Home on the Road
Justin Bannan didn’t make the call to Baltimore. The friends he collected in the past four years as a Raven reached out to him before he could pick up the phone.
“Those guys have already called me,” Bannan said. “They’re funny, they’re good friends of mine and they’re friends I’ll have for the rest of my life.”
The Broncos bring Bannan back to M&T Bank Stadium — where he contributed to 23 wins as a Raven — for the first time since he signed with Denver in the offseason.
Edge Discipline
It’s not about how much bigger you are, how many more weights you can lift or how high you were drafted.
According to Robert Ayers, stopping the run in the NFL is about sheer grit.
“Being sound against the run is a mindset,” Ayers said. “It’s not about talent and having a bunch of guys that are good players. It is about having a physical, tough mindset.”
Tough Running
The postgame stat sheet showed that the Broncos rushed for 47 yards on 18 carries in Sunday’s loss to the Colts at INVESCO Field at Mile High. When analyzing the game film of the team’s first home loss of the 2010 season, Head Coach Josh McDaniels saw squandered chances for the offense to bump up its 2.6 yards per carry average.
“We had opportunities yesterday in the running game that we did not take advantage of — no question about it,” McDaniels said Monday morning. “That is not aimed at one specific player. I have said it a million times that your ability to run the ball effectively is a combination of a lot of people doing their job the right way.”
Understanding the Stats
As Head Coach Josh McDaniels pointed out in his Wednesday address to the media, there are many superlatives applicable to the Colts — a squad the Broncos head coach referred to as “one of the two finest teams in the National Football League over the last decade.”
There are plenty of stats to back that praise up. One above all immediately jumped out to McDaniels as he started preparing this week: The Colts have a lead at some point in 61 of their last 64 games.
Understanding that, McDaniels said Thursday he’s preparing to find his team behind at some point in Sunday’s clash at INVESCO Field at Mile High — and that’s just fine.
“There’s a lot of truth to trying to get ahead and play from ahead — you’d love to be able to do that,” McDaniels said. “I also think you need to be realistic and understand that there’s going to be an ebb and flow to the game and if you’re playing well and they’re playing well, that they may be ahead at some point. You’re going to have to handle that, too — whether it’s early in the game, in the middle of the game or sometimes at the end of the game and you’ve got to try to catch up then.”
Speed Rush
Demaryius Thomas summed up the Colts defense in two players.
“Two defensive ends that play,” he said. “The whole defense is fast.”
Head Coach Josh McDaniels took a similar stance.
“They have very disruptive players, which starts with Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis on the edge — who get to the quarterback plenty and also take the ball away,” he said.
This is OUR House
I know you’ve seen the commercials, and it’s almost funny how kids pick up on these sayings that have been around longer than me and you both. The commercialization of them that makes them bigger than life.
It’s TRUE, this is OUR HOUSE and it’s important to win at home for the city, the fans and the home team. You create a dominance and you create a mystique that has it’s own life and advantage.
We have a distinct advantage here in the Mile High City and I’ll reminisce. We’re a MILE high.Therefore, the opponent — no matter how good a shape he is in — is at a distinct disadvantage. MILE HIGH, less oxygen.
Confident Coverage
Perrish Cox did his best Champ Bailey impersonation in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s home opener against the Seahawks.
Bailey picked off a Matt Hasselbeck pass in the red zone on the Seahawks’ first drive of the game, prohibiting a Seattle score and shifting the momentum of the game to his team. Cox intercepted Hasselbeck with less than two minutes remaining in the game, allowing Kyle Orton to kneel the ball three straight times to finish the fourth quarter.
Ready to Speak
On Friday, Laurence Maroney spoke to the Denver media for the first time — three days after the Broncos acquired him in a trade with the New England Patriots.
The former first-round pick said he was pleased to reunite with Head Coach Josh McDaniels, who served as Maroney’s offensive coordinator on the Patriots.
“(I) know a lot about him and know a lot about the system, so it’s not like I’m coming into a brand new system and have to learn a lot,” Maroney said.
Gaining Ground
With three offensive linemen starting their first NFL games and a starting running back who didn’t play at all in the preseason, the Broncos had their work cut out for them running the ball in Sunday’s season opener at Jacksonville.
Against a physical Jaguars defensive front, the Broncos ground out 89 yards on their 25 rushing attempts, including 60 yards and a touchdown from Moreno in his first game action of the 2010 season.
After analyzing the game tape of the offense in the Broncos’ 24-17 loss, Head Coach Josh McDaniels found several positives, while pinpointing areas to improve as the unit rounds into form.
“The backs were getting to the line of scrimmage, no question about it,” McDaniels said. “It’s just that when you look at the film you always see more yards there than what you got. If we would have just done this or finished this, or made that one cut, then you can see where you gain more yards on certain plays.”
Karl Visits Dove Valley
On Wednesday, the Broncos welcomed a Nugget to Dove Valley.
George Karl spent the day at team headquarters, sitting in on meetings, watching practice and getting to know Head Coach Josh McDaniels.
McDaniels reached out to the Denver Nuggets head coach, hoping to “pick his brain” about coaching at the professional level. After all, Karl’s first NBA coaching gig came when he was just about the same age as McDaniels.
“I’m a big fan of his and what he’s done in his career,” McDaniels said. “He’s had great success as a coach in the NBA and I’m a big NBA fan. Certainly (he’s) overcome a great deal of adversity personally with the things he’s had to deal with. It’s just a great privilege for our team to have him around us.”