I understand why Tim Tebow’s first NFL start grabbed the headlines last Sunday. Undoubtedly this week, Tebow’s second career start will dominate much of the discussion and analysis after the game.
If I knew today that Kyle Orton or Tim Tebow or someone else would be the starter next season, I would be fine with that, as long as the “someone else” were at least decent.
The Broncos’ quarterback situation is not my number one concern. Not by a long shot.
If Pat Sajak were planning to be in Denver any time soon, I’d have to ask him for a “D.” It has become unbearably obvious that defense is where the Broncos have to start in getting their house in order.
The numbers have been mentioned already, but they are worth repeating. In two games against the Raiders, the Broncos surrendered 98 points, 1,010 yards of total offense, 592 rushing yards and 49 first downs.
Gulp.
The Raiders have a solid offense. They are in the top ten in scoring, total offense and rushing yards per game. But they put up video game numbers in their two wins against the Broncos.
Then again, other teams did the same thing this year, too. And there’s the rub.
For years, even long before Josh McDaniels came to town, we heard the Broncos talk about their desire to have a tough defense that stops the run. In the last five seasons, five different defensive coordinators have talked about that.
Hopefully sooner than later, we will start seeing it on the field.
The Broncos are currently last in the NFL, allowing 29.6 points per game. They are second-to-last in total offense given up per game (386.1 yards) and rushing yards allowed per game (158.4).
We all know one can spin stats in a variety of ways but it is really difficult to put those in any kind of positive light. They are what they are. And they are a big reason the Broncos are what they are, namely 3-11.
Of course, every team would like to have a Steel Curtain defense or a defense as good as that of the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, to name a couple of examples.
But it doesn’t take a unit that dominating to have a great team, even an elite team that consistently contends for championship. At the same time, I can’t think of an NFL team that has won on a regular basis with a defense anywhere similar to the one the Broncos have now.
In the recent past, the primary focus for the Broncos has been offense. As the Broncos begin their journey into a new era, I hope that defense plays a much more prominent role.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts. I hope you and your family are enjoying a wonderful Holiday Season.
Best,
Mike
Tags: 2010, Defense, Denver Broncos, Mike Rice
I guess a lot of our fanbase is Gator fans now,so it’s
Broncos Country/Gator Nation=…………………still Broncos Country.LOL.
GO BRONCOS 2011!!!!!!!!!!
strand,the mock draft is just something for us to have fun with for 2 or 3 months while we have nothing else to talk about.I’m just tossing some names out there,maybe a couple will stick.lol.
No disrespect Mike but you said:
‘every team would like to have a Steel Curtain defense or a defense as good as that of the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens, to name a couple of examples’.
How about another example ‘THE ORANGE CRUSH”.can’t believe you didn’t mention our great Crush Defense.
But I do agree with ‘looking for some D’.
We been looking far too long,time we get busy and draft our own D!
I`m with ya BFE. It gets my blood going, believe me. I hope Fairley enters the draft. I did some homework on him. Great I`ll take. When we`re on the clock I`m going to trip out. What a blast.
Yes! And Tom Jacksons favorite song was IT`S ALL OVER FAT MAN!!!
BeastFromEast92…point well taken. I should have included the Orange Crush.
bay…thanks for the holiday wishes. I send them right back your way!
Mike
Two more games Mike and our season is over. I am looking forward to the fresh start. GM, HC, John possibly coming to the front office, draft ect…….It`s going to be exciting to see how it all unfolds.
just for a little fun, here is a little mock draft from me:
1. Patrick Peterson (CB, LSU)
2 (both picks). Greg Jones (LB, Michigan State), Marvin Austin (DE/DT, NC)
3. Will Hill (S, Florida)
THose are the first 3 rounds at least. I like the ideas. What do you guys think?
BFE claims that Greg Jones is staying in school for his SR year.
oh i didnt know that. that changes things then lol
Next year we can snag him.
Sorry guys I was reading an article from 2009,Greg Jones LB Michigan State is a Senior and will enter the draft,so he’s back on my board again with our 2nd round pick,if he’s still available.He’s a great ILB,a player we desperately need.IMO.to help our run D,along with Fairley,of course,lol.
1.Nick Fairley DT Auburn
2.Greg Jones ILB Michigan St.
3.Paea DT Oregon St.
4.we don’t have a 4th,traded it for Maroney.
Maybe we trade Orton Quinn Maroney and whoever else is we don’t need to get a few more picks.Who knows we might get another 2nd for Orton.
2.Paea DT Oregon St…..not 3rd,forgot we have two 2nd roud picks.
I couldn’t have said it better myself Mr. Rice! Go Broncos, Happy Holidays and DEFENSE in 2011!!!
GULP!
That was classic!
I was born in 78, so I missed out on the Orange Crush. Met many of them since. Just isn’t the same. Now that Tebow Time has begun, who agrees it’s ‘Time to put the D back in Denver’?!!!!? Lol
DEFENSE in 2011
I hope we switch back to a 4-3 defense and draft Patrick Peterson.
We dont see that kind of talent at CB since Champ. Champ deserves a new contract.
I agree our DL performance is very poor. But there is some depth at the position.
In a 4-3, Doom and Ayers could be ustoppable at DE. Bannan is still good. Draft another DT/NT in the 3rd or 4th. Or find one in the FAs. Eagles’ Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley could be FAs. They are well adept to rushing the QB in the Eagle’s relentless pass rushing defense.
AJ Hawk is an interesting ILB who could be a FA this offseason.
Champ could be tired of all these changes and might want a championship ready team. I wont blame him. So Patrick Peterson makes sense.
I like Greg Jones a LOT, and drafting him would be awesome, but I do not see him last until round 2. No way he gets out of one. Reminds me a lot of Sean Weatherspoon last year, and he was gone by 14.
Excuse me, he was picked 19th.
i think ol will be good next year on offence need te rb through fa inthe draft defence defence defence!!!!!!!!!
@ BeastFromEast92… i like your first 3 picks. i want on that train too! I WANT SOME D!!!
BFE
I can understand Greg Jones if we are sticking with 3-4 as i would like since he is a ILB…but in the 4-3, what would he play? Not unless we return DJ back to his true position of 4-3 ROLB. He is so versatile and we have moved him so much I almost forgot he used to play weak side originally. But if we stay 3-4 Jones and DJ in middle with Doom and Ayers on out side. Then we can daft a DE and Then Stephen Paea. I do like Patrick peterson and would be happy if we get him…The man is 6-1 222 strong tackler, fast as hell, with great balls skills…sounds like a dream come true. I would welcome peterson with open arms…but like Ive said in the past…This all depends on who declares…Not to mention if champ stays….
Thank you, Mike.
1- Patrick Peterson cb
2-Stephen Paea dt
2-Marvin Austin dt
3-Quan Sturdivant ilb or Kelvin Sheppard ilb
Btw, just for the record….I liked how Mays played ILB this years, so i don’t thinkILB is neccessary at the moment. Kid was solid
Thank you for the post Mr. Rice!
For a couple of weeks now these blogs have once again become a FUN read. Full of hope and ideas for the future. The outlook is once again positive. Since the “firing” and Tebow’s first start being a good one, the general tone of the blogs has changed dramatically from ominous and disheartened to positive and exciting about the future.
It is and should be clear to everyone in and around the organization that Defense is the new priority 1.
To keep this cheerful and excited tone, I hope everyone in management is reading these blogs and whatever steps are taken are towards building a top 10 defense for 2011; that, along with Tebow running a top 10 offense, and the proud days of not being cheaters, of having character and a winning demeanor will return thus being one more of this blogosphere will be yet another reason to be proud to be a Broncos fan.
Go Broncos in 2011!
To reiterate why I think it is extremely important that we compete in the last two games but lose both of them, anything else would be a terrible mistake, I don’t care that the correct way of looking at things is to try to win every game, to that I say baloney:
If the season ended today, the Broncos would have the No. 2 draft pick. Hello, Da’Quan Bowers!
“He’s the best defensive player by far on the board. By far,” Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN’s draft guru, said of Clemson’s star pass rusher. “He and (Stanford quarterback) Andrew Luck are the stick-out guys in this draft. You can debate three, four and five. You can’t debate one and two. Luck is the best offensive player, and everybody’s going to have Bowers as the best defensive player.”
Not that I think Kiper is any kind of guru, in fact he blows it about picks more often than he is right, but bottom line is how in the world could we blow our chance at the # 2 pick which is a certainty now if we lose our last two games since we have the tie breaker advantage over now 2nd place tied 3-11 Bengals. And if Carolina were to beat either Pittsburg and Atlanta we could even move up to #1 since we also have the tie advantage on them. So, lose already!!!
It’s hard to say, but what would a meaningless win do for me after this most horrible season ever? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, that’s what, and I want management to know that. Hope you are here reading this, this is a true Bronco fan speaking telling you I rather we lose, BY FAR!
I don’t care that we can beat the Texans, they are also down and out, beating them would be about as rewarding as receiving socks or underwears as Christmas gifts.
A #2 instead of a # 5 or so on the other hand would be the greatest Christmas gift ever other than the playoffs.
PRIORITIES, MAN, PRIORITIES!! GET THEM STRAIGHT FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS YEAR. 1st time firing McD, 2nd time starting Tebow so third time lose the remaining two games, How hard is that? LOL.
Hopefully all this Xanders talk below is just a lot of smoke screen to appease both the NFL who doesn’t want teams to “throw” games and the few fans who are so blinded by the neeed for instant gratification that they can’t see the long term ramifications:
“We’re playing to win these final two games,” Broncos general manager Brian Xanders said. “There’s no question about that. The players and coaches have a responsibility to each other and to the fans to finish the season on a positive note.”
Now that you got that out of the way, Brian, do the right thing with our team long term and play two more vanilla games the same way you have played most of them this year. Thanks for listening, maybe, haha.
Good post Mike although I think your a little late. D has been are problem for way to long now we have a O that can put up 21 points but we have a D that allows 30+ so I hope all of you are right and we get some playmakers on D And how about starting with geting a D minded coach for a change.
Broncos 24 Texans 17
Anyway, for anyone who is excited about the coming draft Klis has an article about it today where I got some of my material for the above post:
Armed with tiebreakers, a quarterback with one NFL start and a defense that can’t stop anyone, the Broncos are ready for the exciting event that is scoreboard watching for the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft.
Read more: Broncos in position to draft elite player in first two picks – The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_16916377#ixzz18r4GAGLv
Bay,we couldn’t go wrong with Bowers,he’s a pass rush specialist(15 sacks this year),and we couldn’t go wrong with Fairley (10 sacks this year) and a runstopper.
TRB,Greg Jones is so versatile he could probably play in a 4-3 or a 3-4,inside or out,we just need an upgrade at ILB,the guys we have are mediocre at best,DJ is a good LB,but not great,plus we need a big time leader on Defense,we haven’t had that since Al Wilson,Jones can be a great leader.IMO.If we go back to a 4-3 and Doom and Ayers go back to DE,we will definitely need a LB in this draft and Jones is the best in the draft,but he might not last to the 2nd round,so the only way we get him is trade back into the 1st round,I don’t like the thought of trading picks,but I do like Jones.
In other words I’m trying to say we need to know if we are going to run a 4-3 or a 3-4 before we can even decide who we want to draft,and like strand said,half the projected 1st rounders are underclassmen,we don’t even know at this point who is coming out and who is not,just saying.
Bay,I hope you know better than to believe Kiper,he is wrong half the time.lol.
All in All,it is going to be an exciting draft,I just wished we didn’t have to wait so Damn long for it to come,but oh well it gives us something to look forward to,and that is saying a lot,I thought for a while we had nothing to look forward to with McD at the helm,thanks Mr.B for getting rid of that power crazed,unexperienced,poor excuse for a HC!
Bay I agree we lose out and take full advantage of that #2 pick whether it be Fairley,Dareas,or Bowers.Just as long as we go DL with a couple of our first 4 picks!
I just read the DP before I got on hear and when I saw that Klis wrote an article on where we are at of #2 and the possible players we can get, my eyes lit up. Hell ya!! This is so exciting. Hurry up April. Come quickly.
BFE, if you take the time to read my post you will see I said exactly what you said about Kiper, in fact I even went further than you did with your “wrong half the time” since I said “he blows it more often than he is right”, haha. I understand most of my posts are so long people just run through them hurriedly, if I’m lucky, so they can post their own piece to make their peace, it’s all cool.
Ya BFE, I`m with both of you. Come on fans, lets look at the big picture hear. Lets not get short sighted. Lets look long term. Lose out these last two games and then we can become winners. We get DOOM back next year. We get those players that can sack the QB then we will be back on the map.
Good memory TRB, yeah at the time obviously the only thing that mattered to me was losing to get McD fired because that was so much more important than draft picks at the time specially since a top draft pick would of meant closed to nothing with McD picking, plus back then no one was really looking at the possibility of a top 5, much less a top 2, and that changes EVERYTHING, just saying, got to adjust to the situation at hand, we now got rid of McD and this is what is in front of us now, a new management able to have a shot at a top 2 pick, how could anyone want to pass on that? I am not that stubborn, haha.
Baylinocrush stubborn? Naaaaah. #2 is fine with me. It`s obvious that the panthers will draft Andrew Luck. As for the Bronco`s, We get the best player that we need.
Strand is on to me, LMAO…
Ya, sacked you. LOL
Even though I want us to lose I`m hoping Tim Tebow puts on a show for us fans. I want to see him do something spactacular. I think he will.
Sorry Bay,I guess I tend to skim thru some of your posts(too damn long) LOL.
I would like to lose out,to get the best pick,but if Tebow could get 20-25 passes and complete over half,and maybe a couple of passing TDs and a rushing TD,and another 78 yds rushing,I would be stoked!!!!!!
He would’ve had 2 passing TDs and a rushing TD,if Ball hadn’t dropped one.
@ bay… but i LIKE socks and underwear for christmas. just one less thing i have to buy on my own!
Just like I said in the too long a post for anyone to read, haha, “it is extremely important that we compete in the last two games but lose both of them”. An oxymoron if I ever heard one but the best scenario nonetheless.
I hear you Ray, the problem is that at my age that’s pretty much ALL you get, LOL.
I just prefer a DT,cause a DEs job isn’t run stopping,that’s a DTs job,and we need a big prescence in the middle like Fairley or Dareas.IMO.
We will get Doom back,and I’m betting Ayers will step up at DE.
I guess we could take Bowers if Paea is still available in the 2nd,but he’s climbing fast,so we’ll have to wait and see.
I really want Jones LB in the 2nd round,he’s that elite LB we been looking for!
As for the win/lose thing, i would like us to win 1 of the next 2 games. i know they are meaningless to us, but you can bet your rears that they mean something to Tebow! just a bit of additional confidence building for tebow for next year…. assuming he is the starter next year. we can only hope i guess! but if we do lose them both i wont be upset or anything. would love to have the number 2 pick. we definately need it!
Bay,
haha, thx lol. but Well said, getting rid of mcd first and foremost was most important cuz he woulda sqaundered great picks yet again. Im still mad about the marone pick…that is looking to be a 2nd pick in the 4th round…thats nearly as good as a 3rd round pick. Belichek is a happy man i tell ya lol
@ bay… LMAO. REALLY? that would get boring after a while! are they at least BRONCOS socks and underwear?