Q3 15:00: The Seahawks will receive to start the second half.
Q3 14:59: Matt Prater’s kick goes through the end zone and Seattle takes over at the 20. Holding is called on Seattle’s Max Unger after a short first down run. That brings up 1st-and-20 and Forsett runs up the middle for 5 yards. On second down, Tarvaris Jackson goes down again as Von Miller comes off the edge for the sack. On third-and-18, Jackson completes to Mike Williams but its well short of the marker and the punt team comes on. Perrish Cox fields the punt this time and he is brought down at the Denver 15-yard line.
Q3 12:42: Orton’s pass on first down is knocked down at the line. McGahee picks up no gain on second down. On third down, Brandon Lloyd comes up with the catch in traffic for the first, but the wideout is flagged for a delay of game — tossin the ball away from the official. Still first-and-10 for the Broncos though. And on the next play Orton goes deep to a wide open Eddie Royal for a 42-yard reception. Spencer Larsen is called for holding on the ensuing first down. Ball marked on the Seattle 42-yard line. After the penalty, Orton has all day to throw and he finds Daniel Fells wide open and the tight end takes it down to the Seattle 14-yard line.
Q3 9:27: Orton’s first down pass is incomplete in the end zone. On second down, Morenon takes the pitch right and picks up a short gain but a facemask is called on the Seahawks and the Broncos move half the distance to the goal. On first-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Orton fires to Eric Decker who catches the ball just across the goal line for the touchdown. Prater’s extra point is good.
BRONCOS 17, SEAHAWKS 3
Q3 8:53: Prater’s kickoff goes through the end zone again and a flag is thrown on the play — a personal foul on Jeron Johnson — so Seattle will start at their own 10-yard line.
Q3 8:52: The second-team defense is in for Denver and on first down Forsett picks up three yards. Forsett runs left for a first down with an 11-yard gain on the next play. Washington takes the first down carry up the middle for 2 yards and then is met for a 2-yard loss on second down. On third down, Jackson is tracked down and sacked from behind by Jeremy Jarmon as the pocked collapsed to bring up fourth down. Cox is back to return the punt and after bobbling the catch, he falls on top of it and Denver will start on their own 24-yard line.
Q3 5:40: Tim Tebow is now in at quarterback for the Broncos who have sent out the second-team offense. Seattle has turned to their second-team defense. On first down, Lance Ball runs right for 6 yards and on second down, Tebow escapes the rush and finds tight end Julius Thomas down the sideline for a 20 yard gain. Ball runs right on first down and picks up 7 yards this time as Denver moves into Seattle territory. On second down, Tebow fakes the handoff and takes a shot before throwing an incomplete pass. On third down, Tebow scrambles and fumbles the ball but it is recovered by David Anderson and the punt team will come on. Britton Colquitt’s punt is fair caught by Doug Baldwin at the 16-yard line.
Q3 2:39: Seattle continues to work with the first-team offense and they come out in a hurry-up offense as Jackson fires complete for a 12-yard gain to Mike Williams. On the next play, Leon Washington runs for a 21-yard gain. Jackson then completes over the middle Ben Obamanu for another quick first down. Washington runs left and is stopped on first down after a 4 yard gain. On second down, Jackson completes to Sidney Rice for 5 yards. Michael Robinson then runs up the middle for 3 yards and the first down. Jackson hits Obamanu on a quick 7-yard pass and the third quarter concludes.
Q4 15:00: On second down, Jackson goes deep to Sidney Rice in the end zone and Nate Jones is called for pass interference — placing the ball at the 1-yard line. Thomas Clayton takes the carry on first-and-goal and is stuffed for no gain. On second-and-goal, Jackson finds Dominique Bird wide open on play-action for the score and the extra point is good.
BRONCOS 17, SEAHAWKS 10
Q4 14:16: Jeff Reed’s kick goes deep into the end zone and David Anderson takes a knee, putting the ball on the 20-yard line. On first down Ball takes the carry and finds a huge hole for 9 yards. Ball finds another gaping hole thanks to a key block from Shawn Murphy on second and short, picking up 12 yards and another first down. Jeremiah Johnson then picks up 4 yards. On the next play, Tebow rips himself free from a sack and fires a 23-yard completion to Johnson. Tebow then rolls left on first down and scampers out of bounds after a 2 yard pickup. Johnson takes a pitch right and a flag is thrown for illegal use hands to the face on the defense. First down at the 20 now for Denver.
Q4 10:38: Tebow’s first down pass short to Lance Ball is dropped. Delay of game flag is called on the Broncos moving them back 5 yards. On second-and-15, Tebow is sacked by Pep Levingston bringing up third-and-19. Tebow throws short on third down to Matt Willis and Prater is in to attempt a 40-yard field goal. And the kick is good.
BRONCOS 20, SEAHAWKS 10
Q4 9:15: Steven Hauschka is in to kickoff and his kick sails through the end zone for a touchback but a flag is thrown on the play for offsides on Denver so we’ll have a re-kick. Hauschka’s kick is returned by Baldwin this time and he returns it 105 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown. The extra point is good.
BRONCOS 20, SEAHAWKS 17
Q4 8:59: The ensuing kickoff is ruled a touchback so Tebow and the Broncos will start at the 20. On first down, Ball runs right and picks up a yard. On second down, Tebow rolls left and throws an incomplete pass intended for Dante Rosario. Tebow’s third down pass is complete to Willis for 10 yards and a new set of downs. Johnson takes a pitch left and is stopped after a one yard gain. Tebow goes deep down the sideline on play-action for Britt Davis on second down but the pass is too far and falls incomplete. On third down, Tebow completes to Willis again who stretches out and comes up just short of the first down.
Q4 6:34: Denver is challenging the ruling on the field that Willis was short of the marker.
Q4 6:33: After review the ruling on the field stands and Colquitt is in to punt. The ball bounces into the end zone but flags are thrown on both teams so we’ll replay fourth down. Colquitt’s second punt is returned by Sherman to the Seattle 23-yard line.
Q4 5:15: Charlie Whitehurst is in at quarterback for Seattle and he goes three-and-out, so John Gold is in to punt for the Seahawks. Anderson muffs the punt but the ball is recovered by Jeremiah Johnson and Denver will take over at their own 22-yard line.
Q4 5:00: After a short run from Ball, Tebow is swarmed by defenders and is dropped for a sack (5 yard loss). On third-and-long, Tebow’s pass is short for Eron Riley and Colquitt is in to punt it away. Sherman fields the punt for a short return but a flag is thrown for holding on Seattle, pusing them back to their own 21-yard line.
Q4 3:40: Alvin Bowen is called for a horse-collar tackle on second down but a holding penalty on Seattle means the two calls offset. On second-and-long, Whitehurst throws a screen to Thomas Clayton who picks up 23 yards. On first down Whitehurst completes a 9 yard pass to Baldwin, then completes a short pass to Baldwin for a first down, taking us to the 2-minute warning. The ball is spotted on the Denver 40-yard line.
Q4 2:00: Clayton takes the handoff no gain. On second down, Whitehurst completes short to Kris Durham for a 5 yard gain. Seattle then calls a timeout.
Q4 1:26: Whitehurst goes deep for Golden Tate but the pass is too far and falls incomplete. That brings up fourth-and-five and Reed is in to attempt a 53-yard field goal… and the kick is good. We are all tied up.
BRONCOS 20, SEAHAWKS 20
Q4 1:16: Offsides is called on Seattle on the ensuing kickoff so we have a re-kick. Anderson returns the kick out to the 23-yard line.
Q4 1:12: Tebow scrambles on first down and picks up 19 yards before getting out of bounds on the left sideline. On the next play, Ball takes a screen pass all the way down to the Seattle 32-yard line. Tebow then fumbles the ensuing first down snap but pounces on it and takes a short loss. Denver calls timeout with 18 seconds left.
Q4 0:18: Tebow rolls right and is brought down for a short loss. The Broncos call a timeout with 2 seconds remaining. Hauschka is in to attempt the field goal from 51 yards out…. and the kick is GOOD. Denver wins as the clock runs out.
FINAL: BRONCOS 23, SEAHAWKS 20
Thanks for following along. The Broncos now improve to 2-1 in the preseason and will close out their exhibiton slate on the road against the Arizona Cardinals Thursday.
TRB, that’s what I am saying. With a great run game, and scary D (which looks like what we may have) is pretty much a proven way to win a lot of games in the NFL. If, on top of that, our pass game and ST is even decent, that should be enough to be pushing for a playoff birth.
But maybe I am just getting to gassed.
I guess we will all find out what’s up on Sept. 12th. If the broncos are who I think they are, we will win by at least ten points.
If not, it will be a close game, and we will lose.
I figure there isn’t a chance in the multiverse that we lose by 10 or more points. We certainly will not have a repeat of Black Sunday.
With any luck, it will be Orange Sunday, and we will repay the favor. That would be nice.
BTW, Keystone Ice, unlike Kieth Stone, is not very smooth :/
LOL. Miller is superman. Mild mannered dude wears thick glasses by day, terrorizes QBs by night.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_18772457
Forget Batman and Robin. We got Batman and Superman. Maybe Ayers can be robin.
I agree I really hope we squeeze the juice out of the raiders this season. Pay em back two fold for disrespecting us
After today I think Tebow needs to stop trying to “improve.” By that I don’t mean he should stop studying the game. He needs to get better at reading defenses and knowing when to run or when to keep his eyes down field.
But he just looked nervous today (before the final drive when his clutch presence came through). He was hesitant, and maybe playing a little stiff. I think he needs to just play his game at this point.
All i got to say is GO BRONCOS!!!
Um, I agree with your sentiment, but not your handle. Isn’t “Bronco thuggin” what got Darrent Williams killed? BM was a bronco thug, and good riddance. His “bronco thuggin” ways got a good man killed. Not to mention a stellar Broncos CB.
Rip DW. No more “broncothuggin” please.
Was Perish Cox “Broncothuggin” when he did what he did. So a promising CB will likely spend a few years in prison. Why in god’s name would you be in favor of “broncothugging.”
Dumbest handle ever!!
Where is everyone? Sleep is for the weak!!!!
Did anyone see my boy PP’s pick 6. Man he jumped that Rivers pass. Skills like that is why I wanted us to get him. Even sweeter cuz it was on rivers. But how can you argue with the addition of Von Miller to Doom. I mean, forget INTs, QBs may not even get the ball off. LMAO. TRB
Alexanserg I agree with your 12:59 post, Tebow looked very uncomfortable and nervous. I also hope that our 1st string defense stays healthy because the 2nd string defense can’t stop anyone. The offensive line for Tim did not protect him at all either. The critics are going to come out in force and tear him down some more. I watched several games and T. Jackson, C. Newton, C. McCoy and even Tom Brady had awful games. I bet that Tim will be the only one with really bad press. I know he is not supposed to pay attention to what people say but how can anyone not buckle under such critisism? I think that Mike Ditka and Drew Breese were right you don’t need to change his delivery of the ball he just needs experience to let him grow.
http://www.denverbroncos.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Climbing-the-Ladder/8c3fceb0-c384-42d7-958c-5a1b4f52d863
I really like seeing these kinds of articles. Finally our Front O, is going about “character” building in a positive fashion. Players like Ekuban are perfect for this role. Almost every NFL player was a stud growing up, best on their HS team, a stud in college, etc. But what do you do, when every single player you face is also a stud and all of the sudden you are not the stud anymore. Psychologically this tears a man apart.
Overall I was very happy with last night. Injury wise, losing Williams 3-4 weeks really blows. Luckily Woodyard has had a great training camp/preseason so we shouldn’t be in that bad of shape. From what I’ve seen Bunkley’s injury is not serious (I hope that’s true) which is good, he’s playing great for us. Also, the penalties early on were not good and basically eliminated a couple of our drives.
At QB:
Orton looked solid as usual. The interception was more a tribute to great insticts buy Clemons than it was a bad read by Orton. It happens.
RB:
Moreno shows great effort. Whether its preseason or regular season he fights hard and I love it. His burst into the hole is much improved this year. Then again last year there were not many holes to burst through lol. McGahee’s role at short yardage is perfect. His ypc was a little low last night for the second straight week but I’m not worried about it.
WR:
I can’t say enough about Decker, I love what the guy brings to our wideout core. Royal on the deep ball was great. I wish we used him more in a Lee Evans type of role on those plays more often. The guy can burn. Willis 3 catches on 3 targets, efficient. When these guys are involved we are a much better team.
TE:
How about Julius Thomas? What a weapon. I know not all of his receptions were with the first team but regardless, I’m impressed. Fells is a great tight end in Fox’s system, I like getting him involved in the passing game too. He’s huge.
Oline:
Solid once again. Franklin looks to be improving each week. He did get burnt on that Orton 16 yard sack. Beadles was a little sketchy at times as well but the unit looks to be gelling nicely.
Defense:
Last night was a beautiful thing to watch. It seems like Doom and Von literally are racing each other to the quarterback. When the pass rushers are getting it done like last night, everything else falls into place. The DBs don’t have to cover nearly as long and it allows us to press cover more if we’d like.
How awesome would it have been to see Prater nail that 69 yarder? So close
WOW, our defense was unstoppable, DOOM and GLOOM!! I do like the sound of it. Better things to come, hell ya!!
HOF, Prater said he got to excited and didn’t kick it right. He made one in pregame. The wind was at his back and it was in mile highs altitude. Shoulda nailed. He will in reg season when it counts and will be recorded. Im glad fox had faith in him. Mcd didn’t. Altho I think fox shoulda gone for it on 4th down and inches.
I disagree HOF. INT was all ortons fault. He locked in before the pass even happened and as a result he didn’t consider the possibility of a dlineman dropping back. Its all good, happens to the best of em I suppose.
All I know is I love this defense
D linemen dropping back fool even the greatest “read” QB’s. Guys being where they are not supposed to be.
I am very excited. Guys that are being over blown with media coverage are performing as expected yet, it is us fans that are seeing where the light is shining bright thus far. Either way, individual performances were solid by many, but look out AFC West it looks like the Broncos are a team again. No matter my personal feelings, it almost brings a tear to my eye imaging watching a solid “team” take the field in Orange and Blue and that is what I will hold onto.
Ill give bradquinn 1 thing, whether he has gone 2nd or 3rd, he always has a td. He is greatly improvT is yet to get one. He did have one but was called back because of a hold. I will give him one thing tho … even when he rolled out and coulda run … he thru the ball. Pass to julius thomas for example. That’s what pro qbs are supposed to do. Only run when necessary. But he wouldn’t have to roll out if back up line could create a decent pocket. He’s got alot of work to do to fit into a system built more for orton and quinns strengths than his, brady will probably have start next week, with tebow following and finally weber. TRB
The backup o-line was definitely shaky, but unfortunately some of the pressure Tebow was feeling was his fault from what I saw. There were a few times where he either held on to the ball too long or started scrambling when he didn’t need to and scrambled right into pressure. So I’ll put half the blame on the backup o-line and half on Tim. But I still gotta give Tim and all those backups credit since they put a drive together when they had to and found a way to win the game which is all that matters in the end.
TRB, do you really think we’ll get a chance to see Weber next week? I’d like to see him play, if only out of curiosity.
DJ out with a dislocated elbow. ouch. we need him back on d asap. other than that the d was fantastic in yesterdays game. just watched the replay. offense was alright. tebow looks uncomfortable. no blocking for him. shook a lot of rushers off though. if kyle and the o get just a lil better, we look good.
You know, everyone is always talking about getting Orton to help Tebow with mechanics, footwork, etc.. Why not have Tebow help Orton with shedding tackles and running? Just an idea. I actually think that Orton is going to have a big year. I think that he’ll be #2 or #3 in terms of passing yardage, especially with a run game that is working pretty well and a defense that can keep him on the field.
I Love me some Von and Doom
I hope this game shuts down the QB drama, Orton looked great other then the INT and he gives us the best chance to win.
Yea I know Prater can boot them from long distances. Like last year in camp I think he hit a 70yarder. And in regards to the pick, very true he locked in on his wideout I just think it was a great defensive play and that happens.
I forgot to mention earlier that Jarmon was very impressive. He played well whether he was inside or on the edge. Looking to be a good trade even if he’s just a situational/depth player right now
I think it’s funny how pretty much everyone (me included) wanted to get a massive DT or two to anchor our run defense and I for one didn’t like the way we addressed the position in the offseason. But after watching these 3 preseason games I think it’s obvious a massive DT isn’t that crucial in this new defense. This new system is all about speed and swarming to the ball, kind of like the Colts defense at their peak a few years ago or the Tampa D in their glory days. So I guess who cares if we’re a little undersized in the front 7 or thin at the DT position? Guys are flying to the ball and that’s all I can really ask for right now.
In other words I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how the personnel has come together in the new D. And yes HOF, I agree. Jarmon looks like a pretty solid football player all around.
I also think Cassius Vaughn is developing really well right now. I like how on 3rd downs he comes onto the field and Champ moves inside to cover the slot. That seems to be a good formula so far.
I know that it’s only the preseason but we’re in the top 5 in total offense and top 10 in total defense according to nfl.com. I hope this tranlates over to the regular season.
GO BRONCOS!!!
My game analysis:
QB: Orton was Ortonish. Had a slow start (not just him our whole offense). He moves about as well as Rex Ryan would in the pocket, but had some very accurate throws. I continue to hope he can be the leader the QB should be this year. I was glad to see Tebow last night really for the first time this preseason. I must say, I wasn’t impressed though. He seems to pull the ball down to quickly and gives up on the play to run. With that said, he made some plays as well. Looking forward to see what Quinn brings to the table next week. Oh one more thing on Orton, I wish he’d take some chances on third on long. He is too conservative at times for my taste.
RB: Moreno made some nice cuts and was really trying to make some plays. Willis ran hard and is great at finding the end zone just like he’s known for.
WR: Was impressed with Decker and Eddie made some plays. That call on Lloyd was bogus for delay of game. I’d like to see Eddie get more involved. He made some good plays, but I’d like to see more out of him. I’d like him to be our Welker type.
OLine: great pass protection for Orton, but inconsist run blocking. That 4th down failure gave me PTSD of the last few years. To be a great running team we need to become more consistent in our run blocking.
TE: I love what Thomas is bringing to the table. A couple dropped passes by Fels and Rosario though. Thomas seems to be our present and future here.
DLine: great game with a lot of effort displayed. I liked Vickerson, Bunkley, and Doom. I can’t believe what a difference Doom has brought back. It killed us not having him last year.
LB: Can’t say enough about Miller. He is showing superstar potential. I’m loving this kid. What a weapon. Mays also played great. I loved his attacking the line mentality and he layer the wood when he got there. Woodyard showed great hustle and ball instincts but doesn’t always make the actual play. He’s always around the ball. Not impressed with any others. I’d like to see more out of Irving.
CB/S: didn’t get to see much out of them due to our pressure being so great, but they all made some plays when needed. If we can keep the pressure on the QB these guys can be very efficient.
Sorry I haven’t been able to post this week,been very sick,but feeling better now!
These are the guys that stood out to me last night:
Defense:
Doom: 1.5 sacks…..even played good run D!
Miller: 2.5 sacks….also made some great tackles!
Mays: very solid inside!
Vaughn: looking very good so far!
Vickerson: looks a lot better than last year!
DJ: all over the place!
Offense:
Decker: played like a vet!
Royal: looked like he did 2 years ago!
Moreno: looked like a totally different RB!
Orton: other than the int and the sack at the 3 yard line,good job,he looked like he was at least trying to be more mobile,it’s a start!
Franklin: a bulldozer to run behind!
Thomas: played a great game!
LLoyd: what can you say…..Spiderman!
Sylvester: opened up some big holes for Ball in the 2nd half!
Special Teams
Colquitt: 55 yd average,had some great punts!
Prater: another 57 yarder,almost a 69 yarder..WOW!
We will find out how good we are in the Monday Night opener against the Faders and their running game.We haven’t really had any good competition yet!
Gotta say I like what I see on the field. I really think the broncos d is super impressive so far. Kyle orton is lookin like Kyle orton but as long as our d does well and keeps orton from being soley responsible for winning games, he should be ok. The way fox does things on game day fits orton just fine. Tebow is struggling overall and I put my tebow making it percentage at 42% now. This year is what I’m focusing on now though and things are looking better and better. I may even put my official entry prediction for the year at 10-6. Of course it’s preseason and you never know. The Vaughn miller selection now looks brilliant and we should have an all pro fixture at slb for the next decade. That’s why before the draft I kept saying don’t draft Peterson draft miller.
BFE I also loved the way Sylvester opened holes as the lead blocker late in the game. I like Spencer Larsen but I think this Sylvester guy has real potential at FB. I say we let Larsen be the starting FB this year and let Sylvester develop on the practice squad and then move him up next year to take over.
People always talk about how we haven’t found a QB to replace Elway yet, but we also haven’t found a run-blocking FB to replace Howard Griffith either, lol.
Maybe Sylvester can develop into that kind of player.
Of all the plays last night, one that really stuck out to me was the block by Manny Ramirez that opened up the screen play for Lance Ball.
Too bad for DJ. That’s a big setback. I hope Bunkley doesn’t miss too much time either. Go figure, a former Raider playing dirty…
Sorry for the obvious repeat of opinions that will follow, haven’t had a chance to read the blog at all.
Denver 23 Seattle 20
Always wanted to get back to having a great D hence I asked for a D minded coach and here we are, we do have a D to be feared, at least by the Seahawks but I am keeping grounded since their O is absolutely atrocious, specially their O line, awful. But regardless, they keep coming and mixing it up.
Von Miller is the absolute beast that he was advertised and will very likely earn rookie of the year award, at least D rookie of the year. Doom is the beast we always knew we had, and Ayers is indeed coming in from the inside with great results in this game again like last game.
Swarming D is what I saw many times, swarming for a sack, swarming for a tackle, swarming like we used to in the days of old, long gone are the late Shanny Ds and McD’s D, Fox and Allen’s D is here to work their tails off, you can tell, the intensity level is way up.
Vickerson did some good things other than the stupid encroachment. Vaughn too except when he got hurdled over, LOL, Mays did show that Irving will have a tough job to dislodge him from his starting spot in the middle, about the only threat to him will be Haggan when he’ll be healthy. Bailey had an outstanding coverage play on the sidelines.
As far as backups on D, Jarmon stood out, making a big tackle and sack on back to back plays.
Now the bad on D, injuries!!!
DJ’s elbow looked pretty badly injured and Bunkley didn’t look to happy leaving the field banging the stadium walls about his knee injury. And you got it, weakside LB and DT are our tow thinnest positions, an absolute set back no matter how you look at it if those two miss any significant time.
Nate Jones!!! Pass interference on a bomb which gave them 1st down at the one followed by a TD. Which brings me to Mayo, one of the weakside LB who had problem covering the WR on that TD but so did our defensive backs, the guy was left wide open in the corner for an easy TD, so not all Mayo’s responsibility there, but on the offside he had on the KO, he was the only one responsible for making us kick it from the 30 which ensued in a 105 yard KO return, an all time record at Mile High I believe, AWFUL, dummy, I’m gonna slap me some mayo on a sandwich and wipe that mayo clean off the field, haha.
The O was good, great and horrible all in the same game, one of the worse first quarter I can ever remember watching, 3 O penalties in the first 4 minutes like, in the 3rd game of preseason, inexcusable. The majority of the first quarter was an exercise in futility O wise, I mean a couple good Moreno runs, a good Orton to Thomas pass, one Orton to Lloyd pass and the great catch in traffic by Decker, that was it production wise, everything else was negative, penalties, Orton not getting rid of the ball and getting sacked all the way back to our own three, and Franklin was absolutely inexistant in pass protection on that play, Orton’s horrible INT, right into the guys hands, 3 and outs, you name it, it looked like a catastrophe in the making until the Decker catch at the end of the first quarter which helped turn it all around going into the second, Thank God, I was livid.
Then we all saw why McGahee is Mr TD again, plus he gets the short yardage on regular basis except for that one 4th down which I would hope Fox would of never gone for it in that situation in regular season. Moreno on the other hand can never get that short yard for a first down as he did once again, hopefully Fox won’t try that either. Moreno runs outside and McGahee runs inside, anything else seems like banging up your head against the wall, good combo but teams will catch on when either one is in the line up.
Royal big drop but made up for it plenty. Thomas the steal of our draft, absolutely knows how to get open awesome multiple catches. Fells big drop but also made up for it later. Orton scrambled!!!! Decker more than awesome, definitely McCafferey’s replacement and Eddie Mac is proud somewhere.
Tebow made the best of his time out there, and funny, just like I said in the pregame blog, he would probably play the rest of the game after Orton was done with Quinn staying on the sidelines and bingo. The kid can make it exciting, had some great scrambles and still threw it accurately including that soft touch pass to Johnson and threw a couple passes from the pocket to my boy Willis, you could see he was trying to stay in the pocket as long as he possibly could. He lucked out on his fumble recovered by Anderson. And he did drive the team down for the winning FG, he can hold is head high and there is still a future for him in Denver, he should be happy with his performance and be patient, his time will probably come, one or two years down the road. And about Ball, you can see Fox is not so sure about him since he always gets so much work, and as usual it’s a mixed bag, never real good, never real bad, up and down, hard to really count on, one awful drop, one great screen pass catch and run, and so on… Good think he is having FBs opening up holes for him, Sylvester first got my attention last week, then I looked at his measurements and I’m thinking this could be the guy for us at FB, hopefully Fox keeps him.
Special teams, wow, Colquitt kicks the leather off that ball on punts and Prater hits a 57 yard FG, plus Haushka gets the winning FG, all we have to do is figure out how on earth we keep two kickers. And obviously the dark side of the day for ST was the record setting KO return, but I still blame Mayo on that, LOL.
I don’t know how our D will scare top Os in the league, but I like some of what I see there but still very concerned against the run specially with the new injuries and as far as the O we need to get consistent, because not all opponents will let us off the hook like the Seahawks did in the first quarter, I mean we came out of that quarter down 0-3, a good team wouldn’t of let us off that easy.
I agree Bay, our run D is the one aspect that is still a little concerning. But did you notice the way Doom played the run? He was excellent. I know we don’t have much bulk or talent in the middle of the line, but I think Doom can anchor the run D with quick penetration the way he did last night. Will that work against the better running teams in the league? That remains to be seen but I love the intensity Doom is showing against the run and the way the rest of the D is rallying to get to the ball and gang tackle. Hopefully that will result in the defense surprising people against the run and if nothing else being better than last year which I have no doubt will happen.
We can’t be worse than last year against the run, we were 32nd, LOL.
I don’t know, it was a rare run that got past the scrimmage line against our ones. And the Seahawks were lucky to get that field goal.
As I remember when our ones came out halfway through the third quarter, the hawks had only amounted something like 50 yards, and 3 first downs.
Real test of our run d will be sept 12th. Last years second best rushing attack. If we hold them under about 90 or so, that would make a real statement.
The Seahawks have no O line to speak of therefore it is real hard to gauge our run D against them, I just remember Dallas and Buffalo’s ones both ran well against us.
Just remember Fox teams have never been very good against the inside run, they cover the outside well but the middle is porous, always has been.
Our LBs were all tracking the ball, getting off blocks, and making plays in the run game all night long. Especially Mays in the run game. Dude was filling the gaps and hitting like a cannon ball.
McD still has a slightly positive legacy in my mind, which is tied to the talent that he brought in while he was here. Guys like Decker, Lloyd, Mays, etc. That arguably includes Miller since we wouldn’t have gotten him if McD weren’t such a terrible HC. I think miller will be among my favorite players for a long time to come.
VonDoom!!!
Haha that’s true it’s impossible to be any worse than last place. But we could always end up last again. But I seriously doubt that’s going to happen. If our run D can even be middle of the pack we should have an OK year.
I’m trying to stay grounded too, but I do see potential for good things in every phase of the team if everyone keeps their heads on straight week in and week out.
Seahawks are still a nfl team. Won their division last year, and knocked the Saints out of the playoffs.
Granted a few of there best players didn’t play yesterday, perhaps most notably marshawn lynch.
Carolina against the run the last 3 years, 20th in 08, 22nd in 09 and 23rd in 2010.
Like I said earlier though, despite the fact that we are thin in the middle of the D-line I don’t think that necessarily means we will be bad against the run. This scheme is all about speed attacking the line of scrimmage rather than just sitting still in your lane and building a wall like last year’s dumb scheme.
So I do think there is some hope that our run D will actually impress. I have been wrong before but that’s just the feeling I get.
I’m trying to not to get grounded. haha.
If we start losing like last year, we will all crash to the ground real fast. IMO, now is the time for visions of sugar plums to dance through our heads. Or playoff seasons, as the case may be.
If we suck this year again, now is the only time to get excited. haha
Where did NO rank the last few years against the run? That might be a good indicator since Allen is a Gregg Williams disciple not a Fox disciple.
Whatever, it’s fine if guys chose to drink the kool aid effusively already, I just look at it as if I don’t know the half of it yet because it’s only preseason, in fact I’m scared of having a winning preseason record because we all know how those teams usually end up, LOL.
Fox is still in charge of the D specially the front 7 though, Allen is really a secondary man, just saying, titles can be misleading and Fox himself said he would put his time more into the D and let McCoy run the O.
I understand staying grounded Bay. That’s why I won’t even make a record prediction this year. I’ve been let down for about the past five years so I won’t try to look into the future too much, I just like the progress so far. Getting better each week in the preseason is still progress no matter how you look at it.