Playing the Colts in Indianapolis is perhaps the most daunting task in the NFL. The RCA Dome has been a house of horrors for the Broncos the last three times they have played there, including on Sunday.
The Colts are really, really good no matter where a team plays them. But the Colts are special at home.
In many ways, I thought the Broncos played well. They jumped out to a lead. They ran the ball effectively. They came up with some sustained drives. But it wasn’t enough.
There were two areas that stood out to me. The first was rushing defense. The Colts ran for 226 yards. That’s too many but especially so when one then adds Peyton Manning and all his weapons to the mix.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The ability to run the ball and the ability to stop the run are absolutely critical. The Broncos are having major issues stopping the run and until they improve in that area, I think the sledding will be rough.
The other thing that alarmed me was kickoff return coverage. There were a few occasions when the Broncos allowed the Colts to have great field position. More often than not, Peyton Manning will take advantage of that.
That brings me to what a special player Manning is. Guys like this just don’t come around very often. He will go down as one of the best ever, and there will be no asterisk because he didn’t win a Super Bowl. Been there, done that…and it’s looking like there could be another one.
Manning does it all. He is in total control. Need a touchdown drive? No problem. A team might get to him for a period of time, but at some point, he will make the adjustments.
The guy is flat-out amazing. Even with the couple of areas of concern I mentioned a moment ago, the Broncos still played well enough to beat some teams. But against Manning and the Colts, you have to play nearly perfect, and often that isn’t good enough.
No doubt the Broncos have some things to shore up. I’m not sure how realistic it is to do that when a team plays the Colts on their home field. I don’t mean to excuse away a loss. I’m just tipping my cap to the best quarterback in the NFL.
Which quarterback would you pick if you were starting a team? I’ll take Manning, with Tom Brady a close second. I’d love to read what you think.
Thanks!
Mike
Tags: Peyton Manning
Manning is great, when he is not under pressure. If you can apply pressure to him, he is human and will make mistakes. For that reason, I say Brady is probably the better QB. Broncos could have had this game, but it takes touchdowns, not field goals to beat the Colts. They should have gone for it on 4th down every time they were in the red zone. If they don’t get it, Manning has a long field to negotiate. Those field goals essentially were the same as turnovers. It takes offensive perfection to outscore the Colts. We did not have it yesterday.
They should go for it on fourth down in the red zone. They need to STOP the run also!
I really doubt the Bronco’s ability to win a big game. I think they are a long ways from being ten team in the NFL. Shanahan can find the offensive players. But he can’t find a defensive cordinator to save his —
We can’t win a football game only playing well in the first quarter. The last three quarters of the football were slow and frustrating. I hope next week we can keep the Chargers off track. I think if we can get a win next week and keep guys healthy, the bye week will be of great timing for us and many injuries can be healed up.
-AZ Broncos Fan
Are front seven is average at best!
does any one have al wilsons phone #
Where is the RUN defense???? It does not Exist with the Broncos!!! Better get it together soon!!! Show us Bronco fans some heart and stop someone!!!!
we are going to get torn apart against the chargers next week on the ground! tomlinson is just getting warmed up thus far in the season, and if we stand any chance next week we will have to get some turnovers( which we could have used in indy this past week).
that is right what is al wilsons # because there d sucks with out him he is the man the lead of d
I wonder what it takes to see an improvment in the defense. We have not had a decent draft choice in Denver since Al Wilson. It would be nice to see something in the defensive line besides old has beens. The last time Simeon Rice sacked anything was at the grocerystore.
I have to agree with you Mike, stopping the run is crucial. I really shutter to think that we have the opportunity next week to allow LT to start turning the chargers season around because we cannot stop the run.
Oh and to all of you bloggers out there….english 101 at the community college couldn’t hurt.
Yeah we need to stop da run but this is getting rediculous. For the past 5/6 years we have played da Colts every year, with different personnel and different def coordinators and what do we do on Sunday? Play Peyton the exact same way we always do! Shanahan needs his arse whooped! Do we not have film sessions? The teams that are succesful against da Colts do the same things, play physical with the receivers to disrupt their timing. Manning is a timing qb, period point blank. He can be rattled and if you make him have to scramble to make plays, then he is in the bottom 5 of qbs. You give him say, all day like we do by playing off his finnesse receivers so they can run their routes like they do in practice, then he is one of the best. Our coaching staff is either stupid, dumb, inept, unprepared or all the above. Watch Peyton in his bad games, its not necessarily about getting pressure, its about disrupting their timing and this Sh%t is getting real old. I thought that by bringing Dre Bly in thats the style of play we would have. If thats the case we shoulda spent that $$ on linebackers and let Foxworth play 7/8 yards off the receivers. We shoulda got the Tank, but no we go and get Simeon Rice? Whoever is making these boneheaded decisions needs to be fired, and if we have such great corners, putem both on an island and walk the safeties up!!!
P.S. Get Ricky Williams, yeah i know we have Henry but he is injury prone and if we had two power backs we would wear teams down and not even the mighty Pats could stop us!!!!
P.S.S. go broncos
B4 his injury I had been telling a Bears fan friend of mine that Al Wilson was a better mlb than urlacher. My point has been proven although at our expense. Teams can run on da Bears with or without urlacher in da lineup, and he plays behind a much better D line than Al has ever played behing, but for years Da Broncos had been one of the best at stopping the run and now dat he’s gone we really see how valuable Al was to our run D and Defense as a whole. Boy I am missing Al and still missing Trevor Pryce!!! Whose the genius making these great decisions(although Wilson was injured)? Shanahan needs to go, its not about his so called brilliance(he has no eye for talent apparently). Its about Da Crush!!!!!
B4 his injury I had been telling a Bears fan friend of mine that Al Wilson was a better mlb than urlacher. My point has been proven although at our expense. Teams can run on da Bears with or without urlacher in da lineup, and he plays behind a much better D line than Al has ever played behing, but for years Da Broncos had been one of the best at stopping the run and now dat he’s gone we really see how valuable Al was to our run D and Defense as a whole. Boy I am missing Al and still missing Trevor Pryce!!! Whose the genius making these great decisions(although Wilson was injured)? Shanahan needs to go, its not about his so called brilliance(he has no eye for talent apparently). Its about Da Crush!!!!!
P.S. go broncos
Thanks for your indepth analysis Mike!
So much negativity. You all need to get a life. Ya can’t go to the superbowl every year. Yes, we’re not living up to expectations, and there are some big gaps, but give it some time people. All you whiners about Al Wilson, get over it, he’s gone, and he ain’t coming back. Even if he was healthy, he wouldn’t be the player he was. You sound like everyone who was trying to get Elway to come out of retirement when we were stuck with Greise. Move on please.
Constructive criticism is one thing, but nay-saying and b***hing about everyone and everything just makes you look like an idiot.
As far as Peyton . . . he may be a good QB, but he’s still a jerk. You remember when he threw his o-line under the bus because of one loss?? Class players don’t do that. The only time he’s good and happy is when he has the best player support out there. If he had the kind of defense Denver has this year, he’d be just another cry baby. I’ll stick with Cutler. He has room to grow as a player, but at least he starts out as a classy guy.
Thanks for all the posts. Some responses…
–wormy…many quarterbacks are great when they’re not under pressure but they’re still not as good as Manning. I still take Manning if I had to choose between him and Brady.
–jonorgibbs…no doubt the Broncos are having trouble scoring TD’s in teh red zone. But they can’t just go for it every time. Field goals are important, too, just ask the Houston Texans.
–kb3073…the Broncos have things to get straightened out on defense. For whatever reasons, it’s just not happening right now.
–jeoronia…let’s remember that Al Wilson has still not been medically cleared to play.
–rooster…while DJ Williams has struggled in the transition to middle linebacker, I would say as an outside linebacker, he was a quality defensive draft choice, as one example.
–thundersrevenge…you and others were right about stopping the Chargers running game.
–mkp2477…It’s frustrating, to be sure. But going back to the Colts game, Peyton Manning doesn’t get rattled too often, even when he faces pressure. I’m not sure what a “timing qb” is but that’s what Peyton Manning is, then more teams should be looking for one. Give the guy some credit.
I also agree with bronco_hyde…go easy on the name-calling and saying people should be fired. Coach Shanahan is about 50 games over .500 in his career as Broncos head coach with two Super Bowl wins. That says it all.
–mlordodu…you’re welcome. Thanks for the kind words.
–bronco_hyde…remember my first post of the season and my Football Resolution? Even when times are tough, I’m still going to enjoy football season. Hopefully the Broncos can get things together.
Thanks to all,
Mike