The Bolts defense proved too tough for us and we can’t seem to keep it rolling. We started out like a runaway train and then the brakes were applied by the Bolts defense. Rivers shined with a 116 passer rating against us.
Tough night. Hit and miss again. We ran the ball well at times and then couldn’t. The pass rush off the edges didn’t get blocked a few times and Orton paid the price. He’s a tough guy. Growing pains showed and inconsistency prevailed all over the field. I couldn’t stop watching because I just knew they would snap out of it and get rolling, but that’s the homer in me I guess.
What did you guys see? It was just a plain tough night in San Diego to me.
Have to add a side note from last week. Go back and check out the last few posts because it was late in the week and you probably missed Bay go into his reasoning for his current jersey selection……..it was toooooo funny.
Okay, my buddy Cory lives in St. Louis and he sent me the following as his scouting report, so I told him I would make him famous with a very tough, intelligent PRO-Broncos blog-o-sphere crowd.
This weekend’s game between the Denver Broncos and the St.Louis Rams is highlighted by a rematch of the coordinators from Super Bowl XLII. Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels was the Offensive Coordinator for the record setting 2007 New England Patriots. And Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnulo was the Defensive Coordinator of the 2007 New York Giants.
Offensively the Rams run a West Coast Offense that looks a lot like the Bill Walsh West Coast System the 49ers utilized in the 1980′s. A lot of 3 and 5 step drops and a lot of short throws to RB’s and TE’s. There is no deep threat for the Rams so most defenses play safeties no further than 8-10 yards from the line of scrimmage. The Rams weakness on offense is their WR corps. They have no real #1 or #2. Danny Amendola is the teams leading WR and he plays out of the slot. Their WR corps may be the worst in the NFL. They have two or three guys that wouldn’t even be able to make most of the other teams in the NFL. These guys are easy to jam at the line of scrimmage and do not get separation from DB’s. QB Sam Bradford is likely going to win this year’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He makes very little mistakes. He just set an NFL record for rookies for most consecutive pass attempts without an INT. The Rams offensive line is one of the highest paid in the NFL and one of the most underachieving. Rookie Left Tackle Rodger Saffold (2nd Round Pick out of Indiana) is arguably their best lineman. Very good feet, plays with good leverage, and has the best hands of any lineman I have seen since Jake Long came out in 2008. Their interior O-Line is their weakness. OLG Jacob Bell has been one of the biggest free agent busts of the past 10 years for the Rams. ORG Adam Goldberg is 6’7 and is not very mobile and get’s pushed into the backfield a lot. The Rams best offensive player is RB Steven Jackson who is 4th in the NFC in rushing. Jackson is also a threat out of the backfield as a receiver with 30 receptions. Jackson’s weakness is, for a big back (6’2 240), he dances a lot and is not a good pass blocker.
Defensively the Rams have made great strides after being one of the worst defenses in the NFL for the past 6 seasons. The Rams give up a lot of yards but not a lot of points. They are 8th in the NFL in points allowed at 19.8. The Rams implore a 4-3 scheme that is very similar to the Jim Johnson Philadelphia Eagles defenses from the past decade. It all starts up front for the Rams on the defensive line. The Rams D-Lineman do so many things during any given game. A lot of stunts and zone blitzes. Chris Long is the team’s starting DLE and is the son of Hall-of-Famer and former Oakland Raider D-Lineman Howie Long. Chris had a slow start to his career after being the #2 overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2008. Long played a lot of OLB and 5-technique DE in college at Virginia, where the Cavaliers played a 3-4 defensive scheme. So it has taken a while for Long to learn how to play in a 4-3. He played DRE his first two seasons before moving to DLE this season, where he is having his best season to date. Playing OLB at Virginia has helped Long drop back in the Zone Blitzing as he is their most effective player doing so. Long and opposite starting DE James Hall have combined for 13 sacks so far this season. The Rams are 6th in sacks in the NFL this season with 28. The Rams do like to blitz. Especially up the A and B gap. At LB the Rams are very thin and not very talented. Their best player on defense is their MLB James Laurinitis. If that name sounds familiar for wrestling fans it should. He is the son of former Professional Wrestler “Animal” of the legendary tag team The Legion of Doom (or Road Warriors). The Rams LB’s are weak in pass coverage and the middle of the field can be attacked. At CB the Rams like to be physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage then play a lot of zone cover 2 and cover 3. FS O.J. Atogwe is among the league leaders in INT and forced turnovers since 2006. But Atogwe is a liability against the run and is easily fooled against the play action.
Here is the bottom line. The Rams went 6-42 from 2007-2009. They are 4-6 in 2010 and one game behind Seattle in the NFC West. The Rams did not draft well from 2000-2007 and had a lot of free agent busts. So depth is an issue at nearly every position. Especially WR, D-Line, and CB. The Rams are 0-4 on the road this season and 1-11 on the road under Steve Spagnulo. They have given up 4th quarter leads in three of their four road games thus far. Mostly due to the front line D-Lineman wearing out late in the game and their backups just are not very talented.
Definite W for the Broncos…I added that. 
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-Coopster
I wish I could share your sentiment Coop! However Spags has McDs number. And we are in disarray…
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones, btw!
Coopster…..you spent almost all your time talking about next week,I don’t blame you,I’d like to forget about last night too.
Happy turkey day!!!!!!!
Coop, when I read your post I thought I just read a football encyclopedia about the Rams, LOL. Honestly I think it’s great that after all these years have passed from your playing days that you can still keep up with the inner working of certain teams the way you do, kudos to you, totally blown away by your knowledge of the behind the scene set up for this upcoming game. However as someone watching it from the outside, I say you thinking that we win this one is dangerous stuff, the Rams haven’t won one on the road and I wouldn’t put it past them to break that streak, all streaks are bound to be broken, right? Here is hoping for the best but bracing for the worst, and as it seems this year we have a knack for hitting new lows all around and most of the time, I would be in no way surprised if the Rams came in town and handed it to us. What a bad year is this or what, my oh my. Happy thanksgiving to you but not much thanks going towards the Broncos on this end, can’t help it, really disappointed here, like we have been in the process of setting us back for years, mediocre 500 records look good now, how sad is that…
after two blow outs by division teams, and blowing out the other, I am very confused as to which team will show up against the Rams. we have been blown out 3 times now this year, and were pretty close in every other game, and then 1 blowout win. In simple terms we are inconsistent, and you never know what you’re gonna get. I thought the Chiefs game would be a momentum changer, but I was wrong, lets hope we beat the Raiders and Chargers next go round, and beat the Chiefs too. That’s about as much as I have to look forward to right now, none of the other games matter at this point, start Tebow, Thomas, and Decker, every other rookie seems to be starting now anyway….
Thomas is definitely out with an ankle injury for Sunday.
COOP!
I gotta disagree with you when you said The Broncos could and then couldn’t run the ball. Some where in the second qtr Coach McDaniels just stopped calling the run play’s. For some reason Coaches all across The League seem to panic if thier TEAM gets down a score or two and they start calling Pass play after pass play, It Drives Me Nuts! Especially when Knowshon was clearly the Best Athlete on the field Monday Night. It’s as if Coach Shanahan was still here calling the play’s. Ther I said it.
Hey tell your friend Cory He did a fantastic job with the scouting report and Thank you. I think you may have a great thing here, You should have a Guest Scouting Report each week. I’m sure You could find a friend or former colleague in every NFL City, give it a shot.
I have to say one more thing about Monday Nights game. That OLine in sandiego is Awesome! I wish our OLine worked that well together. Oh that was tough to say…
TIME OF POSSESSION ! ! !
GO BRONCOS ! ! !
Thanks for the scoop – Coop! LOL!
Interesting scenario this weekend with the former SB coordinators squaring off at Invesco. Quite a few of us were pulling for Spagnulo to be hired here in Denver.
If we have a solid game plan vs. Rams, we should be able to beat them. We’ll be there yelling our lungs out for our Team!!
GO BRONCOS!!!
************Hey everyone I know you are all focused on blogging about the team but check out the cheerleaders blog it is about collecting things for the troops. It definitely needs some attention, even if you just read it so you know what is going on and when. So you can help support their drive! Thanks bronco family!!************
start decker
I just want Tebow to start getting some meaningful playing time! Its not like we are in the playoff hunt anyway. Let’s start looking at our young guys and see what we have for next season. Disappointing season for sure! Time to be the spoiler against our division opponents.
samurai713 – its called being unpredictable. I don’t even think the team knows which Bronco team will show up on game day. Its frustrating & exciting at the same time. This team is VERY consistent in being unpredictable. I’ll give ‘em that. lol
It has been a disappointing season but every game is different. Just cuz we played like crap on Monday night doesn’t mean it will happen it game. Record shows that we most likely will but I’m like Coop – I keep watching the game hoping that they’ll work out the kinks during the game cuz that’s “the homer in me I guess”. haha Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. And I know why McD is keeping Orton on the field no matter how bad he played in SD but its time to give Tebow his shot. We’ve got nothing else to lose dude!!!! No harm in letting the rookie do his thing… just let the man play already! grrrrrrr
Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving Coopster!!
Have faith Bronco Country…
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and let’s see who shows up Sunday…..keep the faith we need another stepping stone to get on track and then back at Kansas City for a SLUGFEST…you can bet on that one.
Mondono, I agree, seems like no one really grinds it out anymore and 07elway, Id like to see more Tebow too even in the same set with Orten to challenge the defense some as a change up.
It’s a tough year but hang in here and let’s see where they get better and and support the Team through thick and thin.
Coopster