Broncos veteran safety Brian Dawkins has been ruled out of Sunday’s Wild Card playoff matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a neck injury.
The 16-year player — who’s been to the playoffs on eight separate occasions — has sat out two of the previous three games and once again the team captain will be leading the team from the sideline.
“It’s kind of hard to put into words (how frustrated Dawkins is) because I know how much this game means to him,” cornerback Andre’ Goodman said. “I know how well he prepares week-in and week-out to get his body ready to play football games. He’s the guy who’s willing to put himself through anything to put himself out there. So I know how frustrated he is and we’re all frustrated for him.”
Head Coach John Fox echoed Goodman’s statement, saying Dawkins is probably more frustrated than any of the players or coaches. But at the end of the day, just as the coaches put the players in positions to succeed, they aren’t going to put players in harmful situations.
“Injury is part of the game, and our responsibility as coaches in this organization is to the well-being of our players,” Fox said. “We’re not going to put them in a position. Brian has been a big part of this season, a big part of this team. Hopefully we can get him well soon.”
With Dawkins out, Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen will look to third-year safety David Bruton to pick up the communication void left by the eight-time Pro Bowler. Bruton played a role last week in limiting Kansas City to just seven points.
“I think one of the things that always helps you in the secondary is having a veteran guy back there that can kind of help in the communication,” Allen said. “We brought David Bruton and played him last week, and that’s kind of what he brought to the table as far as he understood exactly what we were trying to get done. He does a great job of communicating, making sure everybody’s on the same page, and that’s what you’ve got to make sure you’re doing, especially from a secondary standpoint.”
CREATING TURNOVERS
Thursday, Offensive Coordinator Mike McCoy spoke at length about the need for the Broncos to limit their turnovers. After having five during their six-game winning streak, they’ve had nine during their last three games.
On a similar note, the Broncos defense hasn’t created any takeaways during the three-game slide. Takeaways were a big part of the Broncos’ success in the middle of the season, as they had nine during the win streak.
“It’s very (important),” Goodman said. “That’s how we’ve been able to win games in terms of keeping the score to a minimum and creating turnovers on defense to set the offense up in good positions. We haven’t done that and the outcome the last few weeks hasn’t been positive, so it’s one of the things going into this game you try to focus on. But it’s easier said than done against a team like Pittsburgh.”
While the Steelers offense has the potential to be prolific at any time, they are not without their faults. The Steelers have turned the ball over seven times in the last three games, so the opportunity could be there for the Broncos.
“I think when you look at any stat in football, the most critical stat is obviously points scored versus points allowed. Right behind that is the ability to take the ball away,” Allen said. “So that’s what we’ve got to find a way to do. We’ve got to do our part on defense, take the ball away, set our offense up with short field and give them an opportunity to score on short fields.”
INJURY REPORT
Here is the full injury report for Sunday’s game.
For the Broncos:
OUT: Safety Brian Dawkins (neck),
DOUBTFUL: Fullback Spencer Larsen (knee)
QUESTIONABLE: Cornerback Johnathan Wilhite (illness), safety David Bruton (Achilles).
PROBABLE: Wide receiver Eddie Royal (toe), linebacker Von Miller (thumb).
For the Steelers:
OUT: Cornerback Cortez Allen (shoulder), running back Mewelde Moore (knee),
QUESTIONABLE: Center Maurkice Pouncey (ankle).
PROBABLE: Tackle Jonathan Scott (back), linebacker James Harrison (toe), defensive end Brett Keisel (groin), safety Troy Polamalu (calf), guard Doug Legursky (shoulder), linebacker LaMarr Woodley (hamstring), quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (ankle).
Below are some photos from Friday’s practice.
-Kenny Legan
Tags: Brian Dawkins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Wild Card Playoffs
That a girl Shaz!
But Flynn has been working under two great qbs
I saw Rogers grinning the whole game and the players say he plays like that all the time in practice and they weren’t surprised.
Regardless of how tomorrow turns out, denver has to make some good moves this offseason & draft
Well that’s encouraging I guess….
ManD…did he play under Favre? How long has he been around? Maybe I should look into this, obviously he has to have been around 4 years as hell be a UFA! Duh.
All I can say about Flynn is look at Kolb, everyone made such a big deal of him and what has he done? Nothing. I think a lot of QB could do great things with the receivers that Greenbay has and their scheme too (not that I know what it is) I just know it works.
Good nuggets game btw
Yep, Kolb and Cassel are great examples!
Flynn throws a nice ball, but obviously green bay has so many great offensive players that they probably would make orton look like a god
There are a lot of teams in desperate need of a QB.
Whatever we do we better take a great defensive lineman
Detroit is having tackeling problems tonight.
I personally think it’s “easy” to come in and put up big numbers for a couple games! You’ve got nuthin to lose and nobody expects you to do anything! Nobody know anything about you.
Then you get a contract and all of a sudden you are supposed to be the man! Pressure separates the great ones from the rest!
Can the saints beat the packers?
I think they can
Is it just me or is there something missing on this blog? I see a lot of empty space up top.
Bad tackling is killing these guys!
THE SAINTS HAVE NOT YET PUNTED WITH 11 MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME!!!!!!!!
We get a dozen 3 and outs every game, LMAO!!!
Ya something is jacked up
Saints might, now that they have a running game added to the mix
Bay just thinking the same thing
I don’t know Mandiego but thats the match up I want to see!!
The Saints are for real.
Sproles, don’t miss facing him twice a year, hahaha
hey mandiego its shaztah’s husband and I think they can because if they can stop the packers a couple times and get a good lead then the packers will have to force the ball down the field and make mistakes
I remember back in the Late Elway days we would be pissed if we won but didn’t score at least 31 points a game! Punting was for wimps!
Only problem is no one seems to stop them.
I am going to have to find a way for hubby to get his own user name so he can talk to you guys. It is killing him.
Now punting is our best weapon.
Hey Buck Kansas City stopped them.
Well, it looks like I might have both games right today.
Let’s just hope I don’t have both games right tomorrow, LOL.
I’m starting to see the score prediction coming out of my computer and I don’t think you guys are going to like it…..
Very true shaz. On any day things can happen. That’s why we win tomorrow.
I want to be wrong sooooo bad!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!
Im going out on a limb and saying winner of gb no game wins it all this year
ballgame!
well come on Bay you’re running out of time. Oh yeah, you knew that.
And there’s the game. NO looked good. Very balanced.
Why Bay, there were 17 others predicting us to lose so nothing new.
New Orleans o-line is solid!
NO looks super.
Hey Detroit that is “YOUR DEFENSE”?
Broncos 17-16
Time for an upset game, right?!
That’s the way to ice a game. Hahaha Alfonso smith still sucks. Nice pick. McD
I’m going to tell you something that’s very obvious to me today, both teams that had the most talent on their squad won their game today, assuming N-O wins, and guess what team has the most talent between us and the Steelers.
I’m just saying, but I want to take nothing away from you guys remaining positive for tomorrow, I’m just calling it like I see it.
Bay, is there a way to see how long I’ve been blogging on this site. I was trying to remember and I can’t ?????
Can the nuts do it?
Nugs
I think I can remember your handle last year, so probably a bit over a year or so, I don’t know of any way to know for sure other than looking at your posts through the archives, but you never posted much so it would be very difficult.
I am hoping that the injuries count for something. I think the Steelers center, coupled with Big Ben’s ankle could cause problems. Wishful thinking maybe, but you never know.
Bmarsh said he’ll be rooting for the broncos