I know, it’s just pre-season. We all know it’s just pre-season. But it was only pre-season last year and the Broncos didn’t play very well. I don’t think I have to remind anyone how things turned out when the games counted.
Pre-season games don’t seem to matter much for great teams. They can go 0-4 and then roll through the regular season. But for a team like the Broncos that is trying to get back to the elite level, pre-season games matter. So far, I like what I see out of the Broncos.
First off, I like the vibe. I’m not sure how else to say it. The Broncos are confident but not cocky. They believe they’re good but they let their play do the talking. They are fairly young but nonetheless poised. They are respectful of their opponents but not fearful.
Secondly, I like their toughness. The way the Broncos battled and competed against the Cowboys, one of the best teams in the NFL, both in practice and in the game last week showed me a lot. It’s not as if I expected the Broncos to roll over but their tenacity and the way they refused to be intimidated at all impressed me.
Third, I like the way the offense is playing. The offensive line gave QB Jay Cutler time against Dallas. Cutler himself was sharp, completing his first 12 pass attempts and 16-of-20 overall. And the Broncos jumped out to a quick lead, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 advantage. Not that long ago, getting a quick lead was a huge part of the Broncos’ success. Perhaps that will be the case this year.
Fourth, the defense is showing signs of being pretty stout. D.J. Williams is flying around as an outside linebacker. Marcus Thomas and Dewayne Robertson could be a better pair of defensive tackles than any of us thought they would be. The secondary seems to be improved.
Fifth, I love the young players that are stepping up. Wide receiver Eddie Royal has been terrific. Offensive tackle Ryan Clady has shown the ability to make adjustments and take care of business. Running back Andre Hall has been tough. Thomas is coming on. Defensive end Elvis Dumervil seems to keep getting better. After a few drafts that didn’t produce much talent, the Broncos look like they’ve selected some tremendously talented players the past couple of years.
We all know pre-season is about running a basic offense against a basic defense. That was certainly the case a year ago and the Broncos played terribly against the Cowboys at the same point in the pre-season. In fact, the Cowboys physically manhandled them the entire week.
So if pre-season is all about being vanilla, why were the Broncos so much better all week against Dallas this year? Because the Broncos are have improved. They are a better team than they were a year ago.
I won’t make this more than it is. It’s pre-season and that means I temper my excitement. But there is no doubt I’m encouraged. It looks as if 2008 could be an extremely interesting year.
What do you think? Are the Broncos where you’d like them to be? I’d love to read what you think.
Best,
Mike
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[...] Broncos News » News So Far, So Good2008-08-19 01:53:02Play have to remind anyone how things turned out when the games counted. … out [...]
YES the Broncos showed me all i needed to see in the red zone. That was the worst part of our offense last year. Go up and down the feild but it seemed there was a brick wall 12 feet high on the goal line. Well in that cowboys game they plowed right through it. the line moved people out and off the line and cecil was great run blocking. And Selvin and Hall are a great pair of tuff runners. Im lovin it. We are a tuff team and thats what we lacked last year.
yea i mean they looked good. i mean if they can get td’s in the redzone instead of fg’s they can be one of the best teams in the league. and the young players are stepping up. both ryan’s are stepping up. nalen and hamilton back is huge. holland as well. and the d line too. doom and d rob and marcus should be a good d line and at the other de spot it cud engelberger crowder or moss. i would love to see crowder at that spot. hall and young look like a good 1-2 punch. wr’s look great. lb’s are good jus need boss back. cant wait till mnf till we play the raiders and i jus hope marshall can get his head on straight b/c he can be one of the best wr’s in the nfl.. we will see. GO BRONCOS
all i need to say is GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love the way they are playing so far but i think the back up DB’s need to step up a bit but mabey thats just me jack williams made a huge play when we need it last week also the run D has looked great so far! keep it up broncos!!!!!!
september can come fast enough.. the thing that most excites me is now that the defense is cleaned up we’re now going to see why Champ and Bly were considered best CB duo before last season, and with foxy in at nickle situations i can see 14-18 INT’s between the three of them.. 11-5 and wild card!
Up here in Washington i dont get the opportunity to see training camp, watch pre season games, and even watch all the regular season games. But im more enthused and excited for this year than any other. I keep hearing great things and i feel like this team is going to be so much better than last year. Jay Cutler is going to be so so strong this year, and I have this feeling young Eddie Royal is going to emerge into a star in years to come. Cant wait to see what happens come sundays…..
I wish i had a time machine to MNF vs the Raiders, the anticipation is killing me!
As the old cliche’ goes, perfect practice makes perfect. With that said, the preseason games are for all intents and purposes, glorified practice sessions. Thus, according to that vein of thought, the Broncos have performed at a high level of excellence and this should be a nice portent for the season. I think if things break right, the Broncos can potentially be 11-5. It all starts off by capitalizing in the red zone and not turning the ball over. In both of those spheres, so far, so good for the Broncos!
Quarterbacks win football games, Elway took three poor teams to the superbowl virtually on his own shoulders before he ever had good teams behind him to win. Jay Cutler is maturing rapidly and, I think, has the energy and presence and finally the experience to drive this team where it needs to go.
We have a lot of talent despite what announcers will say. We just lack experience. I think the talent may bleed through this year with most players having a little more experience than last year.
[Eddie Royal looks phenomenal. I'm placing my bet he starts beside Marshall.]
There are three major things that could be problems for this team. Red Zone efficiency, run defense, and the loss of Brandon Marshall. The Red Zone efficiency seems pretty good so far, and so does the Run D. But, Brandon Marshall could miss up to three games. He needs to get his act together, obey the commissioner, so he is only suspended for two games. And he must listen to Rod Smith, he MUST act like a professional on and off the field. He is too talented to mess up his career, and the whole teams chance. We need him on the field, not off it.
Film Analysis(wish I had coaches tape)
O-Line
Kuper can accelerate well, and is playing well with only one hand. However,When pass blocking, his feet go quiet, and gets left behind. Head down and high pad level at times.
Harris and Clady are doing a great job, but will have their rookie mistakes, but they look like athletic bookends for a long time!
Hamilton looked rusty, hes better than that. I think the same with Weigman.
Cutler helps his O-Line a ton when he makes his reads and gets the ball out quickly, A+ grade for him.
Scheffler and Nate Jackson-are we getting better in the blocking department?
D-Line
I think Thomas and Robertson will do well. To me it looked like Thomas needs to learn double team skills.
Engleberger is a hard worker/character guy, but my lord, get some pash rush moves please!!! Effort alone makes plays sometimes, but use some skill!! I did not see any basic swim or rip or anything!! If you are not a high quality bull rusher, develop other skills please.
The first thing I notice in the secondary was that Bly was not locked up with T.O. This tells me something…I think Fox did a nice job, and I would call it a battle for starter with Bly and Fox.
If the front four doesn’t get a pass rush, blitz D.J.! Its great having him in coverage and running down plays, but he proved last year that he can bang inside and play in the middle. I havent seen enough of Niko to make a grade, seemed to be in decent position enough.
Having Stokely and Royal is a huge help for the Offense.
Stay Healthy!!
I’m absolutely excited for this season. I’ve been a fan since the Orange crush days of the 70′s, so I’ve had plenty of heartache caused by my Broncos. But last year was one of the toughest to watch in a long, long time. Seeing the improvements they’ve made, plus Shanny scrapping all of his “reclamation projects” and going after character guys seems to be working very well in terms of team chemistry.
I was at the Texans game at the end of last season, and watching the defense stand around on the field looking as if they’d never seen a playbook was tough. I’m glad to see they seem to be grasping Slowik’s ideas better than whatever the hell Bates was trying to do.
The Broncos have a ton of good looking young talent, if they continue to mesh and grow as a team…we could be in for some more fun like we had in the mid-to-late 90′s very soon.
Is it September yet?
I was impressed, Jay Cutler, Elvis Dumervil, Brandon Marshal, Eddie Royal, Ryan Clady, DJ Williams, the cb tandem and Selvin young all look poised for a great season. I expect 10-6. And all of the broncos talent w/ the exception of Bailey and Bly are young and raw, the broncos seem to have a bright future. Watch out San Diego.
Well…The preseason is a wrap. The Broncos have firmly demonstrated the ability to stop the run. This alone will help us in our division. Rivers is ok as a QB (God…I hated typing that!), but let’s see how well he is doing when our defense shuts down his running game. Can he win it on his own? I think the Broncos could split with San Diego at a minimum and if we do, this division could be ours for the taking. I am a little concerned about the pass rush, but I think once we unleash our blitz packages, the pressure on the QB will increase and we have a lot of talent in the secondary waiting to take advantage of errant balls. The media seems oblivious to the fact that this defense and this team in general looks nothing like last years squad. This team has been ready to play in every preseason game and has been performing when it counts. We have not seen one instance of the confusion which dominated the early part of the season (and all of the 07 preseason) when Denver was getting butchered on the ground. Cutler has looked incredible, but I am particularly pleased about the performance of the offensive line. They started a little shaky, but it seems they have gotten better with every snap they have taken so far this preseason…
Believe this…This Broncos team is for real, and I am waiting for week 1 when we once again get to show Al Davis what ‘Commitment to Excellence’ really means.
Go Broncos!!!