Two interceptions. Seven passes defensed. Six tackles for a loss. Three sacks.
The Broncos defense used all of those plays to keep the team in position for its come-from-behind, 12-7 victory over the Bengals in last Sunday’s opener.
While the players made the plays on the field, captain Brian Dawkins believes the secret to their success came from a proven leader upstairs in the coaches booth: defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.
“It’s an attitude, so to speak, that he wants us to play with,” Dawkins said. “We have the guys that are capable of doing that if we know our jobs. If we are not thinking on the field, then we have the talent, the aggressiveness, to get the job done.”
With several playoff appearances to his own credit, Dawkins said much of that confidence comes from Nolan’s wealth of experience coaching top-flight teams.
“He is just someone who has had so much success in the past,” Dawkins said. “When you have that, guys are going to buy into it faster, I believe.”
BARRETT BACK AT PRACTICE
Josh Barrett returned to the practice field on Wednesday at Dove Valley. After missing the Bengals game with a shoulder injury, the safety was in his normal blue threads as a limited participant.
STACKING UP WITH THE REST
With kickoff weekend coming to a close, the NFL released a breakdown on Wednesday of heights, weights and ages on all 32 rosters. How did Denver stack up?
The Broncos have more players under 200 pounds than any other team in the AFC West. The Raiders and Chiefs each have eight on their rosters, while the Chargers have an AFC conference-low six cruiserweights. Only the Bears (12), Bengals (13) and Eagles (14) have more sub-200-pound faces on their rosters.
Denver sports the oldest AFC West roster by a hair, with an average age of 26.72 years. The Chargers came in a close second at 26.58 years, followed by the Raiders at 26.47 years. The Chiefs tied with the Colts for the youngest roster in the AFC at 25.89 years. The oldest team in the AFC was the New England Patriots at 27.19 years, while the Redskins have the oldest roster in the NFL at 27.60 years.
As for beef up front, the Broncos have 11 players who sport size of over 300 pounds. That tied them for sixth place in the AFC, with seven other teams. The NFC East proved to be the bulkiest division, with the Cowboys (16) and Giants (15) finishing first and second in the league.
Here are some more photos from the session:
–Chris Gentilviso, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Brian Dawkins, Cleveland Browns, Mike Nolan, Week 2
Glad to see everyone is drinking some of that Kool Aid lol. Gotta buy into it to succeed in it and we are definitely suceeding on the defensive side of the ball. Finally getting some turnovers. We work as a unit and theres nothign we can’t do. The spartans proved that in 300 lol
GO BRONCOS!!!
Hamilton has a beard tan line and a hair tan line on the corners of his forhead… haha… It’s kinda hard to tell, but I can see it…
Well now the announcers may actually comment on the game instead of ben hamilton’s hair, lol
we r actually ranked 17th
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/12211259
I like the old hamilton…this new guy doesnt even look like him lol….Man, come to think about it Ben is the only one that remains from our old kick @$$ O line (Hamilton, Neal, Nalen,___,____) someone help we out here they just flew out of my head lol
Carlisle and Lepsis?
there we go altho i think I was thinking Lepsis and shreleth???….cant believe i forgot lepsis lol
I continue to be so impressed with Brian Dawkins. His interview today just speaks volumes. His leadership is really going to help our defense and he is a beast on the field.
Ah yea probably schlereth over carlisle. Yea Lepsis was solid for a long time for us.
SC yea I agree, they say he is getting up their in age but he was flying around Sunday like he was 22. The man is an ageless wonder and I’m glad he’s with us.
Ok guys, funny question, but would you call our win a good win? not just brandon stokely’s amazing skills, but also cinci’s skill scale.
I wouldn’t call it a good win, if we would have had kicked a field goal and made it 9 I would have more of a chance of saying good win. Too many mistakes to be a good win. But it is a win, and there is only two columns that count, wins and losses and we are 1-0
Yea man, Dawkins is sooooo vocal its crazy. Like he been in Denver his whole career lol. And he sure does fly around like he in this prime. 35 is the new 25 lol. We need someone just as vocal on our offense. If Marshall would quit acting funny, he could do it like Rod used to do once upon a time but that kinda stuff comes easy to some and experience always helps.
I might catch fire for this again but was it a win? yes. A “good” win? No. Too sloppy on offense and that means QB, WR, OL….RBs werent bad but we need to throw more runs in there. More time together and Chemistry will improve our execution on offense and makes things run smoother. This is strictly just MY opinion so please nobody jump down my throat. Thank You
Last year, Denver’s offense was described as a “Cadillac” by more than one NFL commentator. Shanahan had his player in Jay Cutler and his aggressive vertical passing attacked balanced by the unstoppable zone blocking scheme in the running game. Offensively, despite the loss of Jay Cutler, there is plenty of talent to win ballgames. However, the installment of the new system will take some time as the players begin to gel.
What I am most pleased with is the improvement on defense. You don’t need to score a lot of points to win in this league. You don’t need big name players on offense to win. Look at recent history: the Patriots had the most explosive offense in NFL history, and after winning 18 games, lost the one that really mattered…to the NY Giants defense. The Cardinals last year, another explosive offensive unit, with an All-Planet wide receiver in Fitzgerald, lost…to the Steel Curtain defense.
This past weekend, a supposedly potent offense with Ocho and Pamer lost…to the better defensive football team. Defense has been the Broncos achilles heel the past three seasons, and now that its starting to turn around under Mike Nolan, this is one Broncos fan who has hope.
I played the game and we enjoyed a win whether it was “ugly” or a so called “good” win. This type of win makes you feel that you’re doing some good things out there in a new system. When that happens… bounces come your way !! There is there never is a perfect win in football !! Always little things to work on.
it is GREAT to have GOOD defense; lets just hope that coach McD does not do the shannythingy and bring in a new defensive coordinator every year. shannycan’t did that for like what the last seven years he was here.
I think if we can hold Cinci to one touchdown, we can definitely hold the Browns to one touchdown. don’t stab me if they score more, but they don’t have the explosiveness that Cinci has.
Royalbeast, with a handle like yours , I can’t believe you are that much of a hard core Marshall fan. We have so much talent at WR, who cares about a guy who doesn’t really care about being a Bronco, unless it is for more money than he signed for. On top of that he is one strike away from a lenghty suspension, not to bring up his hip injury and arm through the TV set injuries. To mention him in the same sentence as Rod is an insult. No matter how vocal he gets, by now, after all his antics, who in their right mind on the team would listen to him.
Not gonna give it to you on the “not good” win, but certainly will have you hear it about Marshall. I know most fans love him the way they did Cutler, I differ, he is a lame excuse for everything he stands for, and just because he has talent (sort of, can’t block, can’t hold on to the key catches, specially in the red zone), doesn’t mean we should overlook the fact that he is a me first and me only kind of player who will never fit in the team concept brought on by McD. MARSHALL MUST GO. Anyone can jump down my throat, I don’t care.
I would like to see Royal take over the vocal for the O like Dawkins dos on the D
Our Defense gave up 307 yds to the Bengals. That’s good for a #17 ranking across the NFL after week #1. Take away the last Bengal drive for a TD and our D could potentially have made top 5 !!! Broncos Defense were in 3 way tie for 2nd with Falcons, & Jets for giving up the least amount of points. (7 points). The mighty Steelers D was ranked #20 after week 1 !!
Once again – Hat’s off to Mike Nolen and the D crew !!!!!!!!!!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!
Mike Nolan.
whoa baylinocrush, lol, whats with sudden agitation?
Sorry for sticking in, but am i missing something? I thought Marshall has been pretty quiet over the past two weeks.
Anyways, I would like to see this upcoming match, b/w Doom and Joe Thomas. I hope Woodyard lays out another body this time…They no longer have Kellen Winslow to throw to in the middle, there in for Defensive shocker when they meet Coach Nol and the Orange Crush
broncos20, you must be catching one of my first post, I have always stood by the fact that Marshall has NO INTEGRITY whatsoever, one of the key ingredient in anyone’s life, so HE MUST GO, get used to it. Nothing sudden, just a fifty five year old guy observation.
I’d love to see this “D” earn the title “Orange Crush”.
Right… Mike Nolan….thanks for the spell check baylinorcrush.
On another note….anyone know what happened to Spencer Larsen? Understand he is out for a couple of weeks..
What’s up broncos20 ? Our D did pretty good overall against that massive O-line of the Bengals !!!
Larsen slipped in the locker room and fell on his shoulder. **He was not messing around, mchoodie said* so he prob slipped on the soap or something.
royalbroncofan1, Larsen slipped in the locker room, serious, and he will be out at least a few weeks if not more according to McD (dislocated shoulder sounds like). That is the reason Hillis played on ST so much Sunday, taking Larsen’s spot. So, unfortunately, it looks like Hillis won’t be helping us much with the running game in the next month, because he’ll be too busy covering up for Larsen. Shame… I think they should find someone other than Hillis to help with ST because Hillis could be so good at full time RB. Just hoping…
Is Larsen a starting LB?
In a way “I think” the way we won is a blessing in disquise. We did enough to put a one in the win column, and thats what is most important. However, we did bad enough that their egos should not be a problem. I am sure they realize that our offense sputtered throughout most of the game and are diligently working to improve. So in conclusion I feel they can have a good feeling about the win with the knowlegde that a lot of work needs to continue on the practice field.
I am sticking to my prediction from a couple weeks ago. 10-6 or better. Playoffs are definately a big possibility.
Keep the Faith Bronco Buddies.
GO BRONCOS………
Larsen is listed as a ILB/FB, but he is so much more, he is probably the smartest guy on the team and that’s why Mcd loves him so much, he can play him anywhere, O, D and ST.
And yes our D was a “breath of fresh air” besides when we played prevent and got scored on. I am only 31 but I’ve been a bronco fan for 25 years, and played for 8. I must say this is very encouraging. I know it is only one game but I was very impressed. I love what I see. I’m so glad we have Coach Nolan, it was really fun for me watching our Defense cause havoc. Can’t wait to see what happens as the year progresses and our guys get closer to perfecting Nolans system.
GO BRONCOS…
I respect your opinion baylinocrush…you obviously have the experience in our conversation..hehe..
hei royalbroncofan1, hows it goin?:D… yea you got me there. i was all worrried about cincy’s massive o-line last week, but our SUPER D got the best of them….next time I wont ask such stupid questions..ahaha…
baylinorcrush, thanks for the update on Larsen. Yeah, that sucks big time. He is a huge asset to our team and one of my personal favorites. I pray he has a speedy recovery.
Big D 44, sounds like you played Defense. D is definitely what we should all be excited about, having had nothing to be excited about that for quite a few years. I join you in being excited about our D. Heck, with a great D, it buys us some time to bring the O together, which could be awhile. I don’t know about Orange Crush, but as long as we are agressive, I buy into it. I grew so tired of the “wait and react” style of defense of the last few years, this is SOOOO different!!!!
Thanks baylinorcrush and bronco-blaze for the scoop on Larsen. Hope he gets better sooner than later. Good point baylinorcrush…. it would be great to have another backup LB or backup Safety fill in. Maybe Josh Barrett. broncos20.. yeah, I was a little concerned after reading up on them as they are one of the bigger O-lines in the league. Our Defense did great with the blitz packages, plus D lineman with LB’s filling gaps, and missing very few assignments. We were really swarming to the ball and were on the field for quite sometime. I did check out Ortons press conference… pretty interesting about yardage left on the field. The Offense will get better this week !
broncos20 – no such thing as a stupid question.
im glad everybody is happy with our defense and so am i but we need to do something about our offense. kyle needs to improve or we need to put in simms. i personally like the rookie he looked good in preseason. and look at the teams with rookie qbs last year. falcons and ravens both went to the playoffs. and none of them have the weapons we have and now we have a good d. i can only imagine what we can do. Go Denver. Go Broncos.
Royalbroncofan, I agree with you, the offense will get better this week, that wouldn’t be too difficult, would it? But to expect a huge improvement would be over reaching, this is a very complex O and it will take time for the players to absorb it. Not just Orton, but everyone on O, including Royal. The N-E style offense is probably the most complicated O in the NFL as it adapts to whatever D the opposition is playing and then game plan accordingly. That is so much to absorb that I would be shocked if we could actually master some of it before the bye week. Like I said hopefully good D will carry us until we can get that complicated O in order.
socalbigbroncofan, with all due respect, Orton has nothing to do with how the O is performing. Orton is #1, Simms#2 and Brandstater#3. Nothing will change that order other than injuries. This is a super complicated O, if you go from one QB to another, you just set yourself back. Orton is our QB, let’s see what he can do in a year time. Heck, we gave Cutler 3 years to perform, and he couldn’t come out of that with a winning record… And his O was simple, just throw to Marshall… LOL.
GUys dont worry about the offense just yet, yea we started off slow, but i dont know if any of you watched every other game but besides the acception of crazy drew brees alot of Os with new O coordinators and schemes struggled. Even the patriots. I guarintee our offense will be much improved next week, and if you listened to the press confrenses by mchoodie he said he made sure all the rookies ,including K. Moreneo, saw all their mistakes and he believes they will improve. Expect Moreneo to have a good week next week, and marshall to have 7 catches for 115 yards.!!! REMEMBER THAT QUOTE! =-D
baylinocrush, Yes I did play D (middle linebacker) and when the D can make things happen the offense has some cushion. Ask the 2005 Bears. With that said I am confident that our offense will dramatically improve as this year progresses which would work out perfect for a playoff run.
My old defensive coordinator used to say “don’t be a catchers mit” and thats how our D has been the last 8 of 9 years (2006 was pretty good). Its nice to see a attacking D that forces quick decisions and mistakes from the offense. Also the turnovers that Coach Nolan’s defenses usually cause will help for sure.
I mean’t 2005 ( i think) was the only year in the last 9 that the Broncos were ok. Sorry I’m tired. lol
good folks to be blogging with tonight, Goodnight.
Thus far, I say Mike Nolan deserves the team MVP award. He realized that we have perfect personnel for the 3-4 while be forewarned, opposing receivers, Dawk will give you a forearm shiver everytime you cross his path. The offense will continue to develop and all will be well for us. I really believe this now. It sucks to be the Brownies this week. GO BRONCOS!!!
This was the type of win that the team can build on. This talk if it was a good win or bad win is just crazy I think all win are a good win no matter how they happen. O was sluggish but if you remember they looked pretty good in preseason. and the d looked flat. the team will come around. just you guys watch. I watched alot football on sunday and for the most part i think most of the teams Offences looked off. Every team has a bad O game hope we got it out the way
Everybody hatin on Orton is old already how Manny dropped passes were there,or penalties or just plain dumb mistakes and blown assignments ? I mean wow did he go out and melt down and throw 4 int game or over throw wide open receivers he played well enough to keep us in it and that’s what McDs system needs over 350 yard games ! Now to the good points the D was solid not great but solid if we play like that all year and the o gets tweaked we have a chance to pull an upset this year in the west the raiders aren’t that good and the charges look as lost as last season (anyone love cry me a River finally getting an unsportsmanlike conduct bot fn time)!the team with the most potential after week one has to be Denver !!! heck i could start at o line right now for the dolts ! it will be an up and down year good weeks bad Weeks and tons of hard fought battles and if we win our divisional games we will win the west no problem not that i expect a super bowel run but you get a solid d and an O that doesn’t turn the ball over and you have a recipe for success in this league and esp in this division ! so short version the O is better than it looked last week and the D will be good all season Katie bar the door this is gonna be fun !
McDs system doesn’t needs over 350 yard games is what i meant sorry !
I love living in so cal… I see more Denver fans than Choaker fans… It’s awesome!
Baylin,
My name was created as a tribute to what I considered would be and in my opinion is one of if not the best tandem WR set (Brandon “The Beast” Marshall and Royal = TheRoyalBeast). Never compared Rod to Marshall. The point of the post was people tend to listen to those who are talented and intense on the field (like Dawkins and Rod). And I said if Marshall didn’t act funny and if his character wasn’t always being questioned, he could do what Rod used to cuz he is both skilled, intense and vocal. Eddie is skilled and has character but he is a quiet guy, Moreno hasn’t been around long enough (cuz experience also plays a part like i said), Orton is quite quiet, see where I’m going with this. Your detest for Marshall is quite fine. To each his own. I usually don’t like to argue but I do respond when I feel my words are taken out of context. And I see you and myself agreeing to disagree a lot. Have a good one.
GO BRONCOS.
Was this a good win? Yes – any win is good, any loss is bad.
Was this a win, we earned through skill, fight, smarts? No – we were lucky.
Skill and fight kept us in a position to turn a loss into a win by 1 lucky play, but were not sufficient to run away from mistake-prone Bengals.
What did we learn:
- The D can be good when aggressive.
- ST were solid.
- Room for improvement on offense. In the first half, the TE was almost completely ignored as a receiving threat. Passes to WR yielded too little yardage. This was due to both ends of the pass play – slightly unprecise passes, even over short distances as well as dropped balls. Without a dangerous passing game, running from the shotgun is tough! In short yardage situations, the run game was unrealiable. I would have preferred Hillis over Buckhalter, however some blame has to go to the blockers. Most damaging were the 2 OL-penalties on our last real drive. 2nd an 6 from the 25 must yield the insurance FG to make it a 2-possession game.
Tentative plays on 1st down put the O in hole early in the drives. In the first half, I got the impression, the strategy was to give the ball to the best player – unfortunately the punter.
Still, I am exited for the season. I expect steady improvement over the next weeks against weaker teams and hope for a chance to beat the heavyweights later.
Go Broncos!
Royalbeast, from now on I’ll remember the meaning of your handle and I’ll be more gentle with you, LOL. Always like your posts, opiniated but always respectful and on the light side. It’s just a game, right? We’ll definitely never see eye to eye about Marshall, and if he ever becomes the leader you hope, I will be shocked because to be a leader you have to have followers, right? Last I saw, they were dwindling fast at Dove valley…Correct here, agreed to disagree. But agree with you on Eddie and Orton being quiet, also I believe Moreno, regardless of experience will be a quiet one. It’ s a good thing, can’t have to many chiefs out there, need a bunch of indians to get the job done.
Oh, by the way, MARSHALL MUST GO. LOL (last year on another blog, this guy would say every day BLY MUST GO, and it worked, I’m holding hope that will be the case here at least by season’s end). Sorry, man, there are things that are too important for me to let go, getting rid of BM is one of those. He is like the last remaining symbol left of what we used to be, and as our record showed for the last 3 years, that wasn’t good enough. But he didn’t care, he got to go to the pro-bowl! He was awfull on that game, I put some credence into the story going around that Shanahan was gonna can him right after that. Wait, that means if Shanny was here, BM would be gone? No, that wouldn’t be any good either, still would have Dre Bly and no D, and our QB still would be the immature and arrogant Vanderbilt child, but I digress.
Cleveland is a win on my season picks, better be, I hate to see what the posts here are gonna be like if we lose after what some of them sounded like after we won! Wouldn’t be pretty. Broncos 23-10.