Anyone who follows the NFL has seen the highlights of Denver’s come-from-behind win over the Dolphins by now.
They’ve also probably seen Detroit Head Coach Jim Schwartz and San Francisco Head Coach Jim Harbaugh’s “handshake” in Week 6.
Schwartz addressed both topics earlier today in a conference call with the Denver media.
“I got back on track last week with (Atlanta Head Coach) Mike Smith,” Schwartz joked about his postgame handshake. “And I’ve had a lot of handshakes with (Head Coach) John Fox throughout the years.”
As the head coach of the Broncos’ next opponent, Schwartz has closely reviewed the Miami-Denver game film in preparation for Sunday’s matchup at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The highlight-reel plays occurred in the final three minutes as Denver erased a 15-point deficit, but Schwartz – a former defensive coordinator – said he was particularly impressed with the Broncos’ defensive effort in the 57 minutes prior, despite the team’s struggles offensively.
“It’s not so much what happened the last three minutes and scoring 15 points and then winning in overtime,” Schwartz said. “The fact that they were able to keep it to within two scores — that said a lot.”
“It wasn’t going well for the Broncos, but nobody lost faith, and they didn’t let it snowball,” Schwartz continued. “If that game was three scores, you can’t come back from that. You can’t come back being down 17 points or whatever, 18 points, in three minutes. You can do it with two, and they kept pushing through and made a couple plays when it counted.”
Schwartz and his defense are now set to face quarterback Tim Tebow, who’s helped rally the Broncos back in his last two outings and is coming off his first win as a starter in 2011.
Schwartz has prepared his teams to face mobile, multi-dimensional quarterbacks before, but admitted Tebow presents unique challenges for a defense.
“Tebow is different,” Schwartz said. “He’s left handed. They don’t just use him as a scrambler or runner on pass plays, they call his number in the run game, in critical situations.”
“It spreads you thin because you have to account for an extra guy in the run game, and you have to guard against selling out too much against the run because he can make a play down the field like he did on that seam pass that set him up for the touchdown (against Miami).”
The Lions may be without their starting quarterback this week as Matthew Stafford works through an ankle injury suffered Sunday against the Falcons.
Schwartz said his quarterback situation against Denver is “to be determined” and expressed confidence in Shaun Hill – Stafford’s potential replacement.
“It really doesn’t change our objectives or our criteria,” Schwartz said. “If Matt can’t go we have a good backup in Shaun Hill that’ll be ready to play.”
—
Here is the Broncos Wednesday injury report:
Elvis Dumervil – Ankle (did not participate)
Willis McGahee – Hand (did not participate)
Julius Thomas – Ankle (full)
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Below are some photos from today’s indoor practice session.
Tags: Detroit Lions, Jim Schwartz, John Fox, Tim Tebow, Week 8
daddybronc.. you ever go have a beer at the Silver Spur?
Someone mentioned on the other blog that we’re wearing our orange jerseys full-time at home games next year. Any confirmation on that?
besides 1 throw back game, we will be wearing orange all year at home next year
No problems getting on here OC!
No problems from the mobile site either OC.
Try clearing your cache?
Ok I fibbed about no comment TRB (sorta)
From one extreme to the other…
http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?w=1b54p&storyId=7151742&disableShare=true&adBlock=block&i=SC&hidePageFooter=true&hidePageHeader=true
This from NFL.com
The Detroit Lions aren’t rushing running back Jahvid Best back from his second concussion of the season.
Best was held out of practice again Wednesday, and a source close to him told the Detroit Free Press the running back will likely miss his second straight game Sunday against the Denver Broncos .
Lions coach Jim Schwartz still isn’t putting a timetable on Best’s return, saying the team has to be “objective” while following the advice of doctors.
“It’s really yet to be seen,” Schwartz said, per the Press. “But I think, again, I sort of press a button when I start talking about concussions — every one’s different. Some guys respond differently. And you can’t put any of them in a box.”
Quarterback Matthew Stafford was able to practice on his injured right ankle Wednesday, while OT Gosder Cherilus (knee), DT Nick Fairley (foot) and CB Chris Houston (back) were among those held out.
Speaking of injuries. This can’t be true can it?
Day to day?
http://m.nfl.com/news/09000d5d82380f75/broncos-mcgahee-had-surgery-on-finger-considered-day-to-day/
At least Ayers was practicing today!
Another nugget from NFL.com
If they don’t already, you have to wonder if the Dolphins will come to regret the decision to celebrate Tim Tebow ‘s college team during halftime of Miami’s Week 7 loss to the Broncos.
The sellout-deficient ‘Fins hosted players from the University of Florida’s 2008 national championship squad on Sunday, an on-the-nose effort to cash in on Tebow’s visit to Miami as Broncos quarterback. The team got an unexpected boost when Tebow was named starter by Denver coach John Fox leading up to the matchup, triggering a spike in ticket sales at Sun Life Stadium.
Tebow didn’t take part in the festivities, but the promotion didn’t sit well with Dolphins players.
“I think it was kind of messed up, you know, how he has a day in our stadium,” Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell told WQAM-AM in Miami (via ProFootballTalk.com ). “You know, I don’t think any of us thought that was right.”
Tight end Anthony Fasano — who seems to be upset about a lot of things these days — likely would’ve opted for more generic standards like local marching band or the perfectly acceptable “Area Man With Dog, Frisbee.”
“It was awful,” Fasano told WFAN-AM in New York (via SportsRadioInterviews.com ). “Showing up at the stadium and seeing all the Gator stuff and the Tebow stuff. It was disheartening, but as players we kind of put ourselves in that position because the Dolphins are in the business of winning football games and making money.
“We haven’t been winning football games, but it’s still a smack in the face and it’s unfortunate we couldn’t rain on their parade and get the win.”
Never a dull moment (or a win) in Miami these days.
A lot of the Tebownites may want to ignore this link.
http://m.nfl.com/blogs/2011/10/26/tim-tebow-day-for-the-playbook-mailbag/
My only wish as a Tebow guy would be for the coaches to get behind him 100%. Hire a real QB coach, and call plays suited for his kind of play. Then if he fell on his face, there would be no regrets. We could wash our hands and roll with the next guy.
Instead we get McD’s high school coach brother, followed by Adam Case as Tebow’s QB coach. With Fox and McCoy as well, and a management staff that allowed B.Lloyd & E. Riley to fall thru the cracks (after seeing Victor Cruz lite it up for the Giants… that’s how you develop young players). This is playing out badly. For the fans that never watched Tebow play alot of games in college, I understand your doubts. But McD called plays to highlight Orton’s strengths, and he shined (as well as an Orton could). Then McCoy/fox call plays and Orton looks like a 9th grader trying to make varsity. If Orton could fall so hard, what do you expect for Tebow? Last year he showed flashes in his 3 starts. We had the screen game going (hey has anyone thought to call Buckhaulter for some emergency starts while Willis is down?.. What about Ryan Harris on the line..Oh I’m now digressing.) and they let Tebow chuck it deep 3 or 4 times a games. With some success I might add. Fast forward to last week.. No imagination… No aggressive play calls.. If you want to play aggressive, you have to make aggressive calls. D. Allen is doing that on defense, and it’s time for McCoy/Fox to step up.. We need to chuck it down field, so as to get the free safety to drop deeper back.
Can’t everyone see that our offense has moved backwards this season? Orton had B. Lloyd and still stunk with these play calls.
I want America to see what Tebow is made of, and I feel that McCoy/Fox is holding him back. Put the kid in position to make plays, so we can all sleep better at night. People, remember Tebow was 9 of 13 during crunch time. Miami wasn’t in prevent like some posters have mentioned. Nolan was still bringing it, but Tebow delivered. That is hard for anyone to do in their 4th start. My only hope is that this Tebow thing plays out with no regrets.. I am old enough to have watched Steve Young in Tampa for the Buc’s. They failed to change their offense for the kid, and it showed. The following year they drafted the can’t miss luck prospect Vinny Testerverde, and the rest is history. I only hope that it doesn’t happen here. I hope Elway rides in on his white horse and saves the day for us like he always has. It would be a bold move, and one I hope John makes. (that being, Elway getting in Fox’s ear and “talking him into” opening things up for our offense). Remember John said that we were going to be aggressive on offense this season, and it’s time to make that happen.
http://www.itsalloverfatman.com/broncos/entry/you-got-served-all-tebow-all-the-time
This was a great article … quite lengthy … but very analytical and I think all can appreciate it. Saw someone reference it on DP and checked it out and it was worth the read.
Sndvl, I didn’t think the gronkowski thing was such a big deal but apparently maybe it was.
Miami Dolphin players can whine all they want about how not cool honoring Tebow and the gator team was (even tho they had gators on thier roster too) but at the end of the day … THEY had a 15 point lead with less than 5 mins left and they blew it. Besides I think they tried to honor the hurricanes first and they turned it down.
And bro, I swear you live on your mobile device lol.
Later Days, TRB
Morning all;
Prediction..
Detroit 26 – 20 Denver
I fear the playcalling will be equally conservative until the 4th which is like trying to make TT win with one hand tied behind his back (his left one). The comeback will just fall short. Let the man play and we’ll really see what we’ve got….
Denver 17-14 Detroit. Think both coaches will play conservative. Fox as is his usual and Scwartz with stafford out (probably) thinking he only has to do the minimum to win. That opens up the possibility of them giving Tebow a chance to win in 4th, and we all know what happens next.
Go Broncos
Mornin Everyone!
It’s Thursday…………which is one day closer to Sunday and some Broncos football!
I’m really excited to see this game………I think it’s intruiging and by far a gimme for the Lions……….whom I’m sure all the analysts out there will choose to win.
I think our D has come a long ways….even since the Packers game. With Best out……….and possibly Stafford……….this O will not be as potent as it has been in the past.
And with another week taking first team reps and a chance to adjust the playbook……….I’m expecting a much better performace from our O, out of the gate.
How’s the scoring predictions looking so far bay? Still mulling mine over.
I can’t remember who it was ( maybe cuz it was a couple blogs ago) someone saying they were hyping up The comeback against the Dolphins. That it was not the greatest comeback like the Sports Bureau said. I think the arguement was that Elway cameback from 19 down against the Colts his frst yr. They (Sports Bureau) said it was the greatest comeback from 15pts down with less than 3min to go in the 4th. As I remember Elway came in the late 3rd to the beginning of the 4th. So in those term they are right.
On another note I like the double moves and timing routes ran in practice today. They gonna need that. Cuz if Tim hold the ball this game. He might not make it out of this game!!!!!
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=7149498
Rick Reilly had an interesting take on the critics talking about Tebow accuracy. I think John got in his ear after he got thrown under the bus by Rick for starting Tebow. Well to be fair Fox started him but you know what I meant. Just to quote a story he told. He said on the set of countdown during the time when the getting the set ready. He would have Steve Young and Trent Dilfer play passing games. Like who could hit the cross bar from 20 yards away. Some other ones where who could hit the coner of the endzone and so on and so on. He said Trent would always hit the mark he gave. On the other hand Steve would have trouble doing that. The point he was making was that’s just like practice. Trent might look the part. You can’t say he is a better QB than young by no stretch of the imagination. You can here the whole interview from the link up top of this post.
Tough call because if Stafford is out I think we’ll have a better chance at winning. We’re still lacking in the pass rush department in my opinion. I honestly think Dumervil played better when he was first a defensive end (before making the switch to WLB) than he is not at DE. Just seems like he hasn’t found his mojo yet, that coupled with injuries doesn’t help. It is his first year back from his pectoral injury and back at DE after being at WLB for a year. Hopefully he can heal up and stay healthy.
Tebow has got to play better also. I know he’s basically a rookie, blah, blah, blah, he just flat out needs to play better and more consistent. I don’t care if you’re a rookie, or a reshirt freshman, or on a pop warner team. The QB can always hit the wide open guy. With over and under throws to his open WR that’s unacceptable. Those are throws that every QB should be able to make. But that boils down to his mechanics, which I openly criticized before we drafted him. Part of me thinks he can change it, but part of me is like muscle memory is a hard thing to change. Hopefully he can “tweak” his mechanics, improve them, improve his reads. We all have to remember this 10 week trial period is all Tebow will get in my opinion. If he doesn’t show the orginization something then I don’t know….
This is a game I really wished MacGahee was playing………..the Lions run D is suspect and I think he would have a monster day. Not sold on Moreno being effective.
These couple of weeks that McGahee is out is when Moreno needs to show he was worth the draft pick we spent on him. I do think the o-line has been improving so that will help, obviously, but Moreno needs to do some of the work himself. Make guys miss, fight for the tough yards, and don’t go down after initial contact. Like I said our o-line will have their hands full this week with Suh, Williams, and Fairely. I know their licking their chops at a shot at Tebow so we’ve got to protect him. Hopefully Tebow has seen what Suh likes to do to QBs, regardless if it is within the rules or not, we don’t need him taking uncessary shots from their d-line.
*they’re*
I’m anticipating seeing more screen passes and bootlegs this week. If the D line keeps coming hard at Tebow, this might work to our advantage. Although there is a matter of actually executing the plays as well……….which is still a question mark.
Moreno really needs to step up and show some patience in finding the holes. Take off your dancing shoes and put on your cleats!
Lol TRB. That’s pretty much the case. I’m a mobile guy. (Kinda like Tebow). From work, to CPR and EMS classes and following my little one around, it’s not always practical to carry my laptop.
These smartphones are a thing of beauty too. (I’ve the iPhone 4, blackberry previously). I use as a tool much like my pen light, cutting device wrist watch etc!
I link my email accounts, bank accounts, gps & google maps (which let me tell you, working on an ambulance is a lifesaver. Haha). The apps. Oh the apps. I have a CPR trainer that measures the rate and depth of compression which is handy for training muscle memory. An EMS pocket guide which is my media guide. I have a PDF reader that allows me to access my system protocols, my playbook! A unit converter- that helps me calculate drug dosing and turning lbs into kgs. (because my front office has all doses in units per patients kilograms).
Of course it has the added value of entertainment. Games, iPod, you tube and Internet access. I can manage my fantasy football team- Clady Gaga. Check in on Facebook. Denver post and CNN have mobile apps Googling anything I have a question about. (like how many draft picks have the Denver Broncos selected in the 5th round).
Of course, the access to the blog is hands down, Top Notch. Most of us regulars here know our blog is far and away one of the best out there. Compared to other team sites. The mobile access is the same. Thanks to blog administration for all their time and effort. The Denver Broncos organization are pioneers in this capacity. I mean, we were the first team ever to announce, via social media, the firing of a certain head coach. Which is a testament to their commitment to the fan base. Reason #6,457 why I Love Me Some Denver Broncos!!!!!!!!!!!
TRB, Thanks for that article. Lots of interesting stuff.
Time to take a look at what things look like from the opposition straight from the Detroit Lions official website:
This week, quarterback Drew Stanton is playing his role as Denver quarterback Tim Tebow, who made his first start of the season last week at Miami.
Tebow is known for his tendency and ability to run the football. Stanton has a similar skill set.
“It’s just the element that he brings of running the football,” said Stanton of Tebow. “I’m trying to do that and keep (our defense) honest. He obviously has a threat of doing that and he can make plays off schedule.
“It’s hard to try and practice for that so we try to simulate it to the best of our ability.”
Last week at Miami, Tebow ran eight times for 65 yards and is actually second on the team with 102 rushing yards.
His tendency to run for first downs brings another element to what the Lions’ defense has to account for and there is no telling when that element will become a factor.
“When he gets in the open field he’s not looking to slide, but he’s looking to finish off his run,” said linebacker Justin Durant. “That’s one of his strengths and that’s what he does.”
The challenge comes if Tebow is holding the ball and the Lions’ defense can’t get to him. If the back seven is covering, that gives Tebow the ability to gain yards on his own.
“You look at what he’s done not only last week but over his career – he’s dangerous when he pulls the ball down and runs with it,” said defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch.
“We have a challenge, especially up front, where we need to collapse the pocket and get guys around him and stay alive in the rush because he can run anywhere on the football field with it.”
Added defensive end Cliff Avril, “Stanton is helping us big time. He’s a runner. Everybody knows that Tebow runs and Stanton definitely likes to run. He’s giving us the best look we can get from our quarterbacks.”
Same source:
Stafford suffered an ankle injury on Detroit’s final offensive play against Atlanta and was limited during Wednesday’s practice.
“It feels okay,” said Stafford of his ankle. “It’s sore obviously, but it’s made progress since Sunday and hopefully it will keep making progress.”
Injury aside, Stafford enters this week’s game on the heels of back-to-back losses in which the Lions’ offense has struggled to find rhythm.
After averaging 31.8 points per game over the first five games, the Lions have scored 19 and 16 points in their most recent two against San Francisco and Atlanta, respectively.
“We just have to fine tune techniques here and there,” said Stafford. “Route-running, ball placement when I throw it, guys staying on blocks a little big longer – whatever it is.
“Everybody picks out a little something in their game and tries to get a little bit better at it. You do that and the big plays come.”
This is also the time of the year when opponent defenses have plenty of film to study to figure out what the Lions do well and what they have struggled against.
The last two weeks, the Lions have struggled in the red zone, finishing 2-of-4 against San Francisco and 0-of-2 against Atlanta.
“I think there’s definitely some throws out there that I can make that I didn’t make or I was a little off with,” said Stafford. “I take complete responsibility for that, obviously. It was my job to get those guys the ball and let them do what they do.
“That’s something where I’ve just got to keep throwing it and trust my ability and trust the fact that I can make those throws. (Then) go out there and do it.”
From Calvin Johnson:
“It was a tough practice today because everybody’s sore. I’m sore. It was slow at first, but it definitely picked up in the end, though. So that was good. It turned to be a really good practice.
“As an offense, we’re just trying to get our mojo back. Guys are still into it. I can’t say exactly why we haven’t been clicking the way we were early in the season – in the preseason and stuff. We just have to get back to being us. Having fun out there. It’s been a little different in the huddle. We used to be fooling around out there all the time. We’ve got to get back to that – having fun out there.
“One factor is that we have gone against some good coordinators – some guys that have some good schemes and then have players on top of that to play out those schemes. That’s tough. Everybody has a job to do on both sides of the ball. Those guys get paid, too, but I feel when we’re on our stuff and we’re doing what we have to do then we’re always going to win.
“As far as me getting the ball in the red zone … these coordinators, these teams, they’re playing more disciplined. There’s not a lot of man in the red zone. You’re going to see brackets, you’re going to see a safety over the top most of the time, but that’s not to say you can’t beat that. We definitely can. We just need to get back to what we’re capable of.
“I was looking at the weather report on my phone and see that it’s snowing in Denver. I looked at it further in the week and it’s supposed to be like 50 on Saturday. So it’ll probably all melt, if not today then tomorrow. We’ll be fine. It might be a little chilly on Sunday, but that’s fine as long as it’s not freezing cold like Green Bay.”
What if Ditka coached Tebow?
http://blogs.nfl.com/2011/10/27/first-and-10-da-coach/?module=HP11_content_stream
Now, my advice for Sunday:
Don’t be fooled to think that on D you’re biggest challenge will be to slow Megatron down, Champ shall see to that.
Also obviously with Best likely out the Lions present very minimal threat in the running game since they’re not that good at it even when he plays.
Meaning, WATCH OUT FOR SCHEFFLER, as in Tony Scheffler, rings a bell? And all other TEs and RBs involved in the short passing game whether Stafford or Hill is the QB because Dawk can’t cover my grandma and Carter hasn’t learned how to yet. We have been poor covering TEs for years now and Tony would love nothing more than to embarass us and he will give it 120%, don’t say I didn’t warn you, haha.
About their D and how to attack them is a real connundrum since they are weak against the run but McGahee is out and obviously Tebow is not ready to light it up in the air, so we need to hope Moreno, Ball and Tebow can break enough runs to keep us in the game until late and have Tebow pull it out at the end in another heroic moment, that would be our best bet for the win if not the only one, nothing will come easy in this game.
And to answer killerkod, so far 12 bloggers have us beat the Lions and 5 lose to them, very limited entries so far, must be waiting for further injury status.
Where in the world did you come across that article TRB? He analyzed every Tebow play…he seemed to give Tebow a lot of credit…
Just listened to the segment greatness…
whats your thoughts on Decker’s comments? Or the comment made by Doug and Rick pertaining to the fact that Tebow’s development could hinder other players development, which could lead to FA’s bypassing Mile-High…
An interesting listen that anybody on the blog today should hear!
So has anyone else heard of this “Tebowing?” I saw some picture of it on the Mile High Report website and I don’t get it. There have been numerous players that drop to one knee before the game and during or after a TD catch or whatever. So why the hype about Tebow, just because its Tebow I guess?
Anyway, I’m still waiting on Stafford to make my prediction. *sniff* I don’t have any points anyway and I’ve been wrong on all my predictions so it probably wouldn’t matter LOL! I’d even take the wall of shame for my 1ns of fame when baylinorcrush hits the “submit comment” button. Haha
I`m waiting for the injury status myself.
Frustrating day yesterday. I couldn`t get on any updated blogs through the day. I was stuck on the morning blog and nowhere to go. Trippy stuff.
If you use IE, it caches the pages and stores them for a while, I’m not sure how long. You can set up your settings to check for new versions of a website “everytime you visit,” which would include hitting the refresh button. That’s if you’re using IE. Just a little help.
Firefox is better than IE,imo,nowhere near as many problems!
Thanks Brian.
I’m waiting for the injury updates as well!!!
Hey strand whats up bro?
Dude, all day yesterday I couldn`t get to updated blogs. My computor is messin up somehow I believe. I got to figure it out. But hey I`m on today.
How you doing bro?
Yeah, Firefox is better than IE. It is faster as well because it doesn’t need to store every single little thing into cache and it empties it cache more frequently.
Good to know.
Heard you guys got some snow!!!
I think it’s a glitch in the blog,OC was having problems last night,I had major problems a few weeks ago!!!!
another thing to think about is the fact that J Best is not going to play for them this week…or so it seems. They were just getting thier running game going when he went down. When he did go down they lost 2 games in a row. The matchup between Megatron and Champ will be one for the ages. I hope we are aggressive with the pass rush because I expect them to pass more than run by alot.
O. Franklin vs Cliff Avril will be interesting depending on where they actually line him up. Vanden Bosch vs Clady too. Our interior (probably Beadles more than not) vs Suh is ugly to think about. Hopefully we can wear him down or expose some weekness.
I originally had this as a game we would win this year. Now I’m not so sure and I’m leary to make a prediction. Since I predict that their Offense will be a little one dimensional we should be able to be competitive if we tee off on the pass rush. I don’t expect Goody or Vaughn to be able to cover long. Pettigrew is one of their main weapons too. Hope we have an answer for him. Hopefully Scheffler doesn’t kill us either. We know he wants to.
That’s my initial analisys. I’ll give a prediction later.
BFE: 9 news just said mostly sunny and 61 degrees for the game Sunday.
Yeah, we got pounded yesterday.