Tuesday’s practice was filled with a variety of two-minute drills between the offense and the defense as the team prepares for its first preseason game — Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MDT in Chicago.
The first saw the offense at their own 40-yard line, up 20-14 with 2:29 left on the clock. The goal? Run the clock out to seal the victory.
Up first was quarterback Peyton Manning. Two straight run plays left the offense with a third-and-4, and one more run play made it fourth-and-1. The defense’s punt unit ran onto the field, but Manning stayed on the field, and in the confusion, the offense gained the necessary yard to seal the win for the offense. Head Coach John Fox called a do-over, however, and had punter Britton Colquitt run on the field to try to pin the defense deep. He kicked it to the 11-yard line, and with 11 seconds remaining, the win was given to the offense.
Next up was quarterback Adam Weber, and the situation changed a little — the defense was given two timeouts. After each of the first two runs, the defense called a timeout, leaving the offense with a third down with the two-minute warning still looming. Knowshon Moreno took a handoff, but he ran out of bounds to stop the clock and leave the offense with a fourth-and-6 situation. The defense cheered loudly as it was given the victory.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler handed third-team duties. On the first play, Jeremiah Johnson broke a long run for a first down to the defense’s 38-yard line — a gain of 22. After the two-minute warning, the offense ran two more times before calling its final timeout with 26.8 seconds remaining. On third down, Osweiler took a knee to give the offense the win.
The next situational drill had the offense trailing by four points with 1:40 left on the clock, two timeouts remaining and the ball at its own 40-yard line.
Manning began the drive by hitting Brandon Stokley for a short gain, followed by a completion to Lance Ball out of the backfield for a first down at the defense’s 45-yard line. Two straight incompletions left the offense with a third-and-10, but Manning hit Andre Caldwell for a 20-yard gain and a first down at the 25-yard line with 43.2 seconds remaining. Manning then hit Matthew Willis and Willis McGahee on consecutive plays, setting up a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Manning called a timeout to set up the play with 19.6 seconds remaining. On first down, Manning threw to Caldwell in the corner of the end zone, but the pass fell incomplete. Second down brought another throw from Manning to Caldwell, this time in the middle of the end zone, but it also fell incomplete. On third down, Manning looked for Caldwell one more time, but a defender tipped the ball at the last second and caused a third straight incomplete. Now faced with fourth-and-goal with 7.2 seconds, Manning lofted a ball to the back corner of the end zone, but Willis couldn’t catch up to it, and the defense was fired up to claim the victory.
Next up was Osweiler, and he quickly hit Johnson for a 5-yard gain to kick off the drive. The quarterback went back to Johnson on the next play to set up a first down at the defense’s 44-yard line. On the next play, however, Osweiler threw a pass that bounced off of Gerell Robinson’s hands and into the grasp of cornerback Tony Carter, who grabbed the interception and ran out of bounds to give the defense its second win of the drill. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard started a chant of “De-fense!” from the sideline.
Weber took the third-team reps this time, kicking off his drive with an 11-yard completion to Johnson. He then targeted Robinson on two consecutive plays. The first was a catch for a gain of 7 yards, and the second the second was a gain of 12 all the way to the 30-yard line. Robinson was hit hard and up-ended, landing on his back — but he held onto the ball to move the chains. Two straight incompletions left the offense with a third-and-10, and defensive end Cyril Obiozor raced into the backfield to sack Weber and set up a fourth-and-15 at the 35-yard line. The offense used its timeout to set up the play. On fourth down, Weber dropped back and hit Robinson for a 16-yard gain — just enough for another first down — and the offense ran up to the line to spike the ball with 17.3 seconds remaining. On first down at the 19-yard line, Weber fired for wide receiver Cameron Kenney in the back corner of the end zone, and the Oklahoma product climbed the ladder for a leaping touchdown catch to deliver the victory to the offense.
Check out more practice notes in the Training Camp 2012: Day 13 blog.
-Gray Caldwell
Tags: Training Camp 2012
Great article thanks Gray!
That 20 yard completion on 3rd and 10 to move the chains is VERY refreshing to hear!
Thanks for the article Gray, love the updates.
Lance ball caught pass from manning for prize pack