of the last two decades.

They demonstrated some killer instinct on the first drive and I was really hoping that would set the tone for the game. Instead, they kinda went into coast mode after the first two scores. Most of the second half was about grinding the clock down.

Ramierez was in again - Kuper was a late scratch... and that wasn't a good development. I think OG should be on our wish list come draft day.