The Broncos showed their defensive flexibility during Sunday’s win against New Orleans. At times Denver mixed things up by implementing a 3-4 defensive scheme instead of the team’s traditional 4-3 formation.
The team’s four linebacker alignment allowed them to utilize different defensive groupings allowing Jamie Winborn to join Boss Bailey, D.J. Williams and Nate Webster as a member of the linebacking corps. With so much talent on the defense, Williams said switching between schemes lets more of that talent see action.
Photo: Eric Lars Bakke
“We broke that out because Jamie Winborn played a very good game against the Raiders and then Boss game back and Coach rewarded him,” Williams said. “We’ve got so much talent that we want to get everyone on the field, so we made up a package to try to get everybody out there. Me, Nate, Boss and Jamie. It’s hard to just have talent sitting on the sideline when you can have him out there. We used it a few times at the beginning of the game and it helped us.”
The different looks not only allow the Broncos to shuffle their personnel groupings on the field, but the contrasting formations also keep opposing quarterbacks on their toes not knowing what scheme to prepare for. In a 3-4 scheme the quarterback doesn’t know which players will be rushing as opposed to a 4-3 when typically the front four rush, limiting the coverage variations for the linebackers.
“It’s just a little different look and a little different scheme,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. “It was a change-up for us, and we have different game plans each week and we will throw in a little wrinkle here and there. We are not necessarily a straight 3-4 defense even though it appears to be. Everybody does things differently in passing situations and it was something that we worked on this week that I thought it looked pretty good.”
The ability to switch freely between defenses allows Denver to tailor its defensive schemes to the different styles of offenses the team goes against week to week. Winborn said he thinks the 3-4 can be particularly successful against pass heavy offenses.
Photo: Eric Lars Bakke
“You’re putting a lot of speed on the field, that’s one thing that (a 3-4) does for us,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of things we can do out of it — we can blitz, we can drop back into zones, we can mix it up with some rush zones — we can do it all, really, out of it. We’ve just got to keep working at it and keep fine-tuning it.”
Not one to give out his game plan, Shanahan declined to say how much the Broncos would utilize their alternate defensive scheme — if at all.
But if the 3-4 is called upon Winborn said he feels as though it can be another weapon to add to the team’s defensive repertoire and if it is in the mix the defense will be prepared.
“I hope so. I hope we can. It will be a mix-up. We’ll always have it available and whenever Coach wants to call on it, we’ll be ready.”
Off To a 3-0 Start
The Broncos are off to the team’s first 3-0 start since the 2003 season and they are one of the five teams in the NFL to start 2008 with three wins.
Last week Shanahan gave his players a rundown of all the 2-0 teams that have failed to make the playoffs and all and the 0-2 teams that have gone on to deep playoff runs and Super Bowl success, just to make sure his team wasn’t too caught up in its fast start.
So what are the playoff odds for a 3-0 team Coach?
“I know it’s better than 2-0,” Shanahan said. “I can’t tell you those percentages, but it’s sure nice to be 3-0. I think our guys are realistic: We have a ways to go. We’ve had a good start, we’ve made some strides, but we’re from where we want to be. “
Shanahan’s players seem to agree. Although they admit a 3-0 start is nice, the season is long from over and they feel as though there is plenty of room for improvement.
“We’re feeling good about ourselves and what we’re doing, but we have to understand it’s just three games and we’ve got 13 more,” Brandon Stokley said. “If you let up at all, you’re in trouble. So we’ve just got to keep going in keep getting better. We’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of things we saw in the film that we need to correct, and that’s our job right now — just keep improving.”
Through the first three games the Broncos have put up the league’s most productive offense in terms of points scored and second most in yards per contest. But in comparison they have also surrendered the third most points and fourth most yards defensively.
“You are always happy to be 3-0,” Shanahan said. “You take a look at a game where a team gets 500 yards of offense then you usually get guys that are not playing as hard as you would like. But when you get guys playing at that level and that intensity, even though they did rack up that many yards, then you have a chance to get better.”
Though the Broncos have given up a lot of yards defensively, Shanahan said they have been able to come through in the area the team has focused on the most – rush defense. Last season Denver gave up the third most rushing yards in the NFL, through the first three games of 2008 the team is in the top half in total yards given up.
“You have to be able to stop the run to have a chance to have a good defense, and we did that holding (New Orleans) to 3.5 yards per rushing attempt,” Shanahan said. “That is where you start. We will get better with our pass defense as time goes on. We are doing a number of things that are new in comparison to a year ago. It just takes some time. If we have the effort that we had overall, offense, defense and special teams, good things will happen for our football team.”
-Jake Grilley, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: D.J. Williams, Defense, Jake Grilley, Jamie Winborn, Mike Shanahan
Sorry, Folks. Have to agree with the haters…
One of the key successes in Broncos history (1997, 1998, 2003). Strong defense. Exotic Blitz packages. Proper zone and man coverage. Hey, lets admit it, those defenses didn’t have half the talent the Broncos D has now. Shanahan and company must have been playing in LaLa land. That Defensive look was awful. No pressure on the QB, and despite our talented coverage receivers are making receptions in spcae and making huge gains to boot. Great…. high fives all around we are finally stopping the run. That’s a welcome change from a year ago when running backs felt better about coming to Denver then kickers and punters (direct reference to altitude). Defenses that win not only stop the run, but cover receivers and prevent huge gains on 5 yard slants designed only for short yards not 60+ catch/run to the house. Let’s build on that. The past few seasons, it’s almost like we forgot that a lesser roster was outscoring opponents by 4 and 5 touchdowns in the first half. sometimes the first quarter. AND THE DEFENSE DID NOT LET THEM SCORE 30+ UNANSWERED!
No denying, the defense has talent. But, they don’t have a realistic scheme let alone a snowball’s chance in winning games by the hairs of their chinny chin chin time and time again. Go back to the drawing board. Denver fans are sick of winning games with sighs of relief. It would be great to see more games like the Raider’s game. True upset by domination on both sides of the football.
IN-COM-PLETE
look i am not an expert…but even i can see when your dead last in passing yards given..29th in scoreing d, 30th in total yards given..and 30th in TOTAL defense…behind only the rams and lions
we have no room to brag or think we did good..we sucked on defense…there isnt a silver lining, there isnt one thing to be proud of
we though last years defense was bad…this seasons is HIDIOUS
whats the point of rushing three?…to put that extra guy in coverage so the qb cannot find a man to throw to…right?…so why a soft zone?…all the wrs had to do was work thier way down the field until they found the open area and wait for brees to see them…horrible concept and the bronco staff and media ought to be ashamed at trying to pass it off as some great scheme that got us a win
the offense is winning these games, the defense is dragging them down
what the heck is with sean Payton complaining that the refs gave us the game. But winborn was not even part of that final play before the missed field goal. DJ made a great tackle from behind and this just shows that we play a bunch of sore losers, way to stay classy Payton.
Keep up the big plays D!
By the way. Not saying our team is horrible. WE ARE 3-0. We just need an better defensive scheme. A win is a win. Whether by 1 or 100. Agreed, we are finding a way to win. However, let’s all grow up. We are fans. As such we all have the right to opinion. Regardless of how much it may upset others. Arm chair coaches have the same right to complain as sports snobs have the right to call them out. GO BRONCOS!!! SUPERBOWL BOUND!!!
I don’t want to attack the defense or the scheme. So far, the D has underachieved. Everybody can see that. I don’t mind switching to a 3-4, but it needs to be situational. If you only judged our linebackers and cornerbacks, this would be the best defense in the league. We are weak at both safety positions and defensive line. Bottom line, we need to acquire a proven dominant pass rusher to compliment Elvis. Teams can double team Elvis because there are no other threats. You can’t blame Champ or Dre or the linebackers. They are doing a great job covering. Did anyone notice how long Brees and Rivers had to wait in the pocket to find open receivers? They waited 5-7 seconds consistently. That is good news because our cover guys must be doing a good job. However, it doesn’t matter how good you cover if you let ANY QB consistently have 4+ seconds to throw.
Like I said I don’t mind using a 3-4 scheme, but we have to mix it up a little bit. Rushing 3 guys the entire first half made no sense. It worked for the first series or 2, but then NO adjusted. We need to mix it up by using a 4-3 and then the 3-4 occasionally. We also need to be more creative with our blitz packages. I think even with a poor pass rush, this D can be OK if our defensive packages are mixed around. The coaching staff must adjust, and this is something I just don’t understand. Once NO and San Diego started moving the ball at ease, why didn’t we adjust? The coaches have the talent to put a great D and O out there. They just need to make adjustments and mix it up.
if boss is this great cover lb and you brought him in to do that than let him cover and have dj blitz 90% of the time on passing situations. put jack williams at the nickel and allow one of the safties to blitz also since they cant cover for s _ _ t anyway. the middle of our defense is wide open so we need to blitz up the middle alot and force the qb to go at champ and dre. also why have dre if all were going to do is put him over the slot and allow the worst corner in the nfl paymah cover out wide on a starting wr that makes no sense and dont give me that dre can swivel his hips sh_t. dre was brought in to shut down top wr’s and not slot guys you dont see other teams putting one of the best corners on stokley and allow some geek to cover marshall or royal. and can we run some stunts and different things with the d line it seems like all we do is rush straigfht forward over and over. its time to start offering some trades and take the best palyer available at saftey, lb or d line we could use anyone of those positions. would be nice to have foxy and lynch back i cant beleive we traded or released them. foxy can cover and the reason for letting lynch go is he cant cover well news flash either can manual or mcree
IT SEEMS LIKE THE GUYS WERE DRAFTING ARE PLAYING GREAT AND THE GUYS WE ARE SIGNING AS FREE AGENTS SUCK. MAYBE ITS TIME TO LET SOMEONE ELSE MAKE THE FREE AGENT MOVES FOR US OR STOP SIGNING THESE GUYS PERIOD. I WOULD RATHER HAVE ONE HIGH PRICED BIG NAMED FREE AGENT THAN A BUNCH OF NO NAMERS THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED AROUND LIKE THE SCHOOL WHORE. AT LEAST WE WOULD HAVE ONE GUY WORTH HAVING AND ACTUALLY PLAYING AND CONTRIBUTING.
The 3-4 defense reminds me too much of what they used to call a prevent defense in which the common joke was that all it prevented was a victory. The problem with the 3-4 defense is it gives the QB too much time to find a receiver and if you give any NFL QB time to throw, they WILL find a receiver. No defensive back field, no matter how talented, simply can’t cover all of the receivers and runningbacks indefinitely. Sooner or later someones going to get open and if the QB is given the time to survey the field, he’s going to see the open man and proceed to carve up the defense.
Sunday was the perfect example. We’re ahead 21-3, we go to a 3-4 defense and in 5 minutes the score is 21-17. The only thing that kept us in the game was that our offense matched theirs in scoring. The final score should have been 34-3. The 3-4 defense handed them 29 points.
Boo! Here are the haters again. I going to the Dolts message boards for a minute. At least there is more love for the Broncos there then there is here. Plus You guys say the same thing over and over, just like a broken record. Maybe you didn’t get this WE ARE 3-0, If you don’t like it go find a different team. Vikings have a great defense, what’s their record? And how about them Chiefs they have only allowed 153 passing yards for game. So why don’t all you critics just jump on the Chiefs bandwagon? Oh and how about them Texans they only allowed 155 passing yards per game. And yes these are actual stats you can check if you want, because obviously stats what matter to you guys the most. No lets just be 0-3 and be at the top half of the league in defense. Will you guys be happy then? GET REAL!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing looked good about that defense. A player like Drew Brees easily picked apart that Zone D. I mean 421 yards passing, that is pathetic. And rushing 3 guys is definitely not a good way to get pressure on a quaterback. Denver needs to get a good TRUE defensive coordinator and stop promoting nobodies. That was some of the worst defense I’ve ever seen. They are wasting the talent of their 3 best players Dumervil, DJ Williams, and Champ. And Dre Bly still sucks. I think a good high school reciever could pull a double move and score on him. If our defense could step up and become even a decent defense and add that to the great offensive start we have we could take the division.
Ok if our defence sucks, that means our defence is the best in the AFC West. check who leads the AFC West with wins for 2008
Yes, we are currently 3-0. But if the defense doesn’t start showing up, we won’t be undefeated for long. Like they say; Offense wins games, defense wins championships.
So Slowik wants to thow some 3-4 at teams to “give them a different look”. That’s okay if you have a very good nose tackle. The Broncos don’t! The reason the Jets were willing to trade Robertson to the Broncos is because he flat sucked as a nose tackle. But, he’s a better than average 4-3 tackle. You don’t try a scheme if you don’t have the talent necessary to properly execute it. The Broncos haven’t had a top notch nose tackle since Barney Chaevous! Please, please, please stop messing with what will work when the defense gets used to one another!!!!
i’m all for being 3-0 and with this upcoming stretch of games I dont see any reason we cant be 6-0 REALLY, but the fact of the matter is we can’t keep playing like this man, we have to tighten up….we have no pass rush (again) and our D ain’t feared (again), you put our offense together with even a decent D that can hold teams to just 20 pts per game, we could be looking at a deep run in the playoffs.
you know one thing I noticed is we’re always playing 8-10 yds of the other teams receivers, don’t we have Bailey and Bly you better man them up, who cares if they get burnt every now and then, atleast we ain’t gone hand the td to the other team, they’ll have to work for that td que no? look if we went 11-5, 12-4, 13-3, 14-2, 15-1 or better yet 16-0 and we won all are games on botched calls, missed fgs and booth reviews…. well then so be it, i’ll concider it payback payback for all the botched calls that have went against us over the years
(I love the call last week by the way “Ed”, thanks) but wouldn’t you like to see our boys feared, never second guessed a definate shoe in amongst all league talk to go deep in the post season, like Indy, Dallas, NE, Pittsburgh and so on….we can be that team but we need to tighten up and lay hat to the upcoming teams, put a qb or 2 out, zip up both the pass and run, once we do that its curtains!
Broncolover88 where are you sitting I’ll be there too. I’m from Topeka.
It’s Just working the kinks out..It’s still early in the season (which at the present hasn’t changed, still: 3-0) and I don’t think the D coordinator is getting a “super job, don’t change a thing” talking to. The coaches see what we the fans see, that’s why they do what they do, and all I gotta say is this is the best damn Broncos team we’ve had in awhile, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!
yea. last year our secondary tore it up. this year. our lines doing better but coverage blows.
we need to get someone big before the deadline. we have a bunch of picks why not use them on Litto Sheppard from the eagles. he doesnt want to be there. we can shop for him.
or as crazy as it sounds.
im just throwing it our there to see whats up.
once we get litto.
have him instead of bly and move bly to free safety.
hes a sure tackle and a hell of a cover man.
bring someone to fill in at SS.
i would stick josh barrett in.
hes fast as hell. and big.
hows that?
I think everyone is happy that we are 3-0, but we have been extremely lucky. The Chargers should have won that game, and we nearly lost to NO after the D couldn’t stop anyone. This team could be 1-2, so we are very lucky. Regardless of our current luck, we need to get better. We can’t expect the offense to put up 30 points a game. This is unrealistic to expect the offense to continue at this pace, especially against top notch defenses. We need balance.